13 posts tagged “school”
One of my last semesters in college is almost over with, and I feel pretty happy with finally being able to, as Mom keeps saying, "see the light at the end of the tunnel." I think her optimism is in the family blood; I'm feeling more confident that, yes, graduation is possible. Senioritis hit me about two years ago, and it hit even harder last semester when I had to learn how to juggle my job with my classes. This semester seems a little less stressful, but I'll be just as happy to get it over with as I did in the winter.
As graduation draws nearer, my plans for life are falling into place. (It seems vague to say "life," but I'm learning to deal with how plans for the future are pretty vague most of the time anyway.)
My very last semester of college will consist of three English classes, all of which I have charted out at this point. My summer is going to be taken up by working more full-time hours again, and I'm hoping to turn part of my hours into an internship that's required for my English major. Turning a few hours into the internship will save me a lot of stress during the school year. In fact, I was worried I would have to somehow drop something in order to fit the internship in, but it looks like everything is working out for the best after all!
The best part about this whole working hard thing is planning for what I want to do after graduation. Shawn and I are currently working (and saving money for) an apartment for in a few months. Since Kathleen will be coming to live with Beth when she starts going to our university, Shawn and I decided it would be best if we started to branch off into our own little world. A few years ago, I would have thought moving in with a boyfriend was a big step, probably because of all the hype from silly TV shows and dramas. Honestly though, I've learned that a step like that can be simple if a couple is ready for it and really wants to progress in a relationship. This September will mark my six year anniversary with Shawn so planning for the future isn't just a plan; it's what I've been working towards for a good chunk of my life.
Shawn told me something that meant a lot to me the other day. Now, I'm not the one for mushy statements. We were standing in the kitchen making dinner together a few weeks ago, and we had been discussing something about his job. I think he was complaining about a few assignments he was given to do, so I turned to him and asked how he could put up with some of the tasks that his everyday job demanded of him. He turned to me and said, "Well, I do it for you. Actually, everything I do is for you." Hearing that made my mind wind back to a few years ago when he told me that if we hadn't started dating, he would have joined the army. He felt that he didn't have anything else to do in life so he thought he would try to look for meaning in some other form of work. Something like that didn't seem so profound to me until I casually told Mom about it during one of our conversations. She told me that a guy telling his girlfriend that says that he's living for that girl. And it's true. Shawn letting go of certain things in his life and choosing to work an office job would have never happened if we hadn't started dating. He's chosen to live his life with me, and everything he does-- from running to the store for soda because I have a caffeine headache to keeping a desk job and working long hours-- is for me.
I've thought about what Shawn has done for me a lot. So now, I feel like I have a reason for graduating and working towards finishing college. Even with all this busy work going on now, at least I know that something good is coming out of all of this. After we stay at our apartment for about six months (so until I graduate), we're going to be finding a really nice apartment and then save up for a house. Jokingly one day, we started to look at house ads online. After we browsed some beautiful homes, I realized that a beautiful home in a safe neighborhood is something that I do want to work for, even if it means working this hard. Who knew a future was possible? I didn't, until recently.
And sometime after we graduate, and some more time after we live together, we'll decide to take the next step. Marriage is an idea that many, many people have asked us about over the years. In fact, I think everyone else is eager to hear about a wedding announcement from us, but we've just decided to take things easy-- one step at a time. We're planning though, and we've found that confidence in our relationship is our marriage to each other. An official engagement will come in time. For now, all I need is this pretty amazing reality we're facing together. It's a pretty damn good reason to keep working and living.
And that's pretty much where I'm at right now...
It's cold outside. I've walked in the snow every day this week.
Everything is coming to a close. I'm ready for the finale at the end of December.
(Yay for being vague.)
November has included one of my longest absences on Vox, and after all this time has passed, I'm starting to wonder what even happened to November. It was here and now it's almost gone.
I have a lot to catch up with and a lot to say, so I thought I'd sum up how my month has been going through a series of little snippets from my life. I feel like I often share huge chunks of my life at Vox, and switching a post around to a small medley of events might be fun for a change.
