Semester #3=Check!... (Almost)

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone, along with a fantastic TEC retreat and almost two full weeks of classes. I am now three classes, one homework assignment, two finals, a paper, 9 hours of work, a few loads of laundry, multiple trips to my car, and a day of babysitting away from winter break. It sounds like a lot, but I've already crossed a lot of things off my list and I know that time will fly. By this time next week, I'll be done with everything school related, and I'll have just packing up left to do. It's been a busy few weeks, and I'm looking forward to break, that's for sure. I'll probably be staying up here for a day or two after I'm done with finals, in order to go Christmas shopping and hang out with my roommate (who got scheduled to work the 18th through the 23rd), so that will be fun. Really though, there's nothing new in my life; it's been a crazy ride of tons of work, school, and trying to sleep for the past month or so.

Oh, except the fact that it's FREEZING outside!!! (As if you didn't already know that!) I'm wearing a tank-top, a long sleeved t-shirt, a t-shirt, a sweatshirt, and a winter coat, and I can still feel the cold air. I love MN, don't get me wrong, but I would like some snow... without the bitter cold :o(

Good luck on finals to all the college students out there, gearing up for finals! Everyone else, stay inside and stay warm. Love you!

Ideas Please

As most of you know, I work in CSB Campus Ministry. Every year, we sponsor events during Advent that are... you guessed it!... Advent themed. This year, I am heading up alternative gift giving. What we plan on doing is coming up with a number of organizations and causes that people can donate to in place of giving physical gifts to family and friends and then getting that information out to Bennies and Johnnies.

So, I am looking for ideas of causes and/or specific organizations that you think would be good to work with. The example that I gave in the email I sent out to my coworkers was this: I am passionate about sending gifts to soldiers overseas, so I've been searching for organizations that allow people to donate money for a gift package to be sent to a soldier or will work with someone to put together a personal gift package and send it. I just wanted to see if there was anything that y'all are passionate about because we all have ideas about what would be cool to do for others this Christmas season, right? If you have anything for me, send the information/idea my way, okay?

Thanks a bunch, love you all.

Who Can Say...

PROCRASTINATION??? I can! I most seriously do NOT want to do my homework right now, so I think I'll sit here for a little while and type to my faithful (and not so faithful) readers. I have a paper due on Thursday, a big huge math test on Friday, a math assignment to get done before Friday, a few chapters of textbooks to read, letters to write, emails to respond to, and oh so much more to do, but I just don't think I'm going to start any of that right now.

It's been awhile since I've been on here... nothing too terribly exciting has happened in the past two and a half weeks, quite unfortunately. I've been going about life as usual, just trying to make it until the end of the semester. Classes are going fine, even though I still despise my math class. (Remind me again why I'm a math major???) I've also signed up for classes for next semester: I'm taking two Comm classes, one about gender and language, the other about the way the media affects children; another math class, one of the "bears" of the curriculum; and my upper level Theology class. I only have classes every other day, which is SUPER exciting, and my media Comm class is a night class, which I am also quite excited about.

Speaking of classes, I have officially made the decision to graduate in the Spring of 2011. Now that I've made the decision, I feel great about it, and I'm slowly learning who all I am going to graduate with: I know a lot more of the Junior class than I thought I did! I'm still a little apprehensive about what life after college will hold, but I'm getting more and more excited to find out. Sometimes, I forget that I'm graduating in 18 months, but then I remember and I freak out a little bit. I have so much to do before I graduate!

In other news.... there really is no other news. Or at least not any that I care to post onto the world wide web for any random person to read. I hope that you have been enjoying the beautiful fall weather (finally!) and that you are getting outside to enjoy it as much as possible. Love to all.

PS Only two more weeks until I'm HOME for Thanksgiving!! Yay :o)

Roommate Bonding

One of the great things about college, something I will definitely miss when I'm gone, are the nights where I can just kick back and do nothing. I have a little bit of homework, and so does Erin, but nothing too important, so we decided that we would have a movie night. The movie of choice? None other than the Beauty and the Beast, of course. We both love Disney movies, and couldn't pass up this opportunity once we had voiced it. We took one look at each other and were like, "yup, that's what we're doing tonight!" We hopped in the showers, came back and settled down on the futon (which is GREAT: thanks Aunt Tesa and Uncle Paul!) with our computers, and are singing our hearts out to the wonderful music in this movie. Love it.

Post Script: There are a number of posts from today, so read all the way down to get caught up. Love you!

Best Website EVER

Everyone has a bad day every once in a while, right? Well, today I discovered the perfect solution to the doldrums. It's called www.mylifeisaverage.com. People post random things on here, and they are just hysterical. I have spent hours on it today (yes, my homework is suffering because of it), and I haven't stopped laughing since I started reading the entries. I was sitting here in my room, totally alone, and I was laughing out loud and clapping, I was so delighted with it.

Moral of this story: if you're having a bad day, need a way to kill some time, or don't want to do your work, check out www.mylifeisaverage.com. Trust me, it's wonderful.

Randomness

You may not find this as funny as I did, but I'll share it anyway. Every Friday, CSBSJU comes out with a newspaper, and you can find copies of it all over campus. I typically pick a copy up in the Reef after lunch and read it on the bus on my way back to CSB. This Friday, I also had a tube of disinfectant wipes to bring back, since Jordan's never going to use them. As I walked down the hall to my room, I realized that I was holding the disinfectant wipes like a cup of coffee and had the newspaper in the same hand.... it was quite reminiscent of someone picking up a cup of coffee and the paper on their way to work. It made me laugh, partially because of the fact that I've never done anything like that before, and partially because people are so worried about being clean nowadays, that it just didn't seem that odd. Does that make sense? I hope so, and even if this is the dumbest thing you've read all day, I hope it at least brought a rueful smile to your face :o)

Big News!

I have recently (almost) made a rather large decision that will greatly affect my life in the two years to come. I say almost, because nothing is set in stone, although I have pretty much made up my mind. I have decided to graduate next spring. For those of you that aren't quite sure, yes, this will be a full year ahead of when I'm supposed to.

There are a number of reasons why I am leaning towards this decision. First of all, it's about $20000 that I can save, especially when I don't really need to be here that extra year. This is technically my third year of college, since I was full-time PSEO at SCSU my senior year, and I'm ready to get out into the real world. I can finish all of my school's requirements, as well as both of my majors by next spring, and the fourth year would just be taking filler classes. Another thing is that I'm just ready to be done. I want to get out there and start living my life; I want to make money instead of spend it all. I feel like I can do more with my life than just sitting in a classroom, taking notes, and being tested on what I'm learning.

Now, I know that there are many things that aren't the greatest about graduating early. I won't be able to study abroad, and I'm leaving my childhood forever, much earlier than I had originally anticipated. I will need to find a job, a place to live, and figure out how to make things work. It will be scary, and I am nervous about it. At the same time though, I'm really excited. Some day, will I look back at this time in my life and wish I had done things differently? Maybe, but I don't think it will be something that I dwell on too much. I feel like if I choose to stay the fourth year, I will look back and regret not taking the chance more than "losing" that last year.

It's hard to put my thoughts about this into words, but feel free to shoot any questions or thoughts my way! xo

The End

So much to say.... I don't know where to start! This will probably be another series of posts on the same day, so I'll start with the most mundane things. The Johnnies have won two more football games, leaving us undefeated for this season. One of those two games was the legendary Johnnie-Tommie game, which was fantastic! There were 12,903 fans in attendance, and traffic was absolutely horrifying. One of my friends sat on a bus for over and hour and a half to get to the game. Luckily, I have a car and a local-yokel friend, so we took the back roads and made it there in less than 20 minutes. The game was GREAT and the fans stormed the field after we won in overtime. Classes are going fine, most of my big projects are done with, so it should be fairly easy going until the end of the semester. Work is also going fine; our Masses are getting better and better as the weeks go on. Otherwise, the day to day things of my life are the same as always. Nothing too exciting. Well, this is the end of a lot of updating, so if you persevered, you're all caught up now!

Love you all :o)

Snow, Snow, Snow :o)

It's SNOWING!!! Okay, I just had to throw that out there quickly. It's been a crazy couple of weeks, trying to finish up a couple of group presentations and prepare for tests, but I think I made it through safely :o) I had a short week of classes last week, but with everything going on, it definitely felt like a full week. Wednesday afternoon at 4:00 finished off the week for me, and I spent the rest of the day just relaxing. Since I had only gotten 3 1/2 hours of sleep on Tuesday night, I fell asleep pretty early on Wednesday, and got a solid 11 hours of sleep. Thursday morning, I woke up and started my take home portion of my math test, packed up, and headed home in time for Karen's last tennis match of the season... which she won! I'm super proud of how well she did this year, and I'm excited to watch her continue to get better.

Friday night brought about another high school football game and freezing cold weather. I've been a member of the pep band for years, and I can remember playing in colder weather than that, but I had forgotten how cold flutes can get when it's just above freezing. After the game, I hung out with an old high school friend for a while before going home to my nice warm bed. Saturday and Sunday were busy as well; visiting Grandma on Saturday and babysitting Miss Becca on Sunday took up the majority of both days. I got back to school late last night and pretty much just collapsed. Long Weekend is supposed to be the time to catch up on your sleep, but somehow that never seems to happen. Last year it was my wisdom teeth, this year I really have no excuse other than my inability to say no to people who want to see me.

And today brought snow. I wasn't very happy about this when I woke up this morning, but it's growing on me. As long as it's gone in time for the Johnnie-Tommie game this weekend, I don't mind it.

Happy Snow!! love to all.

Oh the Differences We Have...

So today it is raining out. Lots and lots of rain. I'm actually quite enjoying it, other than the fact that my pants have been wet for the majority of the day.

