But I am le tired! Well, take a nap...and then fire the missiles!

Celebrating Christmas twice this year; YAY! Em and Dan will be down on Friday night, so we'll do our Christmas Eve gifts that night. Then it's Christmas morning on Saturday! Then we get to move right into New Year's. It's like a 4-day celebration. That's the way to do it.

All I want before I go back to Rose is just a lil bit of SNOW. Please? I snow-danced and everything. Even flushed the ice cubes. So if it snows in the NW of IN, you can all thank me. ONE day of sledding, that's all I ask!

Later taters. I'm out.

I'm official!

There she is. No more red letters! :) ( :

Chicago Trip

Betsey giving me a lift...still not tall enough to kiss the lips.


















Outside of Macy's/Marshall Fields and the window story!












Giant tree(s) beside the German shopping place. Thingie. Sooo fun!












What happens when you let Mom hold the drink. I come by it honestly, you see.












Sisters. Sooo purty.













Merry Christmas, everybody!! Hope your holidays are as amazing as mine are going to be.

One Week

Break's almost here! I'm looking forward to it, if only because it means I get to forget for a while. I've learned to really appreciate the moments when you don't have to think.

This past weekend was amazing. I got to see my ex-roomie, sleep for ten hours straight, and go to Indy for an evening, among other things. And currently my toes are very toasty, thanks to the perfect gift from The Tobe (haha, that's for you, Buzz)! Alright, I really can't help that I have zero circulation to my hands and feet. At some point I had promised to invent electric socks someday...who knew they already existed?!! Tobin found me a battery-powered pair, which is much more efficient than my idea of plugging myself into a wall. They're pretty hard-core socks, haha, I look like an elf right now, and they jingle too!

Sooo...three tests this week, then I get to head HOME on Friday!! When I get back...I will be sporting a new license!! Who's excited? This kid is.














Kinda stole this picture, but it's worth reposting: Caleb Aaron being super cute! Isn't he adoooorable? He's so....bald. Love him! It must be that middle name, he takes after the pretty aunt. This is one of four babies I get to see over break! Em, hurry up, I want a partially Korean niece or nephew!

Back to studying. Nutrition...who needs it?

Why Giving Birth Is Not a Good Idea

Number 1 Reason: Being pregnant. Um, your waistline grows by many inches even if you eat the SAME AMOUNT as you did before being knocked up. You can't move nearly as well as you could before...forget running once you pass the 8-month mark. Tying shoes...ha! Velcro straps and spandex pants, mmm.

Number 2 Reason: The little hellion you must raise for the next several years. More, if you don't want to be accused of neglect.

Number 3 Reason: Pain. Accompanied by inordinate amounts of blood. I like to be conscious.

Number 4 Reason: The after-effects...stretch marks, recovery time, postpartum depression, etc.

In short, I think, besides not shaving your legs, giving birth is God's all-natural sex deterrent.
The end.

Altos!!

After our first performance. It's not really fair, being short. You get stuck with all the slightly awkward poses. Not fun when taking multiple pictures. Anyways, aren't we gorgeous?? ;)














Zaiss is joining me tomorrow for choir! :):)

Blood Drive

First: blood is the grossest thing ever....it should stay inside the body where it belongs. BUT, since people insist on putting holes in themselves and keep needing bags of the stuff from college kids, I figured I should do my part and try to keep these vampires alive.

Buzz, we are both failures at this blood thing, apparently. You weren't actually given a chance to try to give, however, since the lady couldn't seem to find your vein. I did not have that problem. Nope, the first thing the chick said when I turned my arm over was "There's a beaut." I've never heard that in reference to my veins before. Apparently they show well. It made me sick to my stomach, at any rate.

Sooo...I made it through the registration, pin prick (the WORST part...she kept pushing at the finger to get the blood to ooze out...uuuuugghh), and insertion of the needle. Not bad, it didn't hurt, I can take that kinda thing. I wasn't even looking at my arm, but a couple of seconds after my blood started exiting my body...I passed out. They had me sitting up originally...next thing I knew, I was lying on my back and they were calling "Erin, Erin, stay with me! Cough!" I didn't quite understand the whole cough thing. But I tried it. Can't quite describe the feeling, but it was weird and I was too tired to talk. There was plenty I wanted to say, though. I didn't even feel them take the needle out.

Anyways, I felt fine after a bit; poor Brandi didn't do so well. She had a new lady who couldn't get the needle in (now THAT would knock me out for sure). Brandi's face was green when she came up to me after she finally quit trying to fill the bag. Neither of us gave enough for the blood suckers to keep it. I wonder what blood type I am? I will probably try this again next time. I'm determined now.

Rambling

I don't appreciate being bipolar at times. My mood is so capricious. The tiniest thing can make my day or send me into that melancholy that, while so comforting and protective, is also the most damaging attitude I could have. It not only affects me and my mood, but also anyone who is around me.

Contentment is something I am working on. It's so exhausting to be around someone who is constantly dissatisfied. I am where I am, and I can't change that. I can, however, make the best of it. This is my life, it's happening right now. Enjoying the breath-taking moments is easy for anyone, but it takes someone of true character to find the joy or the value in the rest.

FYI: Nose strips are amusing. If you enjoy inflicting pain on yourself, that is. Try not to put them too close to your eyes.

Merry Christmas!!

Dreaming of a Summer Day

Lake Michigan

















Here is my haven. Minus a few dead fishies and perhaps a tad brighter and bluer than reality and be glad it's not scratch-and-sniff...but it's mine. And I miss it. So does my pasty white skin.

Break Update

I get to see almost everybody from the "old days" over break! I'm excited.







And check this out...the niece blowing out her own candles!! Don't be fooled, despite the large amount of fire, she's only two.

I'm On Break

#1 - Happy Birthday, Grace!

Two years old...you're making me feel old, kid.

#2 - DONE, SON!! That's another quarter under my belt, another step closer to graduation. I added up my score for the EEE final and I do believe I passed that class!!!! The others I'm not worried about. I'll be home in a few days, after I wait around here for a bloody intramural meeting that someone didn't plan very well. I might swing up to see Betsey for a bit as well. I don't really know right now...all I know is I have zero cares in the world! God's too good to me. I didn't die or anything. See y'all soon!