Kawaii design. I thought I'd start off by introducing my new banner. Kawaii (at) Vox (dot) com finally has a new look and feel to it. I've been struggling with what kind of banner I wanted my blog to have. I'm extremely picky and very obsessive over the appearance of my Vox. The content is important, yes, but the whole look of my personal space at Vox is just as essential as the rest of it. The usual routine for making and choosing a banner for my Vox usually consists of: having a photoshoot, editing old photos, experimenting with color schemes, finding fun brushes to use (if needed), and then either trashing the results or actually settling on using a banner. The entire process usually takes a couple of days. I don't like switching around my banner a lot, so whatever I decide on means that it will be around for a while. After a lot of work on this last banner, I finally decided on Kawaii Pink Medley:
I wanted to include a lot of the elements in my life, especially ones that I love right now. I figure that Lola the fawn stands for my plushies; Yukimo shows for my love (of Yukimo!) of pets; and Plum represents my adoration (for Plum!) for dollies. Being the narcissist that I am, I like including a photo of myself to kind of, I guess, represent my blog as a whole. (After all, I'm the voice, tee hee.)
The kitties. As I mentioned in a past post, Beth and I decided to keep our sister kitties. Falling in love with them took a little longer than usual-- a lot longer than it usually takes me to fall for a cat. Even though it took a while, the wait was worth it. Both Edgar (Ed) and Isis are pretty awesome companions, and although they're a little insane, I like their craziness around the apartment (sometimes). After all, unpredictability is priceless.
As much as I hate to admit it, Beth and I have had an easier time bonding with Ed. Even though the sisters were raised the same, Ed has a much more friendly personality, and she's a lot more willing to be happy. She's the only cat I know that will pur for no reason at all. I'll walk into a room and Ed will be purring so loudly that I can feel the floor shake.
Isis, on the other hand, has really stayed in her shell-- and not in a good way. An example of this is when I get up from the couch to go to the kitchen. I won't even be heading towards where Isis is laying down on the floor, yet she'll see me coming and run away and hide under the bed for hours. If I get up and go to the kitchen when Ed's around, she'll either follow me or affectionately rub against my legs. Beth and I are still giving Isis the same amount of attention as Ed, but it's hard having such an unfriendly kitty around the house, especially one that hates to be held and scratches. (I have some painful pieces of evidence on my stomach if there's any doubt about Isis.)
Despite their differences, Beth and I love Ed and Isis. It's great having built-in friends. ^__^ More of Ed and Isis can be seen in my My Kitties collection.
The work load. I wish I could say that the stress wasn't as much of a problem anymore, but to be completely honest, it's about the same. I've been working my butt off at school. On the days that I'm not in classes, I'm either working or doing schoolwork (projects, papers, presentations, etc.). On the days that I do go to school, I'm working in between the classes. This time of the year is always crazy, and this November is no exception.
Blog, blog, blog! One of the benefits of working and being a Professional and Technical Writing major is that I can have some fun by combining both worlds-- that of school and that of work. Throughout the semester, I've been doing a lot of interviews for papers and projects with fellow bloggers, friends and co-workers. Like a lot of the projects that I've chosen to do, one of the last projects I worked on focused on blogging. My Technical Writing professor assigned the class a huge project where each person had to write a technical description. I chose to focus my descripion on networking at Vox.
As long as I've been at Vox, I've noticed that a lot of the articles and people who help others expect the new people at Vox to be familiar with everything blogging has to offer. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case. A lot of new Vox members are often unfamiliar with what blogging is and how it can be used as a networking tool. They sign up for an account but then never return because no one explains to them what they can do to get their blog "out there." Bloggers not only want to write, but they want to meet people and share their thoughts with them. Because of new members' lack of networking know-how, I decided to create a description on how people can get to know the ropes of Vox for networking uses, whether it be for social or business reasons. Some of the results can be seen here:
Here are little pieces of my project. The entire technical description was several pages long, but as long as it took to create, I found that I really had fun when I wrote this. I'm a huge fan of screen shots and creating tutorials for helping people, so I guess that's why this project didn't seem as painful as some of the other ones I've had to do. Plus, I was able to focus on a topic that I love: blogging!
I'm currently working on an article that involves many Voxers and their thoughts on blogging. The article is for my Creative Nonfiction for Publication class. I'm thinking about posting it here once I have it completed (which should be sometime later this week).
