When It Happens To You.

Unfortunate events transpire every single day.  In fact, it's near impossible to turn on the news these days and see anything other than disagreement and crime and general unhappiness.  But as you see these news stories unfolding, that's all they are: stories.  You are not a character in them, but an observer.  And no matter how upsetting they may be, no matter how much you empathize with those involved, it's customary to move on with your life before too long.

But it's different when it happens to you.

On Tuesday, January 21, 2014, tragedy struck Purdue University's campus.  My campus.

In my year and a half here, I have never felt unsafe, have never felt as if my life was in danger.  I'm sure the majority of my fellow Boilermakers could say the same.  That changed yesterday.

Tuesday started out as an ordinary day.  People felt a little more refreshed than usual because we didn't have school the day before since we were honoring Martin Luther King Jr's birthday.  I got to sleep in since my first class wasn't until noon, but before that I got lunch with my friend Colleen and we got to catch up.  I wasn't really looking forward to the day; the week before was our first week back after winter break, and it took a toll on me with how busy it was and how much work I had to do.  But lunch with Colleen started off my day right, and I headed to my Science and Pseudoscience class in good spirits, especially since Jess and my friend Alyssa were both in it.

Class started off well.  My professor, Dr. York, was our faculty fellow for our floor last year, and he's super old but super fun.  We started class with smelling and tasting various lunch meats while blindfolded (testing for bologna and working on our skeptic abilities), so it was pretty lighthearted and fun.  After about 20 or so minutes of this, we hear ambulance sirens going off outside, but didn't think anything of it.  Then, a few minutes later, a kid in our class raises his hand.

"There's been a shooting on campus. Can I call my brother?"

At this point, phones began finding their way out of backpacks and purses despite still being in the middle of class.  Sure enough, everyone had gotten Purdue's alert text, confirming the worst: 

"Shooting reported on campus.  Bldg Electrical Engineering; Avoid area; Shelter in place.  Check www.purdue.edu for updates"

Nobody knew what to think just then.  We didn't have any information to really have any thoughts at the time.  Dr. York didn't seem concerned, so he continued his lecture, but nobody was really paying attention because we were trying to figure out what was happening via social media.  Within 20 minutes of that Purdue text, my phone started blowing up with texts asking if I was okay.  Many of them were friends from Purdue, but I even had people from Illinois and Colorado and California asking me what was going on and if I was safe.  Within 20 minutes, the entire country knew what was happening at Purdue when we, who were actually on campus, barely knew a thing.  Then my mom called and I assured her I was okay.  Students in class started getting worried and Dr. York jokingly locked the door, but he finally found it pointless to continue lecture when everyone's attention was focused elsewhere.  

We all got a text explaining that we were on lockdown and that we shouldn't leave our buildings while the police were figuring things out.  During this time, rumors were flying, and nobody was able to confirm or deny them.

There were multiple shooters.
Besides EE, they were in Physics, Heavilon, and the Co-Rec.
Pictures were circulating Twitter of what may have been students holding assault rifles that students in class had snapped from their classroom windows. (This was later denied when we found out that cops were surrounding buildings in street clothes, but that didn't make it any less scary at the time)

I don't think anyone's eyes left their phones during this time.  Some were texting friends, some calling parents and assuring them they were okay, and others were checking news sites and Twitter trying to find out what exactly was going on.  Some people were getting upset when they weren't able to contact a friend or family member, and they had every right.  It was scary.

At almost 1:30, about an hours since lockdown had been put into place, we all got a text giving the all-clear: we were allowed to "resume normal operations." 

Wait, what?  It's only been an hour!  Did the police have enough time to search and detain all suspects?  Were all the buildings safe and secure?  Did they really expect us to "resume normal operations" after a shooting had just taken place on campus?!

In a daze, we all left.  I still had 2 more classes, so I made my way to my next building, but it felt weird to be walking around out in the open, despite the fact that everyone was doing the same.

I got to my next class, but since there was still so much uncertainty about what to do and half our class was missing, my professor cancelled it.  I spent the next hour and a half before my next class in the Technology Resource Center looking up everything I could about the situation.  I checked all the major news sites, Purdue sites, Twitter, Facebook...everything I could to get as much information as possible.  I then watched the live press conference with Purdue's police chief and our provost.  From all my research, I had found out that there had been 1 victim in the shooting; a male TA.  It had been a deliberate act of malice, not a random shooter.  On Twitter, everyone was so upset that we had been expected to continue with our lives as if nothing happened.  They thought class should have been cancelled so we could all gather our thoughts and figure out what was happening.  It wasn't until later, after my final class, that they made the announcement that classes were cancelled for Wednesday out of respect for the situation.

Reading the comments people left in response to the articles didn't make me feel any better.  Some were debating gun laws, some were blaming the family of the shooter for not raising him right, and others were saying that there is a difference between a shooting at a school and a school shooting and that it was nowhere near as bad as Columbine had been.  It made my blood boil to read what these people were saying.  Didn't these people realize that a tragedy had just occurred and that people were suffering on campus??  It didn't matter if only one person had died; that was still someone's child, someone's friend.  As if we could start comparing the awfulness of tragedies.  Didn't they know that a period of healing was in order before this speculation could occur??  I couldn't read any more.

