New Years Eve

This project ends on Saturday and I've already nearly forgotten that I needed to get a blog post up today. That would have made twice this week!

That being said, it will be strange to no longer have rules in place that ensure that I need to write and post something by a particular deadline. That being said I've learned a lot over the course of the past year. I've made a few blunders, and definitely achieved some amount of success. I've definitely tackled the initial goal of writing more often and consistently.

Maybe over this next year I can get some more of that novel written. That would be cool, especially since it's a project that I started working on nearly seven years ago. It's definitely a work in progress.

I have two more days left at work as far as this week is concerned, and then I have a week before I head back to school. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up some more hours next week. It all depends on how busy the store gets and if they can spare any hours for seasonal's.

I turn twenty-one on Saturday and plan to spend the day at work, which in all honestly I prefer since it may be my last opportunity to work over break. At any rate, I'm excited for the coming year. It's full of potential.

Next Week?

Today wasn't all that eventful. I went to work, where it was initially busy customer-wise, and then near the end of the shift the number of customers dwindled while I still had plenty of things to keep me busy.

Really, it was the best kind of day to have because when I go to work I prefer to be busy. The way I see, I am there to work, and so I want to get paid for doing my job and not for standing around. While it is true that I'm getting paid for being there, it is also true that I am wasting my time if I'm not keeping busy.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with myself all of next week. I'm not scheduled to work, although they know that I'll be available, so hopefully I'll get a call. It'd be awesome if I could get some more hours in before I have to go back to school. Besides it's nice to be back to work, it feels so normal and I'm not sure that I'm ready to give up that feeling of normalcy.

Crazy Dayz

Yesterday did not seem like a Monday, which is the major reason that I forgot to blog until I laid down around midnight, looked at my alarm clock and immediately thought, "It was Monday, and I didn't blog. Crap!"

It probably didn't help much that yesterday was a fairly busy day. I opened at work, which means that I was there from eight to five. It was a good day, as most days at work have been recently. It was actually really busy too. The store was unusually packed for a Monday, which is both good and strange. Today was a similarly good/strange day at work. It's going to be hard to leave it all behind yet again.

Once I managed to get home last night, I met up with Sarah and Nichole and we went and grabbed something to eat. It was nice to get to sit down and catch up. We went to one of the small diners here in town, where the food is equal parts good and cheap. Both of these features are greatly appreciated when you consider that we are all college students.

All in all it's been a hectic few days, and I'm looking forward to working a closing shift tomorrow rather than an open. It's nice to get out of work early, but lately I haven't been sleeping well. It's difficult to get up early consecutively when you aren't getting enough sleep. Now I'm off to read, watch the Golden Girls and maybe think about getting some real sleep.

Christmas Day

Today was a good day. I went to bed early this morning after watching 'Runaway Bride' for the third time. That movie is amazing, it never gets old.

It was around one when we finally gathered around the table to eat. We had just gotten done praying and were beginning to pass food around when my older brother started to inspect his fork rather closely. After a few moments of inspection, he looks down the table and asks, "What is this white stuff on my fork?"

Dad answered that it was probably paint and that it'd been there for a long time, and my brother kind of chuckled and answered, "Oh, so lead paint then." We finished passing food and had just began to eat when he breaks and says, "I'm going to need another fork" and tossed his over the the portion of the table near the kitchen.

The dinning room was more than full today so there wasn't really room to get up and roam around.

So mom went to get another fork, and dad began to inspect the discarded one when he then says, "I'm not sure what this is, but I don't think it's paint."

It was an entertaining meal! After we ate we opened presents, and I think each of my nieces really liked the blankets that I made them. I was pretty sure that they would, but even still it's a lot of fun to watch someone open up a gift that you've gotten them and noticeably like it.

We just got done babysitting my little cousins, and are preceding to spend the evening watching t.v. and eating potato chips. Ultimately it's been a day filled with family, and really aren't those the best kinds of days? It's so nice to be home!

Christmas Eve

It has been an enjoyable Christmas Eve thus far.

I spent the morning at work, where it wasn't incredibly busy but I enjoyed dealing with the customers that did come in and it was nice to get to talk with those that I worked with today. That's four days back, and I'm still loving every minute.

After work I came home and had dinner with the family and have basically been watching crime shows with Dad while sitting in front of the fire that we have going in the living room. It's a relaxing way to spend an evening.

We just got back from my cousins house, where we sat around the kitchen table and talked over tacos and nacho's. Again, not a terribly exciting evening, but an enjoyable one nonetheless. Tomorrow my brother, sister, brother-in-law, nieces, and two of my uncles will come over for lunch. That will probably devolve into watching movies as it has the last few years.

It's nice to get to spend time with family. Honestly it feels like break is going by incredibly fast, and I'm not sure how to feel about that.

Crafty

I am presently putting the finishing touches on a couple of Christmas presents, and am then perhaps going to get roped into assisting my younger niece in a craft project of her own. It is going to be a long night. I work in the morning, which is still as exciting now as it was a couple of days ago. I am really enjoying being back at work. I don't think even I realized exactly how much I missed it.

There wasn't a lot of variety in my shift today, but the store was plenty busy. I'm actually kind of surprised that the customers aren't as cranky this year as they have been the previous two. I wonder if it's a difference in their attitudes or mine...

It seems like break is going by faster than I anticipated that it would, and my feelings are kind of mixed about it. On the one hand there are things that I miss from being back on campus, and at the same time I'm really enjoying my time here at home. It's hard to reconcile the two, because there are things about both atmospheres that I really love and I miss when I'm in one place over the other.

Grades and Awesome Days

Just as I suspected, I did not do as well in my Macroeconomics class as I needed to, and therefore one way or another I am going to need to retake it. I'd like to be able to do it over the summer at WCC, but we'll see.

I had an awesome day at work. I don't know if it's just because I've been away at school or what it is, but this was my second day back and I'm still loving it. I just really enjoy getting to see everyone, and meet the new people, and even dealing with the customers. I guess you don't realize how much you enjoy something until you return to it after a brief break.

I did super well in my other three classes, which helped out quite a bit with my GPA, but it would have been a lot better if I could at least gotten the 2.0 that I needed in my Macroeconomics class.

Finally Unpacked

I very nearly forgot that I needed to blog today. Oops!

I finally decided to get around to unpacking around midnight yesterday, or technically this morning, and my room now seems to be in some kind of order. It's easier to find things now anyway.