Mapling it up with gaming. So after my long days of work, work, work, I realized that I needed some sort of release. I resorted to one of my on and off obsessions: Maple Story. I decided to pick up where I left off with my very first character, Minkka. Instead of going out every weekend, I've been sitting in my cozy apartment, zoning out by playing MS and finally leveling Minkka to 50. *grin* I couldn't be happier with her level right now. MS is great for not only relaxing, but for socializing as well. A lot of my old online friends started to slowly come back to the game, and I've been able to get a lot of energy out just by chatting with them through the game.
... And when I "socialize" on MS, that also means that I'm spending money on making my character super kawaii. I hate to admit it but I've spent a good chunk of change on Minkka-- her appearance, her accessories, and her pet(s). This last round of playing has resulted in a lot more clothes for Minkka. (I decided to go pink this time.) Her outfit includes: the Starry Pink Beanie, the Pink Sunglasses, the Pink Camo Hoodie, the Brown Plaid Pants, the Pink Ogg Boots, the Heart Tattoo Gloves, the Bunny Doll Cape, and the Seal Pillow Weapon.
The above screen shot shows Minkka in action: kicking some Master Chronos ass by using her Holy Arrow power.
My month. November has been a long month. The main thought that's keeping me going at this point is the middle of December-- when all of my classes end and some of the stress is gone. I'm so pumped for the holidays and my birthday right now. As much as I hate to admit it, I love this time of the year.
Life isn't completely fawntastic (yet), but I think it has the potential to get there. ^___^ Weekends tend to put a positive spin on my outlook, but when Tuesday rolls around, and I have classes, I'll probably start moping again. That's the general pattern.
It's funny how I've formed a definite weekly routine; it involves a roller coaster of ups and downs that seems a little eccentric most of the time. I only have classes Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, which is nice for the most part. Having three day weeks seemed like an awesome schedule at first, but then when the semester actually started up, I found out how difficult it was to balance out three days of intense amounts of work with four very intense classes. I kind of feel like this is my first year of college since this is the first semester where the work I'm given is of interest towards my future career.
After my Thursday night class, I tend to become overwhelmed with a huge sense of relief. The week is finally over, and I can go back to my old self. For the next four days, I don't have to worry about classes, homework or getting stressed out. That's exactly how I felt last night. All of a sudden, that smile comes back and my attitude towards all the work I've done throughout the week and the people I talk to makes a 180. Poor Beth and Shawn have to put up with quick changes of attitude. They're troopers though, thank goodness.
I've made sure to keep up with small rewards for myself along the way. So if I have an extra tough week, I usually splurge with goodies on the weekends, meaning that I don't hesitate when I see something sweet. I've become pretty weak when it comes to coffee lately, so the "something sweet" usually means that I'll opt for a good quality piece of chocolate as I drink my coffee. The small little piece of goodness somehow makes the entire week seem worth it.
Another example of weekend splurges is my newest plushie addition, Lola. I fell in love with the fawn when I saw one of my favorite sellers on Etsy put her up for sale. I immediately bought her (and received a lot of teasing from Beth because of yet another plushie purchase) and waited for her arrival. Shawn picked her up from my house and brought her to me last night. As soon as I saw her in person, I knew that it was meant to be. Her old fashioned look reminds me so much of Mark Ryden's artwork; I decided to name her Lola after another favorite artist of mine. (Ryden and Lola seem to have a very similar take on art, hence my decision to name her Lola instead of Mark or Ryden. Plus, my fawn needed a feminine name.) Lola's sitting right next to me as I type. *taps her on the head* She's one of my favorite plushies now.
Besides enduring my ups and downs, I've been dealing with Yukimo's own roller coaster of emotions. My poor little hammy has been going through so much change lately. What most people don't realize is how sensitive to change small animals are. In fact, the reason most hammies end up dying is because of a disease that has to do with nervousness. I was worried that all the moving from my old apartment to my house to my new apartment would really hurt Yukimo, and it did for a while. She started to tear her fur on her underbelly out a couple of times, leaving her with reddish-pink skin. I tried to spend as much time with her as possible at my house, but she fought back.
