Take a given week out of anybody's life. They have their obligations. Their exciting highlights. Their grievances. Their things to look forward to. Their social experiences. Etc. Etc. Etc. Well, here are mine. Obligatory classes: Nothing to report on that front. Exciting news: I found out that I am a Team Leader for Boiler Gold Rush next year for Shrevehart, the group I was in last semester (check my August 22 post)!! I'm so FREAKIN' EXCITED as Kristen Wiig from SNL would say. When I opened my letter and saw "Congra...," I started jumping up and down like an idiot. I probably should have kept reading before I celebrated. The letter could have said, "Congra...psych, we wanted you to think you got the position, but you actually didn't," but luckily it just said "Congratulations" like a normal letter. Anyhow, I will be meeting the others in my TL group and also my BGR Supervisor on Saturday, and then our retreat is on Sunday! Yippee! Grievances: I can't say I've had many this week. I've been fortunate. Oh, except that weather. Seriously, make up your mind, Mother Nature. Don't be so bipolar with your snow, rain, and ice falling from the sky at the same time. It is no fun walking to class in that wintry mix. Things I'm looking forward to: Shreve Semi-formal is this Saturday! I have to help set up from like 8 am to when it starts, at like 8 pm, and then work part of it, and then tear down afterwards. I'm excited for it though, because it's gonna be HUGE! It's for any residence hall student and it's in the press box of our football stadium, which will be awesome. Also, Annie let me borrow one of her dresses and it's really cute, so I'm excited to wear it! Also, let's be real. I'm looking forward to Spring Break. One more week of classes and I"m outta here. Socialite: I had to practice my mingling skills, as well as my manners, at the Honors College Appreciation Dinner last night at the Union. It was a dinner put on to appreciate all the honors college professors and such, and we all had to dress up. So we ate a lot of really nice food and drank a lot of mocktails. We also had a nice time being ridiculous on the walk back.(See photos below).
Those mocktails sure can get to ya! ;)
Okay, actually serious.
More posing...
Jenna and Jien Nee!
Winter "fountain run"
Triangle is the engineering frat, and there are benches out on the corner of their property. At the beginning of the year, the guys would sit on the benches and watch all the girls walk by. So we decided to take a picture by the benches haha.
Etc. Etc. Etc: These pics are old, but here are our floor t-shirts!
These are the current videos sweeping across campus as of right now. Enjoy!
...you're walking back from your DeVito class in the freezing cold snow and wind and you were dressed up because you visited a school and as you're walking you realize your tights are on backwards and they start slipping down your legs and with every step they fall further and further down until you reach your dorm room and your realize that any further and your bare bottom would have been exposed to the world if a wind gust had blown your skirt up. Talk about embarrassing.
The title of this post is a contradiction, I know. However, SAD is not the emotion, but rather an appropriately titled acronym for a special holiday celebrated on February 14. Wait, you're saying. February 14th? That's Valentine's Day. SAD can't stand for Valentine's Day. There's no V there.
No, no, no, reader. SAD stands for Singles Awareness Day, aka the day where, while everyone else is celebrating their love for each other and basking in gifts of flowers and chocolates and teddy bears and jewelry, the singles of the world get together (or get with themselves) and bask in the fact that they're single. Doesn't the acronym seem appropriate now? Thought so.
How did I celebrate my SAD? Well, I went to a classy dinner at the dining courts with my date, Christian. Except for the fact that he was a cheapskate and didn't even swipe me in. How dare he?
Just kidding.
I also got to talk to my mama, a fantastic valentine if you ask me. And after that I laid on my futon for a solid 10 minutes contemplating life and wondering where the heck everyone on my floor was because I wanted to pass out my cupcakes buy everyone's door was shut. No cupcakes for you! (Seinfeld reference).
Finally, I found some people: Annie and Alyssa. So what did we do to celebrate our singledom? We drank an entire bottle of sparkling grape juice out of the shot glasses I got them from Cancun over Christmas break as souvenirs. It was a good time. And we even remembered it the next day.
Earlier that day, I even made a miniature shrine in honor of singles in our elevator lobby, complete with various someecards cards (someecards.com) bashing Valentine's day. Judge me all you want, but I thought it was fun.