I've been so busy since I've gotten home that I really haven't spent much time on the internet, which is actually good because every time I do wander online I find myself compulsively checking to see if grades have been posted. The deadline for them to go up is the twenty-third, and so far only two of my professors have posted grades. Of course, neither of them is Macro which is the only one that I am vaguely worried about.

Go figure!

I went in and renewed my driver's license/ applied for an enhanced drivers license. I am one step closer to make it to Mexico for spring break. I am just so excited for the future. This next year is going to be awesome!

I spent the bulk of this evening working on Christmas related projects, which I obviously can't go into much detail on. I do have everything that needs to be wrapped for Friday wrapped and ready to go though. That is a definite plus. It's not often that I manage to be this caught, especially when it is considered that I didn't even start thinking about Christmas until approximately a week or so ago.

A Reprieve

It's well after midnight, which means that I'm not anywhere near the deadline that I've set for myself, but for this weekend I am offering myself a reprieve from those guidelines. We just got back from my cousins wedding, which was up in Grand Rapids.

It was a really lovely ceremony. It was great to get to see my family, and celebrate my cousins marriage.

We left for the wedding around one thirty or so, and since it didn't start until five we ended up getting up there an hour earlier than we necessarily needed to. Although, it was probably good that we left when we did just in case there was heavy traffic.

The drive home was a little slow going because it had been snowing for the majority of the time that we were at the wedding and the reception. As we were driving we alternated between driving through areas that had snow falling and areas that did not. Between Brooklyn and Tipton we saw a jeep that had rolled over on the side of the road. A police officer was in the middle of having it prepared to be towed away.

But we made it home safely, and now I can get some sleep before I go about unpacking later this morning.

The Daily Grind

It has been about twenty-four hours since I was last on the Internet. Can I just say it is awesome to be home?

I'll be making two posts today, since I obviously forgot to post whatsoever yesterday. But yesterday was really cool. After my final final, which was at seven-forty-five in the morning, my parents met with me back at my dorm and we went about loading my things into the van. By about nine or so I was all packed up and ready to go.

My car had been parked somewhere along the route so that we could easily stop so that I could hop in and head off to work. Yesterday was my first day back at work, and despite the fact that there are many who would call me crazy I had an awesome time I work. I am so stoked to be back!

It was almost like I'd never left in the first place. There were a few cases where they had begun new organization systems that I wasn't aware of but for the most part everything came back real easily. It was funny in those cases that I had a little difficultly finding things, because in both cases others in the department forgot that I'd been gone for several months because it was so natural for me to be there.

It was awesome! Today I have to go up to Grand Rapids for my cousin's wedding. That should be fun and leave me with plenty to blog about as well.

Christmas Break?

I managed a 3.5 in my JRN 200 class, which is awesome. My Macroeconomics and Lit/Cultures classes haven't reported grades back yet, so that's still up in the air, and of course I have one more final to take tomorrow so that class obviously hasn't reported anything back yet.

I'm little nervous at this point as far as Macroeconomics is concerned. I have a feeling that I didn't do as well as I was anticipating in their, and very possibly didn't do quite as well as I needed to. I may be taking that class again despite my hesitancy to do so. It was boring enough the first time. However, if I had put more time into learning the material than merely getting by there wouldn't be cause to worry.

In any case, it was a learning experience. Maybe it wasn't the one that I was looking for, but there you go.

I'm just excited by the prospect of being finished with my first semester after tomorrow morning, and getting to go back home for a few weeks. I'm also very excited to get to go back to work and see everyone there. I'm really enjoying the idea of getting to return to a work place that I feel super comfortable in. I'm excited to jump right back in where I left off in August, though even now the department is obviously structured a little differently.

It's an adventure that I'm definitely ready to take!

Finals Over?

I would be perfectly conent if finals week were over and I could go home and get back to work. It's a little frustrating that my exams are so spears out this week.

I guess it wouldn't be quite so frustrating if I actually felt like I needed to study for Friday's exam. I don't anticipate it being difficult whatsoever, and therefore i have excess time that could be better spent at home getting ready for Christmas.

I'm planning to finish reading "Catching Fire" at some point this afternoon. I've got about a hundred pages left to go, and it's really good so far. Suzanne Collins is AMAZING!

At any rate I'm at least I'm doing something productive with my time since studying doesn't really feel like a priority.

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Crummy Tuesday

Today hasn't been the greatest, but thankfully it's almost over.

I went to work this morning, only to go back to my room after a half an hour. I felt so sick to my stomach that there was no way I would have been able to last the whole shift. It's annoying, but at least they were staffed to the point that it wasn't a big deal. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be feeling better and will be able to last through my whole shift.

I took my Macroeconomics final this afternoon, once I woke back up. That could have went a lot better than it did. It was online so I had the opportunity to use my book and notes, and even though I did I still only managed a forty percent. It's disappointing, but I have a feeling that I'm going to have to retake the class regardless. I'm fairly certain that I didn't manage the 2.0 minimum that I needed in order to get into my major.

It was snowing earlier but that has since tapered off. I'm hoping that we don't get too much snow in the days to come. I want to be back home before the major snow starts, and would be nice if we didn't have to drive through heavy snow to make it to my cousins wedding on Saturday.

That would be fantastic!

Final Number One

I drove back up to State this morning. It was interesting to watch as the further north I went the more snow there was on the ground. There wasn't any whatsoever in Adrian. Although even up here some of it has melted away.

Dad fell asleep early into the drive, and then mom did to. I think Shawn dozed off for a little bit during the last leg of the trip, but at least I had the radio going for company. I think it's more difficult to drive with everyone sleeping if you are trying to drive at night. It's not as distracting when it's light outside for whatever reason.

My first final is this afternoon. It's probably going to take me the longest to complete of all the exams that I've got this week, but I'm not extremely worried about it. I've done well enough in the class that I can't screw it up too badly with this one test. It's not even worth that much of the final grade which is good because it's my Lit/Cultures final and from his description of it it's going to be a bit complicated.

But really, that's not all that surprising.

Time For Sleep

I have finished my note cards for my Macroeconomics class. It took me a few hours to do, and my concentration didn't always stick with the task at hand, but I've managed to get them done at a decent hour so I think it is safe to call the mission a success.

Now hopefully having actually studied somewhat for the final won't prove to have been a futile attempt. I really, really want to manage to pass that class with a grade that will at least allow me into my major.

Darcy seems to be transfixed by the sound of my trying. She is crouching behind my computer, and frequently peeks around the corner and stares at my hands as they punch the keys. A moment ago she actually lunged around the corner, seemed to examine my hands for a moment, and then thought better about actually attempting to remove them from the keys. I appreciate her ability to abstain from tormenting me.