Yukimo absolutely hated the fact that she had to adjust to a new home and would bite almost anyone that picked her up. Eventually, Mom and Kathleen became scared of her, so when Beth and I had to move to our new place and leave Yukimo behind for about two weeks, no one held her. I was struck with guilt the entire time, but I had to wait until my air conditioner was fixed (since she can't survive in the extreme heat) before I could bring her back to live with me. As soon as she was back with me, I noticed a difference in her. She's been extra active around her cage; she hasn't bitten anyone for weeks; and her fur has almost completely grown back.
Yukimo has never looked so beautiful and fresh before. I'm so happy to have my perfect hammy back. She won't have to adjust to a new home again for a long time, so I think it'll only be good times from here on out!
I've been slowly trying to fall back into a comfortable routine in the past week or so. Previous to that, I had been so focused on getting things done that I didn't take any time to just enjoy... life? In between my last post and the one I'm writing right now, I've had some not-so-good experiences, times that I'll be happy to forget about.
I wrote two posts this last weekend. Only one post made it to the public, and even that one stayed just a few minutes. Something about the posts didn't quite click. I'm very particular with what I share with people, and that side of me isn't something I'm proud of. To those of you who caught that post, thank you for the private messages. You will never really know how much I've been soaking in your advice and your concerns about my life, but just know that your words are fueling me to just keep going through all the bad stuff. I'm pushing my way through this bad time in my life thanks to you. Even though I haven't responded to a lot of comments and private messages, I plan on doing so soon. You're all so wonderful-- thank you.
Instead of ranting on and on about the bad stuff, I thought I'd wrap it all up in a nutshell. That way, the reality of everything seems less harsh and somewhat distant.
Basically, the move was more difficult than Beth and I anticipated. Our apartment was one big mess, one in need of a lot of repairs. The air conditioner was broken for a week, leaving Beth and me with an apartment that was 95 degrees after walking (a long walk) home from classes every day. The manager of our building suddenly left her job and left us with no one to contact as far as repairs and Beth's parking space went. In the end, Beth found out that the parking space promised to her from before we even signed the lease was unavailable. This wouldn't be a huge deal, except for the fact that we live in a busy city, on a crowded college campus. Having no transportation is proving to be difficult (and boring).
Since the air conditioner was broken, the only source of ventilation we had was opening the windows to hot, but breezy, weather. The window in my room was broken and let in swarms of flies, spiders and mosquitos. I'm still recovering.
From day one, the cable company has screwed up our phone, wireless internet and cable TV. Over the past week, Beth and I, together, have probably spent over four hours arguing and pleading with the company to get everything around our apartment to work. Tears were involved on my part. (I have a love/hate relationship with technology.)
The good news about my situation is that I was given a few days to rest this weekend. Surprisingly enough, I discovered that working doesn't even seem like real work anymore. Work is more of my getaway from all the crap that classes give me. I've never dreaded working for Vox (the first job that I actually enjoy), but it still seemed more of a structured routine a few weeks ago. I realized that classes make work seem more fun. Work is freedom. In the work world, I'm an adult with responsibilties, not a student who has to do homework assignments. In a way, I've already graduated from college just because I know how ready I am to be in the working world. That's a nice thought, and I think I'm starting to get the hang of this transition-- a little at a time.
One perk about my new place is that the apartment building allows the tenants to have cats. (This is the part where I jump up and down, squeal, dance and make merry.) *dances* As mentioned in past posts on my blog, I live for cats. I have always been drawn to them, but I've never had the opportunity to have one as a companion for myself. This apartment, as horrible as it may seem right now, is giving me that chance to finally have a kitty for myself.
Beth and I went to the Humane Society to check out the kitties this last weekend. Our experience with the people that worked there was anything but good, but in the end, we did get a better idea of what we're looking for as far as cats go. ^__^ For the next few weeks, I plan on checking online ads, newspapers, other animal shelters, and friends of friends who have ads for giving or selling kitties. I know that raising a new kitten can sometimes cause a little more stress, but for me, it's the kind of companionship that I need right now-- with or without the stress. Animals have an amazing calming power on people, and I can only see good things happening with the new addition(s) to our little apartment family.