My awesome shrine to the singles. Beyonce would love me.
As far as the plethora of other items of business I feel the need to impart upon you...
Fairway party:
Friday night, Fairway, the Christian guys' cooperative house (not a golf course), had its monthly party. (I've been to a couple others first semester). The theme? Highlighter! Basically, you wear a white t-shirt and write on each others' clothes and skin with highlighters, and they glow like crazy under the black lights. It was really sweet! I went with Laura, her friend Terry, Alexandra, and Breana. It was a fun girls night out with lots of dancing and singing and all that jazz.
Working out:
It had been awhile since I'd shown my face in the Dova, but Saturday morning, Jess and I decided it would be a good idea to burn some calories. So we did. Our workout was a hodgepodge of things: elliptical for half an hour, a few rounds on the track of run 2 laps (hah, did I say run? I meant jog...), walk 1, and then 5 minutes on the rowing machine, because why not? Then we ate lunch. So much for burning those calories.
Tying ties:
I decided to cross something off my mental bucket list this last week: learn how to tie a tie. That's on your bucket list? Wow, you have really sad life goals. You don't wanna like skydive or anything like that? Loser. Shut up, voice in my head! You have to start small.
But anyhow, I had Christian teach me how to tie one. But I didn't want to learn how to tie it on myself. Oh no. I have no use for a tie. I wanted to learn how to tie one on someone else because for some reason I really want to be able to tie my husband's tie when I grow up and get married. I know, I'm cool. But get over it. I think it's sweet.
So I learned the full windsor (I think that's what it's called) because half windsors are for suckers, and I still need some practice, but it wasn't too shabby.
Look at those skills!
Model...?
Sunday School:
The lead teacher from my Sunday School class, Hannah, was away for the weekend, so I had my debut as lead classroom teacher. It went pretty well! We were learning about the Beatitudes, so we did a matching activity and charades and such. It was pretty fun, even if the kids were a little rowdy. But they always are :)
TL interview:
I have my group interview for being a Boiler Gold Rush team leader next year on Wednesday! I'm a little nervous, but hopefully it will go well. Actually, now that I think about it, this whole week is gonna be pretty busy. Yikes.
Tinder and Lulu:
These are 2 of the latest apps getting attention from my college students across the nation. Alyssa told me about Tinder one day at lunch. It's an app for girls and guys where a Facebook picture of someone nearby to you of the opposite sex will pop up on screen and you can either like them or skip them. No matter what you do, the person you rate won't know. However, if you like them, and they see your picture and like you, the app will tell you that you have a match and you can chat with the person on the app. It's really kinda lame, but also fun at the same time. Alyssa told me she actually met one of the guys in person at a party she was at one time! It's an interesting way to make friends, for sure.
Now Lulu is another, albeit similar, story. The night I was at Christian's tying his ties, a guy from his floor, Garron, walked into the room. "Hi," he said. "I don't think we've met before. I'm Garron." He held out his hand and I shook it. Little did he know, I already knew who he was because he makes it a point to roam the hall in his underwear on a regular basis, and I have been unfortunate enough to witness this while being at Christian's every now and then. But anyways, he asked if I had an iPhone. I told him no, sorry. His face dropped in disappointment. I told him I have an Android. His face perked up instantly.
He asked if I'd heard of the app Lulu before. No, I told him. I hadn't. But I could download it if he wanted. I think I made his night by saying that.
He told me that this app was a way for girls to rate different guys, and he really wanted to see what his rating was. He said he tried to download the app himself, but since it connects through Facebook, it can tell if you're a guy or girl and won't allow guys to log in. So, I had to set up an account specifically so he could see what some girls said about him. And guys think girls are egotistic...
He spent a solid 5 minutes reviewing the 2 ratings he had received, and seemed pleased with his score of 9.1. Then he left. A couple minutes later, 3 more guys showed up in the room, begging for me to look them up and see what their rating is. I rolled my eyes, but complied. I kinda felt like I was breaking the girl code by doing this, but since all the ratings are anonymous, nobody knows who rates who. The ratings are based on looks, commitment, ambition, first kiss, etc, and the app calculates a number rating for the guy based on what you say. It's really funny to look at different guys' ratings, although it is a very superficial app. What will they think of next?