Pieces of My Heart

I was just writing Em's name the other day and accidentally wrote "Rumley". I'm going to have to get used to this "Emily Stauch" thing. I'm learning, though! Anyways, I miss you all and I'm super excited to see you over Thanksgiving. Here's some bachelorette party pictures...back when we were all still Rumley's. And back when my shirt wasn't broken. Hey, Mom, wanna teach me how to sew a button on? Again? I'm a slow learner... Maybe fishing line would do the trick.

10th Week Update

Today was a beautiful day. It was warm enough to go running outside, so I took advantage of that. Even the light rain felt good. It's funny how your attitude can affect the clarity with which you see everything else. It felt like I could see and hear and smell everything a little better.

Finishing up a project tonight; and sometime I have to write a 15-20 page technical report for Tech Comm. Yeeeah...that's not gonna happen. We don't even have enough information for that length of a report. There's gonna be a lot of visuals I do believe.

BUT...it's 10th week, EEE was canceled for tomorrow, and I have the rest of my homework due tomorrow completed. I can't complain. Even though I'm really good at it.

I can't WAIT to see you all! I don't know what day I will be home yet, but it's SOON! You're the best. Stay safe and I'll see you in a couple of weeks.

The Sunshine's Back!

I finished my school day; no, it wasn't perfect, but it went better than I was expecting. Yeah, I still have a lot to do, but I'm suddenly not stressed about it. Thanks to the 'rents....you guys are the best! Thank you for knowing when I needed you.

Erff and I have made a deal to treat ourselves to dinner if we pass this EEE test. Food is a great motivator, haha! If it works, I think I might take that approach on every exam. I wonder if we both have to pass? Or if we can add our scores together? Maybe we should have made a few ground rules. ;)

I don't even know what to do with myself, I'm bouncing off the walls here in the LC. OH...I was starting to get sick last night on top of everything...so I just went to bed and got up early to study some more. I think it worked! I'm feeling better already. You guys wouldn't believe it; I got up at 5:20 in the MORNING. True, I slept through my alarm for 20 minutes, so I haven't changed comPLETEly. ;)

Going to pretend to work now! Bye.

I Think the Finish Line's a Good Place We Could Start

On the one hand: I hate when people are hypocritical. Just BE REAL, be yourself! It's so cool to see how different people are and to enjoy all the different flavors of humanity; why would you mess that up by trying to cover up who you really are? Cuz generally the more you cover up, the more boring you become.

On the other hand: Have you ever just been plain petrified to be who you really are? What if you open up just a little bit to reveal the you that's inside, and you get hurt? Is it worth the risk? Is whatever inside really beautiful, like when a bud opens into a flower, or is it ugly and unappealing to everyone who sees it? No one will know til you try.

Can you get used to disappointment? "To defeat the fulfillment of hopes." I don't think anyone can ever get used to the initial pain. If you do, then you're emotionally dead. If it doesn't hurt to see a dream destroyed, then you're no longer really hoping for the dream to become a reality. If you're no longer hoping, you can't be disappointed, according to Dictionary.com.

I miss home. See you guys in a few weeks! I love you all so very, very much. Zilla, let's play some ball when I get home, k? Maybe it'll be in the snow! Elyse, we could make a snowman then! I hope it does snow. Later taters!

De-stressing

It's nice to feel more relaxed. I'm a little more caught up; not feeling pulled in so many directions. The fact that I have 6 games in the next 7 days can only make me laugh at this point. End the season with a bang, I suppose. Trying to be optimistic...but the possibility of setting the record for the highest concentration of losses in school history is so tantalizing. This season has done a lot for my fatalistic attitude. If you can face imminent failure with a sense of humor, it certainly doesn't hurt as much. Until later.

Family Christmas presents...haha, I don't think we could have confused ourselves any more than we did this year! I am going to have fun shopping for my "mystery sibling"; but honestly guys, I won't start my shopping for a good month to six weeks from now. Em, you are so organized. I admire that, really. Whoever you have will have his present bought and wrapped within the week. I hope the person I have doesn't mind paper sacks as wrapping paper. ;)

41 Hours Later

I am going to bed. This is going to feel good.

A Night Has So Few Hours

I could have sworn I told you all about the Cat job offer. I really think I did. But if not, I did now. Yeah, I got an extension on the deadline for when I had to accept the offer. Now I have until November 1st to tell them yes or no. That still doesn't leave me a lot of time, but I can at least see if I hear back from any other companies between now and then. If you want to know any more, talk to me later.

*Edit* It's now really early (4:30 or so) in the morning and I am still up and feeling giddy, so I thought I would say hi to you all while you are snug in your beds. Except for maybe Jaymi. Never know when you'll decide to hit the sack you crazy girl. I have a career fair breakfast in two and a half hours, so pretty soon I'll start getting ready for that. I have a test and two quizzes tomorrow...I am FINALLY ready for one of the quizzes (yes, that is why I am up so late...for a QUIZ, mind you). Matlab and I don't get along too well. Oh joy, I just realized that I get to lug around my laptop tomorrow as well as my thermo book for my open book test. Maybe I'll start taking a shopping cart to class. Good grief. I'm off to study or shower or something productive. Later!

Delaying Matlab coding

Two weeks left of volleyball. Cuz we're not gonna make it into the HCAC tournament, sorry to bust your bubbles. I think the requirement is that you have to be able to actually beat another opponent.

I'm feeling a tad swamped right now, so hopefully in a few days it will all be better. But as of right now...I need a clone. Too bad mine left just a couple of hours ago! Buzz, let me know when you get back (no car accidents this time, k?).

Career fair tomorrow! I have to give tours to the company reps that want to see the campus; and the next day I am having a breakfast with them as well. It should be a good networking opportunity. I just found out that I have more time to respond to my job offer as well, which is GREAT news.

And that's all for the moment. I need to get to work. Bye, all.