Anyway, it's been rather fun to look around campus and see all the bright and colorful umbrellas that have made their first appearance of the year today. There are polka dots, plaids, solids, SJU colors, all sorts. The funny thing is that all of their holders seem to have one thing in common: they're women! In two of my Communication classes, we're discussing gender differences, so I've been especially tuned in to the small things that differ between men and women lately. I think it's interesting that the men around campus are much too "manly" to carry umbrellas, whereas many of the women are just excited to show off how cute theirs is. Chalk one more up to the "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" theory.

Get out and have some fun puddle jumping if you haven't already done so today! love to all.

Connected?

In this day and age, it seems like everyone is connected to the "rest of the world" in any number of ways. There's cell phones, email, facebook, twitter, chatting, the list goes on and on. And although we'd like to think we're not dependent on the technology of the day, I'd beg to differ.

Lately, I've taken to sleeping with my phone under my pillow so that I'm always available. I quite dislike the idea of being so accessible, but after missing a couple of calls from someone who really needed to talk to me, I decided I could live with it. The only problem with this is that I tend to forget my phone under my pillow. Now typically I remember just as I'm walking out the door to grab it, but this morning I forgot. I was gone from my room for about five and a half hours, and when I got back I had three missed calls and five new text messages. I don't even realize from day-to-day how much I use my cell phone, but throughout the day, I discovered that I hate being without it.

As soon as I realized that I had forgotten my phone, I hopped on a computer and let the world know via facebook that I didn't have it with me. Even though I knew it wasn't there, I went to use my phone several times today. To call a friend to meet up for some girl talk, to text the person whose room I usually hang out in during my break, to call a partner for a class project, to let the person I was meeting to work on a paper know that I was running a little late, or even just to check the time. And of course, there was the added fact that there were seven explosive packages found around my hometown today and I wanted to talk to my little sister. I hated being without a phone. It was so inconvenient, and I felt a little incomplete without it.

It makes me sad to realize how dependent on technology my generation is. A girl should be able to go without her phone for a few hours right? I don't foresee this getting any better in the future, but I kind of wish we could go back to the "old" days, where cell phones didn't exist, and if you wanted to tell someone something without doing it face-to-face, you had to write them a letter, call them on a landline, or have someone else pass the message on. In my dorm this year, we don't even have landlines in our rooms because the vast majority of the student population has a cell phone.

Anyway, I don't really know where I'm going with this, but it caught my attention today, and I thought I'd share my ponderings with y'all. I hope you enjoyed your last day of September! xo

Why I Love Being Minnesotan

So I had this random thought yesterday: one of the reasons I LOVE being from Minnesota is that I can pretty much debate with any other Minnesotan on the topic of newsmen and women. We talk about our favorite nighttime anchors, who we like for traffic, and, my personal favorite, the best weatherpeople. For some reason, this subject seems to come up with frightening frequency when I am in the company of fellow Minnesotans, and I just get a kick out of if every time. Plus, something that I find super cool, the speaker at the 2008 CSB graduation ceremony was Belinda Jensen! I was really sad that I couldn't attend the ceremony just to hear her...

There are, of course, many other reasons I love being a Minnesotan, but that's really my favorite reason right now. Have a good one, whether you're in Minnesota or somewhere across the globe!

Painting the Campus Red

Today was the first home Johnnie football game of the season, so there was a vast amount of excitement among the students on campus. My girls and I got up and had breakfast around 10:30, and then came back to get ready for the game, which started at 1:00. I just had to laugh, because you could tell it was a football day. I went to take a shower, and the stalls were all full, and when I finally got out of the shower and semi-dressed, I started making the rounds to the rooms near me, chatting with my friends, and making sure I "looked ok". We borrowed each other clothes, make-up, sunglasses, and opinions, before finally making it out to the bus stop, where we stood for a million years waiting for a bus.

When we got to SJU, all you could see was red. I absolutely love how much school spirit everyone has, and I adore seeing the campus red every Saturday. There are mobs of people; students and alums; walking towards the stadium, and when you get there, it's tough to find a shirt that's not red. I hung out with Molly and a friend of hers named Ashley, and Christian joined us for part of the game. It was boiling hot, and extremely crowded, but totally worth it. We won the game, and my uncle Dan was reffing, so that made it a great afternoon. (I was telling all of my friends that my uncle was reffing, so it's a good thing we won :o) ) I got to catch up with a lot of people that I haven't seen in a while, and pretty much just had an enjoyable few hours. Now, I am procrastinating my homework (because who does homework on such a beautiful Saturday? Or an Saturday for that matter) and later, I'm heading out to Coldspring to hang out with one of my best friends from SCSU, Matt.

I hope you are all enjoying this great weather! hugs.

Sad Little Changes

So every day (or at least six out of the seven days) of every week that I am at school, I ride the LINK at least two times a day. This is mainly because I have a lot of classes at SJU and because of the football games on Sundays, of course :o) Anyway, the bus. We have this route during the day schedule that takes us past a little auto shop on a corner in St. Joe, where there are always a number of cars sitting out on that corner, with some of them for sale. Last year, there was a fairly old, faded blue Buick that sat there. All year. It was $1000 or B/O, and I swear, that car did not move at all. Ever. My friends and I used to talk about the "$1000 car" and how long it had been there and if anyone would ever buy it. Now, I don't know what happened to that "$1000 car", but it's gone. It was a surprise to drive by the auto shop on my way to school for the first time this year, and to be quite honest, it still surprises me every day that I go by that corner and can't find the car. I will probably never find out what happened to that old Buick, but I surely do miss it! xo

Power Blogging

I think I maybe stole that phrase from one of my aunts, but it fits well for what I did today. It's been a very busy two weeks, and I haven't had much time to post on here, so I sat down today and did a whole bunch of typing. There are four new posts from today; each is about a different aspect of my life. I figured it would be a little overwhelming to put it all into one post. So, if you're reading this, make sure you go all the way down to the last one if you're interested in finding out what I've been up to.

Happy reading!

Relaxing and Refreshing

Labor Day weekend is a great thing in a college student's life. We've only had classes for about a week and a half, and already they're giving us a day off. I was one of the smarter ones, and got most of my homework done well ahead of time, so I don't have much to do over the next three days. Last night, I kicked off the weekend by going to the Local Blend (the coffee shop right off campus) with my best friend and hashing out everything sucky that's been going on over a bowl of ice cream and drinks, eating dinner with my roommate and her boyfriend and my three closest girlfriends, meeting Molly's best friend who is an absolute hoot, and then having a really good hour and a half long talk with Brittany. (And in case you're confused, Brittany is my best friend, so yes, I went to the coffee shop with her and I had a chat session with her).

Then, since I miss my cat so much and since I really just wanted some time alone, I packed up my homework, some books and some clothes, and headed home. I'm not used to having people all around me, all the time, so I jumped at the opportunity to get away for a few days. My family is at the cabin, and while that's where I really wish I could be, I have to work tomorrow, so home is good enough. I slept in today, got up and made a breakfast of pancakes, and have spent the rest of the day reading and playing with Miles. He's gotten so big! And he's really cuddly right now since he is grateful to me for letting him play outside. It's been a very quiet day, and I'm just loving it. I don't have too much homework to do, so I've been catching up my "fun" reading and pretty much just being a couch potato. I talked to Mom for an hour, but other than that, there's been no human interaction. This has been a great escape, and I think that when I go back tomorrow I'll be more ready for the college life again.

I have great plans for Monday; rollerblading with Brittany (no hills this time!), walking the Chapel walk with her, watching the stars with her that night, and hopefully eating dinner with a good friend that I haven't been able to hang out with for awhile. Plus, I'm going to sleep in and do the very little bit of homework that I have left. And paint my toenails. I don't know why, but doing that always makes me happy. I'm pretty grateful for this three day weekend, and I plan to make the most of it. I feel like this is going to be the exact thing that I needed to get the past week and a half out of my system and to find the happier Rachel that I know is somewhere inside of me.

I hope you all take advantage of this three day weeked and gorgeous weather to do something fun outside and to take a little time for yourself to just relax. Pretty soon, fall will be here and things will get busy. I love you all!

A Lonely Start

Whenever I thought about this coming year, I anticipated that things would change slightly from last year, but that it would be fairly similar, at least at first. Boy was I wrong. Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances (boys acting like they're still in middle school) I no longer hang out with the same group of people that I did last year. In fact, I now have no group of people to hang out with. Besides that, Brittany's classes are all at CSB and mine are all at SJU so we don't get to see each other very much anymore and it's been hard to get time with my other girlfriends too. As for boys, I've branched out a lot and have been hanging out with a lot of different people. I mainly spend time with Jordan, Phill, and Max, but I don't even see them that much. The sad fact is, it's been a lonely start to the year and things aren't really looking brighter in the future. I am fully aware of the fact that things will always change, but I guess I didn't expect such a huge change so quickly. This past week has not been a fun one, and I've spent a lot of time not knowing what to do with myself. I had a great talk with Brittany yesterday though, and made plans with a few different people for next week. Hopefully I can just keep on keeping on until things fall into place. I'm sure they will; they have to. In the meantime, I'll spend more time on homework and work, and I'll use this opportunity to figure out what kind of person I really want to hang out with.

Well, this was a semi-dramatic post. But, this blog isn't all about sunshine and happiness, it's about my life, and this is what's going on in it. Ah the joys of being a teenager, right? I'm sure all of you that are done with this stage of your life are grinning and thinking about your own years of drama... someday that will be me too! love to all.

Rollerblading Adventures

You all know that I was living at my cabin this summer, and you may remember me mentioning that I had really gotten into biking. I was biking close to 14 miles a day, and I loved it! Sadly, I haven't biked at all since I got home. My one week that I had before moving to school was really busy, and we weren't able to fit my bike in the back of the truck when I moved, so I don't have it at school yet. Well after about two weeks of not being able to bike, and not wanting to go to the gym when it's so nice out, I had to figure something out. I didn't really want to ask my dad to make the two and a half hour round trip up to school just to bring me my bike, and yet I really needed to be able to get out and exerisize in some way. I gave up on not going to the gym last Thursday and decided that I could suck it up and go spend a couple of hours inside in order to have some time to myself. On my way down to the gym I remembered that I could check out rollerblades from the REC desk for 24 hours.... Now, I haven't rollerbladed since I grew out of my last pair of blades, when I was about 10, so I was a little apprehensive about going out on them, but I decided to give it a try and I ended up rollerblading for a good hour. I didn't find a particularly pretty trail, but I ended up going about nine miles that day.