Now we get to the really good part of the post: the part where Morgan, Alyssa's guy from back home, comes to visit.
I got out of class Friday at 4:30 and when I got back, I hung out in Annie's room for awhile and chatted with her. I then get a text from Morgan: "I told Alyssa I wouldn't be able to get on the early shuttle, so I told her I won't get there until 8. But I'll actually be there in an hour. How can we surprise her?"
I was like, wow Morgan, thanks for putting this on me! So I told Annie and we tried to think of a cool way for him to surprise her, but nothing was really sounding good. But finally, all the cards fell into place. Jess and her boyfriend Michael were going to dinner around 5:30, and Alyssa was starving, but I had asked her to eat with me after my "meeting." (Morgan was hungry and wanted to eat with us.) She said she'd eat a little bit with Michael and Jess but still save room to eat with me (and Morgan). So when they left for dinner, I speed-walked to the Union Club hotel where Morgan was staying so I could meet him there and show him the way back to Shreve. So I finally met Morgan, in flesh and blood, and we hurried back to Shreve as fast as we could, the entire time texting Jess and trying to get her to keep Alyssa there until we got back to the room. When we were really close, I called Jess and told her to pretend she was having a phone conversation with her mom. And let me tell you, this girl deserves an award for her quick thinking. I was telling her they could be done with dinner now, but she was telling me, "Okay mom, well we'll be done with dinner in a few minutes, and I can't really hear you, so I'll call you back later." Even I got confused for a little bit! It was funny though. So Morgan and I went into Jess and Alyssa's room (which Jess had left unlocked for the occasion) and Morgan sat, hidden by the bed. I was in the middle of the room when Alyssa opened the door. She was really confused why I was sitting there, and all of a sudden, Morgan popped out! She was confused for a second, but then she started tearing up because she was so excited to see him. It was really adorable. Just call me cupid.
I went to dinner with Morgan and Alyssa at Hilly and then they hung out for awhile while I went to Fairway.
On Saturday night, Alyssa, Morgan, Christian, and I "double dated." We decided to all go out for dinner, so we walked down to Chauncy, not really sure where we wanted to eat. We get all the way to the end of the road, past all the restaurants, and nobody had really spoken up where they wanted to go. So we all stopped, standing in the cold snow, and said where we wanted to eat on the count of 3. The guys said Arby's and Alyssa and I picked Chipoltle. But we agreed to go to Arby's, so that's where we had our meal. We chatted for awhile and joked around, pretending that I was on the date with Morgan and Alyssa was with Christian.
My "date"
Morgan!!
And then a couple minutes later, Alyssa looks up and says, "Taco Bell?"
The next thing we knew, we were at Taco Bell, and Alyssa was eating a taco, after just having eaten a chicken sandwich and fries. I got a Mountain Dew Baja Blast freeze, which is apparently new. And I love Baja Blast! It was delicious!
As we were sitting there, Alyssa suddenly goes, "Dairy Queen?"
So yes. We went to 3 fast food restaurants in the course of about an hour and a half. Alyssa ate a mini blizzard and then half of Christian's too. I had to sit there and pine after some ice cream because of my Lenten sacrifice. We sat around at Dairy Queen for awhile, just talking and laughing. It was a lot of fun and good company. I really like Morgan-he's a really good guy!
Afterwards, we walked back to Morgan's hotel room so that he could give me the Valentine's Day card he got me: it was a huge 2 foot card!! He told me he had tried to mail it, but the post office said it was too big! So he folded it and shoved it in his duffel bag. It's so cute! Morgan left for Georgia this morning though :(
Check out this card!
Then Christian and I made our way back to Shreve. While on campus, we decided we wanted to do something stupid. So what did we do at 11:30 on a Saturday night? We went to the Math building, one of the tallest buildings on campus, and climbed all 231 stairs to the tenth floor and then went back down. Because we're weird. Don't ask. Okay, now I really have to get some homework done. Have a good week!
Happy Ash Wednesday, aka start of Lent, aka 40 days of no dessert. Or Nutella. Crap.