Buzz

My beautiful sister is here! Hi, Betsey! (Melita, you get to be in both of these pictures...don't you feel special?? Haha, can ya tell you're the one who had these pictures taken??)

People I Miss

Wish I could see you all over break. I think the next time I will be home is Thanksgiving. So...Hi and I love you Mom, Dad, Luke, Lacey, Grace, Caleb, Emily, Dan, Betsey, Zach, Elyse, Jaymi, Jori, FEBC college class, Cassie, The Gang, and everyone else!

We WON our Homecoming match!! Here KT and I are in front of our bonfire (which accurately predicted the outcome of the football game, once again).



















Our floor got to make a banner this year for the pep rally! Usually it is just sororities and fraternities who submit banners...here is ours (we should have won ;) He's even got the little Rose jacket on. And a pocket protector. :D The picture doesn't show it very well, but that's a flyswatter in the nerd's hand.














I'm going to try to be productive now so I don't have so much to do on the way to Ohio. I think you all are the best and I can't wait to see you again! Jaymi, can't WAIT until you are here in a couple of weeks. Jori, I LOVED the package! Thanks for being such a sweetheart. And for making me fat. I love it! Later, everybody.

Correction

Our housekeeper is the best EVER. There, now I feel better after that last post. She cleaned today, as usual, while I was still in bed (didn't hear a bit of it tho, proud to say); but she came back later while I was at work and changed my sheets, made my bed, and emptied our trash (and probably vacuumed too). Yeah, she's outstanding. Wow.

Cookies and Family

Can life get any better? I submit that it canNOT! (that's for you, Buzz)

Here's KT and I cheezin at our floor cookie exchange. May I recommend all of you have one of those sometime in your life? You are missing out if you don't. My goodness, I gained about 12 pounds that night. OH and right behind me is our super-senior roomie, Kim. She's amazing!
















Here are a few examples of what the exchange looked like. We needed some help to finish all of them off!




























That's a cake. Some people got confused.
Mi familia got to come out and see one of our vball games! They are amazing and loud and never ever see any of my mistakes (they're cool like that). Thanks guys! Em, I love the bracelet and photo...it is going up on my desk. I love you all BUCKETS and BUCKETS. Here's a nice hot pic of me that they took at the game.














That's my "send the ball this way and you'll regret it" face. Grr.

And here are the lil guys...miss you!




























Ok, I'm done entertaining you all. Gotta get my MOM done. Among other things. Bye.

Alright You Whiners

Hi guys. I don't really have tons to say, but here's a quick update.

• Volleyball: We are still losing. But you should come watch us anyways! It's a grand ole time. HEY HOMETOWNERS, I'm at North Manchester THIS Saturday at 6, come by to see the game! It's about as close as we'll be to the Chicago area this season.
• School: Still here, despite wishing to the contrary.
• Grades: With a lil rounding up, I'm at a solid four-oh, y'all.
• Work: Um, the candy is good. Laffy Taffy jokes'll keep you going.
• Time: Not quite enough of it, and it's flying by.
• Sleep: I'm still really good at it. It's a skill I've been working on. I've even got the maid beat now. No more waking Err up at 9 on a WEDNESDAY. No sir. Dead to the world.

Well, there ya have it. I'm doing well, I like my music, my roomies, and my twice-weekly weekends. I miss you people back home, can't wait to see you again! Dan-O, I hope you can make it to the game with everybody on Sat. Love you all. See you soon!

**Edit as per request**
Dad, in plain English: The bloody maid comes in at 9 O'CLOCK on Wednesday mornings to clean our rooms. I, therefore, am snug in my bed at such an ungodly hour; and am rudely awakened by said maid. BUT, I have defeated the system. Either 1) I get up BEFORE she comes in so that I can give her my old sheets and get new ones - and maybe even have her make it for me, gotta love maids - or 2) I sleep RIGHT THROUGH her vacuuming and other noisy activities. Obviously, I prefer the latter, and I have it down pat now. Unfortunately, the housekeeper won't change sheets when I am wrapped up in them. There, all clear now? See you guys on Saturday!

I Think She Likes Him

Here's a before picture. If you'll look closely, I do believe I am giving the camera the finger for this one. That hair is HOT, y'all. Lil advice for those of you with curly hair...never ever ever blow it dry with no product in it.



















Oh my goodness, look at my handsome schmandsome boy! That kid's only eight...and he's workin' that tux!














This hill was treacherous.














The ceremony was beautiful. Here are the bride and groom taking communion together.
















It was a gorgeous wedding and a perfect day! I might post more pictures later. If not....enjoy these! I should get back to schoolwork now. Only two more days til the weekend!!

Interview with Caterpillar on Friday! I'm excited/nervous; but it will go well and whatever happens, it will be good experience for later on. :) I think I am going to go out and buy a business suit. An investment in the future. ;)

My sister's a newlywed! I have a few pictures from the wedding, but they are on everyone else's sites. So I will post ones that they won't. Hehe.

One highly attractive picture of yours truly. Posing for a younger sibling at the rehearsal dinner...yes, I did look up from stuffing my face every once in a while.
















Here's the story about this next one: Betsey and I didn't bring any button-down shirts, but we had to get our hair and make-up done before we got dressed. Which meant we borrowed my dad's shirts. The result was stunning. Lacey is in the middle in the normal-sized shirt. Yeah bridesmaids!















This one has already been posted elsewhere...but it's me and my Jaymi!!! Miss ya, kid! And can I just say that I had taken off my shoes in this here photo...the flip flops give the illusion that I am a shortie. Ok, maybe I am.















And last but not least...the beautiful bride!!! She might kill me for this one.

Procrastinating Like a Professional

My mini-vacation is over. And I am still stretching it as faaaar as I can make it go. I'm getting a haircut! Time for something new. Plus my hair is getting super long...

Emily got married safe and sound. Only one lil nervous breakdown, then we were on our way! It went GREAT; I kinda went blank on the speech thing, but no worries, Betsey fed me my lines! :) Haha, it wasn't so bad. Although I must say we had nothing in front of us with which to toast the bride and groom once we had made the toasts. Oh well. So, I'm down one Rumley sister; but I got a new brother! That's fun. He's a keeper.