The next day, Friday, my best friend Brittany and I decided to go out blading and we set off towards SJU. Well, this trail was gorgeous and it was a beautiful day, but unfortunately we had no idea where we were going. So we missed our turn. We ended up in Avon, which is about five miles too far, and then we had to turn around. By the time we made it to SJU, approximately two and a half hours had passed, and we were coming up on mile #14. I was getting pretty tired and was still sore from the day before, but I was thinking I could make it to the bus stop at least. Wrong. I ended up falling (twice in ten minutes) and spraining my wrist. I also scraped up my calf, and now have an area that's about 5inx3in that's trying to heal. Needless to say, this was not a good end to our adventure. I spent the next few hours in the emergency room in St. Cloud, and have spent the last week with my calf wrapped in gauze and my right wrist in a brace. It's been hard to take notes, I had to wear a sling for a few days, and it's all around been a not-so-fun situation. I got the brace off yesterday, and my leg is starting to heal, but I've learned my lesson: no more rollerblading down hills!

For your own sake, if you decide to go out blading, wear wristgaurds! x's and o's

New Bosses and Old Friends

As I may have mentioned, I will be returning to both of my on-campus jobs this year. I went through some pretty extensive "team bonding" for Campus Ministry and an hour long training session for Admissions, at which we just kind of hung out and talked. I have new bosses for both of my jobs, which I am a little bummed about, but so far they both seem very nice.

Campus Ministry (at least the Liturgy team) underwent a pretty big overhaul this year. We lost a large number of our teammates, and added three freshmen and David Fremo, our new boss. Tomorrow will be our third student led mass of the year, and all I can say is that I hope it goes better than the last two. The first one, the Welcome Mass for first years and their parents, went pretty well, but it was a little chaotic trying to train in all of the first year campus ministers and teaching David how we do things. Plus, we had all just spent two days at Camp Friendship, and that morning, we helped move in all the first years for over three hours, so we were pretty tired. Last weekend, mass was a disaster. Steph (our only senior and pianist other than me) didn't show up, I couldn't play the piano (more on that in the next post), and David told all of our volunteers not to come until 4:30 instead of 4. On top of that, we didn't have the volunteer list or the map of the church which we use for training them, and no one really knew what was going on. The music didn't go so well, and all of us "old hands" were very stressed out, which definitely showed. This week, we found out that Steph will not be returning at all and so things are going to have to drastically change around the Ligtury team. I'm not sure what exactly is going to happen, but I think that the next few weeks are going to be crazy. It's going to be difficult trying to get things organized, help David get used to the position, and keep masses going smoothly, but hopefully we'll rise to the challenge.

Telecomm on the other hand is like going home. We haven't hired anyone new yet, so we have a small team, but we all know each other and everyone knows what they're doing. I've only called one night so far, but it was kind of fun to get back into it and start talking to some prospies again. We have switched up how we do things a little bit, but I'm excited about the changes, and can't wait for training on the new system so we can start using it. I love my supervisors and I enjoy the people I work with, so all is good on that front.

It's going to be a busy year, working five evenings a week instead of just four, but in all honesty I know I'll get used to it soon and have no problem with it. Things will just have to be a little different now, which is always good. So, that's all on the work front. love!

Classes and Such

Well it's been a week since classes started, and what a week it has been. Lots of stuff has happened, but I'll start with the "important" thing, how my classes are going. So. I'm taking one math class, Numerical Analysis, and three Comm classes, one about society (105), one about intrapersonal communication (205), and one called Freedom of Speech (307). I'm also taking an individualized learning project (ILP) in math and hoping to get back into piano lessons.

So far I really like all of my classes. It's been a little difficult keeping all of my Comm classes straight, especially which rooms they're in. I have already entered the wrong room at the wrong time, since I have classses in 343, 353, and 446 of the same building. I think that my favorite Comm class will be Freedom of Speech. I'm taking it because a friend of mine asked me to take it with him, and I was a little apprehensive about it at first because it's a 300 level course, which means that I am once again one of the youngest students in the class. And it's at 8 in the morning at SJU..... yuck. But there are only 13 of us in the class and it sounds like it will be very interesting. We will be debating three cases throughout the semester, and since I love that kind of thing I think I will enjoy the class. Plus, it's very discussion based and my prof makes us think about things differently, which is always cool. My other two Comm classes aren't as distinguishable from each other, but I have friends in both of them and since the subject of communicating is very ineresting to me, I'm sure I will enjoy the classes.

Math is a different story. It's my other 300 level course, and there are once again only 11 people in the class, with only two sophomores. The other one is a Jonnie, and he seems very nice. Unfortunately, the subject matter is tough so I'm a little worried about whether or not it'll click for me. However, it is kind of refreshing to have a class that is fact based instead of theory based. I haven't started my ILP yet, but I don't anticipate that to be too difficult. I'll be working with Dr. Bob, who knows me fairly well and is able to teach me in a style that works perfectly for me.

Well, there's a lot more to say, but I think I'm going to stop here for this post and start again later. So, for the next few updates, make sure you scroll through a few headings if you want to catch everything. Thanks for all of your prayers for my friend; she's doing much better and has returned to school. Enjoy this beautiful weather! xo Rach

The First Few Days

So I moved in last Thursday, and I've barely had time to breathe since then. Friday morning, we got up and headed down to Annandale for our two day retreat at Camp Friendship. I wasn't really looking forward to it, but it turned out to be GREAT! We did a challenge course which was really great for building our team. We had one challenge that involved getting our whole team over a 12 foot wall. With only ourselves as tools. It took us almost an hour, but we managed to get everyone up and over, and it was actually quite fun. Friday afternoon, we did a high ropes course. It was sort of like rock climbing, so I really liked it. It made me really want to get belay-certified and to climbing again soon. Saturday we got back early in the afternoon and had the rest of the day free. I'm pretty sure we headed over to SJU, but I'm not sure. How sad is that? I've been so busy that I can't remember what I did three days ago.

Anyway, Sunday morning, we had to get up early and go help the freshmen move in. That was fun, but we were all exhausted from the retreat, so it got to be a long morning. That afternoon was our first student Mass of the year, and I was just pumped about it. We sang great music, and the new Campus Ministers are a FABULOUS addition to our team, and I am very excited to get to know them better and have them be more integrated in our team. Sunday afternoon, Brittany moved in, and so did Heather, so that was quite exciting, and we also got to see the boys that night which was also fun. Yesterday we had one last Campus Ministry meeting and then I headed over to SJU to pick up the last of my books. I'm pretty excited about all of my classes, and the books look good! We ended up getting a group together for a few games of sand volleyball and dinner, after which I visited some more of my friends around campus. We made it sort of an early night, and headed in to St. Cloud for some Coldstone to celebrate the beginning of the year.

Today, I had training for my other job, Telecomm. It was good to see my team of callers again, and I'm looking forward to working with them. It's nice because I don't feel like such an outsider anymore... that was always kind of an issue last year, since I was the baby of the team. I also spent some more time working in Campus Ministry, and I've been catching up with various girlfriends throughout the day. Sadly, I have some homework to do for tomorrow, but I've been doing a good job of putting it off :o) Two classes tomorrow, and then work. It should be a fun day.

The last thing I have to say is actually a request. A good friend of mine, Molly, had unplanned surgery yesterday, and is back in the hospital tonight due to complications. If you could send a little prayer God's way, her family and I would really appreciate it. You are all in my thoughts; I love you tons!

Yet Another New Room

Well, I am officially moved into my third new room of the summer. Yesterday was an adventure in unpacking (my mother was appalled at the way I treated my clothing), and today was another adventure re-unpacking. My whole family came up with me yesterday afternoon to move me in, which was nice. It poured the whole way up, which was a tad unfortunate since the futon didn't fully fit in my dad's truck bed, but it stopped raining just as we got here and stayed dry until we finished. Since my roommate (Erin) was going back home for a concert, I had to unpack rather quickly, so most of my clothes got piled in a heap in my closet (hence Mom's horror) and things were just randomly stuck everywhere, so we could leave. Today however, I got up, loaded my last few things in the car and took Karen to tennis before heading out of town for the last time. I made it to school around 11ish and started in on the organizing process. It was long and messy, but I made it through. Everything is now hung up, folded, set up, or put away. Except that one of my picture frames came crashing down approximately three hours after I hung it up, scaring the crap out of me and Merideth, especially since we were sitting in her room and didn't see it happen, just heard it.

Anyway, Merideth and Brittany are living right next door to me, and Heather will be in the building too, along with many of our other friends. However, Merideth and I are the only ones currently here, which is making for an entertaining evening. We had a Campus Ministry meeting tonight, and after we got back from it, we explored our building, found the laundry room and walked around looking at the names on doors. We've giggled a lot and had some adventures while walking around the building. Which is called Lottie, by the way. Tomorrow morning, we leave bright and early for a day and a half retreat down in the cities, which should be interesting. There are a lot of new faces in Campus Ministry, as well as some great familiar ones. Sunday, we help the first years move in, and then our friends should all start arriving. I can hardly believe that I am looking at a whole nother year up here, and I am getting more and more excited about the process. Well, I must go pack for my retreat now. Love to all!

Another Summer Come and Gone

I can't believe how fast this summer went! Actually, I can't believe how fast the whole last year has gone. Last year at this time, I was up in the Boundary Waters, anxiously awaiting the beginning of college, with no idea what was in front of me. Now, I know what's coming and I can't wait to get there. Last year, I was completely packed days before I moved.... I move today and I'm not even close to being done with my packing yet. In a way, that's kind of nice, because I'm not so stressed out about what the coming days and weeks will bring.

