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.