I think what she actually wants is for me to head to bed, because I've got my heating blanket going and she likes to lay on the bed when the heating blanket has been turned on. Darcy, much like me, does not enjoy the cold weather.

Tomorrow morning I have to head back to school so that I can take my first final of the week. It's around noon, so I don't have to leave super early. I just really wish this week was over. I'm ready to get the tests out of the way and move on.

Sunday Study Session

I went from not planning to study whatsoever for any of my exams, to spending my evening making note cards and reviewing for my Macroeconomics exam on Tuesday. That is the only class that I am slightly worried about because I didn't always pay as much attention as I should have during it.

I'm really hoping that I did well enough in it that I won't have to take it over again, because as boring as it was the first time around I can only imagine how boring it would be the second time around.

For the most part though I've nearly finished making note cards. I'll probably spend some portion of tomorrow afternoon going back over them, but at the moment I don't plan on devoting an extensive amount of time to it. I've hit that point in the semester that if I haven't gotten it yet, I'm running short on chances to do so.

At any rate, blogging seems to be going well today which is kind of extraordinary recently. I nearly forgot that I still needed to write two more entries to fulfill my responsibilities for the weekend, but I think I've managed to correct that near oversight. Now I am back to studying before returning for one last update.

Christmas Dinner

Nearly forty members of my extended family came over today for Christmas dinner and our annual present draw. It was fun to get to see everyone. Really I could care less about the presents, it's just nice to get to talk to people that I don't often get to see.

I've also gotten the security deposit mostly figured out, which is awesome because that is due by this Friday. Things are coming together nicely, and now it is just a matter of making it through exam week. I'm not particularly worried about any of them, it's just a matter of having to take out the time to do it.

I'm really curious to see where my grades stand after this week. It's exciting to finally nail down a GPA, and be able to tell people that I'm a Junior rather than having to say that I'm a Sophomore. There's nothing wrong with being a Sophomore, but it's not really the goal to be stuck at that stage for a year and a half.

We have our Christmas tree put up in the living room now, and Darcy seems to think that it's been put there for her to sit under it. She's very fascinated by all the ornaments that are dangling off of it. When we forget and put a table too close to it she climbs up and bats around the ornaments that are in her reach.

Four Post Sunday

I forgot that I need to write four posts over the course of this weekend. As it is already Sunday I obviously owe four posts over the course of today.

That shouldn't be too difficult to manage.

This is the final week of school and the. I'm off on break after my final on Friday. Then I get to go back to work which is super exciting. I'm so pumped to be going back to work. I've missed working with everyone and to an extent I've missed the job itself.

Today we're having Christmas dinner with my extended family. It's going to be fun to get to hang out with everyone for the day, plus I don't have to drive back to school until tomorrow morning.

I'm so excited!!!

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Double Fail

I didn't even realize until some point earlier today that I forgot to write anything on Wednesday, and then failed to write anything today. That's alright though, the evening was productive even though I failed to hold up to my blogging plan.

I'm all packed and ready to head for home after class in the morning. The roads aren't too great at the moment, but I'm hoping that by then they'll be better. If not though, it's not like it's the first time that I've driven in the snow. It may end up wearing on my patience but I'll exercise some caution.

Today was my final day in my JRN 200 class, and I think it went well. I didn't end up blogging Wednesday because I was furiously working to finish my final story for that class. As it was, it was four-thirty Thursday morning before I had that and the extra credit article written. Though really it was totally worth it.

I braved the cold to turn in my papers and then have a one-on-one with my teacher about my grade, which I ended up doing very well in that class. I got at least a 3.0, maybe better depending on the grades that I end up getting on these final two papers. It was a tough class, and I'm glad that it's over, but I definitely appreciate the things that I learned in there. It was an important step in gearing up for my journalism career.

However, my three and a half hours of sleep are catching up with me, and if I'm driving home in the snow I need to be awake, so I'll fill the next few days with explanations regarding the last few post lapses.

Laundry Night

My final out of class story for JRN 200 is due on Thursday. I still need to get it written despite having had every intention to get it out of the way sooner. Intentions don't always translate the way that we'd like them to unfortunately.

I've managed to get it super organized and planned out while also getting laundry done. I'm hoping that the writing starts to flow better once I sit down with my computer. The plan for the moment is to at least have something written by the time I go to bed tonight.

It's not that the article is particuarily hard to write, it's just a matter of taking the time to sit down and focus on getting it done. That and there is a lot of information that I need to sift through and determine what goes and what stays.

It doesn't help that this is basically the last full week of the semester so I'm more focused on going home for break than school work.

Just one more week!

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Excitement

Finally, the last week before finals has arrived! I'm so excited to finish this semester. The prospect of four weeks away from having to even think about school work. Even more exciting, I get to go back to work. I know that seems strange, but I'm honestly excited about going back and seeing everyone and meeting the new people in the department.

In part it's exciting because when I go back it won't be a case where I'm going to have to learn a new job, it'll all be familiar. I'm super excited!

Plus I get to see friends and family, and read so many books that I haven't had the time for recently. It's going to be so awesome. I'm also looking forward to getting the chance to interact with my nieces more. I want to take the opportunity over break to really have some good conversation with them, and maybe help them through some of the struggles that they've been going through.

The Almost

I've nearly finished compiling a rough draft to send off to my editor. Once I manage that I just need to get my post for today's review written and then I can get some sleep. I'd prefer to skip straight to getting some sleep because all of a sudden it is becoming hard to stay awake.

This week is the final week of classes which is extremely exciting. I'm looking forward to getting to go home for Christmas break. It's going to be awesome!

I'm hoping that I can take the opportunity to see my nieces on a regular basis and maybe offer a little bit of guidance. Sometimes I feel like I haven't always been there for them the way that I should have been or could have been, and I regret that. At this point though I feel like I am in a much better place to serve them in that capacity. That is a relationship that I definitely want to work on over this break.

I'm also really excited about getting my new driver's license because it is one more step towards going to Mexico for spring break since I'm going to get an enhanced drivers license rather than a passport. It's cheaper and quicker, and just generally makes more sense since I don't plan on doing any study abroad programs.

I also need to get on the ball about checking to see about internships that I can do this summer. There are a few that I'm interested in looking into, and I need to do that soon. Ultimately this is the problem of course, I know what I need to do, I just haven't done anything about it yet. Procrastination is not a good thing.

Passwords

The annoying thing about having to have a password for everything, is that quite often the password that you use in one instance does not meet the criteria for another password that is needed somewhere else. This of course then means that you have at least a handful of passwords to remember at any given time.