Ok, so I moved home from the cabin last Wednesday evening, and it was a very sad thing for me. The last week I was up there, it was absolutely gorgeous, and I got a lot of sun. I ended up getting home around 9:00 Wednesday night, pretty unhappily. It was a tough transition, moving from the cabin back home and I was exhausted with all the activity for the first couple of days... actually, scratch that, I still am exhausted. Thursday, I drove down to ABC and visited with all my co-workers there, and then Mom and I headed down to the cities for the night. We picked up Grandma and went to ValuThrift, where I got some great buys and so did Mom. Then we met up with the aunts and did dinner at iHop and dessert at Grandma's. Friday morning, we got up, went to church and coffee, and then hit the MoA. We walked the whole place and only bought 6 refrigerator magnets, 4 alpaca wool scarves, and a pair of earrings. It was fun though, and we all enjoyed ourselves. Mom and I finally made it home around 8:00 and stuck in a movie. Saturday, we got up and headed to St. Cloud. (We were in a shopping mood this weekend!) We did well up there too, my biggest buy being a Denali NorthFace jacket for only $100. Usually they're closer to $200, so I was pretty excited about that. Saturday evening, we got home around 7:00 and were both just exhausted.

The past three days have been filled with laundry, packing, meeting friends, and working on a few various projects. My room has been a perpetual mess, which I hate, and it stinks, because I'll have a messy room for at least two more days. I feel like I am bringing WAY too much stuff with me to school, but I can't figure out what the unnecessary stuff is. I think it may be that I'm just bringing a lot of clothes with me. But we'll see. The whole crew is coming up with me today to move everything in, and then we're going to get dinner in St. Cloud before coming home for one last night in my bed. I can't technically move in until tomorrow, and if I'm found there tonight I can get a pretty hefty fine. My roommate can move in today though, so that's how I'm getting in. Tomorrow, I'll move up for good, and I'll have a Campus Ministry meeting in the evening, followed by an all day/night retreat on Friday. Sunday the freshies move in, and then all my friends come back! I'm definitely looking forward to seeing them all again.

For those you going back to school/sending kids that direction, enjoy your last few weeks of summer. For the rest of you.... enjoy life :o) hugs and kisses to all

The End Is Drawing Near

This is my last full week of work, and I am very sad about that. It's been a wonderful five weeks here, and it will be hard to leave. Luckily, Steve and Bunny seem to like me, so I think I'll be back next summer. There really isn't anything new to report, I'm still doing the same kinds of things at work and slowly learning the remaining things that I need to learn. I've been taken out on "garbage runs" and I've "done cans", I've learned the bait house, and I've also helped clean a fish. That was exciting. It wasn't anywhere near as gross as I thought it would be, and I'm kind of looking forward to the next time. I didn't do the whole thing, but I watched Bunny do most of it, and I got to do almost half of it. Funny how I've changed in the past month: cleaning a fish is not disgusting to me, it's exciting!

Anyway, I leave for home next Wednesday night/Thursday morning and start packing up for school. I bought most of my textbooks this morning: $131.03 for six books, and I have two more to buy. I saved about $100 by buying from half.com, and close to another $100 since I'm taking a class that Jon took last semester and he gave me his book. I'm really looking forward to going back to school, regardless of how hard it will be to leave here. I've been talking to some of my friends that I haven't really been in touch with all summer, and we're making big plans for this coming year. Plus, I talked to Erin, my roommate, and we have a futon, a fridge, a "comfy" chair, a hammock, a tv and dvd player, and a microwave. Hopefully we can fit it all in :o)

Well, that's about all I can think of for now. Have a great first week of August! xo

Summer Adventures

Woo hoo!! We got wireless internet at work! Now I can catch up on everything that I've been missing; my friends' lives, my emails, my shows... I love it :o)

Well, I've been living up at my cabin for almost a month now. The first week and a half, my family was up, and this past week, my family was up again, so I haven't really had much time alone yet, which is just fine. I love living up here, and I'm pretty happy living alone, but it still makes me nervous to be the only one in the house at night. Anyway, my days typically consist of at least four hours of work, a minimum of six miles of biking, lots of reading, some tv, and food. And that's about it. It's a pretty simple lifestyle up here, and even though it's taken a little getting used to, I know that it's going to be very odd when I leave. There's just something that so peaceful and laid back about life up here: one channel on the tv, bad cell phone service, in the beginning; no internet.... it just kind of makes you focus more on getting outside and meeting new people. In a way, I'm dreading leaving when it's time for school again.

Work. I love it. I'm working at Sugar Point Resort this summer. For those of you who have never been here, it's about three miles away from our cabin, and we have 19 cabins available for rent. Right now, most of them are filled up, and it's been a busy couple of weeks. I almost always have a job to do when I get here: stripping cabins, checking toilet paper in the campgrounds, stocking the cooler/freezer, or something along those lines. Then, I pretty much just sit in the lodge until the end of my shift, reading, playing cards, talking to my coworkers, and selling candy/ice/pop/fishing licenses. It's very easy work, but it gets me out of the cabin, and around people, so it's fun work. I've read quite a few books sitting at that counter this summer :o)

I work with my bosses, Steve and Bunny, their grandson Jordan, and a local boy named Keith. Jordan and I started at about the same time, and he'll be leaving with his parents tomorrow to head back home. He's a typical 14 year old boy; always trying to tell me what to do, and acting super cool. We have a lot of fun together cause he's kind of like a younger brother, but better because I don't have to take him home with me. Keith is 18, and we've had an interesting road of a relationship. We get along pretty well; I think there's only been one day where I was fairly upset with him, and didn't want to see him again for a few days. Other than that, he reminds me a lot of my friends from St. John's, and we laugh a lot together. We're going to head into town later this week and catch a movie and some food, so that should be interesting. Steve and Bunny are just great. Steve terrified me at first, but now I love hanging out and chatting with him. It's been a joy working for them, and I'm pretty sure that I'll be back next summer.

I have two and a half weeks left up here, and next week I'll be down at the dock, since Keith will be out of town. I'm excited for school, but I know it will be sad for me to leave here. I've made some good friends, and I've enjoyed every second of the month. I don't know when I'll be able to get back on here, but my days are almost all the same, so there's not too much to update you on. Love to all, I hope you're enjoying your summer!

The More Things Change...

the more they stay the same. At least that's what the songs tell us. And funnily enough, I've found it to be true. In the past 12 months, I have seen more changes in my life and my friends' lives than I ever have before. After graduating last June, my class all went their own ways. Some of us were off to four year colleges in the fall, some to two years. Some of us went right to work, and others started looking for jobs. Still others joined some branch of the military, and a whole nother group went out and found places to live, far away from Princeton. I have made a huge new group of friends, and grown up a little bit. I have big plans for my future, ones that include France for a few months and an internship in another state (hopefully) after my junior year of college. Who knows if they will work out or not, but at least I'm planning. This week I've gotten lunch with a number of my high school friends, and it's been great catching up with them. However.... everyone's DIFFERENT now. They have their own plans for life, their own new friends, their own frustrations and joys. They're still my friends, and I'm excited for them as they each start "the rest of their lives" as they have them planned now, but it makes me a bit nostalgic for the good ole days of grade school, middle school, and high school. Yes, I know that as I continue to get older, those "good ole days" will consist of what is my current present, but for now, they're school before college.

Even as I've been noticing all of these changes, I've become more attentive to the things that haven't changed. One of my favorite memories of childhood is Thursday garage saleing in the summertime. We never had that many garage sales ourselves, but I can remember walking around the block with my mom and checking out the other ones that were going on. As I drove into town today to meet two of my friends for lunch, I saw a bunch of signs for various garage sales. Sure enough, a little ways down the road, there were yards full of people and things for sale. I haven't been out garage saleing in many years, but it's kind of fun to realize that it's not a thing of the past. I guess I'll just have to keep on keepin' on and see what kind of changes I find in the next couple of years while continuing to come back to the familiar. Love y'all!

Catching Up

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it's been a while since I've been on here. And contrary to the usual, it's not because I don't have anything to say, it's because I've gotten really busy lately. Let's see. Well, last Sunday I went down to Rick and Drea's to celebrate Vanessa's Peace Corps posting to Swaziland, and to say goodbye. (For those of you non-family members reading, Vanessa is my cousin, Becca's older sister) It was a bittersweet party. I'm really really excited for Vanessa, because I know this is something that she's been wanting to do for a long time. However, I'm also a little sad that I won't get to see her for the next two years. Although I didn't see her much while she was still living here, I really enjoyed talking to her on those rare occasions where I was babysitting Becca and Ness was around for a while. It was nice to be able to talk to an older cousin, one who's already been through a lot of what I'm going through now. Plus, I just like her :o)

After the party, I drove out to CSB for the next four days. I was lucky enough to be able to be a counselor at Girls, God, and Good Times (aka 3G) this summer, and I really want to do it again next year. There's two sessions, one for 6th-8th graders, and one for 4th and 5th graders. I worked with the younger girls this year and had a total blast. It was my first time ever being a counselor, and now I can't wait to do it again. I was really nervous about it, but my girls were fantastic, my fellow counselors were great, and it was just a lot of fun.... I could go on and on about it, but I will keep it short and sweet. However, any of you reading this that have daughters that will be in grades 4-8 next year should really consider sending them to 3G.

My biggest news right now is that I finally got a job, and I'll be starting it in just over a week. I'm going to move up to our cabin, which I am super pumped about, and I'll be working at Sugar Point Resort. I'll be a "jill of all trades", doing everything from cleaning cabins, to mowing lawns, to working the docks, to being in the main building. It's about 30 hours week, broken down into five four hour days and one (Saturday) day with a four and a half hour shift in the morning and a three hour shift in the afternoon. As most of you know, at the cabin we do not have internet, and cell phones don't really work, so I'll be a little out of touch for a couple of months, but I'll try and find access somewhere to catch up with y'all.

Well, that's a pretty condensed version of everything that's gone on in the past two weeks. Love to all.