I also watched the 6:00 news where they held a second press conference, releasing the names of those involved.  Andrew Boldt was the TA that had been killed.  And it became all too real to me when I started seeing images of my campus plastered all over the news.  My school was on TV.  I also found out that our president, Mitch Daniels, was in Colombia and was supposed to be there for a few more days, but that he would return the next day in light of what happened.

At 8:00 last night, Purdue Student Government put on a candlelight vigil.  At 7:40, Jess and some girls on my floor, Elaine and Sarah, and I donned multiple pairs of pants, coats, hats, scarves, and blankets to brave the 0 degree weather.  We headed to the Engineering Fountain where the vigil was being held, and boy was it a beautiful site to see.  Hundreds and hundreds of students were huddled together in the freezing cold, candles in hand, ready to commemorate the life lost and to get some closure of sorts.  There were so many people there, breaths visible because of the cold, but it was silent.  Nobody dared make a sound.

As the last bell struck 8 in our iconic bell tower, the ceremony began with the drumline marching in.  Our student body president, Kyle Pendergast, spoke, as well as provost Tim Sands.  He read a statement sent from Mitch Daniels, and it was very eloquent and well-spoken.  The Purduettes and I think the Glee Club also performed.  It was only about 30 minutes, but it was perfect, and I think it helped many students.  We all felt a little better after that, and it was beautiful to see all these Boilermakers rallying together.

It's different when it happens to you.  When you're there, when you directly see how a tragic event affects people, it seems worse.  The fact that someone could so deliberately want to harm a fellow Boilermaker is alarming, but prayers are needed for all parties involved.  I want to thank everyone, all my friends and family, who texted or called me to make sure I was safe during this time, and I thank God that my friends were safe too.  Thank you for all the prayers directed our way; it's a trying time for us all, but I know my Boilermaker family will stand together through it all.

Ever Grateful, Ever True.
Hail Purdue. 

The candlelight vigil (photo credit: Marshall Farthing)

It's Finals Week, & You Know What That Means...

If you answered that question with, "studying," I'm secretly laughing at you right now.

Or not so secretly since I just told you.

No. Finals week obviously means procrastination, aka let's do all these other "necessary" things, such as vacuuming and making paper snowflakes and blogging, before studying for exams.

In my defense, I designated today as blogging day because I've already had 4 of my 5 finals and my next one isn't until Saturday, so basically I have nothing to do for the next 3 days and I might as well blog.  Also, I'm about a month late since my last entry and I have quite a bit to catch up on.  Now you can procrastinate on studying for your finals or putting up Christmas decorations or Christmas shopping by reading this!! ;)  So here goes:

A few Saturdays ago, some friends and I went to see We're The Millers which Purdue put on for free through the program Flicks at Fowler.  It was funnier the second time if that's even possible.  I was laughing so hard I was crying!

Remember a few weeks ago when the tornadoes hit?  Well they came to the Greater Lafayette area too, and as my friend Sydney and I were sitting in my room watching a movie for one of our classes (Stand and Deliver...it was so bad), I was texting my mom about how there was softball-sized hail back home and how they all went down to the basement.  The sky was perfectly clear and blue here, but I was debating on whether or not to move my car to the parking garage in case it came our way.  Next thing we knew, the tornado sirens went off and my RA was yelling down the hallway that everyone needed to go downstairs.  We were herded like sheep into the winding hallways of the Shreve basement and told to sit and chill until they heard more information.  So, the 800 residents of Shreve were all crammed into the hot basement during the height of a common cold wave.  Sydney and I decided to walk around the basement and explore a little bit and finally after about half an hour, we were able to go back upstairs.  Then we found out the extent of the damage in our area: some Lafayette elementary schools had been hit and the power on campus went out.  Luckily our buildings on campus had back-up generators, but the Greek houses all lost power and weren't going to get it back until Thursday (this was on Sunday if you recall).  Later in the week we found out some of the houses had to be evacuated because their sewer systems were malfunctioning and their houses were flooding.  The Red Cross even had to set up emergency shower and sleeping areas in our Co-Rec for people who were temporarily homeless!  All of our stoplights went out too, and in the pitch black, you can't see them until you've passed them basically.  It was all a huge mess, but we were very, very lucky compared to some other places, like Washington, IL.