But before I get to that, let me share my experiences from the past week.
Charles Best:
This guy's last name represents him well. Have any of you heard of DonorsChoose.org? If not, I suggest you take a look at this wonderful site. Teachers from public schools across America are able to post a project on the site that they need funded. It can be anything-supplies, money for a field trip, books, etc. Then, anyone can go onto the site and donate money towards the project. Once the project is funded, each donor gets a thank you letter from the teacher, and donors over $50 get handwritten letters from students in the class. It's a really neat concept, especially considering many schools lack the funds for basic supplies. My physics teacher junior year actually went through this site so we could get an iPod touch to use for physics apps!
Last Thursday I had the opportunity to meet Charles, the founder and CEO of this site. Two girls from my DeVito Scholars class, Laura and Kelsey, and I got the opportunity to meet him in person prior to the presentation he was giving on campus. It was seriously the coolest thing ever! We were in a really nice conference room, and it was just the three of us, our adviser, and another education person. We got to sit and chat with him for a solid hour! He told us about how he started the website about 13 years ago when he was a first-year history teacher in the Bronx, and there was s huge need for basic supplies in the classroom. He got the idea for the site after that, and now, 13 years later, it's incredibly successful! We just got to ask him a bunch of questions during that time, and he was one of the nicest people ever! You would think that success would go to his head, but he was so humble and kind. He even asked us questions about things and wanted to know about us! It was just really awesome, and I can't rave enough about him.
After this chat, he did his presentation in Fowler Hall, a relatively small auditorium. Kelsey and Laura weren't able to go, so I sat with my adviser, Janet, and we watched his presentation. Again, he was very kind and humble and even promoted sites similar to his while he was speaking. He even tailored the presentation to West Lafayette by looking up people in the area whose projects had been funded. He was so funny and such a good speaker. He even admitted some of his biggest mistakes to us too, which really says something about him in my opinion.
Could I be any more in love with him? Uhh, YES! After his presentation, he had a bunch of cards passed out to us. He told us that Purdue had offered him a speaker's fee, probably for food or something like that. Instead, he used that fee to print off these $25 "gift cards" that we could use to fund a project on the site! Eeeek! I told the girls that I want to be related to him because he's so cool. And by related, I mean married. Wait, what? Who said that? Sorry, it's these Valentine's Day love bugs floating around. Don't mind me.
Anyways, so after his presentation, I decided I wanted to get a picture with him since I had forgotten to ask when we originally met him. Well the only camera I had was my phone, because I'm sooo prepared. I stood in a line and waited to talk to him. When I made it to the front, I asked if I could get a picture with him. I asked a kid near me to take the picture. Except right then, my phone decided to be stupid. It froze.
Nooooo!!!
I messed around with it a bit, and apologized profusely. Then I said sorry, but it's not working. And he said, let me ask one of the guys I travel with to take a picture on his phone. And I said oh my gosh, thank you! And some other lady said oh, I have a nice camera. So she pulled it out and was trying to work the flash on it. Then another lady from the Purdue School of Management took a pic on her phone and emailed it to me. I was so embarrassed, but it was worth it. Even if he does look a tad creepy in the picture.
Later, I found a project to fund on the website. He told us to pick a project that spoke to us, and this one did. It was a high-poverty school in San Francisco (which I loved when I went there a few summers ago with my family) for a second grade classroom of Hispanic students (yayy little kids and Spanish!). They were promoting literacy and writing skills and the importance of bilingualism, so they were asking for basic supplies like white boards and folders and pencil sharpeners so they could practice their writing in both languages (uhh, hello! I love writing and reading and such!). This project was so perfect, so I put my $25 towards it, and it was funded a few days later. It was really cool!
Charles Best presentation
The picture I was FINALLY able to get with him! Yayy!
Frat Party:
Yes, you read that right. No, it does not say "Fat Party" (although I would totally attend one of those, because it probably involves food), and it does not say "Cat Party" (although that would be equally awesome). Frat. As in Fraternity. As in those big houses full of boys that are arrogant and full of themselves who party and drink and try to get girls, all in the name of "brotherhood."
Well, ladies and gentlemen, I went to a frat party last Friday night.