Summertime, Sweet Summertime

It's hard for me to believe that I've already had five weeks of summer vacation. It's flown by! I really haven't been doing too much, but it's been nice to relax and unwind a bit after the stress of the end of the year. I've done a lot of reading and I've scrapbooked a couple hundred pictures of my year, I try to work out, and I've watched a lot of movies. I'm working (kind of) on the job situation; at first I was going to try and get a job working up north either waitressing for some old family friends or cleaning cabins at a resort near the cabin, but so far neither of them has worked out. Now, I'm hoping to get some hours in at ABC and cleaning for certain family members of ours :o) That would be ideal, because then I would be fairly free to do things with my friends and I'd probably get the chance to go up to Cragun's resort again for a week to babysit Becca. 

My big excitement of the summer so far was driving down to Iowa last weekend. Merideth had just come back from Argentina and Brittany drove down too. It was absolutely fantastic to see those two, and hear about Merideth's trip. The only downer is that now I miss them even more. Anyway, it took me about five and a half hours to get down there, and the drive wasn't bad. I like driving, and it was kind of fun to undertake such a long trip by myself. We hung out with one of Brittany and Merideth's high school friends on Friday night, and on Saturday we went out to pick up Merideth's horse from where she had spent the school year. That was fun, partially because it was way out in the country which is always beautiful, and partially because I came home with a new kitten. Since Penny is getting pretty old, we decided it was time to get a new cat. He is all black except for a little white patch on his chest, and he has blue eyes. He's about nine weeks old, and he's a little shyster. I stopped in Bloomington for the night on my way back home, and he was tricky to keep safe in Grandma's garage. Monday morning when I left her house is when I started to run into problems. He managed to crawl out of the box I had him in and created quite a problem. I was fairly flustered, but we managed to make it home all in one piece. 

Next week, I'm off to CSB for a few days to be a counselor at a girls camp. I'll have five or six fourth and fifth grade girls, and it should be a lot of fun. Otherwise, not much else is new. So, love to all and I hope that you are enjoying the (somewhat) nice weather.

And it's June now...

Ok, so I've honestly been home for over three weeks now. I can't believe it. I didn't believe my friends when they told me summer would go fast, but so far it has. I still have 73 days left until I move back to school though :o( 

Anyway, so the end of the school year went well. That last Sunday, there was some MAJOR work done on research papers for a couple of us... I was up until close to 2 am helping a friend of mine who clearly is the master of procrastination (his paper was due on Monday and he had three pages done when I got to SJU after Mass). Otherwise, it was hanging out as usual. We had classes on Monday, but I didn't have to go to mine, since we had already handed in our final paper, so I had essentially two study days. I pretty much did nothing on both of them. I only had two finals, one in French and one in Comm, both of which were on Wednesday. For Peace Studies, I had a five page research paper that was due on Tuesday, and for FYS, I had the big research paper every first year has to do, and that was also due on Tuesday. Finals went fine in both classes, and it was very nice to be completely done on the first day of finals.

Brittany and Heather left on Thursday, so Wednesday night we all hung out in our typical spots: Heather in Christian's room, and me and Brittany with Jon. It was tough to leave that night, because we'll never have a chance to hang out there again. It was a fun night though. Thursday morning, we got up, ate breakfast together, and then started packing up Brittany and Heather. They both left soon after lunch, and it was tough to watch them go. Merideth and I finished up a few things (or in my case started.... I got about half of my room packed up in an hour and a half), loaded my packed stuff into my car, and headed over to the SJU beach. We were at SJU for the rest of the evening, but it was kind of quiet because people were either studying, packing, or out celebrating being done with finals.

Thursday night into Friday morning, I was up packing and doing laundry, and finishing a few corrections on a couple of French papers. I stayed up until 4:00 am, before finally falling into bed to sleep for a couple of hours. Friday morning, I got up and finished loading up my car, showered, checked out my room, collected Merideth, and ran over to SJU. My boys were leaving, and we helped them finish packing up cars, and then waved as they left. That was the worst. I hated watching them leave, since they were off to Italy and California, and I won't get to see them all summer. The rest of the night, we just kind of hung out. Jordan took me out to dinner and a movie, which was a lot of fun, and then I hung around on Mary 2, talking to the guys that were still there.

Saturday morning, I got up early, showered, and headed to church for commencement masses. We had two, and I sang and played piano at both. The first one was the hardest, because it was my last time singing with some really great people. We definitely had tears in our eyes a few times. After the masses were both done, we put the chairs away, and went back to the dorms, where I helped Merideth and her mom pack up their car before going to my room to wait for my mom. She got there around 3:00 and we headed home for the summer. 

xo, Rachel

Updating

Yes, it's been a couple of weeks since I've been on here. I don't want to bore you with all of the past two and a half weeks at once, so I'll get on here and update a few times over the next couple of days. Let's see. The last week of school that wasn't finals week was busy. It was our last few days of each class, so I had a lot of "end of the semester" assignments to do. Since the weather was just gorgeous, it was very difficult to stay inside and do those assignments, but I managed well enough. It was a sad week though, because I knew it was going to be my last real week with my friends before we were scattered all over the country (and world). We hung out at SJU like usual every night, but all of us had to finish up our research papers, which left little time for socializing. Even with the homework load being somewhat more than normal, we managed to get outside and enjoy the weather by playing volleyball a couple of times. 

Work also finished up for everything that week. It was a little sad to see the end of the year, especially since I'm losing people in both jobs that I enjoy spending time with. Next year will be very different in both departments, as we have people graduating, studying abroad, or just plain quitting. 

I didn't pack anything up at all during that week, since I didn't leave school until Saturday the 9th because of work. However, Sami packed up all of her things, and it was super weird to be living in a room that looked only half lived in. It was kind of nice though, because a lot of the time I felt like her half was overflowing onto my half, and it was hard to get around in our room sometimes. I can't wait until next year, when I live with someone that I get along with and am not afraid to move her stuff if it's in my space. 

The weekend was full, just as it always is. Friday night, when I got to SJU, the floor was a mess. All of the lofts had to be returned on Saturday, and of course none of the boys had bothered to take down their lofts before then. I hung out in Jon and Felipe's room, and helped/watched them clean and organize the room for the last week of school. It was very interesting to see the room transformed. I liked it a lot, but it was very different from the rest of the year. We all piled on the futon and watched movies until it was time to go. Saturday was boring, not much going on. Sunday was our last student led Mass, which was sad for all of us, but we had a great turnout for musicians, with both Brandon and Leslie showing up. 

That's about all I can remember from that week, so I'll be done for now. Tomorrow (or the next day, knowing me) I'll get on again and fill you in on last week. Love to all!

A Day On, Not A Day Off

So today is Scholarship and Creativity Day here at good old CSB/SJU. That means that we don't have any classes, but as our profs keep telling us, it's not a day off. We're to go and support our fellow students that are giving presentations.... yeah, that's not happening. I slept until 11:30, took the bus back to CSB, and just now got back from lunch with Brittany. Last night, we had a scary movie night in Jon's room, and it was TERRIFYING! We (meaning me, Brittany, Heather, Merideth, Rogers, Ben, and off and on, Jon) watched the Shining. I'm not very good with scary movies as it is, and when I'm watching them in a dark room, it's even worse. I had Brittany's and Heather's hands in death grips for most of it, and then ended up on the floor in Merideth's arms because she wouldn't let me leave the room. Around 12:00 am, someone knocked on the door really loudly, and I jumped a mile, picked up Merideth I was squeezing her so tight, and screamed my head off. I have a scratch on my cheek today from the zipper on the sweatshirt that Merideth was wearing. So yeah, good times.

In other news, the past week has been a good one. I've been in a great mood for the past couple of weeks, which is always nice. I celebrated my birthday with my family last Saturday, and it was nice to see them again. Otherwise, nothing too exciting has gone on. The weather has been BEAUTIFUL, so it's been hard to go to classes, but I'm hanging in there. I've been spending a lot of time with the girls, especially Heather, and with Jon, which has been fantastic. I'm not looking forward to the end of the year, but I just try not to think about it.

That's all for now! love to all...

Back to the Grindstone

The rest of my Easter break was fabulous: the family came up on Sunday, which was great, and then on Monday we got up around 9:00 and headed out an hour later. Back at school, we unpacked, and did a combination of laundry, homework, visiting, and procrastinating until about 6:00. We ended up at SJU by 7:15 and hung out there as people got back. I brought back a huge basket of Easter candy and cupcakes, courtesy of my mom and aunt for the boys, which went over VERY well with them. They had it gone by mid-evening Tuesday :o) As the evening wore on, more and more people came back, which is always fun. Brittany, Jon and I headed down to the dock to check out the lake (which is completely open!!!) and caught each other up on our breaks. Brittany and I went back down later, after the stars came out, and chatted. You'd think that after spending five days straight with each other, we would have run out of things to say, but it's not true. Then it was back to CSB for bed so we could be "well rested" for classes on Tuesday.

As I did no homework over break, I've been playing catch up for the whole week. I had a quiz in Comm this morning, and a portion of my French novel had to be read and deciphered, with answers to questions to go along with it. My first draft of a 12 page research paper is due tomorrow night, and I have a bunch of reading and journaling to do for Peace Studies. However, I'm completely done with classes for the week (no class tomorrow; yay!) and my birthday is on Saturday. Thus, I'm not too worried about any of it. The weather has been beautiful, Brittany and I have had nightly dates at the dock, and I've gotten to spend a lot of time with Jon, so I am one happy camper.

I hope all is well with all of you... Enjoy the rest of the week and weekend!