I often forget what variation of password I have used where and end up going through some amount of trial and error before arriving at the correct variation.

It would be so much simpler if you were able to use the same password for all of the different sites and whatnot that need to have a password used for them, or at least if everywhere had the same criteria. Although I suppose the easiest way to simplify the situation would be to use the most complex password in every instance. This way it would meet the more complex criteria, as well as the more simple.

I just got back from seeing The Blind Side, which is the new Sandra Bullock movie that's based upon a true story. It was SO good. I know anyone that I've talked to about it has had nothing but good things to say about it, but I don't know that I was really expecting it to be as good as it was. It is such an inspiring story, and portrayed these christian individuals without making them seem outrageous.

It was just an incredibly uplifting story about a guy who went from being homeless and an orphan to being taken in by this family, accepted as their own, and then going on to college and eventually professional football. I really enjoyed it, and I highly recommend it.

Now I have to start working on a book review blog that I'm supposed to get sent in to my editor tonight. It kind of slipped my mind a bit...

Snow Has Arrived

The snow has arrived. At this point the it's not sticking to the roads or sidewalks, but the ground is frozen enough that the grass is completely covered in white. I'm not a big fan of snow, but that's largely because I don't particularly like the colds. Yes, snow is pretty to look at, but it is also cold and a pain to drive in.

The snow is welcome to stick around until Christmas, but then it tends to get old real quick.

We went over the format that the final in my Lit/Cultures class is going to take. It looks like it's going to be complicated, but then I really didn't expect anything less than that. Honestly the way that that class has gone this semester, I don't understand why so many in the class seemed surprised.

I'll probably study somewhat for it, but honestly I'm not super worried about it. I've largely paid attention in class to this point and don't foresee having to large of a problem with it. Besides my grade is fairly solid.

At some point tomorrow I need to start laying out my final stories for my JRN 200 class. These are both due on Thursday, and then I'm completely finished with that class. My other three classes have finals, although my EC 202 final is online. I should probably do some review for that one at least.

Mainly though, I'm just ready for Christmas break to get here.

Journalism and Work

We had our final test story in JRN 200 today. I'm fairly certain that I managed to turn it in without any fatals in it. Hopefully that is the case. Now I just need to decide whether or not I want to write the extra credit article or not. I'm tempted to, though I guess it'll depend on how motivated I get.

Although it would wipe out three of my fatals, so maybe I should double check to see how many fatals I actually got. If I only got three or less than I suppose it would actually be work it to do the extra credit. There's no way that I'm going to 4.0 the class, but maybe I'll manage to get close. I probably should have stayed after today to find out what my grade was. Oh well.

Work was an interesting combination of pleasant and boring. Pleasant because apparently I've been nominated during the last few shifts as the most recognized worker or something along those lines. What this means, aside from an ego boost I have no idea, but it's nice to be appreciated. Then of course it was boring, because before I got to my shift today, they had someone else come in and work a shift that was slightly earlier than mine, and then overlapped mine, so they basically got everything done that I usually do when I get there.

I stayed busy, but it was difficult to find things that needed to be done.

Home Stretch

The semester is almost over, and that makes me anxious. I am anxious for Christmas break because it means some time at home with my family, and especially my nieces, I get to go back to work and see everyone there, I have some plans in the works with some of my awesome friends, and I'll finally have a GPA.

I'm stoked!

Of course being anxious for the end of the semester means that I'm not really interested in class at the moment, so I have to work twice as hard to get my focus where it needs to be. It's a tough balance sometimes. But I don't think I need to worry too much at this point. I feel like I have myself set up to come out of the semester with a very strong GPA.

I even think that I may be able to break away from the perception that they tried to drill into our heads at orientation this summer. They were really adamant about the fact that most transfer students come in and don't do as well as they expect to in comparison to where they were going before. I would love to be able to say that I transfered in and beat those low expectations.

I'm ninety percent sure that I've set myself up to do just that, and that makes me excited!

Meetings

Tonight I had to go to the East Lansing City Council Meeting so that I can write about it for my last out of class story in JRN 200.

It was a long meeting. For the most part the meeting was dedicated to these ordinances that have been considered in some of the local neighborhoods. Essentially the ordinances would make it so that in those particular areas it is not possible for houses to be rented out.

The largest argument for there not to be rentals in their neighborhoods is this pervasive idea that renters are somehow incapable of maintaining a house the same way that owners are. There also seemed to be this idea that the rentals would be offered to students and those that lived in the neighborhood seemed really opposed to the idea that they would be living around college students.

The meeting was a little frustrating, and now I need to write an article without managing to show my bias. I think I'm going to wait until this weekend to even consider tackling the actual article writing.

Life is Good

I hate that it gets dark so early in the evening now. It's strange that it's dark at five now. Super strange.

Today was my cousins husbands fathers funeral, and I spent the majority of the day helping my mom set up the dinner that they were going to have following the ceremony. The dinner itself occupied the majority of the day.

Following that we traveled back to the house where we've proceeded to sit in the living room and watch movies. For the most part it's been a productive day, at least to some extent. Tomorrow we plan on going to visit Riley, something that I definitely have to do before going back to school tomorrow evening.

Hopefully that situation can work itself out.

To some extent though going back to school is exciting. I am really excited for the month ahead. In the next two weeks the semester will wrap up and in the week that follows I will nail down my final GPA. I think I'm going to finish this semester strong, and as a transfer student that is a major accomplishment.

I'm also super excited to get to go back to work over break. I've missed it more than I ever really could have imagined I would. I miss the people that I worked with, and to some extent I miss the work that I did. I was on top of things when I worked there, I had two years of experience and therefore felt competent at my job.

It's exciting to get to return to that. Over this break I'll get my new drivers license and I'll have the opportunity to hang out with some of my best friends. Life right now, despite any stress or pressures I may be feeling, is good.

Writing Style

This seems to be a common problem. I think about the fact that I need to blog, and then fail to do so when I'm thinking about it, AND THEN midnight rolls around and I've failed to blog. I've done this enough times now, that you think I would have learned my lesson by now.

Apparently I'm a slow learner.

I finished reading Mitch Albom's latest book, "Have A Little Faith". It was so good. Although honestly I adore all of his books. He writes in such a straight-forward manner that it is easy to let yourself get lost in the story. His writing style is similar to Anderson Cooper's. Each of them write in a very clear and simple way.

They say what they mean to say without being overly showy about the way that they say it. That is the writing style that I strive for in my journalism career.

It is officially Saturday morning. I have gotten all of my letters asking for support in my trip to Mexico put together, and just need to mail them in the morning. At some point today I'll be blogging again, in penance for lessons unlearned.