The weekend right before Thanksgiving break, one of my best friends, Katie, came to Purdue to visit for the weekend!  She got the whole week off for Thanksgiving and didn't have school on Monday and Tuesday like we did.  I was so glad she could finally come up because we always joked how I've been to U of I to visit her several times and she had yet to come to Purdue!  She came up Friday night and we went to dinner at Hillenbrand to get "quasted" (see previous post for definition of this) and then we were stopped by my friend Evan on the way out who told us to stay and watch the free improv show they were putting on.  So we were like, okay, why not??  The Crazy Monkeys was the group that performed, and it was pretty entertaining.  We also went to see Catching Fire with Annie that night.  I bought tickets online and when we went to the theater, it said I hadn't bought any.  I was so convinced I had (considering I got a confirmation email), until we realized that I had bought them at the wrong theater.  We ran back to the car and drove to the other theater which is all the way across town in Lafayette and made it with time to spare!  Oops... Haha, but the movie was amazing!  On Saturday we went to a quarter of the Illinois vs. Purdue game, but it was SO cold that we had to leave.  Purdue lost anyway, so it's not like we were missing anything.  But we went to Triple XXX for lunch then to introduce Katie to our campus love.  We hung out for awhile and went to the Silver Dipper for ice cream later that night with Brooke and Jennifer.  When we got back, a bunch of girls on the floor got together and played extreme spoons and charades, so it was a good time.  Unfortunately I never got to show Katie around campus because it was SO cold the whole weekend!  In the morning, Katie was going to leave when I went to teach Sunday school, but I got a call from her that her car wouldn't start!  I had to go back and try to help her.  At first her car wouldn't even unlock, but when it finally did, we couldn't even put it into neutral to move it so we could jump it with mine!  Katie's dad had to call a service to come fix it, so she ended up making it home safely, thank goodness!

My dear friend Katie :)

I can't remember if I've talked about it before, but I've kind of gotten obsessed with spoken word poetry lately.  I will literally just sit here at my computer and watch YouTube video after YouTube video of people performing their spoken word poems at various poetry clubs (new bucket list item: perform spoken word at a poetry club in New York!).  Well, as my "final" for my McDonalidization of Society class, we had to do a huge 15 minute project about how our lives have been McDonalidized.  The catch: we weren't allowed to use any technology, like PowerPoint.  We had to do something unique and individual.  Well, I can't sing or play an instrument or draw or anything remotely cool like that.  Several people who performed at first just made posters and talked about their McDonaldized lives, and I didn't want to do that and be like everyone else.  So I took a (huge) step out of my comfort zone and decided to do a spoken word poem for my project.

What.

I had no idea what I had gotten myself into.  Not only did I have to analyze my life and figure out how it was McDonaldized and how I should deMcDonaldize it, but I had to piece it together in a nice package of flowing words and then memorize it all and then get up in front of my class and perform it.  What I asked myself all week leading up to my presentation?  WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY.

But I really wanted to do it, and I wanted to do it well.  Poor Jess (and some other victims) had to listen to it a zillion times before the actual presentation, but boy were they troopers.

And then came that fateful day: the day of my performance.  I wanted to go first and get it over with, but another kid did, and I couldn't bear to go second.  So I went last.  And when I got up in front of the classroom, I was like crap.  But then I started speaking.  And I got into a rhythm.  And I did it, with only 1 minor mess-up!  And you know what?  It was an absolute BLAST!!  I loved speaking like that and seeing the audience's reaction to the things I said.  I just felt good and confident!  The best part was that several of my classmates told me it was their favorite project and that I did really well on it.  It just felt great and I would LOVE to perform at an Open Mic night sometime somewhere.  It was just so much fun!

Then, finally, it was Thanksgiving break.  I got to see Katie and Caileigh and Natalie for dinner on Tuesday night when I got home and Wednesday Kourtney and I started season 1 of American Horror Story on Netflix because my family finally got caught up with the 21st century and got it! (But we also got rid of our home phone and my mom and I lamented over that for awhile...it was so sad...that was the first number I ever memorized!  My mom even asked the people if they could retire the number so nobody else could have it...they said no.  Boo.)  We also met up with all the Mrs. Fields girls at the Pub II that night to hang out and prepare ourselves for the Black Friday craziness.  It was a good time.

Bonding at the bar...where else?

Thursday my aunt had Thanksgiving early so that my family could actually go.  It was SO delicious, but we had to leave way too soon because we had to be at work at 6:30 that night to start baking cookies for the crazy Black Friday shoppers that would be making their appearance at 8.  Hellooooo 12 hour shift. (If you want to know my true thoughts about this, feel free to check it out here.)  It was actually kind of fun for awhile, but we only had one register up, so it made for some long lines.  Sorry boutcha, Black Friday shoppers.  That's what you get when you decide to go shopping on Thanksgiving day.  What.  But anyways, we were pretty exhausted when 6:00 am rolled around, but my mom insisted on going to Bob Evans for breakfast.  Afterwards, we crashed and did absolutely nothing all Friday except watch TV.  It was awesome.

Fam on Thanksgiving!

Cousins :)

Da fam ready to kick some butt.

On Saturday, we had some family pictures taken for Christmas cards.  The guy that did Kourtney's senior shoot did it for us, and it was really fun to do some ridiculous poses and such.  PS, Kourtney's senior book turned out great.  My sister is so gorgeous it's ridiculous.  Like, I might not let her go to college 'cause I don't want creepy guys tryna hit on her due to her impeccable beauty.

Awkward family photo...'cause we're awkward.

I also got to see my uncle Gary and my cousins Dani (who I haven't seen in a year) and Dylan because we all went to dinner together.  Huzzah!

Some other stuff that has happened since I last wrote:

Last week my Bible study group went to WalMart to buy toys for kids in need for this Christmas.  It was really fun, and one of the girls, Andrea, is an intern for Cru from Germany, and we lost her in WalMart several times.  She was marveling over everything and kept wandering off.  It was really funny!

