All my friends, they break and they bend, take shape and they tend, and get better with time.

So I've just had two weeks of ups and downs and lots of changes. Without getting really into it, two or so weeks ago, I lost who I thought were my three best friends at school. It's a long story, and not really worth explaining, but it was a really hard weekend full of confusion, miscommunication, and realization. Although they removed me from their lives, probably for forever, and it was really hard at first, I decided that I'm better off. I don't think that they were 100 percent a good influence on my life, and the whole situation really allowed me to look at myself, how I need to change, and what I value in a friendship.

I thought it was going to be pretty lonely, but surprisingly, I had a whole other group of friends behind me supporting me immediately. They listened to me vent, took me out, introduced me to people, and got me out of my comfort zone. I'm incredibly lucky that I've found a whole new group that seems to really care about me and treat me with respect and dignity. I have a ton of fun with them and they bring absolutely no drama into my life. They are people I can see myself being friends with for a while, and I'm so glad to have them around.

Anyways, Mom, Dad, and James are coming Sunday and I am beyond excited to see them and show them my new home away from home. I'm going to give them a tour of campus, show them fun places to go, introduce them to all my favorite chefs and friends, and spend as much time with them as I can. I'll be going with them to Naples for half the week to see Gram&Pa and Peggy&Bonnie, so I'm really excited about that as well! It's going to be an awesome week. They're coming Valentine's Day. At first I was a little depressed that I had no one to go out with on Valentine's Day, but then I realized that I will be spending the day with the people that love me the most in the world, and isn't that what Valentine's Day is about?

Aside from the ups and downs, life has been pretty steady. I've been working, going to class, relaxing, etc. I'm starting to plan out what I want to do this summer, where I want to work, what my future's going to look like. I've been reading a lot, which is good. There's an awesome library here filled with amazing culinary books, so right now I'm reading The Apprentice by Jacques Pepin, one of my heroes. It's a biography of his life, filled with recipes and stories. I saw him at a celebrity chef event, so it's really cool now to be reading his book, and I'm enjoying it a lot. I would recommend it, so you all should go out and read it!

More later, thanks to all who keep up with my crazy life.