The Adventures of Brittany and Rachel Part 2

Well I made it through the last day of school with surprising ease. I ended up staying up until almost two a.m. in order to finish my annotated bibliography for my research paper that was due on Wednesday, since I kept getting distracted at SJU, but getting out of bed in the morning wasn't too bad. I even made it into jeans and a t-shirt for class rather than sweats! Class was class, boring as usual, but then I caught a bus to SJU to pick up some books for my paper, wish Jon and Heather good luck on a presentation, and see everyone one last time before break. I ended up staying at SJU until 1:30, so I could spend a little more time with Jon before he left, so I got back to CSB around 1:45 and headed up to my room to start the packing process. Brittany was in class until 2:00, and then had to pack as well, since neither of us had started at all. I finished first, went over to her room and helped her finish, and picked out songs to put on our mix cd for the car. It ended up taking us almost two hours to do all that, and we took off around 4:00.

We rolled into Princeton a little after 5:00, picked up some movies from Coborn's and headed to my house. We made it home much earlier than expected, so we joined my family for dinner, and then went down to the basement and made ourselves at home. In our basement, which..... drumroll please..... after ten years is finally finished!! It's all done, with carpeting, ceilings, paint on the walls, things all cleaned up, and it looks FANTASTIC. The last time I was home, the floors had just barely been started, and it was a mess. I keep looking around and getting shocked with how different it looks down here. Since it is so nice, we've decided to stay down here for the whole break. That way, we can watch movies and stay up late, as well as sleep late with not too many problems. 

Wednesday night, we were both exhausted and were in bed (aka a mattress on the floor) by 11:00 and slept until almost 11:00 the next morning. We then proceeded to do absolutely nothing productive with the rest of the day. Neither of us changed out of our jammies, and we pretty much sat around and talked and read for the whole day. We watched a couple of movies before falling asleep around 1:30. Now we're both up getting ready for the day, since we're going to Mass in a couple of hours. We both have a lot of homework to do, but neither of us has the motivation to start it, so we've put that off so far. It's been nice to get away from school for the last couple of days, and plus, Easter is getting closer and closer, which means we can eat chocolate again soon!

That's about it for now, so have a great day and see some of you on Sunday! xo

Quick Update

One day left... I can do it! This weekend was a good one; I was in bed by 10:30 Friday night, and my evening/afternoon before that consisted of a two hour nap, a quick dinner, and a movie in my bed. It was great. I loved it. Saturday, Brittany, Merideth, Jon and I went into St. Cloud to hit up Target for some necessary (and unnecessary) items. Joe was taking his ACTs at SCSU, and he came out to meet us when he was done. We walked the mall, then came back to CSB to drop off the other three, and then Joe and I headed back into St. Cloud. We went to the blowout sale at the Sportsman Warehouse, back to SCSU for a quick tour, and then out to dinner. My little brother is growing up- he took me to Applebee's and paid for it all! It was great to hang out with Joe for awhile, especially since we hardly ever get any one on one time. 

Sunday, I hosted a prospective student for the night. She came around 3:30 or so, we did homework for an hour and then headed to SJU for dinner and a concert. After the concert, which was amazing, we went to Mass in the Abbey, and came back upstairs to watch a movie with the boys. It was fly-in weekend, so almost all the boys were hosting students as well, which was kind of fun. What was not fun was the fact that my prospie had to come back over to SJU for an 8:00 am class.... and I had to come with her. Blech. 

The past two days have just been class and work and getting ready to go home for a few days. Brittany is coming home with me and I am soooooo excited. We can't wait to get away from all the drama and just hang out. Granted, we both have a ton of homework to do, but at least we don't have to get up for classes or worry about working. 

I hope everyone's week goes wonderfully and that Easter is great, just in case I don't get back on here before then. Love you all!

On The Go

What a week! Last Wednesday, Brittany, Merideth, Erin and I signed up for our rooms. The four of us got two rooms right next to each other on Lottie three, which is exactly what we wanted. Molly and her friend are living on the other side of Brittany and Merideth, and two of Erin's friends are just down the hall. We're all really excited to be living by each other and we've started making room plans. I think I've found a futon, and Erin's going to get a t.v., so we're pretty much set. I can't wait to live with someone that I can actually talk to, someone that I feel comfortable asking to leave so I can sleep... etc. etc. 

Thursday through Saturday brought new activities every night. Thursday night, the GAC jazz band (Karl's jazz band) played in Albany, which is only about 10 minutes away from SJU, so Brittany and I headed out there after dinner. The concert was phenomenal, and it was GREAT to see Karl again. Linda and Colin were there too, and we all went out to DQ after the concert to chat and catch up. Friday night Brittany, Heather, Ben and I went to the musical review on campus and that was absolutely wonderful. I knew a lot of the performers, and they did a great job. The four of us that went got all dressed up and had a blast. Saturday, after I got back from celebrating Easter at my grandma's house, nine of us went to see Noises Off which was a really funny play, and then we went into town and got some pizza and hung out for a while. Sunday was a bit of a rest; I did some homework, went to church, and then went to SJU for the remainder of the evening. 

The beginning of this week was rough. I had three tests yesterday, one right after another, and the days before that were filled with studying. Luckily for me, we had another snow storm hit on Tuesday, and because the roads were pretty bad, classes were cancelled, and so was work. That was fantastic! Brittany, Heather and I spent the day hanging out, doing homework, reading, and watching movies. It was really nice to relax here at CSB for a day, and I got to go to bed early too, in preparation for my tests. My first test was at 8:00 am at SJU, and then I just kept going from there. I got done around 12:30, grabbed lunch with the crew, headed back to CSB and got ready to register for classes. Unfortunately, I got an email about 15 minutes before I registered, saying that one of the classes I wanted to take was full, and that there would be no more sections opening up. That was a bummer, but I had picked out another class to fill that spot too, just in case.... I went to register, only to find out that I couldn't get in to that class either. That was a bummer, and I had to do some juggling, but I ended up with three comm classes, a math class, a math independent learning project, and piano lessons. I still have an 8:00 am at SJU, but it's a comm class that I'm taking with one of my friends from my math class last semester, so it should be fun. My other new news is that I withdrew from piano lessons for the remainder of the semester. I decided that with everything I have going on for the rest of the semester, I just don't have the time or energy to play catch up. I'll keep my scholarship on a disability claim, and resume lessons next fall. 

Now, I just have to make it through the next two days and it's the weekend. I can't wait! Love to all.

Finally!

I'm free! I got to take my brace off this morning, this time for good. I am very excited about this, and I'm making good use of my freedom. It's kind of funny though, I still forget sometimes that I can use my left hand properly, and I go to use it the way I have been for the past few weeks. 

Anyway, it's been a week or so since I've been on here. So it's time for a fill-in. This past weekend, Karen came up for Little Sib's weekend, which was fun. Dad brought her up Friday evening, and we met in St. Cloud for dinner. My best friend Brittany had her whole family up (two boys, 6 and 12, and her sister, 17, plus her parents) and an extra friend that wanted to tour the school, so we all got together when I got back to CSB and just kind of hung out for the night. We met some of the boys and then went to a comedy act, which was quite good. Merideth, Heather, and Brittany also had one of their mutual high school friends up, and we met her Saturday morning. Saturday was filled with a photo scavenger hunt and more hanging out. We popped in a movie late Saturday night, since none of our visitors were used to staying up until the wee hours of the morning. Sunday, Karen and I got up, went to breakfast, and then met Mom in Waite Park to catch the 12:30 showing of New In Town. For all you native Minnesotans out there, I would recommend you watch that. It's not amazing enough to the point where I would say go see it in theaters, but someday, rent it. It's pretty funny. 

Other than that, nothing too exciting has happened in my life over the past week and a half. I've been working on a couple of research papers for various classes, and trying to stay ahead in all of my others. I work approximately 11 hours each week, spread out over Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and then enjoy Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Piano lessons are still up in the air; I have definitely decided though to either drop them or take an incomplete. I sign up for my room tomorrow, and I'm really excited about that. But that's about it.

Love to all...

Even The Most Carefully Laid Plans....

can end up changing completely. My weekend was all planned out in my head, starting with Friday night. I was going to have a piano lesson around 4:30, do some homework, grab something to eat, head over to SJU around 7:30, see Karen, come back to CSB around 9:45, relax in my empty room (Sami was gone all weekend for basketball), and get to bed by about midnight. Saturday, we were going to be up and headed into St. Cloud by 11:00, shop for a few hours and be back early afternoon to do some homework before having another girl's night, this time in my room. Sunday we were going to sleep in late, finish any homework, go to church, and then head over to SJU for the remainder of the evening.

Wanna know how my weekend actually turned out?

Friday night, I did have my piano lesson around 4:30, and it turned out to be pretty upsetting for me. As it turns out, with my tendonitis messing with my practicing, I may have to take an incomplete in my lessons, or even drop the course. I'm really rather upset about this, since I love playing piano. Our decision for the time being is for me to take another week off, and see how things are going by the end of March. I'm hoping to finish the semester out and then take a little more time off at the beginning of my summer. After my lesson, I met up with Brittany, Merideth, and Heather and we got dinner at CSB before heading over to SJU on the 6:30 bus. I did in fact get to see Karen, who was playing in the pep band for a girl's basketball game, but it was only for a couple minutes. I didn't want to pay to get into the game, so I went back to Mary 2 with the girls and was waiting around for the next bus when we all decided to go check out the dance in the pub. Suffice it to say, I didn't make it home and into bed until 1:30. Brittany spent the whole weekend in my room, and we talked for just a couple of minutes before falling asleep. 

Saturday morning, we didn't end up leaving for St. Cloud until noon, since Heather had to work. We shopped the mall; got some essentials, as well as some fun stuff, and made it back to CSB around 3:30. The other girls headed over to SJU after a couple of hours of homework, and I stayed back to keep working. Brittany ended up taking the 9:15 bus back to CSB, and we met up in the Gorecki for a quick bowl of cereal before heading back to my room. We worked on some stuff for a little while, and then decided to head over to Regina to check out a party that was supposed to be going on, but it wasn't, so we left. We ended up sitting in Mary Hall Commons for a good hour and a half, just talking and people watching. Finally, around 12:30 we headed up to my room and crawled in bed. About 15 minutes later, the boys showed up. They had been out in St. Joe, and ended up hanging out with us until the 2:00 bus. We finally got to bed around 2:30 and slept until 9:00. 