The only part about getting a cat that made me hold back was Yukimo. Small hamsters don't always bode well with kitties running around the house, but I think I can make the situation work. I'm confident in myself as an animal lover; I can train a cat well enough to not want to eat or "play with" Yukimo. After all, Yukimo is a huge part of my life already. I wouldn't even think about getting a cat unless I was positive that Yuki could handle the change.
Yukimo's a fighter. She can take anything! I think I can, too. (Yukimo's inner fighter must be rubbing off on me.)
I went to the doctor today because of some health problems I've been having for the past week or so. I've had some severe pains in my stomach, and I had no idea what was causing them. Mom and Dad tried to do a mini exam to see if they could figure out what's going on, but even they were stumped. Mom said that if they continued to cause me problems, I would have to see the doctor today.
It's been so hard concentrating on everything I want to get done lately. As if the pain wasn't enough, I feel like my responsibilities as a human being are giving me more and more pressures.
These feelings were the first signs. I really should have known better.
I didn't go to my usual doctor, because scheduling at the last minute usually doesn't work out so well. I went to another physician that I sometimes see, a friend of the family who works with my dad. She was extremely nice and, unlike my usual doctor, she listened to what was going through my head-- probably because she's known me for so long. I didn't tell Mom this, or even Beth yet, but I almost started crying when I was talking to her. I've been hurting so much lately, and then with everything that flowed out of my head and out into the real world-- I began to realize what was wrong. She did, too.
Alice, my doctor, said that my stomach pains are mostly due to the amount of stress I'm undergoing at the moment. I've talked about everything racing through my mind lately (work, classes coming up next week, and moving to my the new apartment this weekend), but I didn't think that my body would react in such a harsh way. I've learned my lesson.
I took off work most of today; I only did what absolutely needed to be done. Right now, I'm trying to sit and relax without thinking about anything stressful. Even though Beth and I will have to move a bunch of stuff this weekend, I'm hoping that the extra day off on Monday (because of Labor Day) will give me that extra zing I need to pick myself up. It's time to rest; it's time to breathe for a while.
It's hard to believe that Shawn and I were running around and taking photos last weekend. I can't imagine myself doing that today. I feel so drained. Alice also gave me some medication that should hopefully help lessen the pain a little. The medicine has a side effect though: it's going to make me extra sleepy. That isn't a horrible thing right now, but I'm really hoping that it won't affect my schoolwork next week.
Another piece of "medicine" (advice) that Alice gave me was to not worry about school so much at this point. She said that since I've found a job that I want to stick with, a real passion for my future, that I can take some of that burden to get straight A's on my report cards off my shoulders. I know she's right, but it's difficult making a change that drastic. My entire academic lifestyle revolves around trying to do the absolute best. I've made it my personal goal to get on the Dean's List and to stay on the list for as long as possible. I want to graduate college English major with honors, and at this rate, it looks like I'll be able to do so.
Basically, I need to start prioritizing my life. I'm doing more than I've ever done before, and part of this is my own, personal evolution, so I figure that learning to juggle priorities is normal. It's just a rough time for me right now, but once I get a better hang of everything, I think I'll be oh kay.
So, here's to an end and a beginning. *raises glass* Goodbye Summer, hello Life.
The Cookie Bottom: The semester is finally over with! I completed all of my exams last week, and I was able to finish my ten page paper at the same time. I knew it could be done, because I've had worse semesters in the past, but knowing that all the stress over schoolwork is gone for a few months really gives me comfort. I feel like the freedom is sinking in.
I started and finished my ten page paper in a matter of about five hours. I know that I should be happy that I could finish a paper that I was proud of by the end in only a few hours, but I still felt that I struggled at first. I never take more than a few minutes writing the introductory paragraph. Something didn't click as quickly as it usually does this time around. Whatever the problem was, I felt a huge rush of relief as soon as the paper was out of the way. After that, I focused on my three exams: Irish Literature, Oceanography and Intro to Linguistics. All of them went fairly well. This was one of my rougher semesters, so I'm just happy to get my last science class (ever!) over with. From here on out, I'll only be taking level 300 and higher English classes that specifically focus on Technical and Professional Writing. The cookie is looking mighty yummy. ^___^
Other than the rude behavior, our little vacation pretty much rocked. We were able to sleep in and do a little browsing through cute stores. I think my favorite part of our vacation was when went down to a dock near our hotel. As usual, Beth and Shawn expressed great amounts of glee because of absolutely nothing. I think that's why I love them, haha. Here's a little sneak-peak of our adventure on the dock:
When Beth screams out, "Wait, you guys! Let's pretend I'm a bird!" I pretty much know what setting I should put my camera on: action (to avoid blurs). Beth's always all over the place, but I think that's what makes her such a good photography subject-- she's not afraid of doing anything.