We had our Life Guide banquet last Tuesday and ate some yummy food and also got awards that everyone had voted on, both silly and serious.  My awards? Most Likely to be a Professional Grease Drainer, Most Likely to Deflect Prayers About an Eraser, Best Flocknote, Most Ambitious, & Pro of the Semester!  I felt so blessed to receive that last one.  It was such a shock, but a good one :)

On Sunday we had our Christmas party for our Sunday school kids, and it was great because we made them get into groups and wrap each other as presents.  SO FUNNY.

So apparently I'm going to be on a postcard that gets sent out to all the admitted students to the College of Education at Purdue to encourage them to study abroad!  I'm not sure how I feel about my face getting sent out to hundreds of random people, but it's pretty cool nonetheless.  

So with my two finals finished yesterday and knowing I wouldn't have another for 3 more days, I wanted to do something instead of sitting in my room on my computer.  So I texted my friend Sydney and she came over.  As the El Ed majors that we are, we got out all of our crayons and markers and scissors and paper and tape and chalk and made some motivational finals cards to give out to people at the Union and at the libraries studying.  We made some pretty cool ones, like Harry Potter themed ones, and we went around handing them out to people studying.  Naturally we looked for some attractive guys, but we also passed them out to girls, because we aren't about discrimination.  Everyone was so confused but we think they enjoyed them.  We also put a ton of inspirational post-it notes in several bathrooms and all along the hallways in Stewart Center so people could be encouraged for finals.  Then we explored campus and took pictures with the random Purdue landmarks to add to our SnapChat stories.  We ended up at this new cookie place on campus called Baked where you pick the kind of dough you want and what types of things you want inside the cookies, and they bake them for you.  Honestly, they weren't the greatest because they were kind of burnt, but maybe if they weren't so overcooked, they would have been better!  It was quite the adventure though considering we were out and about for around 3 hours.

Alright, well, I guess I better go do something productive (considering I'm still in my pjs).  Gotta go tutor and Christmas shop and other various activities that better society :)

Be home on Saturday!!

XOXO

PS: a video Kourt and I made when we put up our Christmas tree over Thanksgiving break:

A Quiz For You.

Finals are coming up in the all-too-near future, and I was thinking, You know, it's not fair that my loyal blog readers don't get to participate in the joys of finals like I do.  I think I'll make a quiz for them so they don't feel so left out.

So I made a quiz about the recent happenings in my life.  See how well you know me and the crazy antics I participate in.

1.What new dance did Kasey learn recently?

a) the chicken dance

b) Wobble

c) Grind with me

2. What did Kasey throw off a parking garage twice in the last couple weeks?

a) pumpkins

b) TVs

c) water balloons

3. What is "Scared Hitless"?

a) a TV show that Kasey has really gotten into recently

b) a self-defense class Kasey took

c) Kasey's intramural volleyball team

4. How did Kasey celebrate Jess's birthday?

a) Jumping into Jess's bed at midnight

b) Surprising her with a bunch of friends at dinner

c) All of the above

5. What was Kasey for Halloween?

a) a cat

b) a cat

c) no really, she was a cat

6. What does quasted mean?

a) who knows?

b) who cares?

c) getting wasted off queso

7. What songs did Kasey sing for karaoke recently?

a) 22 by Taylor Swift

b) Thrift Shop by Macklemore

c) Wannabe by Spice Girls

d) all of the above

8. Kasey went on a date since the last time you heard from her.

a) True

b) False

Answer key & explanations

1.What new dance did Kasey learn recently?

a) the chicken dance

b) Wobble

c) Grind with me

I know what you're thinking...

?!?!?!?!

Did I read your mind or what?  Have you ever heard that song Grind With Me by Pretty Ricky?  It's really old (and by really old, I mean early 2000s), but it resurfaced with the invention of Vine.  And, thanks to Vine, there has been an outbreak in dance fads.  So, naturally, I had to get in on the action.

Basically, this dance is a glorified worm.  What happens is you go into a hand-stand of sorts and then lower yourself down like a body roll, chest first, then stomach, then legs.  Talk about upper body strength that I don't have.  But I was determined.  So Jess and I were thinking-about-contemplating-doing-it when a couple girls from our floor walked in.  We tried to explain what we were doing, and the one girl mastered it instantly.  But she's a gymnast, so I personally don't think that counts.  But whatever.  Now that we knew it was physically possible for girls to do it (since it had been mostly a guy dance fad), we were all the more determined.  So we decided what we really needed was a bed so we didn't smash our faces into the ground if the hand-stand aspect went haywire.  So we did what any logical college students would do: we pulled my mattress off my lofted bed and onto the floor.  And it was as if magic fairy dust from the dance gods rained down upon us because by golly, we were actually able to do it now.

And we instantly regretted it, because the next day, our arms were so sore that we couldn't lift them 5 inches.  It was rough.

2. What did Kasey throw off a parking garage twice in the last couple weeks?

a) pumpkins

b) TVs

c) water balloons

Yes.  This is what we have resorted to for entertainment in college.  If it's wrong, I don't want to be right.

So right after Halloween was over, Jess and I were like, what should we do with these pumpkins that are currently molding in our room from when Jess and Michael carved them?  Naturally, we decided to throw them off the parking garage.  We literally went to the top of a parking garage and tossed them onto the concrete and watched them splatter everywhere.  It was awesome.