Those of you who have read my blog since the beginning of the semester: you thought I had given up, right? WRONG! Kasey Kaisershot does not give up. And it's a good thing she doesn't. Because otherwise she wouldn't have had the fun experience she did last Friday. Also, why is she talking in third person right now? Stop that.
I had asked Christian a few weeks ago if he'd take me and some friends to a party so we could dance, because I had found a posse that would go with me and who doesn't drink. He told me that that Friday, he was going to his friend's apartment, and it was small and not really good for dancing. I was like boooooo. Because I really wanted to dance that night. So I texted my friend Alyssa since she's in a sorority and asked if she could get us on a list to a party that night. She did, bless her soul. So, at about 11, Laura and I trekked to Wiley to meet Kristen and Becca, and headed over to D Chi so we could get our dance on. Except that none of us had really been to a frat party before. So are you ready for this awkwardness?
We get to the front doors, and there are a bunch of guys sitting at a table with lists of names.
What list are you on?
Uhh...I'm not sure...
Okay, well who put you on the list?
Uh...my friend Alyssa from AZD.
Umm, okay well you're probably on that list over there....
So far, so weird. We're such amateurs.
But lo and behold, we were on the list, and we got our first real live Xs on our hands. We made it in. Boo-ya.
We huddled in the front for a little while, trying to get the lay of the land. Where was everyone going? Where was the music? Where was the alcohol, so we could stay away from it?
Once we answered these questions, we realized we needed to make our way down to the basement. So we did. The temperature increased a good 20 degrees from so many bodies packed down there. But we found the room with the music, wedged our way in, and tried to make the best of it.
And you know what? I actually enjoyed myself! (Except for the one time when a guy and his friend came up to us. "One of you should dance with my friend here," said the cute one, who was apparently a marine or something. Friend looks like a big lumberjack, complete with beard and flannel shirt. Eww. "Uhh, we're just dancing together right now, but you can join us if you'd like," we said. Well we learned very quickly that "dancing with us" does not mean joining our dance circle. Rather, it means they think they can dance with us. And somehow I ended up with the lumberjack and Laura got the marine. Whyyyyy??? I tried making conversation with him so I didn't really have to dance with him. I'm sure he was nice, but I'm not really into Paul Bunyan-lookin' guys. I could tell Laura was uncomfortable too. Finally, I told them that we were just gonna dance with the girls, aka SHOO!! And shoo they did. Pheww). So yes, except for that one time, I really enjoyed myself. A bunch of people kept coming up and talking to us, so it was cool to meet new people, even if they wouldn't remember our conversation the next day. And, since it was a Mardi Gras themed party, we got some beads! Woo-hoo! (Don't worry, tops stayed on!)
We left a little after an hour, because Kristen and Becca were just not having it, and also because people started leaving. I decided why I enjoyed this party much better than my experience as described in my October 12th, post, "So It's Been Awhile." At that party, I went with several girls who I would consider "party experienced" whereas I was not. I was very shy then and nervous and made them take me under their wing. However, at D Chi, the other 3 I was with expected me to know what I was doing! I certainly didn't, but I think this forced position of leadership pushed me out of my comfort zone. It was good for me in the end. I was a lot more outgoing with the people I met and just enjoyed myself much more. And yes, it is something I would do again. But no, I still won't drink.
Lent:
As stated above, it is Ash Wednesday, marking the first day of Lent and my Lenten sacrifice of giving up sweets and desserts. I do it every year, mainly because it's one of the most difficult things for me to give up, and also just because it's a healthier lifestyle choice. I'm wondering if it will be more difficult in college since I'm constantly surrounded by ice cream and desserts in the dining courts, or if it will be easier since I have a bigger support system. We shall see, and I will keep you posted.
However, you should probably know about my binge I went on last night. In preparation for 40 days without, I made up for it by eating a crap-ton of junk food last night. We had brownies at our Life Guide meeting, and some of us ordered Insomnia Cookies. Then Christian and I made some cupcakes for SAD (Singles Awareness Day) which is tomorrow, so I ate one of those. We also made the last batch of chocolate smoothies my mom brought us. So yes, I ate a lot of dessert last night. Don't judge. It's going to be a long 40 days.