(Oh, and on the way back from the resort, I made sure to have Shawn pull over when we passed the Plum Bottom Road sign again. There aren't many days when I can say that I've seen Plum's name sprawled on a road sign. I think it was the best way possible to wrap up my mini-vacation.)
The Cookie Top: Starting tomorrow, I will be officially working at my new job. Six Apart was nice enough to allow me to finish all of my exams before I began the job, thank goodness. For the next few months, I'll be working five days a week, helping to improve Vox and keep it running. When I left for my vacation, I realized something: I'm not nervous about starting the new job at all. This is the first job I've ever had that I'm genuinely thrilled about. It's the perfect way to end the school year and begin my Summer. In fact, I think this cookie is the real icing.
(More pictures of my weekend can be seen in my photo section.)
I'm pretty psyched. I'll say that much. I finally, finally have a hair appointment set up, so I won't have to deal with this huge mop on my head. I think all the people who said that once I go short, there's no way I'll go back to long, were very correct. Not only did I not have to deal with deciding what type of hair-do I want every day, but I could get out of bed, mess it up as much as I wanted, and still go to class feeling like a rockstar. (Well, maybe I didn't look like one, but man, did I ever feel fun and free.)
The hair appointment is for this Wednesday, and I'm thinking of taking the whole color thing up a notch, so the excitement is plenty, let me tell you. I never had color in my hair before this last time, so it's pretty fun experimenting with ideas for this next time. I never thought I'd be into the whole hair dying scene, but surprises and change is just plain fun.
I do have to add that the photo to the left was taken for pguyton, just because he took a pretty amazing one of himself doing the peace sign in a Santa hat a few days back. Go us!
I've been having a pretty wonderful vacation so far. The presents continued to come even after Christmas and my birthday, which was pretty unexpected. I received two very special presents from maz, a pink fishy drawing that I had my eye on when she first posted it in her journal a while ago, and a freaking adorable iPod plushie. I adore all of Marion's plushies, so this one was a special treat for me. Plum and Narnia immediately kidnapped the plushie, which I named (of course) Bebop.
Shawn has also been in a pretty wonderful mood lately, which is another contributing factor to my good mood. Like I said in my previous post, it's so rare that he's so positive around this time of the year, so having him upbeat and happy makes me more than happy myself. This is probably one of the best gifts I could have hoped for.
Another gift, in a very different form, is what I discovered on my birthday. I found out that the last grade I was waiting to find out was an A-. I've been putting a lot of long hours into my schoolwork ever since I transferred, because I realized how important doing well really is to me. I'm not spending four years of my life in college for the hell of it-- I'm doing it because I'm proud of my favorite creative skill: writing. Seeing my final grades was one of the greatest rewards possible:
Now, I've gotten straight A's before, but I've never achieved the chain of A's in college, just grade school and high school. Ever since I transferred, I've been working my butt off in order to attain this achievement. I've been able to boost my cumulative GPA up to 3.695, and right now, I'm trying to get it to at least a 3.7 average. I'm determined to make it onto the dean's list before I graduate. Now that I'll be entering my last year of college (hopefully, even though I'm technically a senior right now), the classes are getting more challenging. It's odd how I do better when the classes are more tough. An example of that are two of the grades above. My English Studies class was an type of introduction class, a basic English class, that I needed to take in order to declare myself an English major. I got an A- in it. The level 300 class that I took, Film and Literature, was a lot more challenging for me, yet I got an A. I do so much better in advanced classes, rather than all the simplistic ones. Oh, well.
Squee! Besides that, at this very moment, I happen to be quietly counting down the minutes until midnight. Tomorrow (the 31st) is Shawn's birthday and I'm pretty excited about it. He's in the next room, talking with Beth and playing Fable on his Xbox, and he sounds so happy. This is a very good sign for tomorrow.