Some girls from my floor and I did it again tonight.  Because what else were we going to do on a Friday night?  Besides, that pumpkin sitting at the end of our hallway was looking a little out of place and like it wanted to practice flying tonight.

3. What is "Scared Hitless"?

a) a TV show that Kasey has really gotten into recently

b) a self-defense class Kasey took

c) Kasey's intramural volleyball team

Har har har, isn't it clever?  But yeah, Scared Hitless was our team. It's just a bunch of girls, many I know from classes, who played volleyball in high school and who wanted to make an intramural "dream team."  But unfortunately we were far from a dream team, and although we won all of our games until last night, we weren't the best team out there.  Had we won our 11:15 pm (pm?! way past my bedtime!) last night, we would have gone on to the championships, but alas, it was not meant to be.  It makes me miss volleyball though, and we all agreed we'd still play some pick-up games for funsies.

4. How did Kasey celebrate Jess's birthday?

a) Jumping into Jess's bed at midnight

b) Surprising her with a bunch of friends at dinner

c) All of the above

In case you didn't know, I love my roomie so so much and I wanted to do something special for her since it was her birthday last week!  Yeah, I know a) sounds creepy, but let me explain myself:  so last year on Jess's birthday, her roomie last year, Alyssa, and I jumped on Jess's bed at midnight to yell happy birthday to her.  It was really funny, and I thought it'd be hilarious to continue the tradition that was a grand total of 1 year in the making.  So I texted Alyssa (who lives in her sorority house) and asked if she wanted to do it with me.  She was totally in.  So around 10, Jess asked me if I wanted to stay up with her for her birthday.  Crap, I thought to myself.  Plan foiled.  I told Jess that I was really tired so I didn't think so.  I just really wanted to surprise her with Alyssa!  So she was pretty mad at me because I usually stay up that late anyways, and because after I told her no I went to Skype Christian.  She went to bed mad at me, but I knew it would be worth it.  So Alyssa came over a little before midnight and we snuck up her desk (which she didn't hear somehow) and yelled HAPPY BIRTHDAY and jumped into her bed.  She freaked.  She was shaking for like a minute straight and huddled into a ball and refused to talk to us.  When she finally came around, we were all dying laughing and then just hung out in her bed (a twin, lofted bed mind you) for an hour, talking and catching up.  It was really fun, and Jess is no longer mad at me, in case you were wondering.

As for b), Jess and I had planned to get dinner together Saturday to celebrate because Michael (her boyfriend) got her for Friday night.  So she thought it was just going to be me and her, but I had texted a bunch of our other friends to come too.  I told Jess I'd meet her at dinner because I had to grab something from a friend that lived in a different hall, so when Jess met me, it was actually a bunch of girls!  She had kind of suspected me before, but it was still fun, and we had a lot of laughs at dinner.  We hung out and watched a movie later too, so it was just a really fun weekend overall.

5. What was Kasey for Halloween?

a) a cat

b) a cat

c) no really, she was a cat

Surprise, surprise.  Laura, Breanna, and I went to Fairway to dance for Halloween.  It was a good time :)

6. What does quasted mean?

a) who knows?

b) who cares?

c) getting wasted off queso

Dana and I have made a tradition of going to Hillenbrand for Friday night dinners because they always have nacho bar, and what are nachos without queso?  So she and I came up with an entire vocabulary related to getting drunk off queso because we love it so much.  There's quasted, quzzed, qupsy, and quit-faced.  It's pretty classy.  But also hilarious.

7. What songs did Kasey sing for karaoke recently?

a) 22 by Taylor Swift

b) Thrift Shop by Macklemore

c) Wannabe by Spice Girls

d) all of the above

Yeah, so basically Shreve had karaoke night last weekend, so after Jess's birthday dinner and watching a movie, we hit up the free mocktails and singing.  The 3E girls sang 22 together, Jess and I rapped Thrift Shop (with her singing the cuss words, of course), and Annie and I sang Wannabe.  I'm pretty sure everyone's ears were bleeding afterwards, but hey, it was a good time.

8. Kasey went on a date since the last time you heard from her.

a) True

b) False

Did she mark the wrong answer?  She obviously meant to highlight false...

No I didn't, voice inside my blog.  I know it sounds unlikely, but it's true.

His name is Jacob and we went to get Starbucks and walk around campus a couple weekends ago.  Super casual, super chill, but super fun.  He's a really cool guy, and he paid for my coffee, which is always a plus.  We've hung out a couple more times, so we shall see what becomes of that.

Alright, enough of quizzes.  I don't like them.

Onto something a little more serious:

For those of you who may not know, a couple guys who I went to high school with who were a year younger than me got into a car accident last weekend.  It really affected the community because Peyton passed away and Tony is in critical condition at the hospital.  So many people and friends know and love them, so it was really tough.  Tony, his family, Peyton's family, and all their friends could really use some prayers right now, so please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.  It would be much appreciated.

Well, that's all for now.  Catch ya on the flip side.

XOXO

PS, this is my ridiculous floor this year:

An open letter to malls, businesses, and, well...society.