On Sunday, I did a little homework before meeting up with my collegebound group for breakfast. We chatted until a little after 11:00, and then I went to practice piano for mass, came back to my room, took a quick shower, got ready for church, and went to SJU for an orchestra concert with Brittany. It lasted until just before I needed to head back for church, so I got out of there pretty quickly. Mass went well; it was confirmation and Bishop Kinney was  the presider. After mass, Brittany and I headed back to SJU for the remainder of  the evening. All was uneventful until about 11:30, when all the power on the campus was lost due to an excel power outage combined with our generator dying. I was irrationally scared, and ended up spending the night because I refused to drive back to CSB and then spend the night alone in my bed. Brittany and I slept in Jon's room, and Merideth was in Steve and Geo's room. We slept until about 7:30, when we found out that classes were cancelled for the day, which was an awesome discovery. The rest of the morning, we just hung out on Jon's futon, chatting with each other and the random people that walked in. At one point we walked over to the Reef and had some dry cereal. Finally around 1:15, we all came back to CSB and worked out. The weather was gorgeous today, so most of the group ran outside and then came back to our dorms and did homework outside. Brittany and I got food with Jon and Geo around 4:00, and then I had to work. After work, Brittany and I attended a speaker, and were about to head over to SJU when we realized that there was still no light over there. We decided to stay here, which worked out well, since all of our guys are here too. We're currently just sitting around doing homework and hoping against all hope that the generator will prove impossible to fix by tomorrow. As of right now, all classes at CSB are scheduled to go regularly and SJU classes are pending. I would definitely be up for a couple more days of cancelled classes, but it doesn't look too promising. Most of our boys are thinking about spending the night here, so we'll see what happens. 

Whew, that was long. I hope all is well where you are. Have a great day and don't forget to smile because I love you!

Snow Nights, Tendonitis, and Roommates

I've only been back to school for six days, and already the drama has returned... We started off the week with a beautiful day on Monday. My class went fine, and I felt like I got a lot of stuff done. The weather took a major turn for the worse overnight though. On Tuesday, the temp had dropped about 30 degrees and we were expecting about ten inches of snow. Sure enough, by about 2:30, classes for the rest of the day were cancelled, and the busses shut down at 4:00. Since we were stuck at CSB for the night, Merideth, Brittany, and I hung out. There were lots of laughs, and we had a ton of fun. I wrote a story about our night, which I'll probably post when I finish it.

Wednesday morning, I got up and headed back to Princeton to get my wrist checked out. It's been sore and swollen for three and a half weeks, so I decided it was time to get it looked at. As it turns out, I have tendonitis in my left wrist. I'm stuck in a wrist brace for the next two weeks, and it's been tough. I'm only allowed to take it off for showering, and it's been very interesting learning how to live with only one functioning hand. I can't move my thumb at all, which makes it difficult to type, eat, get dressed, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

Pretty soon, we have to sign up for next year's rooming in the sophmore dorms. As of early this week, I was planning on getting a single next to Merideth and Brittany, but things may be changing. I know a girl from Collegebound, Erin, as well as her boyfriend and main group of friends. We've never really hung out, but we both really like each other and always want to hang out. As of right now, she's signed up for a quad next year, but we decided earlier this week that we want to live together. We discussed everything that we could think of, and it sounds like we'll be a perfect match. She is still waiting to find out about the quad, though, so we won't be able to figure this out until next week. She's someone I never even thought of living with, but now I'm really excited about the prospect of doing so.

Well, my wrist is bugging me, and I've got to go get ready for the next part of my day, so I leave you all with my love until next time!

Back to good ol' (not so cold) MN

Well, we made it through our last day in Florida without too many problems. Grandma stayed sick all the way home, and we figure it had to be the water in the house, because she was the only one who kept drinking it. 

Friday afternoon we ended up at the beach again. It was nice for a while, but the clouds moved in quickly, and by 5:00 we packed it up and called it a day. We headed "home", showered, and then went to McDonald's for our last meal in the Sunshine State. By the time we made it home, everyone was exhausted, so we put the little kids to bed, and turned on the boob tube. The rest of us packed up what we could in anticipation of our 10:00 checkout time and then hit the sack around 11:00.

Saturday morning was filled with the last little bit of packing and laundry, before we left at 10:30. We made it to the airport and checked in by noon, got a pizza, and boarded the plane. The following seven hours weren't very exciting: two plane rides, one with a half an hour delay on the runway for reasons unknown to us, and finally loading into the car to go home. 

I was in bed by 10:30 and slept until close to 9:00 this morning. With daylight savings time, we don't have to deal with any jet lag, which is pretty nice. I packed everything up this morning, and headed out around 1:00. It's SO nice to be back at school; I never realize quite how much I miss it until I'm settled back in. I have church in an hour, and hopefully by the time we're done my friends will all be back. I can't wait to get to SJU and see the boys... I know there were lots of cross country trips taken and I can't wait to hear about them. Tomorrow it's back to the grindstone! xo

What's the point??

Well this has quite possibly turned out to be the worst vacation/spring break I have ever experienced. We started off the week with bad weather and two sick people. As time went on, we started finding dead (and live) cockroaches all over the place. Next thing you know, Karen, Nina, and myself are all sick. And by sick I mean throwing up sick. The three of us were up most of the night Wednsday night, and Karen and I were totally out of commission yesterday. I didn't even see Karen (or eat anything for that matter) for over 24 hours because I was sleeping in our room and she was stuck on one of the couches. Of course, yesterday had to be the nicest day of the week, and neither of us were able to enjoy it...

We're all feeling better today, although I'm still a little weak. The skies are clear and blue and the sun is shining, so hopefully I can muster up enough energy to shower and get outside to enjoy our last day here. By this time tomorrow, we'll be packing up to head home to cold MN.

That's about all the excitement I've got for now. Hope everyone is staying healthy!

What A Way To Start...

Well, after I made it back to good ol' P-town Friday afternoon, the fun and games began. It was a bit of a stressful night for everyone, trying to get packed up and ready to go. I came home to find out that not only had we not started packing yet, but also that not all of the laundry we needed was done. Tempers were a little short, which was not good for me, being as it was my first night of spring break and the first time I was going to be home for more than a couple of hours. I didn't add to the happiness much either, considering that I was running on about two and a half hours of sleep plus four hours in my car, being very stressed out because I don't like driving in the cities. But you knew all of this from the last time I wrote.

Anyway, I ended up falling fast asleep on the couch Friday night while I was waiting for my iPod to finish charging. My dad woke me up around 11:00, at which point I decided the thing was charged enough and proceeded to stumble upstairs and fall into bed. I used a comforter and a fleece blanket to cover the bed and slept until about 4:00 in the morning. We made it out of the house around 4:30. I plugged my headphones into my ears and fell asleep, not waking up until we got to the airport. We made it to the gate on time, boarded and took off a few minutes early. I sat apart from the rest of the family and slept off and on all the way down.

When we got to FL, the rental car waiting for us was a joke. Two of the seatbelts were broken and we couldn't buckle everyone in, so we ended up being at the airport for almost two hours after we landed, trying to get a car. The drive from Fort Meyers to Marco Island is about an hour and a half, and we got to the house around 3:30. We unpacked, and headed out to grab dinner and some groceries. I was dead tired, and it took my remaining energy to walk around that grocery store. (Which happened to be Publix, one of my favorite grocery stores ever... odd, I know) When we got back, I read for a little while and pretty much fell into bed around 10.

Yesterday, we got up and went to church and then came back to the house and relaxed. It was sunny for a little while, so we all got some sun, but then the clouds rolled in and we spent the rest of the day indoors. We're starting off this vacation with the bad weather, hoping to work up to the nicer stuff. We got off the island for dinner, checking out this little place called Rib City. It was good food, and we had a lot laughs. We arrived back at the house around 8:00, put the kids to bed, and just kind of hung out for the rest of the night. I was once again in bed by 10:00.

Today I didn't get up until 10:00, and the first thing I found out was that Joe is sick. He's been freezing cold and throwing up (...I think. I haven't checked too closely into that yet.) Dad and Karen went to Publix to get some meds and food supplies and everyone else is having a quiet day in, since the wind is still pretty strong. I've been putting off my two papers that I need to write and reading instead. The kids are doing homework and watching t.v. quietly, since the pool table was driving Grandma nuts. Hopefully tomorrow we'll be able to get together with Teri and Kate, and go shopping.... I think the inactivity is hard on Grandma.

I miss my friends back at school SO MUCH, and I can't wait to see them all again. Hopefully though, the weather will clear up so I can get outside and bring them back a tan to be jealous of!

love to all!

The Adventures of Rachel and Brittany

Spring break has officially started! Last night, Brittany, Jon, and I kicked it off a little early by having a "girls night" in Jon's room. We stayed up until almost three in the morning, watching movies and talking about stuff. We all ended up falling asleep on the futon until about 8:30, when we started getting up and getting ready for class. It was a lot of fun to spend the night there, and we had some giggles about stuff that we did in our sleep... apparently I'm a bed hog. And a blanket hog. And all of us moved around into very odd places :o) But we had fun, so that's all that really matters I guess.

Today I went to my second two classes (I slept through my first one-what a rebel huh???) and then went back to CSB to pick up Brittany and bring her down to Minneapolis so she could catch the bus home. We put in a dance music CD and talked all the way down, only getting lost once when we couldn't find the actual station. I really miss Brittany already, and I can't wait to see her and everyone else again. Hopefully she'll be coming home with me for Easter break, so you family members reading this will get to meet her.

I made it home around 5:00 after driving through the awful traffic that snarls up the cities during the drive home. Now I've got to go get packing for vacation. I feel like I'm not bringing that much with me compared to past years, but I do have to throw some stuff into a backpack for the plane, including my homework.... luckily for me, all of my profs decided to load it on. It should be a fun week though, and I'm really looking forward to getting away from it all.