Recommendation: never ever ever wear the shoes we wore to the wedding. Ouch. Those came off RIGHT after the last picture.

Speaking of which, pictures should be here shortly! I'm excited; I took a million and two, so I really want to see them. I will post a few for your enjoyment.


Hahaha, Betsey, wasn't the MK lady great? I guess our faces were ok after all...

My Sister's Getting Married Tomorrow!

Congratulations, Dan and Emily! (Emily Stauch...wow, gonna have to get used to that one!)

September 16th, 2006

New Digs

I didn't like the new one and I was bored with the same ole, so here's a new look for ya! I like it.

Alright, for all you folks out there that didn't already know, I am a retard. What was I thinking? I pulled an almost all-nighter last night, flipping out about getting homework done on time, and what do I find out the next day? The homework wasn't due. At all. Aaahhh!

Therefore, I am tired and may not be the most pleasant person to be around. Bring coffee if you want to come by to talk. Otherwise stay away.

Silver lining? You can't see my black eye because of the giant bags under my eyes! I totally did that on purpose.

Well

Another weekend of volleyball matches...and I don't have a whole lot to say. Correction, yes I do, but it wouldn't keep this page entirely G-rated.

We went 1-3 this weekend. The match with Wilmington was better; we won in 5 games, and we had the most amazing crowd EVER there to support us. Paint, bare chests, and all. :) That was amazing. They cheered us all the way. They even cheered the Earlham match before, even though we lost miserably. The win against Wilmington felt good. I just wasn't happy with my own performance. Yeah, I know, what else is new???

Soooo...trying to forget about sports that start with "v" now. Lots to get done this weekend. Better get started.

Games This Weekend!

Rose Invitational this weekend...games at 6 and 8 on Friday night and 10 and 12 on Saturday morning. Come on out! I would love to see you there. :)

Thanks, fam!

I can always count on you guys to be supportive; thanks for the encouragement after a rather nasty weekend of volleyball. I love how you all completely missed the 0-4 record and only saw the good. Thanks again! Love you all, see you in a couple of weekends. EXCITED!

GAME DAY

First day of school under my belt; already behind in my homework; and it's GAME DAY!!!! The first official game of the year...we are heading 4 hours out to a tourney, but we'll be rushing back on Saturday to hopefully make it back for the football game that night. Who's excited????

Gotta get rolling (aka packing), so later taters!

Aaaahhh!

Betsey and her roomies were in a car accident yesterday if you all wouldn't mind praying for them. They are ok, but it's still scary, and they still have to fix the car and get back to school and all that jazz. I bet the road sign got the worst of it, though.

On a lighter note...congratulations to Kiefer Sutherland and 24, winners of Best Actor in a Drama Series and Best Drama Series, respectively. The Emmy's were last night, and I would have watched Kiefer and 24 win, but I only got to see Jon Cassar get the director's award before I had to leave to go see Invincible.

Ok, Invincible itself was ok; not the greatest, but I did like it. The BEST part, however, was most definitely the guy that fell asleep in the front of the theater. He started snoring louder and louder, and we were peeing our pants behind him; it was HILARIOUS! The theater was mostly college kids, and they started throwing things at him and everyone was laughing. Then we got sick of it and about 5 people went over to try to wake him up; but they couldn't. They clapped their hands above his head, called "Sir...Sir!", and shook him, but he just snored louder. OH MY we couldn't breath after that! So one guy left to get the manager. He came in and shook the guy (when we saw him, the theater erupted), but he wouldn't wake up. So then he left. A few minutes later, a cop walked in!!! Oh my oh my...no one but no one was watching the movie at this point! The cop had to physically shake the guy and talk to him really loudly for a while before he woke up. Then he asked, "Sir, are you alright?" I don't know what the guy said, but once he was awake, the manager and cop left...and the guy stayed for the rest of the movie and didn't fall asleep again. Hahaha, oooohhhh my goodness, that was the best theater experience ever. And the movie wasn't even that great.

Relax, Everyone

Just so you know, my parents aren't dead, missing, or even pulling a surprise visit on any of their college-aged children. Nor did a storm knock out all of their electricity and phone lines for two days. Nor did they decide to up and move without telling anyone.

No, indeed, they were safely packing up and moving my older sister in a highly planned and advertised maneuver that my brain quickly filed away in the "Block for Future Panic" drawer. Life's never dull when you have a recorded message on one end of the line and a hyperactive imagination on the other.

So put away your bloodhounds, unplug the Red Alert alarm still buzzing in your mind, and prop your feet up for some well-deserved rest. Once again, your Wort of Worry has saved the world and your immediate family from pending disaster; and once again you realize how silly your fears are in the face of a God so huge that no matter where your family was they never really left the palm of His hand.

Love you guys, glad you're not dead! Call me sometime or I may forget the valuable lesson I just learned. :)

Food Food!

The Tharps came in tonight to move KT into the apartments...there are soccer girls there now so we just piled all of our stuff outside of our apartment door. The RA is super cool though and won't mind. In a few minutes we are heading out to eat.

Ok, edit that, KT and I and her parents already went out to eat. It was great (Lonestar, mmmm)!

Now we are pretty pooped and I just wanna go to bed. Tomorrow is scheduled as a two-a-day, but shhhh, Coach let a few of us in on a secret...we are having our morning practice and then we are going canoing! Woot! I love canoes, and this will be a GREAT reprieve from the practices we have been doing. I'm ready for a break.

Alright, I gotta get to bed soon. Only a few more things to move over to the apartments now! Our apartment is pretty sweet, you all should come down and see it if you have the time and the gasoline. We have lots of floor space and you could even have my bed if you didn't want the floor. There are 5 of us living there, however, so the first quarter will be pretty tight. Second quarter, we should be back to normal. Later, y'all!

Ho Boy

Like the sigh, come on people!