You know what's fun?

Shopping.

I may be biased in the sense that I'm a girl, so it may come with the territory (yes, that was a joke, and no, I'm not trying to offend the feminists).  But even for the guys out there, let's face it: it's fun to get new things.  Maybe it's clothes, maybe it's shoes, maybe it's the latest gadget Apple came out with...I mean, in our capitalist society, we were born and raised with the idea that old is bad and new is good and we need to buy things to make us happy.  I'm not saying this is right or wrong (trust me, I'm the last person in the world qualified for entering a political debate), but if you think about it, that's kind of the way things are.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, there comes a point when it goes too far.  And that point, my friends, is Black Friday.

But before I reveal my innermost thoughts about this "holiday that's not really a holiday," let me give you a little background so you know where I'm coming from.

Back in 2006, my parents became owners of a Mrs. Fields Cookies store in our local mall.  And let me tell you, that was the coolest thing ever for my 6th grade self at the time.  Free cookies whenever I wanted?  Uhh, yes please!

But it wasn't just that.  It also became my first "real" job while in high school, as well as a second family when I started getting to know the other girls who worked there.  My mom, the dedicated woman that she is, works there every weekday (and even some weekends) and oversees the daily store happenings.  My dad, too, is very invested in the business.  He does paperwork and works at the store, even though he has a full time job.  Even my younger sister worked there for her first job.  Basically, the store became a part of the Kaisershot family's everyday life.

So in that sense, working on holidays was a given.  For example, every Christmas Eve for the past few years, my parents have worked the closing shift.  Then, when my sister and I became old enough, we too worked the Christmas Eve closing shift with my parents.  It's never been the ideal situation, but my parents are so compassionate that they would rather take the responsibility of working on a holiday so their employees could celebrate with their families.  As the owners and bosses, they could easily sit back and relax on Christmas Eve while others worked at the store, but this is how they wanted to run their business, and I truly admire them for it.

But then there's Black Friday.

Black Friday is that day after Thanksgiving were the mall and retailers open early so people can wake up at the crack of dawn (still digesting their Thanksgiving turkey, no doubt) and stampede through the various stores, eagerly searching for the best deal and fighting someone for that on-sale TV or article of clothing or electronic device that they "need."  So, being a store in the mall means Mrs. Fields is subject to the regulations as to when we open and close.  And if the mall opens at 6:00 in the morning, that means Mrs. Fields does too.  And if Mrs. Fields has to be open at 6:00 in the morning, someone has to be there at the store to open it.  And who do you think does that?

My mom, my dad, my sister, and me.

Don't get me wrong: it can be pretty fun.  Black Friday is the first day where it's really acceptable to immerse yourself in the Christmas spirit, and at Mrs. Fields, we go hard.  Instead of our usual black polo uniforms, we are encouraged to wear red and green shirts, as well as Santa hats and reindeer antlers.  Because there are so many people at the mall, we are constantly busy and running around, but everyone is in such good spirits with smiles on their faces despite the early hour, so it's a good time.  So, I generally really enjoy working during this time.

This year is different.  This year, our local mall opens at 8:00 pm on Thursday, November 28.

This year, our mall opens on Thanksgiving.

When I first found this out, courtesy of my mom, I was in disbelief.  8:00 on Thanksgiving?!  Why??

According to the mall, the purpose of this early opening is to "remain competitive" with, I assume, other retailers in town.  But in my opinion, that is no excuse.  In my eyes, there are far more negative effects from this early opening than positive ones.

With an 8:00 opening time on Thanksgiving day, my family and I will have to be at the mall around 6:00 pm to begin baking cookies and getting the store ready for the mad rush of people that will descend upon the store.  But how exactly is that supposed to work out when we have Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt's house half an hour away?

Well, it won't work out, at least not in the way we've always done it.  My family will have to forfeit a Thanksgiving tradition years in the making in order to satisfy the demands set by Black Friday precedents.  Instead of spending time together as an entire family (including aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and more), my mom, dad, sister, and I will work.  Instead of relaxing and enjoying time surrounded by good food and the people we love the most, we will be satiating the hunger of those shoppers that are voluntarily foregoing their Thanksgiving to buy things.  And instead of slowing down and actually being thankful for all the things we have, we will be musing over the fact that these shoppers couldn't take one day, one day, to not give in to the idea that we need more and better and newer.

But this doesn't just affect my family.  No, it affects far more than us.  It affects every single person that works in retail and their families.  For those who haven't worked in retail, you have to understand that there are only a few days in the year where workers are generally guaranteed a day off.  These days include Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving.  Well, except for this year of course.

So, readers, I implore you to rethink your actions this Black Friday:

Malls and businesses: don't feel so pressured to open earlier and earlier each year.  Shoppers won't be angry if you don't open at 8:00 pm on Thanksgiving.  Instead, they might actually feel relieved!  The only reason they are so eager to camp outside your doors in order to enter your store at opening time is because they feel that the product they are seeking won't be there if they come later.  Nobody really wants to give up their Thanksgiving or wake up really early the next day if they don't have to.  If you opened at your usual time on Friday morning, the people will still come if you have your deals and specials.  And please, just think about your employees and their families.  How can you justify taking away precious time from them on one of the few days they actually have to celebrate together?  Just because you pay them doesn't necessarily make up for the fact that you're taking away time from them, which is usually more valuable anyway.