Thanksgiving Day

Today was Thanksgiving, and it was an interesting day to say the least. In fact it could have been less interesting and that would have been fine with me.

As usual we had Aunts, and Uncles and Cousins over for the usual family dinner. We watched the Detroit Lions lose, at a delicious meal and just generally enjoyed each others company. However, unlike most family dinners, we had the weight of my nieces disappearance on our shoulders. Her other grandmother dropped her off at her friends house last night, and then this morning she wasn't there and wasn't answering her phone.

At one point this afternoon I drove into Tecumseh to see if I could find her at one of her friends houses there, and didn't have much luck with my endeavour. Thankfully she finally turned up this evening, though really the trials are just beginning. For the moment we are praying for the strength to weather this present storm.

In other news, I have now determined that though I can drive on empty for sixty miles, seventy-three miles is clearly too far. I most definitely ran out of gas as I was driving to get gas this evening. Dad had to bring me gas, which didn't end up doing the trick, so we then had to use the mini-van to push my car to a local gas station.

It has been an interesting day. At the moment we're watching "My Sister's Keeper", and just taking it easy in general. We shall just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.

Awesome is the Word

Today was awesome, I love being at home!

By coming home from school last night, I skipped my classes this morning, but I could definitely afford to do it. The prospect of extra time spent here at home was just far too enticing. Plus, the way that I figure it my GPA is in good shape at the moment and so there's nothing to worry about.

This afternoon Sarah and I planned to go to Cabela's but first I stopped the The Book Abby, a local used bookstore. I picked up one of the two Mitch Albom books that I'm missing. Hopefully at some point while I'm home I'll manage to pick up the other one at another used bookstore. Maybe I'll finally go visit the one down in Toledo that I've been planning to visit.

Anyway, Sarah and I went to Cabela's and it was awesome to get to see everyone. I really do miss working there. It's strange to find yourself at a place in your life where you are content with where you are, and yet missing what you had. I frequently find myself caught in that conflict.

But, I did get it set up so that I can go back to work after finals. Call me crazy if you like, but I'm excited to be going back to work. It'll be awesome!

Resources and Advantages

I definitely didn't realize how close I was cutting it to my deadline tonight. I guess being at home will do that to you. I delved into Mitch Albom's new book earlier today, and I think that I'm going to take tonight to finish reading it. It is a really good read, although in general Albom's books are so really it's not that surprising.

I got the chance to talk to the parents about doing Spring Break in Mexico, building houses. In general the response was the one that I was expecting. I asked Dad if he'd be opposed to the idea, and he said that I was old enough to do what I wanted.

Therefore, I'm planning on going to Mexico for spring break.

It's an excellent opportunity to use the resources and advantages that I have to help someone else who doesn't have those same resources and advantages. God put us here to help and love each other, and I think that 's something that we often forget, or choose to forget.

It's important to remember to be thankful for the things that we have, and prepared to help those in need. It's easy to complain about the things that we don't have and wish we did, it's more difficult to be aware of how fortunate we really are.

Day Trip Mission

Saturday was awesome. A few of us from His House traveled to Detroit, and spent the day interacting with the homeless population there, offering them food and clothing, as well as prayers and encouragement.

We went there in a capacity to offer them comfort and a helping hand, but ultimately they ended up teaching us some valuable lessons to. It really was an eye opening experience, because it put a face to the blight of homelessness. It made the issue more personal. Being there and in the moment made the issue clearer I think.

It became less of an abstraction and more of a rooted reality at least in my mind.

When you consider homelessness you understand it logically as being a horrible circumstance, but when actually confronted with the reality of it you come to realize how much we really have and how often we take it all for granted.

It puts our struggles into perspective.

We first met at the mission that we were working through with the group that had come from Central, and once we had all met up there we caravanned to Comerica Park. As we were making our way there, at one of the corners we were driving by there was a homeless woman standing on a corner.

It was amazing to watch the group in the car ahead of us hop out and give her one of the bags that had been brought to hand out. Her face lit up, she was so happy to get that bag. It was really beyond words, and most definitely the perfect way to get started.

Once we met up by Comerica Park, we got into a circle and prayed together before splitting into smaller groups. With maps in hand we split up, and began to comb the streets of downtown Detroit.

We were there to pray for them, and yet the first group that we spoke with wanted to pray for us. They were so appreciative of the fact that not only were we there to provide them with what resources that we could, but also that we were willing to acknowledge them. We took the time to speak with them, and lend them our ears.

The first group was a fairly large one, and so we left the majority of our bags with them. We then walked some more, and met with a woman who we offered a few sandwiches and some water. She wasn’t interested in being prayed for, but we were more than happy to be helpful in what ways we could.

Our last bag we gave to a man as he was riding by on his bike. Unfortunately we weren’t able to speak much with him because we were standing in the middle of the street.

Once we had handed out all of our bags we met back up with the other half of the MSU group as well as the few from CMU that had been out with them. From there we went and got something to eat, and were able to talk and watch a portion of the MSU v. Penn State game that had just started.

It was going on four thirty or so when we started back to the parking lot to meet up with everyone else and get ready to leave. The walk back was really amazing. We were making our way back, and had one bag left among us, and a man from across the street called out to ask if he could have the bag.

So he came over and we gave him the bag, and then a few more people came over and though we didn’t have any more bags a few people in the group had just enough leftovers to provide for them.

Then one of the men came over and said that he had heard that we were offering to pray for them and he would like us to pray for him, so we all got in a circle and joined hands to pray for him and a second man that came over to be prayed for.

It was just really touching to be able to be there and see what a difference it made in their lives for us just to be willing to be there and speak with them. You really get a sense of how often people walk by and don’t think about it, they are so caught up in their own world that they aren’t aware of the suffering of those around them.

It was eye opening, and most definitely something that I think I’d like to be a part of in the future. This is the kind of issue that I want to be able to champion and make people aware of. I think I’m starting to get a greater sense of what exactly it is I need to do with this education that I am pursuing.

Break Time

I think I've managed to round up all of the information for my third out of class story in JRN 200. Now it is just a matter of sitting down to actually get the piece written for Tuesday.

I've got time. I'll get it taken care of.

Lit/Cultures was actually kind of interesting today. Mostly it was interesting because people actually participated in the conversation and there weren't as many awkward silences. Although there were a lot of people absent today, so the class being smaller probably had a lot to do with it.