Me and Kelsey and Katie and our Insomnia Cookies!
Christian snapped this pic of me because I got cupcake batter all up in my hair and I was trying to get it off.
Errrmerrrgerrrrsh, kerrrpkerrrks!!
Random:
Here is some other random stuff.
I've been obsessed with the Lumineers this week. I think I might buy their album. We shall see.
They have fortune cookies at Earhart dining court, but sometimes their fortunes suck. So I open the cookies until I find a fortune I like. Some people say that's bad luck. I say oh well.
Alyssa's boy from back home, Morgan, is coming up to visit her from Georgia this weekend! I'm really excited to meet him, because I've Skyped him and such when Alyssa does, and he's really nice and funny.
Finally, there is a nation-wide craze happening right now that you may or may not have heard of. It's called the Harlem Shake. Basically, it's a bunch of people who get together and make a video to the 30 second clip of the song "Harlem Shake." The first videos I'm putting up are just some of my favorite ones of seen. The last three are brought to you by some of my fellow Boilermakers. Enjoy!
WARNING: There is a lot, and I mean A LOT of pelvic thrusting and general strangeness during these videos. Prepare yourself.
Before I begin, let me just share a couple things with you. The song I've listened to most this week: "No Interruption" by Hoodie Allen. Trust me; walking through campus listening to this on your iPod makes you feel super BA.
The video series I've been obsessed with lately: Simon's Cat. Jess's boyfriend, Michael, showed these to me. So. Freakin. Cute.
Now that you've had your fair share of entertainment in video form, let me move on. DREAD. And so begins the countdown. 7 more days until Lent starts. 7 more days of chocolate. Of cake. Of candy. Of ice cream. Of cookies. Of pudding. Of pie.
7 days. That was a little clip from an oldie but a goodie: Scary Movie 3, aka the movie my sister and I can quote in its entirety. But anyways. I can't help but to stuff my face with any sweets I can get my hands on right now. What will I do for 40+ days?! I don't know. We'll see. I've done it before, so that has to mean I can do it again, right? PROCRASTINATION. My procrastination levels have been of the charts lately. Even as we speak, I'm procrastinating going to bed. I have a problem. It's fine. SMOOTHIES. Last night was one for the books. What do college kids do when they're bored/don't have a kitchen? Make smoothies in their rooms, of course. My mom and sister, the awesome people that they are, brought me a ton of frozen smoothie mixes when they visited over the weekend. And Christian has a single serve blender. Hmm.... So we decided to make smoothies. We've done it before. Unfortunately, the blender cord is literally about a foot long and reaches 0 outlets. So we did what any normal people would do: we moved out his chair and set of drawers from under the desk and sat underneath and made one smoothie at a time for a total of 4. It was pretty classy. We got a bunch of weird looks from his floormates, but too bad so sad, you didn't get a smoothie.
The best mom and sister ever!
Just chillin' in the corner making some smoothies.
Cheers!
OTHER STUFF. Alyssa and I had a miniature photo shoot in the cold:
I got a 99 out of 100 on my math exam last night! I did my protocol training for being a Life Guide last night, aka "Don't Touch the Children Class." I had floor dinner tonight...yum! We played Wallyball again...and lost. Yikes. Annie and I ordered some Insomnia cookies, aka heaven in your mouth. Peanut butter cup cookies...yummy!! I go to LARA again tomorrow to speak some español. Blah blah blah. Time to go to bed.
You may have noticed, but I changed a couple aspects of my blog layout to make it more user-friendly (or so I hope). Let me just give you a quick run-down: First, the background is different. And also obnoxious. But with Valentine's Day looming in the near future, I thought I should not only accept it, but embrace it. Hence the hearts. (Okay, I'm really not that pessimistic. I love Valentine's Day. But Lent begins a day before on the 13th, and since I'm giving up sweets/desserts again, well, let's face it: Valentine's Day no longer seems so great.) Along with the changes come some changes in fonts, but those are negligible (that's a word we've been using a lot in my Physics class in regard to friction. Yayyy real life application!). Along the right side of the screen you may have seen some new things. Those are as follows: 1. The blog archive is still there, so if you're ever feeling the need to live vicariously through me, you can go back through and remind yourself of all the crazy adventures I've had thus far...or lack thereof. 2. Below that is a section I call "What I'm Reading." This is a list of blogs that I have been following since I've been at school. It turns out that when you start blogging, it suddenly becomes imperative to read others' blogs as well. And these are some good ones. The list may grow in the future, but as of right now, they include:
My friend Alexandra's blog. She lives on my floor and is so sweet and quirky and unique...in a good way! She's super down-to-earth, and I admire her for being such a genuine person. She blogs about a multitude of different things, including but not limited to food. I suggest you try some of her recipes sometime!