And society: I am in utter shock year after year from the amount of people I see getting up at an unnatural hour or even camping outside the store hours before opening time to buy things.  Not only that, but I'm so frustrated that people would willingly give up time with their families while I, and many, many others, are forced to.  It's just stuff.  And what's more, it's the same stuff you can get every single other day.  There is nothing special about this stuff just because it's Black Friday.  Sure, perhaps it's cheaper, but is that money that you save worth the time you lose, especially when whatever you buy will probably break or get lost or you will get tired of before too long? 

It's Thanksgiving.  This is the one day you're basically required to not buy things.  It's the day you're supposed to sit down with family and friends and just be happy with what you have and not covet more.  I beg of you, please do not give up time with your family to shop this Thanksgiving.  It really won't be worth it.  At least wait until the next day.

After all, friends, it's not called Black Thursday.

Bye, October. It Was Fun While It Lasted.

Calendar check: is it really October?

Scratch that...is it really almost November???

I have been slacking like a lazy kid in a group project on this whole blogging thing.  Yeesh.  
So, maybe you have and maybe you have not been wondering what's been going down over here in good ol' Purdue.  If you have, you're in luck: I'm about to give you the condensed version of Everything You Need To Know That Happened To Kasey Kaisershot In October.  If you haven't been wondering, well...I'm going to tell you anyways.  And if you aren't even there anymore and I'm just rambling to myself...that's another story.  We'll pretend that's not the case.  And I guess what I do say will all depend on what exactly my poor college brain can even remember.  So here goes:

Once upon a time, way back on October 4-7 (yeah, back in the Stone Ages, right?), it was Purdue's October break.  I got to go home and see my family (yayyy!) and just sorta chill for awhile.  Some of the things I did were as follows:
1. I did homework.  Whoop de freakin' do.
2. I went to Raider Farms with my family!!  It was so windy and chilly that day, but it was fun because we got a lot of yummy fall food and got to take bizzare pictures.
3. We also saw the movie Gravity with Sandra Bullock.  A pretty good one if you ask me, despite the fact that I could barely breathe the whole movie since she almost ran out of oxygen.
4. I went down to Champaign on Saturday to see Katie!  First I saw Kourt get all dolled up for homecoming, and she looked precious.  Then I headed over to Champaign to go to the Aaron Carter concert with Katie!!  It was so great because the tickets were really cheap (I mean seriously, Aaron was in his prime like 10 years ago), and he sang all his classics ("I Want Candy" and "Aaron's Party" anyone?).  It was a blast reliving our '90s days, and afterwards, we met up with Lauren and went out and danced a little bit.  It was quite a good time if I do say so myself.
5. I got to cheer on the Wildcats for their homecoming football game with Brooke and Kelsey, but not until after we had eaten our weight and more in FlatTop Grille stir fry.  My mouth is watering as we speak.

So yeah, basically it was a grand ol' time, but as Tuesday night was drawing to a close and I was supposed to be heading back, I was like, ehhhhh.  Not really feeling it.  So, since the perks of college classes include not actually having class until 11:30, I woke up at the buttcrack of dawn on Wednesday in order to drive back to campus.  So worth being able to sleep in my big, non-lofted bed another night, though.  I mean, you don't know luxury until you've slept in your own bed after weeks of your lofted one.

Sissy :)

Fighting Harry Potter at Rader

Kissing Dumbledore

These caramel apple slushies are ridiculously good

At the football game!

Concert timeeee

Lauren and Katie!

Hey Aaron Carter!!

Jayceon, Aaron's opener

The weekend after was fun too.  You'd think I was sick of seeing my family by now (recall the fact that they had just been up for family weekend the week before October break), but the opposite was the case.  Actually, my family and some family friends came up to tailgate for the Nebraska vs. Purdue game!  Since the game was at noon (and nobody wanted to leave at 6 am to get here), we tailgated after the devastating Purdue loss instead of before.  (Devastating? Who am I kidding? We had it coming.  Purdue football sucks.  ...Boiler Up!)  But anywho, we cooked (or rather, my dad cooked) burgers and hot dogs, and Jess and Annie (my future roommates, holla!) and Kourtney and I threw around the football a little bit while simultaneously stuffing our faces with food.  It was really a good time, and there were so many people tailgating, making it a great experience.  Plus, the weather was fantastic.

The Family Rivalry...

Tailgating!!

Yum yum, burgers and dogs!

Annie boo at the game :)

And as if that weren't enough...

Last Sunday I saw saw my family again.  

I'm sorry, I just love them, okay?

My mom had told me earlier in the week that Kourtney was getting her senior pictures taken that weekend, and I really wanted to be there!  Plus, it was my parents' wedding anniversary!  So I decided I would work to get all my homework done on Saturday so I could drive up Sunday afternoon after I taught Sunday school and surprise Kourtney!  It sort of worked, except mom sorta blew my cover the night before, but no biggie, because the whole thing was a blast!