Most likely that's the case. Thankfully though the semester is almost over. I'm really ready for this Thanksgiving break. I'm a little burnt out on school and continual deadlines. I finally managed to finish reading "Liar". Now I just need to get a review written and posted for the SpartanEdge. I'm going to make my quota of three post this week and that is exciting.

Same Old Story

So I'm definitely glad that I checked the syllabus for my Lit/Cultures class. Apparently there was some reading to do for tomorrow, and the movie needs to be watched for next week. Or one of the next few classes anyway. Unless he combined some of the lessons and I misunderstood.

That's possible of course.

At any rate I have managed to get half of the reading done, and will hopefully have the other half read before I decide to get some sleep. I think I've studied enough for my JRN 108 exam in the morning. It's all multiple choice, so it should be fine.

In fact, I am very close to having things squared away for the break. I think that by Monday night I should have everything caught up to a degree.

Laundry definitely took longer earlier than I was anticipating. Thursday seems to be a popular laundry day. But at least I've got that out of the way. I just really want to have things caught up before going home for Thanksgiving. I'm excited about getting to go home and hang out with my family, especially since last time I was home I was so sick.

That was awful, though I guess if you're going to be miserably sick that home is the place to be.

No Homework?

My goal is to be caught up with homework to the point that I won't have to bother with it over break. The idea of being able to go home and not have to give school a second thought is incredibly appealing. Especially since it is so hard to get motivated to work on homework when I'm at home anyway.

As I write this I'm sitting in Lit/Cultures and am so lost. I miss calculated what I needed to read in order to be prepared for class today. We're talking about subcultures, but the way that the prof is trying to present the idea isn't very effectively spurring conversation. That is the way that class usually goes though, so I'm not certain why it's surprising every time.

Thankfully all we have to do for Friday is watch a movie. That will be simple enough, or at least it should be.

When I wrote the above earlier I didn't know yet what I wanted to write my final out of class article on for my JRN 200 class. I just finished filling out the tip sheet though, so hopefully that goes well. At any rate I've written down an idea. I'm much further along than I was.

Things To Do

I bought the new FlyLeaf CD earlier today! It is awesome, I'm really enjoying it.

I seriously need to get some reading done for class tomorrow, but it's reading for Economics so I'm really not motivated to go about doing so. Then of course there is the continued drama at home. Can I say, for the record, that my sister is being a moron.

You can not throw around the fact that you are thirty-seven years old and then act the way that she is. It is not acceptable to act like a juvenile and then expect the people around you to take you seriously. Not to mention that she is completely taking for granted everything that Dad has ever done for her. Dad has done nothing but support her and she's throwing all of that support down the drain.

It is unbelievably frustrating. I need to read.

High Drama

The drama is continuing to unfold at home. Sometimes I really don't understand my sister. I can't understand the way that she thinks, and I definitely don't understand where she got this example from. Why?

I'm not going to be specific here, but I will say that sometimes it is possible to still love someone but be incredibly frustrated. Sometimes it is easier to love someone than it is to like them. As usual everyone at home will be in my prayers tonight, they'll just be a little more specific.

I worry though. It's difficult to be so far away at times, especially right now. I worry about my oldest niece. She's nearly at an age where she will be thinking about graduation and entering a new stage in her life, and where is that going to lead? What tools has she really had?

Something needs to give, she needs some kind of guidance and with things as they stand right now I don't see that happening. Maybe I'm being too candid here, but then again you can't say that I'm not being honest. Sometimes the truth hurts, but that doesn't make it any less true. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to be home for Thanksgiving. I just pray that I can do something to help the situation, that I can understand the role that I need to play here because something needs to give. A resolution is needed here.

Church

The sermon in church today was really good. It was all about how society tells us it's natural to rebel and how that idea is false. While we may be inclined to rebel to authority, it is actually God's wish that we be submissive. I liked how he made the point that that it is possible to rebel in a submissive way.

For instance you can break a rule in order to stand up to it, but when it comes time to receive punishment for breaking that rule it is important to than accept that punishment. In this way you are following and abiding by the law and yet at the same time pointing out that it is flawed.

Overall it was just a really interesting lecture. I think I like the idea of calling it a lecture more than a sermon. The word sermon just feels like it has a negative connotation associated with it. It seems to exude the idea that someone is preaching at you or down to you when that really isn't the case here.

Anyway, after church I hung out over at the girls house and then we ran some errands. I have a vague sense of what needs to be written for my paper, so we'll see what I can come up with tomorrow. It's due tomorrow at five but I'm really not overly worried about it. I'm doing well enough in that class I think.

Really that's my attitude at this point in the semester. I am doing well enough. Hopefully my estimation of the situation as it stands is true. Fingers crossed!

I've Got Time

Yesterday was a strange day. I definitely ended up sleeping much later into the day than I would have anticipated, but if I was that tired than it was needed and therefore a good thing. I managed to get my article for the SpartanEdge written last night, and sent it off this morning.

That was probably the most productive thing I did all day yesterday. But that is alright, sometimes you need days like that.

This morning I’m going to go to church with a couple friends, and then maybe tackle some of the reading that I’ve been putting off. I’ll manage to finish it eventually anyway. At least by the end of the week. Minimum.

Sarah told me yesterday that I’m not allowed to buy any new books between now and Christmas. That won’t be hard to do, since I already kind of told myself that I couldn’t. I have other obligations that have to come first.

Especially if I want to go to Mexico during spring break, like I said before I think that would be a really amazing opportunity. Most definitely a good use of my time.

Anyway, at some point I have to start writing my paper for my Lit/Cultures class to. Although he did cancel class for tomorrow, so… I’ve got some time.

Lack of Concentration

I haven’t managed to get anything done in the nearly three hours that I’ve been sitting here. This lack of accomplishment isn’t for lack of making attempts, albeit rather weak ones.

I’ve nearly finished writing the review that I want to get posted to my SpartanEdge blog tonight. I’m still working on reading ‘Liar’. My paper for my Lit/Cultures class is due on Monday, so I suppose it would be a good idea to get that started this weekend.

Although the professor cancelled class on Monday, so at least that buys me some extra time. Which of course translates into extra time for procrastination. Part of the problem is it is that point in the semester. While on the one hand the semester is nearly over, it’s not quite over.

It’s important to keep grades up right now, and at the same time it is difficult to maintain the concentration that is key to keeping grades up.

I’m definitely failing at NANOWRIMO this year, but that’s all right. I should have known better than to add another writing project to the mix this year. Especially in November. Maybe I’ll attempt to make something of a comeback before the month is up. Maybe.