My friend Cassidy's blog. She also lives on my floor and is as vibrant as her bright red hair! She has such a positive outlook on life and has some very positive, encouraging messages within her posts. Check it out if you're ever feeling down.
My friend Dana's blog. Again, she lives on my floor and is such a fun and creative young lady. She's incredibly hard-working, and I just fell in love with her personality as soon as I met her. She blogs about the different things she makes, be it clothes or crafty things. It's pretty cool!
My cousin Cassidy's blog. She's currently in Nicaragua doing some service work for a company called EOS International. She blogs about her experiences there and the people she's met. It's really cool and I'm so proud of the work she's been doing!
Dear Photograph. I fell in love with this blog after I found it. It's where people take an old picture and hold it up in the same place in present day and take a picture of it. The photographer then writes a little blurb about it. It's really neat!
PostSecret. Probably my all-time favorite blog. People from all over the world make homemade postcards and write a secret on it that they've never told anyone. They then send it to Frank Warren, who started the project, and he puts up a certain amount on a blog each week. It's incredibly powerful and thought-provoking. I absolutely love it, and even got a couple of the PostSecret books for Christmas. Seriously, check this one out.
I sincerely suggest taking a look at some of these blogs. I love them lots!
3. A search bar. Has there ever been a time when you remembered something super awesome in one of my blog posts and gosh darn it you just can't find it again? (Haha, sarcasm!) Now you can search key words and find the post instantly! I'll probably be using it the most though, so I can remember what I've posted about and what I haven't...
4. Finally...and you'll love this...drumroll please....
Dundundundundundundundun.....
A FOLLOW FEATURE! (Creatively titled "Stalk Me.")
I've finally advanced in my blogging skills enough to make life easier for you all. Instead of having to constantly check my blog page multiple times a day, always on the edge of your seat in anticipation to see if I've posted anything, you can now be notified! I'm honestly not sure if this works, but I guess we'll see. I think all you have to do is type in your email address and you'll be notified of a new posting.
I hope that these new features will make reading this blog a little easier and a little more interesting!
Happy February! Can we just talk about Wednesday? Alcoholics Anonymous says the first step to fixing a problem is admitting that you have a problem. (And no, I don't know that from experience, thank you very much). Well, boy, do we have a problem. And that problem would be the fact that the Purdue Men's basketball team lost to our rivals, Indiana University, by over 30 points Wednesday night. Freaking. Thirty. Points. I'd like to say I have a pretty fair understanding of the word "rival." I came from a high school that had a big rivalry with another high school in town. I've competed against them in various athletic events and felt the adrenaline coursing through me even more than in a typical match-up against some rando team. Heck, I have a sister; I think I know what rivalry is. Now I'm no coach, but the last time I checked, when you play your biggest rival, you bring your A game. You play your heart out. You fight and give it all you have, because you have everything to lose. You leave it all out on the court or field or whatever. You don't lose by thirty points. It's not like anybody expected Purdue to win; we're not even ranked, and IU is number 3 or something. But still. How embarrassing. Especially with how loyal our fans are. The game started at 8:30. People began camping outside Mackey Arena the night before. As for myself, my friend Kristen and I began our adventure at 6:45, where I met her at her residence hall so we could "tat up." We then proceeded to walk to Mackey to wait in a looooooooooong line. And I, being the smart, fashionable dresser I am, was wearing my cropped yoga pants I got for Christmas. Text conversation from earlier that day: --Hey mom! I'm wearing my cropped yoga pants today because it's so warm out! --Oh, that's cool. That was what our weather was like yesterday. It's snowing here. I think she jinxed me. As Kristen and I stood in line, we could feel the wind pick up. All of a sudden, freezing rain started pelting our faces, and my bare ankles. Cropped yoga pants=not winter clothing. After a solid (as in we're freezing solid) 30 minutes, we were finally allowed to enter the arena, where we sat for another hour waiting for the game to start. It was a lot of waiting. Wait in line to get into the arena. Wait in our seats for the game to start. Wait to score some points. Wait to get a rebound. All in vain. Because we sucked. The atmosphere was so promising; the Paint Crew was so loud and energetic and excited. But it was all for naught. We lost. Oh well.