Anywho...it's the end of another day of two-a-days. Except so far, we have only had one day of two practices and one day of one practice (that was today). And I'm about dead. Just so you know. I'm just pooped, but my shoulders are pretty sore. They aren't used to swinging this much anymore. You know, you just never get that full-swing effect when you're working with 5-12 year olds.

The team is looking really good, though. We should be able to hold off on the drama for a while (hopefully the entire season). I'm proud of us. Our first scrimmage is this Saturday against Depauw! Woohoo! Y'all come.

Well I am going to go elevate my feet and collapse into bed sometime soon. Thought I'd keep y'all posted. And that chocolate death is sounding better and better.

My Ideal Death

CLICK ME

Hey y'all

Back at Rose once again. Preseason meetings start tomorrow, and then official practices start on Saturday. Getting into the swing of things again will be interesting. I like my summers.

KT and I already went swimming in the lovely pond. Well, it's smelly, but it's pretty! They dye it and everything. And it wasn't even all scummy like it usually is.

Pictures to come...I am getting my favorites from over the summer (and spring break of last year) scanned so I can show y'all what you're missing when you're not around me EVERY SECOND.

Miss you, familia and Jaymi and Cassie and College Group and Sarah. See you at the wedding, I suppose. (think that's the nearest going-home date)

Later!

Have Appointment...Must Update Quickly

News, news...well, we had a shower for Emily up in MI on Saturday. Lacey threw it, and it was a lot of fun. Sidebar, Betsey and I and my Aunt Nona were an hour and fifteen minutes late when we were only going to be fifteen minutes late. We happened to miss our exit by thirty miles. We were almost in Lansing when we had been aiming for Grand Rapids. Yep. But we fixed that and made everything right as rain.

Four more days of work left, and then my internship is over! I had my exit interview today. That was fun.

AND, me and my roommate and probably the other junior, Amanda, are the only upperclassmen on the volleyball team this year! Yikes, that means a lot of responsibility; Coach has already told KT that we are in charge. We also have to design the T-shirts, so KT and I are working on that as we speak. Well, gotta go get the eyes checked out for new contacts and glasses! Whee...by the way, I'm kinda scared...when did I grow up and start having to go to the eye doctor by myself? Sheesh. Nervous. Ok, off I go.

Big and Rich

Wow. Might I say that the Porter County Fair has really upped its quality recently? Betsey and I went to an amazing Big and Rich show (the only downside was that we couldn't line dance...chairs were EVERYWHERE...but everyone stood up so that was ok) that ended in a late-night migration to DC's. Where we most definitely could line dance. I say migration because Big and Rich announced they were headed out to DC's that night and TONS of people from the show decided to head there as well. I have never seen DC's so crowded! There was a line out the door to get in. But there was plenty of space out on the dance floor, so Betsey and I had a blast! I got to shake Cowboy Troy's hand and stood within two feet of John Rich as he entered DC's. We have some great pictures of John Roch performing onstage at DC's. Amazing!

We also headed to a rodeo at the fair...that was a lot of fun! It was more of a performance than an actual competition, but it was great just the same! We have pictures from that as well. As soon as we get them off of the ancient film camera we were using, I can try to show them to you.

I am entering my last two weeks of work at USG. Then I have a couple of days off and it is off to Rose for volleyball preseason. I am half excited and half dreading the end of my summer. I love summer SOOO much!

I have made some trips to the beach. On the last one, the riptide was so strong and the waves were huge! I couldn't head straight back to the beach, I had to go back diagonally and walk back up the beach. It was amazing! It felt so good.

Well, I'm off...it's the weekend! I posted just before leaving work so you people with anger issues can relax a little and have something to read. And so I don't have to post again until I am back at Rose. Later, y'all!

*Edit* Let me just add...WOULD EVERYONE STOP FIRING INTO CROWDED HIGHWAYS THAT I TAKE TO WORK EVERY DAY???!!! Please? These goll-durn snipers are getting on my nerves. While they all seem to have bad aim and worse motives, I still would rather not run into one of their bullets while making my way to work one day. I guess driving lickety-split and slightly erratically is the best way to minimize myself as a target. Good thing I've been practicing for a few years now. They'll never get me when I turn on my evasive action! Ok, off to bed. Muah!

Posting Outside

There's a funny thing about trading cars with your sister so that she can change your oil and a badly clogged air filter and giving her your keys and getting hers from her. You end up getting home and sitting outside posting on the neighbor's wireless because you don't have a house key.

Yup, that's my update. Betsey is here now. Going inside. Adios.

Happy Fourth!

The Fourth of July is officially one of my favorite holidays...it's in the middle of the summer, it's all about the freedom of my amazing country, it involves explosions come ON, and no one in the neighborhood minds you being obnoxiously loud in the middle of the night. Mmm. Really, I find the sounds of explosions comforting. It's lovely.

Betsey and I are going to a local parade! SO fun...we haven't ever really been to this small town shindig. Should be fun. Welp, I should go help her make pancakes...then we are off to get ready and go see our little parade! Have a splendid holiday, everyone; don't get hurt but take the risks cuz it's worth it!

God bless America.

Hi Em

This is for you. I almost made it a month. I will put a more exciting post up later tonight. Love you!

Home Again

I love summer. Already hit the beach - I'm getting darker...aiming for black! That's my secret for my ups in volleyball. ;) Dang, I gave it away.

I start work tomorrow. Yikes! That makes me nervous. Jordan said that I will have a lot to do, which is GREAT. I would rather be busy then bored. Still, I have a feeling I won't be eating much until I get used to this work thing. Again.

I am LOVING this no school thing. Thank goodness I am halfway done. In two more years, no more Rose! But for now, I'll take this two-month break. Mmm. Free time. A foreign concept at the ole universidad. Look...it's me and my roomie! I'll miss her over the summer.

Wouldn't You Know?

The night before the ADES final, a storm knocks the power out at Rose. AGAIN. Last time, it took over eight hours to fix. Good thing I'm kinda prepared for this exam already...but a bunch of us headed out to Java Haute to study anyways (that's where I'm writing this post). My roomie is already done :( but she's sticking around till Friday anyways. Yay, I like her.