Opportunities

I went and covered a lecture given by Karl Gude tonight for the SpartanEdge. I’ll set to writing the actual story tomorrow afternoon. I probably could have done it tonight, but my intention was to get some reading for class caught up.

Notice I say that was my intention… I let myself get a little distracted with the Internet. As helpful as the Internet can be at times, sometimes it is imperative to disconnect in order to get things accomplished.

I’ll get the reading that I need to do done; it’s just a matter of timing. I need to sit down with the intent to finish it, and then follow through on those intentions. It’ll happen, just not right this moment.

For the moment I can live with that reality. It’s my only option. Momentarily.

I’m considering going to Mexico for spring break. To phrase it differently, I would really like to go, but I need to discuss it with my dad. In general I am an adult, I can do as I please, but I feel like this is something that I need to get my parents used to.

It’s not just an idol visit to Mexico though. I’d be going with the group from His House, and we’d be building a house for people who don’t have one. It would be really similar to the mission trips that I went on in middle school, and in general it just sounds awesome.

It sounds like a worthwhile way to spend spring break, and I have said that I want to start getting into more volunteer work. Like I said, I’ve just got to approach my dad about it. I know he worries, and I’m not saying that he doesn’t have the right to, but the opportunity here… It would be an amazing opportunity, I guess that’s what I’m saying.

The Same Old

I have to decide what book I want to write a review on and post it to my SpartanEdge blog. I'm considering writing something up on one of Maureen Johnson's books. "13 Little Blue Envelopes" is a very good candidate...

I'm also hoping to have 'Liar' finished by Saturday afternoon so that I can write up a review of that and have it be my third review for this week. It's all about budgeting time, something that I have been struggling with lately. But I think after being sick this past weekend I can move forward and use my time wisely.

I took the time I needed to start feeling better, and now it is time to jump in and get this semester wrapped up. The semester is almost over, can you believe it? Sometimes it's hard to believe, but certainly welcome. I've hit that point in a few of my classes, where it was fun but now it's a kind of drudgery. I'm looking forward to doing something different.

I'm really excited about getting back to work during break. I really miss all of my co-workers and it'll be great to get to see everybody again. Even though holiday shoppers aren't the nicest shoppers, it'll still be fun.

What is it about the holidays that brings the worst out in people anyway? You always hear that the holidays are supposed to be about joy and whatever, but the majority of people that you have to deal with at a retail level are anything but. I understand that they may be stressed, but that is certainly no reason to take it out on the people at the store. They are just doing their jobs.

Lame

I have been awful about updating this lately. It was plenty early when I remembered it last night, but I was already in bed and honestly I needed the sleep more than I needed to blog. This coming weekend should go much more smoothly than this past weekend though so I'm not too worried about.

I'm finally feeling better, though I'm still left with some congestion. That I can deal with however. The presentation yesterday went really well. Unless you were a part of our group, I really doubt that it was obvious that we went into it without having all previously met.

Ultimately the project appeared more planned out than it actually ever was, and that is awesome. I would have preferred it if we had had better communication through-out the planning stages, but it ended up working out okay. The whole group seemed to be glad to finally have the project out of the way. It's a liberating feeling.

Flyleaf's new CD came out today, which is really cool, but then it's not because I definitely can't afford it right now. We'll see how things go next pay day as far as that is concerned, though I'm really excited about the new CD. From what I've heard of it it's really good!

I have a newspaper to read, and then I'm getting some sleep. I'm hoping to lose the congestion within the next few days. That would be amazing!

NANOWRIMO Fail

NANOWRIMO started last week, and I definitely haven't managed it very well so far. In my defense the last week or so have been rather busy.

Sarah came up to visit for a few days, and between the concert we went to, my classes and work schedule, fellowship and just hanging out I didn't get a lot of writing done. Then of course there was homework to do. I don't think I even really thought about writing.

Then of course I came home on Friday and have been sick since I walked through the door. Saturday is a blur quite honestly. I slept most of the day away. I feel better now, although I'm still not feeling great.

Soon I'm going to have to head towards school so that I can be ready to go to a group meeting at the library, and of course get back to my dorm at a decent time. I'm not a big fan of the time change. It gets dark entirely too early now.

Maybe this week I'll be better about budgeting my time. Hopefully. I'm going to make that my goal this week, better time management.

Sick Weekend

I definitely fell asleep last night before making a second post, which considering the return of my fever isn't all that surprising. I will make an attempt to make three posts through-out today.

As of this morning my fever was gone, although I will probably take my temperature again today before heading back to school just to make sure it is actually gone. If not I'm going to have to make arrangements to go to the doctor tomorrow after giving my presentation.

My group definitely thought that we were supposed to give out presentation in out Intro to Mass Media class on Wednesday, but it turns out that we are set to present tomorrow morning. It's stressful, but I think we're going to be fine.

My headache is starting to come back, and I've got a cough that won't go away. It's already looking to be a long day.

Fever

I drove home from school yesterday, and the moment that I stepped out of my car I was incredibly dizzy. Thankfully I wasn't dizzy at any point during the drive itself. I did have a headache that got progressively worse through-out the day.

So at any rate by the time that I actually got home yesterday afternoon I was having chills, was dizzy and had a persistent headache. However, at no point yesterday did I have a fever according to the thermometer, though I was incredibly warm.

I went to bed early, and then slept the morning away. Once I woke up, we took my temperature and it was 101.7. Needless to say I wasn't out of bed much today, and I haven't really had much of an appetite. My temperature seemed to be going down, earlier it was 100.4, but in the last hour I took my temperature again and it's back up to 101.6.

Hopefully by tomorrow I'll feel better, but if not then I might be sticking around home so that I can go see the doctor on Monday. If my fever persists than that's definitely what I'll end up doing.

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".

Average Thursday

I very nearly didn't write this. Not out of any intention to not do so, but mainly because it slipped my mind. Today was a pretty busy day. I went to my JRN 200 class where we learned that you are supposed to use attribution in obituaries. This seems strange to me, because I've never read an obituary that had attribution, but I'm not going to argue the point.

However, since the book for the class definitely indicated that attribution is not necessary when writing an obituary, we all received a reprieve from the gross grades we got for failing to use attribution in our obituary assignment.

After class I had lunch before heading off to work. Dessert today was cheesecake, I know because the bulk of my shift was spent cutting the numerous cheesecakes that were set to be used this evening. They actually looked really good.

Once I got out of work, I had to head over to the main library where four out of the ten people in our JRN 108 group met to discuss the presentation we're due to give on the eleventh. If we can ever all manage to meet and delegate responsibilities it should end up being a fairly simple project.