Kristen and I, all tatted up
There was another night last week, before it was freezing cold, where I regressed in age like 12 years. I was over in Christian's room, and his window was open. I couldn't help but just stand there in front of the window for a good five minutes letting the breeze blow on me. If felt soooo good. (You don't understand. I'm from Illinois, so the weather is the same here as it was there. But back home, there was no need for me to be outside for more than 3 minutes at a time, aka those brutal minutes trekking through the school's parking lot from my car to the school building. But here, walking to and from classes for more than 10 minutes at a time, it feels 10x colder. Therefore, those blessed days of over 40 degrees equate to me basking in their wonderfulness). Then I realized that it was raining. And Christian and Matt laughed at me for having just figured that out. "I want to go play in the rain," said Christian. "No," I replied scornfully. "I already took a shower and I'm in my pajamas. Rain water is dirty." 3.5 seconds later... "Okay, lets go! Hurry up, Christian! Come on!" The next thing we knew, we were sprinting down his hallway to the stairs and started racing down, leaving Matt behind to soak up the rain water that had come into their room with the onslaught of the sudden torrential downpour. We ran out the doors and were immediately splattered with freezing cold droplets. We ran around like idiots and splashed in some puddles. When we couldn't take the cold anymore, we ran back inside, panting like dogs. We let the heat from the stairwell warm us up a little, and then 3, 2, 1, GO! we were back out in the rain, sprinting across the street to Hillenbrand, jumping in more puddles, laughing and screaming hysterically, and pretending it was no big deal when cars drove by. It's normal for college kids to be splashing in puddles at midnight, obviously. We came back in, soaked and freezing cold. But it was so much fun!
After our rain adventure
Speaking of Christian, I'm not sure if I've mentioned this yet, but he was a wrestler in high school and got 3rd in State in Colorado. So naturally, for some reason, I have the idea in my head that I can beat him. He's probably a good 30 pounds lighter than me, so I can take him without prior wrestling experience, right? Wrong. Pretty much every time we're together, we end up in an impromptu wrestling match, which always results in my getting pinned within seconds. Embarr. So the other day, Jess walked in on us wrestling and was extremely confused by the compromising position we were in. But she got some good pictures from it.
Rough life...
Don't be offended by this picture. I promise this was just wrestling; nothing inappropriate about it.
Yesterday was a lot of fun: my mom and sister came to visit and we got to go out to eat (Niko's Spicy Pickle, thanks to Annie's suggestion) and go to the mall and Barnes and Nobel. It was such a fun girls' day, and I got some new clothes and books and such. She also brought up some puppy chow and other goodies. I'm so spoiled. We even had the chance to stop at a stand on campus where some Girl Scouts were selling cookies, so I got a couple boxes. Those girls are geniuses. College students without Girl Scout cookie=disaster. Then, last night, Shreve put on a Karaoke Night in the Rec lounge. It was pretty legit, with some mocktails and everything. Lots of people came. Annie, Brooke, and I brought back some junior high memories by singing our rendition of "Don't Cha" by the Pussycat Dolls. It was pretty classy. Today was Brooke's birthday. While she was at church, I decorated her room with a bunch of streamers and filled it with balloons. It was really fun and she liked it! I'm so glad I got to be here to celebrate with her! Right now, Shreve is screening the Superbowl on the big screen in the Rec lounge. They even had free pizza for us, so I'm just chilling here and typing in-between commercials :) Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, and have a good week!
This was the group of us that went to BGR Team Leader Callouts the other week, but I forgot to put the picture up!
