Ick.

I woke up and headed to class this morning, with just a slight case of the sniffles. I didn't really think anything about it, since it was early and rather cold outside.

I started to feel a little worse during class, but again I didn't think that was strange because generally when I'm in the Communication Arts building I have allergy symptoms. I think there might be a lot of dust there or something and that irritates my senses.

By my last class of the day I had a headache that wouldn't go away, and just really wanted to close my eyes. Generally this isn't something you can get away with in class, so I trudged through the class period. Once I went back to my dorm and picked up my things I went about walking out to the lot where my car is kept.

It was windy on the walk, and I probably should have called to see if someone could give me a ride, but honestly it isn't that bad a walk. Generally it's a nice walk.

I felt alright on the drive home, thank goodness, but the minute I stepped out of my car at home I was so dizzy. The dizziness has gone away now, but the remnants of my headache are still present. I think I may have developed a head cold, although hopefully I'm just tired. I would prefer to just go to sleep tonight and wake up feeling better tomorrow.

We'll see.

Laundry Day

I desperately needed to do laundry today. Generally I only have to do two loads, today I had to do three. Yeah, I kind of put it off, but on the bright side when I go home this weekend I won't come back to school with a ton of laundry to do. There is that bright spot!

Sarah went back home this afternoon with Felicia. I'm not sure where I was going with that, other than to state the fact.

Lately my Tuesdays and Thursdays have seemed busy. This Tuesday I had class until noon, and then Sarah and I went to get lunch, before I went to work at two, and soon after I got out of work we headed to the concert.

Then of course today I had class until noon again, and then we went to get lunch before Felicia came to pick Sarah up, and then I went to work before going to meet my journalism project group and then coming back to do laundry.

At this point I have a few pages to finish reading for class tomorrow, and I'll probably go get something to eat. I'm looking forward to this weekend at home though. I haven't been home since the weekend of the retreat. I didn't realize how long it's really been until the other day.

Exciting Times

So blog-wise, I haven't done very well this week updating. Oops. Monday was a case of forgetting. I had an article to write, an SpartanEdge meeting to go to, and Sarah got here to visit for a few days. I was focused on so many other things that blogging didn't cross my mind until after my self-imposed deadline had passed.

I had a SpartanEdge deadline that I was a little more focused on. My article on student voting rights was in this weeks edition of SpartanEdge, so that's kind of exciting!

Then Tuesday was insane, there was a lot to be done and not a lot of time to do it in. I had class in the morning, where we struggled with Internet that didn't want to work, a projector that wouldn't allow us to go over past assignments, and just general technology flubs. We worked on learning to write scripts for broadcast.

I'm fairly certain at this point in time that I don't want to write for broadcast. While that attitude could change, I'm fairly certain that I will stay steadfast in that evaluation.

After class Sarah and I went to get lunch, before I had to got to work, and soon after I got out of work we went to the Anberlin/All American Rejects/Taking Back Sunday concert. It was really good, and a lot of fun! I haven't listened to a lot of Anberlin, but I really liked their set so I think I'm going to have to check them out.

Anyway, as far as blogging, I am now back on track with my weekly schedule and will be doing some extra posting this weekend to make up for my failure to post early this week. The last few weeks around midterms have seemed crazy busy, but I think I'm managing to get things back to a steadier pace. At least, I hope so.

NANOWRIMO!

NANOWRIMO starts tomorrow, and that makes me a little nervous. This is the first year that I've decided to actually participate in NANOWRIMO. Can I manage to finish writing a novel in a month? We shall see!

I don't know though. Lately I've felt a little buried in homework, and I'm thinking that adding to this a novel writing goal, plus my blog is going to up the stress level a bit. Although, there is also the potential for writing a novel to be a destessor too. Hopefully novel writing proves to be my destressor and not an added stressor. Fingers crossed!

Sarah is coming up to visit this week, and I'm excited! She's going to get here Monday afternoon, and then go to the All American Rejects/Taking Back Sunday concert with me on Tuesday. It's going to be a lot of fun! We haven't worked out whether or not I'm driving her back Wednesday, or if she's going to stay and go back with Felicia on Thursday. Either way though it's exciting.

I worked late night over in Wilson tonight, and that was interesting. They had me work over in the Hub, where they make subs and wraps. Initially it was really, really busy. But near the end of the shift it tapered off. It is Halloween after all.

Scavenger Hunt

As usual, when I fail to post as I am thinking about it I end of forgetting about it completely. I was going to write something up before going to work last night, and didn't. Once my shift was over I walked over the the Girl's House, and hung out and obviously failed to pay any attention to my blog. True story.

Last night was fun though. The weather was rather awful, so they didn't end up doing the scavenger hunt earlier in the evening. Why that led us to believe doing the scavenger hunt in the dark was a good idea... I'm not really sure.

At any rate, in the dark accompanied by the wind and rain we split off into groups and drove around campus lead by riddles. The object of the game was to solve the riddles, find the structure they were talking about, and snap a picture with someone in the group in the picture.

We were all soaked by the time we got back to the house, but it was fun regardless. Afterwords we just hung around for a bit longer. It was close to two or so by the time I got back to my dorm.

Shortly I'll have to go grab somthing to eat and then head off to work again. This time I'm working the late night shift over in Wilson. Most likely I'll go join the group for Hot Dog Ministry since it's Halloween.