So, the one thing I'm worried about...ok, two things: not waking up in time for the exam because I don't have an alarm clock (curse all eight AM exams) and the final taking me a bloody four hours to finish. They said it should take us about three...and "they" being the professors means I'll probably be in there all four hours. Shoot.

Home in two days and a few hours. :D

Hailed Upon

That was a new feeling in May after weeks of hot temperatures. Those little hailstones hurt when they hit your nose. But it was fun!

We got our chem tests back today. The highest grade was an 88, the lowest was 21, and the average was 71. That scared me right off the bat. Then I got my test back...and I got an 87!!! I don't know who beat me, but I'm gonna find him and beat him up. I was SOOO excited! That made my day. Now I don't have to worry so much about the final.

One stats assignment, one non-fiction paper, three finals, and I am done! We are taking down our deck soon...our room is currently in a state of wreck and our couch is out in the hall. Getting into our bathroom is kinda tricky. It's so exciting! I am gonna miss this room though. It was pretty sweet. But the apartments will be pretty durn cool as well.

Speaking of which, we ARE going to be able to live there (phew). Since we had a freshman (going to be a sophomore) in our foursome, Hayes told us that we wouldn't make it into the apartments since everything on campus is overrequested and seniors and juniors get priority in the apartments. Thus followed a rigamarole as we proceeded to get rid of one of our roommates and start courting a super senior who will only be here for one more quarter. Well, it finally got worked out. Brandi will be living with CeCe for a quarter until Kim moves out of our apartment, then Brandi is back with us so that CeCe can have the single that she wants. Apparently, living with Ashly this year was enough to traumatize her against roommates for life. It's all rather ridiculous, I think. But now I officially have a place to live, so I am happy. Later, y'all! (one more class tomorrow and I am done with classes for the quarter!!)

Purrrty-ful

This is a random picture of a lab for ADES. Riveting.


















Um, a table of non-data that I don't know what to do with. So you get to look at it.







LOOK! Our goslings! They are getting SO big now.












Lookee here: my campus is purty in the winter. This is the one piece of art that is worth something on campus...it's called the "Something" Flame. I like it.

So I found this story on another blog:

3 Engineers and the Stalled Car


Three engineers are riding in a car: an electrical engineer,

a chemical engineer, and a Microsoft engineer. Suddenly

the car stalls and stops by the side of the road. The

three engineers look at each other with bewilderment,

wondering what could be wrong.



The electrical engineer, not knowing much about mechanics,

suggests, "Let's strip down the electronics of the car

and try to trace where a fault might have occurred."



The chemical engineer, not knowing much about electronics,

suggests, "May be the fuel has become emulsified and

is causing a blockage somewhere in the system."



The Microsoft engineer suggests, "Why don't we close

all the windows, get out, get back in, open the windows

again, and maybe it will work."


HAHA! But I'll have you know, this all would have been solved if they had just had a mechanical engineer on board. Hehehe.

Mud Volleyball and A Few Good Men Squared

Rose put on its production of A Few Good Men on Friday. Well, this is the third performance, including last weekend's performances. I went with Adam, Steve, and Brian. We found Amanda and Chris there and sat with them. It was an entertaining night. The acting wasn't superb; the main characters did pretty well, but some of the others were monotone and wooden. There were several mistakes, and parts where what the character said didn't make much sense because I think they skipped chunks of dialogue, but overall it went pretty well. The only part where I started laughing uncontrollably was the suicide scene. Yes, you may think such a scene would be sad...and it was, right up to the part where he put the gun in his mouth and the lights all went dark. I was rigid in my chair, just waiting to be scared silly when the gun went off. Then there was a flash of blue-white light as the guy's face lit up (Nick Slabaugh played the part, by the way, which made it that much harder to take seriously), then a pause, and then a muted bang followed by a digitized splash of blood that was projected onto a backdrop. I have not seen anything so funny in a LONG time. It took a while for my row to calm ourselves.

So, why does God play with us mere mortals?? Only a week or two ago, it was mid-70's and sunny outside. But this weekend, it's rainy and we're lucky if we hit 50 degrees. So, naturally, it's the same weekend that we signed up for mud volleyball. At 10 AM. On a rainy Saturday.

MY GOODNESS, that was a cold game. When we lost, we were actually happy. That meant we could go warm up! I was sooo muddy, and it was a lot of fun, despite the frigid cold. We got T-shirts out of the deal, and decided not to stay for the pyramid or belly-flop contest since we had already been outside for 2 hours. The cheeseburgers and cheetos were fabulous, though!

Tonight, we are watching A Few Good Men because the play whetted our appetites. Now we get to see how it is supPOSEd to be. Also, I saw To End All Wars this weekend. GOOD movie.

Lots of homework this weekend, but in two weeks it's ALL OVER. WAHOO!!!! Lata gatas.

What About Now? How 'Bout Tonight?

OH MY GOSH I AM ALMOST THERE! Not sure if you all understand how excited I am to be done! Currently, my younger sister is in the same class as me...because my school doesn't get out until the lil high schoolers do! Yeesh! But not for much longer. Soon enough, my friends, I will be an upperclassman. Woman. Person. :D

Tonight, I plan to finish my ADES formal write-up, do some Echem homework, and get started on ADES homework. This week, I have the 2 ADES reports, ADES homework, Echem homework, stats homework, a stats test, and a Non-Fic paper to write. Maybe a chem lab write-up???? Hopefully not. Ugh.

Just so you all know, I have a conflict of interest not next Monday night, but the one after. Yep, they put the 2-hour 24 season finale right smack-dab in the middle of my finals. Priorities...be strong. Nope, I know exactly where I will be from 8-10 (or is it 9-11??) on Monday night. It's the easy final on Tuesday anyways. So no biggie. Hehe. I'll have you all know this is completely FOX's fault.

Later y'all! Gotta buckle down now. Adios.

Grajeeits

NOTE: I only fell down the stairs once this past weekend.

Congrats, Em and Dan! Good job. You two are amazing!

The highlight of the graduation ceremony, besides seeing my family graduate, was the following quote: "UP'ers have feelings too. Except in their fingers and toes."