It was seven or so by the time I finally got the chance to work on my article that was due by eleven tonight, and of course I didn't end up concentrating on it until a quarter to ten. The important thing however is that I managed to get it finished, and go over it. I am 99% certain that there were no fatals in that particular assignment.

Deadlines, Yikes!

It took me forever to focus on finishing the module for my Lit/Cultures class, not because it was hard, but because I wasn't interested in focusing on it. The class has the potential to be interesting, and I'm not sure why it is isn't. For whatever reason the conversations that we could be having in that class don't seem to form like they should, I'm really not completely certain why that is.

Anyway, when I was supposed to be focusing on that I couldn't focus, and then once I got that done I decided to put my computer away because it's battery was dying and I'm not near a plug at the moment. Of course at that moment I decided to focus on wrapping up my JRN 200 homework, and was SO FOCUSED on that, that I nearly forgot to blog.

That wouldn't have been good. I apologize for being a little scatterbrained at the moment. I would like to note however, that I'm really enjoying the weather this week. I was afraid on my walk to class this morning that it was going to get cold again, because with the rain it was a bit chilly. However, by the time I was headed to my second class it has already gotten warmer, and the rain has abated.

It's pretty awesome. Now, if I don't hurry up and post this my computer is definitely going to die. Deadlines, yikes

Connections

I enjoy my JRN 200 class, it's the paranoia that it leaves me with that I could do without. I am taking a break from the assignment that it due no later than eleven, to blog, because if I stare at the mock obituary I've managed to write, I may go insane. Omar was talking in class today, about how he wants us all to be able to write something and by the time we are finished with it be certain that what we've turned in is the best that we could have done.

This is something that I find myself struggling with. I think the interesting thing about writing, is that no matter what you're writing it's never really finished. Given an infinite amount of time, a writer continually alter, and polish any given piece of writing. This process is only interrupted because of deadlines which are often both necessary and daunting.

Hopefully I will be able to focus on polishing up my 'story', once I've written this up. Breaks are good things.

On a completely different note... Over the last couple days my oldest niece has really been on my mind. Specifically, I keep going back and mentally picturing the day that she was born. I was five at the time, and my brother was four. I remember that she was so tiny, and when I was asked if I wanted to hold her I was so scared that I would drop her. She looked so fragile.

Eventually it was worked out that Shawn and I would share one of the hospital chairs, and hold her together. The memory is vague in detail, but it's so strong in my mind. Anyway, it's been on my mind a lot lately, and today I learned that she's going through a bit of a struggle.

I just thought it was interesting that she's been on my mind so much lately, and it happened to correspond with this event back at home. It's amazing how connected we can be with people that we love, even when we are separated by substantial distances.

Answered Prayers

When the weather isn't verging on winter, Fall in Michigan is beautiful. Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. It was a little windy, and yet it was warm enough out that as long as you were wearing a jacket you were golden. For the first time in a couple weeks it's actually felt like it was fall and it was lovely.

It is looking to be a promising week.

This weekend was the His House Fall Retreat, and obviously since this is my first semester at MSU it was my first retreat... and it was amazing. This weekend, I mean, I'm not even sure what I thought this weekend was going to be but ultimately now I see it as an answer to some of my most recent prayers.

I have been struggling, and I've really been praying over those struggles lately. Saturday I decided to be baptized, and I didn't realize that that was the reason that God had me there until literally about an hour or so before. But now I can look at it and know that that was my reason for being there, that is why God wanted me there, why he wanted me here. I hadn't realized how much weight I was carrying around on my shoulders, until it was lifted away.

I can definitely tell that there is a difference in my general attitude over the last couple days. I just feel so much better, and it's simply amazing.

Saturday morning we split up and went to workshops, where we talked about our faith and knowing where we stood in our faith and ways to express that faith. During the first one that I attended the speaker talked about the four responses, one of which was baptism, and that first planted the idea in my head. I got to really thinking about where I was in my spiritual journey. It was a step that I hadn't taken and I started thinking about it.

The idea was there, but it was in the back of my mind rather in the forefront. The afternoon was spent initially playing frisbee golf with a group, but that quickly disintegrated into climbing trees, and just generally hanging out and walking around the woods.

Northern Michigan is gorgeous in the early fall, and the camp was right on Lake Ann. It was later in the evening after the last workshop and dinner that we were walking to Campus Time, when Felicia hesitantly brought up baptism, and I think that's when it finally clicked. I think that's when I realized that that was why God got me here, got me there. God was nudging me to solidify my commitment to him. I certainly relied on him a lot through me life, and especially the last few years.

So Saturday night, in front of five hundred people our Associate Pastor, Kevin, took my confession and my friend Felicia baptized me, and so much of the heaviness that has been weighing down on me lately melted away. I feel so fantastic right now, and I feel like that makes all the difference in the world as far as how I interact with everyone around me.

I feel more connected now, I'm not simply going through the motions, and the focus has become today rather than an eventual tomorrow. Of course there will be rough roads ahead, but today is great, and even when I struggle God will be there.

FYI

It was another riveting day in my Lit/Cultures class. Did I need to to go to class today? Probably not.

Today we actually talked about the book that we're reading, but the prof. started the class by asking for a synopsis of what we had read. What is the point of doing a synopsis on a portion of a book that we have all supposedly read? There is no need to catch anyone up, because we should all be on the same page.

I don't understand why he thinks that asking us to minutely summarize what we've read is an adequate way to spur conversation. FYI, it's not.

He said that he'll be posting grades for our first paper this weekend, finally. That means Sunday I get to see how I did. Hopefully I didn't do too terribly considering it's twenty percent of the final grade in that class.

Avoiding Fatals and ReWrite Contemplation

I'm giving myself until ten thirty to finish reading the chapter that was assigned in class today, and then I am done with homework for the evening. Tomorrow we leave for Fall Retreat, which is really exciting. From what everyone has said it's really fun, so I'm looking forward to seeing what it's all about. The weekend looks like it might be a little cold, but that's what you get in northern Michigan.

Thankfully I didn't get any fatals on my out of class article, but I didn't do as well as I would have like to have done. I needed to try a little harder to get "live sources", but it was difficult because the article was a little ambitious. I'm going to try and go with something that's more localized next time.

I just keep telling myself that it's alright, because at least I didn't get a fatal. A fatal on that assignment would have been awful because it's ten percent of my final grade in that class. At least I didn't get any fatals...

I'm still debating whether or not I want to attempt re-writing it. I guess I'll wait until Sunday evening to give things a second look and see if it's worth it to me to go through with it. I'm thinking about forgoing the re-write this time around.