The guy who took Kourt's pics, Jerry, was really funny and Kourtney looked absolutely stunning in her pictures.  Like, straight model status.  And that's me not being biased.  She got to do a lot of different stuff and wear a lot of cute little outfits and it was a lot of fun and I just used a lot in that sentence, well... a lot.  But Jerry was really cool and thought our family was absolutely crazy (truth) and his hs senior assistant was fun too.  In fact, after the shoot, we all went to Green Gables together, a bar out by Lake Bloomington.  Talk about delicious burgers and an awesome juke box (to which we may or may not have danced to ).  I was really scared to drive back to school, however, considering it was pitch black.  I ended up not getting back until around 11, but luckily I made it back without seeing any deer (although those corn husks flying across the road gave me a scare or two).

Can we just take a second and look at this gorgeous sister of mine?!

Oh, you know, just me and mom being weird on set...

It kind of stunk getting home so late because I had my full day in my Kindergarten class the next day!  Instead of my usual 2 hour weekly visit, I went for the entire day to see what a full day in the classroom is like.  The answer?  Exhausting.  I don't know how my teacher does it!  She is always on.  They are really great kids, but it is pretty tiring!  I'm glad I got to experience it though, and it felt good being able to assist her in the classroom so she could work with some small groups on some things.  The bad part was, one of the students gave me pink eye, which was not so fun.  (Quick mini story: I made an appointment for the student health center because I had a huge spider bite on my leg that was really swollen and red, so I wanted to get it checked and make sure it wasn't anything to worry about.  Well, on the morning I woke up for the appointment, my eye was all red and gross.  So, I walked in to check a spider bite, which was fine by the way, but I walked out with a pink eye diagnosis.  Yayyy Kindergarten...)

Also, the week before I taught my first group lesson!  It was a really exciting experience!  I did an activity with the letters b, d, p, and q because I had noticed the students were having difficulty telling them apart in a previous activity since they all look the same, just flipped in different directions.  So we practiced with those letters a little bit, and then I did an activity where I read a prompt (such as, boys go to letter b), and the boys had to walk to the corner of the room that represented letter b.  We did that with several prompts, and one of the students even asked, "Can we do this all day?".  Let me tell you, that felt good to hear :)  I actually only have 1 more visit though!  I can't believe it's already over!  I'm excited to see what next semester brings me though...

Speaking of next semester, I registered for classes!  I'm pretty pleased with my schedule, so we shall see what becomes of that.  I'm taking 18 credit hours though, which makes me pretty nervous, but I should be okay!  I also decided I wanted to officially minor in Spanish instead of just certificate in it since it's only 2 extra classes, so now I have that to look forward too!  Plus, my Global Studies minor will be complete after this semester too!  Yippee!!

Some other random stuff:

I just got back from PSEA Fall Conference in Indy today!  If you recall, I went to this conference last fall, but this time I was actually helping to be in charge of organizing for it.  It was a fiasco at first with our student organization financial group and getting authorized drivers and all that jazz, but we were finally able to go and it was a success!  We had 10 members total, and we went to several breakout sessions and listened to many speakers during the time we were there so we could learn more about education in Indiana and how to be better teachers.  In fact, Glenda Ritz, Superintendent of Public Instruction in Indiana, was our keynote speaker for today!  She's kinda a big deal when it comes to education in Indiana because she actually cares for the teachers and schools.  Everyone is in love with her at that conference, haha.

Last weekend, Jess, Sydney, and I all went to see the movie Prisoners in theaters.  TALK ABOUT AN AWESOME MOVIE!!  It was so great.  Jake Gyllenhaal was looking attractive as always, but the whole movie was amazing!  It was so suspenseful and creepy and good!  I can't rave about it enough, I'm tellin' ya!  The three of us literally had to sit there in the theater for a good 10 minutes after the movie ended so we could process and calm down long enough to get a grip to go home.  It was that good.

Also, I ran my first ever 5K in October!  I had never done an official one before, and I really wanted to.  So, Timmy Global Health organization put on a nighttime glow run where everyone got some awesome glow sticks to run with!  Sydney and I ran it in 33 minutes (not too shabby if you ask me) and then what did we do?  ...We went to Taco Bell.  Naturally.

My friend Katie and I before the Glow Run

Me and Sydney, lookin' glo-tastic.

Another fun fact: I am officially a big kid.  

Yep, that's right.

On Thursday, Jess, Annie, and I signed our very first apartment lease.

...What?!

That's right.

We had been looking at a lot of different places (we literally had a chart going of about 10 places) and weren't too thrilled.  However, we found 2 we really loved and narrowed it down.  We made legitimate pro/con lists trying to figure out which one would be our home next year.  We sat down for an hour trying to decide what we liked, but it was too difficult.  Both places had the things we wanted out of an apartment, so we didn't know what to do.  Finally, we decided on one (partially because there was too much risk with the other since the landlords were out of the country until next week and all the places were selling like crazy) and signed a lease!  Luckily, Annie's mom, who is a lawyer, came with us to make sure we weren't selling our souls to the devil.  But seriously...oh my gosh.  This time next year, we will have a place of our own.  Soooo exciting!

Well, that was October for ya.  (Most of it anyway).  Until next time!

XOXO