My niece and nephew are the coolest h'infants around! SO much fun to play with; try having an eighteen-month-old drink out of a water bottle someday. Hours of fun.

Winding up the sophomore year; after I pass chemistry, all will be well. The rest I am not so worried about. Three weeks and it will all be over, for better or worse. Woot!

Going to hit the ole town today. I am ready to be off campus, so I will utilize the lovely car that I too often take for granted. Wheels are a good thing. Later, y'all.

HIP DEEP, BETSEY, HIP DEEP

ADES test went alright. I was really happy when I turned it in (and am still pretty satisfied) but my bubble was deflated slightly (yes, my bubbles can deflate; I was never very good at analogies) when I realized that for the design-space problem he gave us in the problem statement that a<1...and I solved for a<0.8something. Urrg. Plus the fact that there were supposed to be three lines on the graph and I only had two...something's not right. Ooooh well.

THE CHEM QUIZ WAS CANCELED!!!! Hallelujah. My life was saved right then and there. Oh, do y'all know anything about silver nitrate?? Well, let me just tell you what our prof told us at the beginning of lab. "It makes a really dark stain and the only thing that gets it off is wear." Well, that's something of a paraphrase, but close enough. He was right. And apparently I don't pour chemicals into test tubes so much as I splash them onto my fingers and up my arms. I look like a leper. Actually, I look more like a little kid given markers for the first time, or that poor individual who's pen explodes and they don't notice until it's too late.

Incidentally, silver nitrate turns your hands a dark gray-blue and your arms a deep brown.

Didn't get elected for choir. Oh well. I wouldn't have been able to make it during the fall anyways, most likely. Jess quit vball!! :( I was not happy. We'll miss her.

Alright, off I go to not even pretend to be productive. Later, y'all. I shall leave you with a picture that brought me no end of joy.

Customer Greatly Appreciated It

We had our (first, from what I can recall) Customer Appreciation Dinner at the ARA tonight. All I can say is WOW. Well, I can say more. Or else this would be a very boring and brief blog. Alliteration! Alriiight. There it is again. I just can't help it.

Ok, so for the dinner, we had...oh man. There was so much. There was ranch-baked parmesan chicken with fresh parmesan to go on top; prime rib; a potato dish of some sort (rrrreally good); veggies; peel and eat shrimp; pierogis; lil sausages; fresh pineapple, grapes, honeydew, etc. with fruit dip; rolls; and a gourmet dessert table that was OUT OF THIS WORLD. They had at least three kinds of cheesecake (I had two of them; one was plain...AMAZING...and one was raspberry crumble or something...good), a ginormous mini-bunt chocolate cake with chocolate glaze (I took that one back to the room for my sick roomie), and lots more.

I STUFFED myself. I had six plates of food by the time I was done. Mmmm. Sadly, the sick roomie promptly upchucked the luscious bunt cake. Can't say I didn't think of her, though.

Also at the dinner was a DJ, who played loud but FUN music for us all and we could request what we liked. There were door prizes given away as well. Everyone stayed until the Xbox was given away; then all 300 or so of us left at once. Hehe, Rose nerds. Gotta love 'em. But they did keep that one for last, so we didn't just walk out on the poor DJ. Jared, KT's bf, won a horseshoe set. Woohoo. Hours of fun right there. My RA from last year won a cooler on wheels. Some guy won a pack of Monster energy drinks and someone else won a tub of sunflower seeds. It was a random and fun night. I wish they did it all the time, but then again I guess I don't cause I would be paying for it. But I do think every dinner should be set to music. Puts everyone in a good mood. Though I must say it was hard to hear. Ya win some, ya lose some.

ADES exam tomorrow and an Echem quiz; after that, I might be able to breathe again. We had our last spring vball season practice today as well, so tomorrow we will have a pizza party in the SRC. I have choir elections as well (apparently I was nominated for SECRETARY, not treasurer...just as well, since I don't think we really have money to spend and I wouldn't know how to take care of it if we did), so I will skedaddle from the par-tay a little early to see if I am elected. And to vote, of course.

I need to do some last-minute studying and try to decide if I should skip stats tomorrow so I can study for my quiz in between ADES and Echem. Hmm. We'll see. Later, y'all.

Caution

CS professors on the loose! I was run over by a CS prof today. I decided to cut through CS territory in order to get back to work after meeting with my ADES professor. Number one mistake. Number two came when I assumed that I could turn corners willy-nilly with no thought to my own safety. Apparently, those astute Computer Science educators walk at the posted 45 mph with heads pivoted a full ninety degrees in the opposite direction then they are headed. It's an aerodynamic thing, I think. Anyways, I could only got out a noise of some sort (probably equivalent to the ululating cry I gave when riding one fateful day with Mrs. Christman) before he plowed into me. I managed to spin enough to the side to just get a shoulder and one foot trampled, but I believe I bounced off the wall behind me. He said something, laughed, apologized, and announced to the classroom we had collided in front of that he had just run over someone. Blush.

Funny times.

Had my Humanities and Social Sciences Student Advisory Board meeting today; it overlapped with choir nominations, so I missed that, but I was nominated for treasurer, YAY! Voting is on Thursday, which I also can't make because of volleyball. Hmm. My track record is not so good for this position so far. But we'll see how it works out.

Got to study for a huge ADES test, take said ADES test, do chem homework, rewrite a formal report for ADES, write another formal report for ADES, do stats homework, take a stats quiz, read for Non-Fiction, and research for the AIAA project before Friday. Summer! I PINE for you!

Having a Dream's Never Stupid

Drama and a Turtle!

Lost a suitemate today. There was quite the blow-up and apparently no one can handle toughing it for four more weeks, so we helped move one of our suitemates up to her new room on the second floor. There has been drama for quite a while over this, but it finally cam to a head this week. It's really retarded actually and I am frustrated with the inability of some to get along with people. But that's cool.