Have a great weekend and week!

Countdown to Spring Break

It's once again been a while since I've sat down and updated this.... sorry about that! I've taken three mid-terms and both of the ones that I've gotten back went well. Now I'm just waiting on my Peace Studies test. Hopefully I'll get that back tomorrow and all will be well. Speaking of tomorrow, I start Spring Break at about 12:30 tomorrow! I can't wait! My family and my grandma on my mom's side are going down to Marco Island, Florida for the week and I'm very much looking forward to that. We take off early Saturday morning and come home late the following Saturday. But before that I still have to get through a doctor's appointment, three classes (one of which I hate), and driving down to the Metrobus station to get one of my friends started on her way home. 

Anyway, back to the past. The past couple of weeks have been very busy and not too exciting. Somehow I hurt my left wrist, and it's been hurting since the 16th, so I have an appointment to get that checked out in a couple of hours. It's been a pain because as a pianist,  I kind of need both of my arms to be in good shape. Other than that, I've been doing well I guess. Lots of hanging out with my friends, lots of drama, and lots of discussions going on. Last Friday I went home for the afternoon, and that was fantastic. I love seeing my family, and I got to see all of them except Joe. 

I'm sitting here trying to think of what else is new, and I can't come up with any thing. I'm doing my laundry right now, and pretty soon I'm going to shower, go to work, and then head to St. John's to get my wrist checked out. Oh, and for all of you that follow my blog and are my friends on facebook, just so you know, I gave up facebook for lent, so you won't be getting any responses from me there for a month or so. Okay, that's all. I love you all!

And Life Goes On

Life has been busy lately... lots of school and socializing and work. Just to fill you in on what's going on in my life, here's what's up. 

For those of you who are wondering, my applesauce brownies turned out pretty good. I didn't actually try them, but everyone who did only had good things to say about them. The other pan of brownies was good as well, and lasted only a couple of hours at SJU :o) I now have six containers of applesauce and eight eggs to somehow get rid of...

As to the rest of my life, classes are going well. I've had my first test in two of my classes, and I have one more coming up this Thursday. I have a couple of papers due pretty soon in FYS, and a project coming up in Peace Studies. Other than that, it's just been class as usual. Nothing too exciting, nothing too boring. Getting up and going to Comm is still tough, but it's one of my favorite classes, so I guess it's worth it. 

Work has been fun for both of my jobs. In Admissions I'm still calling accepted seniors, and it's a lot of fun to have them tell me that they are committed to CSB/SJU. Campus Ministry isn't that busy for me, but I am getting to know my co-workers better, and I love them all. We have  a lot fun together, especially at Masses on Sundays and then dinner afterwards. 

I checked out the Sophmore dorms this week. Merideth and Brittany are planning on getting a double, and I'm going for a single right next to them. We don't get to sign up for rooms for a while yet, but it was kind of exciting to check the three dorms out. I think I'm going to really like having my own room, especially if Merideth and Brittany live right next door. We have a lot of fun together, and it's going to be easier to live nearer to each other than we do right now. Plus, Sophmore dorms are right across the way from the Gorecki and the bus stop, so that's going to be GREAT. 

Outside of classes and work, I've been staying busy. This weekend Adam came up to visit me Friday night, which was fun. I haven't seen him since October, and it was fantastic to be able to hang out again. We talked for a couple of hours and then went and saw a movie before he went home. Yesterday was also a lot of fun. I slept in, got up and went to lunch/breakfast with Merideth and Brittany, went and bought flowers for those two and Heather, and then came back and picked the girls up to go out to SJU for a while. Brittany and I colored Valentine's Day pictures for almost all of Mary 2, and we went over to hang them up early in the afternoon. We hung out there for a while, and then Heather and I came back to get some homework done before our girls' night. The four of us (Me, Merideth, Brittany, and Heather) ordered a pizza and watched a movie in Brittany's room to celebrate being single :o) We had a lot of fun just hanging out and chatting, and after Merideth and Heather went back to their rooms around 11:00, Brittany and I proceeded to talk for another two and a half hours before we finally fell asleep. I slept until 11:30 and then Brittany, Merideth and I went to get some food. I went to the gym after we got back, and I'm about to go shower and get ready for church before I do a little bit of homework. Only three days of classes again this week, and I'm going home on Friday for the day to get some stuff done before Spring Break. 

That's about all that's new. Hope everything is going well for all of you reading this! xo

Puddle Jumping and College Cooking

We have been having such beautiful weather lately, but it's starting to take a turn for the worse again. I've loved being able to wear a lighter jacket even late at night, and the warm sunshine. However, for the last couple of days, it's been cloudy and rainy.... which has resulted in HUGE puddles all over campus! I never realized how many low spots there are on the CSB campus until about a day ago when the bottoms of my pants got soaked as I walked around. It's kind of fun to see everyone's cute rain boots, and to watch them try and figure out the driest route from point A to point B, but I don't know if it's worth it. The nights still get fairly cold, so the layer of water turns into ice overnight, just waiting for us unsuspecting students to try and walk on it the next morning. 

Another fun thing is trying to cook, college style. Campus Ministry is having a pre-Lenten party tonight in place of our weekly meeting, and everyone is bringing something they have given up in a past Lent (or two). I signed up to bring brownies, and last weekend I went and picked up the stuff to make them. I didn't get around to actually making them until just now, and let me tell you, it's been an adventure! First of all, I didn't want to buy a whole thing of oil, so I listened to my friends and bought applesauce to replace the oil, thinking that I could just eat the leftover applesauce. Then, when I went to make the brownies, I didn't have any measuring cups, so I guessed on the amount of water I was putting into the mix.... and now I'm just going to have to guess as to when they are done, since our oven doesn't have a timer on it. I've never used applesauce before, so I tried the batter after I put the brownies in, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. It was oddly sweet and really runny.... Hopefully it turns out ok. I'm making another pan for us girls and our boys, but I think I'm going to use oil for that pan. One of the girls on the floor has oil that I can use, and even though using applesauce cuts the calories, I'm thinking it's not worth it. 

Well, I have more to speak of, but I think my applesauce brownies are done, and I need to go to the gym before I make the other batch, so you'll have to be patient. Love to all!

Simple Pleasures

Today is Friday. That in and of itself is a wonderful thing. However, every other week (this being one of them) I have very long Fridays, so I don't necessarily look forward to them that much. I got about five hours of sleep last night after an emotionally charged evening, and then had to get up and go to class at 8:00, followed by two more classes and a meeting with my new boss. 

So it's been a busy day. However, over the past couple of days, I've been taking special notice of the simpler pleasures in life, such as the beautiful sunrise this morning that I got to see on my way to SJU. And the awesome hug I got last night from a relatively new, but very good friend. And the great conversation I had with my new boss today about life and my new job, as well as the hug I got from her, welcoming me to the team. And the fun chat I had with one of the lunch ladies, Laurel, who is new to CSB this year, and is a lot of fun to talk to. And the knowledge that I have a "date" to watch a movie with two of my closest guy friends. And I have a lot more to share, so I'm going to stop saying "and" :o) In addition to what I've already mentioned there is: the fact that I have time to go the gym with a couple of my girlfriends in an hour, knowing that I get to eat dinner with a friend I haven't seen in a while, getting to know the girls in Admissions better when we all went down to the reception on Wednesday, being able to listen and help my friends with their problems. The fact that my best friend at CSB found a great guy to be with, the knowledge that the guys I hang out with all the time really do like having me around and that they're always there for me when I need them, Pandora music, wearing my sweatpants, the fact that I'm almost done with my homework already, only having to go to class three days next week. And one of the most exciting things: the fact that I am trying to turn over yet another new leaf with a friend's girlfriend, with whom I tend to not get along well with, and the fact that we actually had a decent conversation today. I'm proud of that one.

I tend to get so caught up in the daily toils of life and stress over homework and things like that, that I forget to open my eyes and heart to simpler things. I just thought I would share some of what I've noticed, so hopefully all of you who have had stressful weeks this week would remember to take a few minutes and thank God for all He's given us. Have a great weekend! xo

Update

Well it's been awhile since I updated this, so I'll try and fill you in on what's going on in my life. Let's see. I got hired with the Liturgy team in Campus Ministry, and during my first mass as an "official" minister, we experienced a power outage and had to hold the mass in darkness. It was very interesting... and a lot of fun. The lights came back on half way through the homily, but at that point we were all in the gathering space vs. the actual church, and everyone was sitting on the floor. It was stressful for those of us in charge, but I think it went really well. 

I've re-started in Admissions, but not quite regular hours yet. The first week of calling, we didn't call on Tuesday because of the Inauguration, so I only worked one night that week, which was last week. This week, I only worked Tuesday because last night I went down to Eden Prairie to help out at an admitted students reception. That was a lot of fun, but a very long night! We met at 3:00 and didn't get back until after 11:00. However, I met a lot of really cool people, and I got to talk to a number of students about CSB/SJU, which is something I love doing. Next week, it's back to the grindstone, and I'll be working Tuesday and Wednesday night, 5-8.

Classes are still going fine; I still hate getting up and catching a bus for my 8:00 am at SJU, and I still have a lot of reading to do. I don't really like my French prof, or my FYS prof, but other than that, I can't complain.

As to my social life.... I've been spending a crazy amount of time at SJU. It's a lot of fun, and I get a lot of work done over there. Plus, it's been great to spend some one on one time with some of the guys and get to know them a little better. I don't get enough sleep most nights, but I make up for that on the weekends. Last weekend, Karen and Mom were up here for Karen's piano competition (in which I just found out she advanced to the next round!!! I'm so proud!) and we hung out for the day on Saturday. It was fun to see them again, and luckily, I didn't have anything else going on, so I didn't feel like I needed to get back. Saturday night was the freshman formal dance. It was a little weird; a lot different than the high school dances I remember, but it was still a lot of fun. I love dressing up, and that would have made pretty much anything fun :o) 

Other than that, not much else going on. Love to all!