I feel like I have a lot of homework that I need to get done, but am lacking the focus to do so. Then again, everytime I look through what needs to be done it's really not that much. I think mainly I"m just nervous about applying to the school of journalism. My instinct is to say that I'll get in, and yet there is that little kernal of doubt in the back of my mind. I'm honestly not sure what the plan is if I don't get into the J-school...

The Why

Doubt, my old friend,

You stumble in,

I am hounded by my failure,

To comprehend,

I don’t understand,

The way things stand,

Between you and me.

I find the path

And walk it a ways

Then stumble and crash

When the tide shifts

And what I believed true

Proves frightfully false.

It’s one step forward,

And two steps back,

It’s a failure to gravitate

Away from this shallow pool

Of consistent failure

I want to find

A reason, a way.

Why, Why

I want to know

I want to understand

I can’t see beyond

These blinders

I can’t find, I can’t distinguish

The why.

J-School Application

I need to describe in five-hundred words why I want to major in journalism, for my application to enter the School of Journalism here at MSU. Somehow I think that a "just because" response isn't going to cut it. Thankfully, it's made slightly less vague because it also asks about my career goals.

I take this to mean that I am being asked what area of the field I want to enter into, and how I want to make my time there count. Considering I haven't written anything yet, and the application is due by November first, it would probably be a good idea to get my ideas organized.

I mean, really what spurred me into choosing Journalism in the first place was finding an enjoyment in writing. I like to write, and supposedly it's something I'm good at, so it seems like the natural direction to go in.

I guess some of the stress that I'm feeling at the moment stems from the fact that I find the whole application process a little intimidating. What do I do if I'm not accepted into the major? I have no idea what my next step would be. Transferring schools is such a strange thing, because now all of a sudden it feels like I'm so close to being done and that's kind of scary.

The future is a little daunting at the moment quite frankly.

Focus Fail.

For each of our out of class assignments in JRN 200, we have to make it into a blog post. I have a portion of the blog that is due Thursday done, and I think I'm going to finish it tomorrow. I am also beginning to think that I choose a more complex subject for my article than I may have initially intended. However, I am happy to report that my second out of class story seems to be coming along nicely.

I'm also still working on my application for the school of journalism. I just need to finish off my resume, and write the essay about my career goals. Have I mentioned that I'm a little intimidated by the whole process?

I feel like I have a lot of things to get done in the next couple days, but my focus just isn't what I need it to be. Basically, I am aware of all the things that I need to get done, and so so rather than focus on one thing at a time, my mind attempts to focus on several things at once.

Hopefully tomorrow my focus will be where it needs to be. In the meantime I have some reading that I need to get done to be prepared for class.

Packed Weekend

This weekend was busy, but it was a nice kind of busy.

Friday night I went and hung out at the His House girls house and helped Nataleigh, whose four, gut a pumpkin so that she could carve it. I definitely ended up covered in pumpkin, but that's a given when hanging around smaller children. Later in the evening we went to do Hot Dog ministry in front of The Living Rock. As usual that was fun.

However, the weather hadn't been too great all day, so it was quite a bit slower than usual. I don't think we even went through all of the hot dogs. We did manage to get rid of all of them that we had grilled up though. It was nearly three by the time I got back to the dorms.

Saturday, I attempted to get some of my homework done, but I don't think I really succeeded in getting much accomplished. If anything I got bits and pieces of multiple things completed. I had a lot of trouble focusing on any one thing at one time for most of that day. I would start on one project, and then my mind would wander to another project until I started working it, and so the process went.

But Saturday evening was the MSU v. Iowa game, so a group of us went to Pizza House, and had dinner while we watched the game. That game was CRAZY. Really, that's all that needs to be said. Once the game was done, we went back to the girls house, and we watched a movie and just kind of hung out. Again it was about one-thirty or so when I got back to the dorms.

Then Sunday turned into another full day. I went to church with Kali, Felicia, and Jessica in the morning. That was really cool, I really liked Riv Church's service. It followed the same kind of format that fellowship does on Wednesdays.

Anyway, after church we went and got lunch, and after hanging out at PetCo, we went back to the house, and from there went shopping with Julia, Nataleigh and Niki, before returning to the house and hanging out. Once again it was about one thirty before I got back to my dorm room. But the sleep deprivation was worth it. It was a really good weekend, and it gave me a chance to just forget about school work for a little bit.

Of course, now I have to get busy filling out my application for the School of Journalism. It's due Friday, and I can't get in to see an advisor until Thursday. Between that and interviews for my latest story for class, it's going to be a busy next few days school wise.

Rainy Dayz

It has been raining on and off all day. Rain, in an abstract way, is fine. It's when you have to walk to class in the rain that it's a bit annoying. Not only has it been raining most of the day, but it's cold rain. Cold rain is the worst.

My winter boots finally made it to my house though, so that's exciting. Hopefully they're the right size and everything. I don't generally like to order shoes on the Internet, but I really these boots and they weren't carrying them in stores. In fact, for a while they were on back order.

We had a quiz in class today over "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down". It was an open book quiz and of course I forgot to bring my book with me. Though I don't think having the book with me would have helped much. The questions were targeted more at getting a summary response based on plot points.

I am not the greatest at answering such questions, but hopefully I managed to do alright with this quiz. I'm sure I definitely did better on this one, than on the reading quiz we took for "House of Sand and Fog".