On a lighter note...we have a red turtle living in the small pond at Rose! He's completely scarlet on his back and he has little red markings on his head and little legs. SO cute! I've never seen such a pretty turtle before. We also have a gigantic one in the bigger pond that scares me a bit since I've jumped in several times with KT before and aagh it could have bitten my toe off! Yargh.

Going to see The Sentinel soon; not with all 3 roomies as was the plan before. Sigh. Oh well, I'll figure it out later. And this summer...PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN II!!!! I hope you are all practicing your "gaarrs" and washing your bandanas, cause there's no way I'm missing it and YOU'RE COMING WITH ME!!! So get used to it.

Sumuppance

Part I

Holy package! A huge box of randomness arrived from the Weideman's here at Rose...WOW! It was full of great stuff; I am amazed by their generosity. Thanks Weideman's!!!

Part II

Attack of the Goose

Rose has been plagued by an egg-guarding, ginormous bird that camps out on the sidewalk and...best part of all...attacks unsuspecting Rose nerds on their way to class. Ah, but this bird is not picky in who he chooses to hiss and charge at; no, even the innocent campus tours find theselves dodging his snapping bill. He's taken to leaping on students' backs and going for the neck. Makes great dinner entertainment when you sit by the window in the ARA, though. hehe


Part III

Vball Scrimmage and a Concert

We played DePauw on Sunday - 5 games and we won 2. Yay! Also, on Saturday the Rose Chorus was the final act in the 2-and-a-half-hour production of Engineers in Concert. Wow, some of those acts were amazing!! Haha, I think my favorite was the 4-person band made up of professors and their wives; the "drummer" played his synthesized instrument on a keyboard; oh man, he was groovin', tapping with both index fingers on a maximum of four or five different notes. Yeah...that's how we get down!



check out these gorgeous altos!! owow!!
(from left: Susannah Yoder, Brittany McGowan, Sami Dick, Charli Dvoracek, Erin Rumley)

Part IV

Congrats to Jaymi! Welcome back, darlin' Jori!! Betsey makes me laugh. Congrats to Matt! And...I officially want school to be OVER. Four more weeks...and finals...and I am done! See you all later.

Rose Undergraduate Women

There we all are (well, almost. my roomie wasn't there, among a few others). This is the 10th year that women have been allowed at Rose. You may have trouble finding me...I'm exactly in the middle, the second row from the front. Look for the glow of pasty white skin. Yeah, that one's me.

Yay, Rose girls!!

Beautiful Spring Break '06

Well, folks, I had a pretty much amazing break.

It all started with a weekend trip to Niagara Falls and Toronto in Canada. Betsey and I went up alone...we camped on Friday night at Niagara and stayed in a hostel Saturday night in Toronto, then headed home by way of Lansing on Sunday. If you would like more details as to that trip, just talk to me; a lot happened, including a COLD/bathroomless night, a man in a kilt, an outdoor concert, and a ride up the tallest building in the world. There were interesting people too; it was just a blast!

In Lansing, we discovered that Emily was engaged...YAY!! We are very excited about wedding plans. Congrats to Em and Dan!

We got back to Grace Sunday night and I went to a class with Betsey on Monday and got some of our pictures developed. Then I headed home...aahh, my beautiful big bed!! I love queen sized beds; even the extended twins at Rose don't do the trick in comparison to my lovely bed at the NWI domicile.

The week at home was so relaxing and enjoyable. I read a book ("Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen - and Mr. Bennet is my official favorite character) and watched Season 2 of 24 and rode bikes with Zach to the library twice and generally made an indolent bum of myself. I got to see the newly engaged couple on the weekend as they came down to look for wedding locations.

Then, on Saturday, my wonderful sister took me with her to Chicago to see Wicked. WOW!!! That was an experience beyond what I was expecting. I love live performances, but I had never seen a musical; this was a great way to break the ice! The Hills are my heroes. We also spent some time in Chicago with about eleven of Betsey's Grace friends...I am so glad they let a complete stranger like me hang out with them!

That night, we were all extremely tired but decided to head out to DC's for some line dancing on Saturday night anyways. It is such a blast every time we go there! I always see people I know; this time it was Dana Cornelius and Josh D'Azzena and Ashley Barajas. And the dancing was aMAZing!! The burgers were not as good this time, but that's ok. I still had a blast!

Then I headed back to Rose today (Sunday). I think break just makes me want summer more. Oh, and here is a picture of me and my gorgeous mother!

See you all later! Have a great day.

"Goin' To the Chapel..."

CONGRATULATIONS to my dearest older sister and her brand-new fiance!! That's right, Emily and Dan finally decided to tie the knot! I am SO excited! Planning a wedding is going to be a blast! Dresses and invitations and the ceremony and the flowers and all the wonderful, hair-pulling franticness that is a wedding...it's gonna be great!

The date is not entirely decided yet, but as soon as Em can find out when the location is available, the date will be finalized. It's going to be soon though, probably about 5 months. That's the way to do it; a long dating/getting-to-know-each-other period and a SHORT engagement.

So, congrats to Emily! YAY!

T-Minus 6 hours (and 18 minutes) and counting...

Road trip:
-Grace to get Betsey
-Niagara campground or bust!
-Niagara Falls
-Toronto
-hostel
-Toronto
-Lansing with Emily!!
-Grace to crash
-a day with Buzz
-home

SOOOOOOO FUN! I'll catch all y'all in the NW of IN lata!! I'll be there for positive on Tuesday. Augh. This is gonna be GREAT!! Smiles all around.

Nephew!!

Here is a beautiful boy! That is the happy parents you see in the picture.








Caleb Aaron being held by his aunt, Melissa, who also happens to be pregnant again! We like our kids.











Another picture of the brand new baby (Aunts Melissa and Alonna are both in this one).












Lookee! It's me doing my dangdest to nurture that motherly instinct. It's pretty easy when all our babies are so durn cute. I didn't even drop him once!
















Couldn't resist putting up a picture of the new big sister! Soooo adorable...Grace is sixteen months old now! Where did that blond hair come from?











Well there's more but I think Blogger will start yelling if I try to add more pictures. Plus, those of you with dial-up will be 85 before you see these few anyways. Later, folks!