Oh, and I didn't mention one of my favorite gifts yet. (Jeez, I know. There's so much random stuff to show.) Because I was so down on my birthday about not getting my camera right away, Shawn cheered me up by buying me a game holding case for my pink DS Lite. Not only does it serve a very important purpose-- to hold my games-- but it's heavenly cute and pink, not ot mention its main design: Princess Peach! I've been drawn to her character ever since I was little. Mom, back then, was the Nintendo fan and she's the reason I became hooked to the gaming systems. Princess Peach was my idol. Most girls loved Barbie, but no, Princess Peach was my obsession. ^__^ I like that the case matches my DS's.
This was another long entry, and I feel as though I should apologize to those that I haven't wrote to or kept up with lately. I've been busy with the holidays and all these birthdays. I plan on catching up with all of your Voxes tomorrow (see, I'm sacrificing some Shawn time for you!) and the next day. I really hope everyone is doing well and I can't wait to see how the holidays have been going for you.
Yesterday was a long day but after thinking about it, I'm glad I did it. Shawn and I went to a renewable energy workshop that took place in the Union. I signed up for it a few weeks ago for my Environmental Science class. There were 21 options to choose from and I chose the one that I could get finished with in one day and not over an extended period of time (of about three months). Shawn and I sat in the same conference room for eight and a half hours, with the exception of three small breaks in between speakers. In total, I'd say there were about eight or nine people that talked about energy and what actions should/could be taken in order to prolong life on Earth. I know that I should have really put forth some effort in caring about what every single person had to say about the topic, but it's very difficult to maintain a sense of sanity and attention when the entire day is dedicated to the same topic.
I first went through a period of tiredness (after having to wake up at 7 a.m. on a Saturday) and then there was my suicidal period, followed closely by a delirious state of... "what's going on?" Overall though, there were some interesting points brought up and I had Shawn there to make faces at and complain to.
Nami seemed to feel the same way as I did, for when I got home later that night (after three hours of waiting with and helping Shawn at work) she was passed out on the couch, eyes closed. She looked so sweet that I caught her in the act... as seen in the soft pictures in this entry. Again, I wish Nami's hair color could be easier to capture but the general feel of it comes through some of the photos. I think she and the rest of the girls need new clothes... but I don't think I'll be able to go through with that until I get some source of money. Haha, I don't think that'll be happening anytime soon!
The best part about yesterday was getting a surprise call from Celena. She finally received her birthday present from me-- a Blythe Night Flower. Thank you to those who supported my efforts in trying to track one down! Celena loved her, and as Celena's first Blythe, I think Night Flower has made a huge impact on her life in terms of dollies. Even her mom and dad fell in love with the Blythe. I know I don't usually spend that much on a friend, but I gave my explanation here: Celena's Virtual Card. For anyone that has kept up with my video posts, it was this virtual birthday card that inspired them-- so thanks to Celena for being born when she was, tee hee. I just loved hearing a friend's voice for the first time. What a great surprise...
I think the best way to really get to know someone is to capture them on their worst day possible and a) see how well they can handle the stress, b) take a look at how his/her appearance is in a physical manner, and c) try to get some sort of emotion out of them that you know they wouldn't normally do on a really crappy day. No, this week wasn't horrible, but it wasn't exactly the highlight of my first few weeks of the semester either. From the first week until today, I've been swept up with reading for my classes and stressing over a project that my Environmental Science class is requires all its students to do. I took my hour and a half break in between classes to my fullest advantage and decided to break loose with silly photos.
(The picture to the left is my response to a professor's ridiculous question. Like I'm supposed to know how to save the world...)
I have to say: whipping out a camera when you're stressed out is a wonderful, miraculous cure. I even made up a little storyline along the way. Later on at night, I sent them to Shawn over AIM because he didn't seem to have the best day either. Simple stuff like that really helps. I don't think most people realize that.
(The picture to the right was taken the minute I got back from my first class of the week, which was an hour and 45 minutes too long. As you can see, I felt half-dead.)
Right now, I'm in the process of reading three books, all of which I was behind on for the first half of the week, yet somehow seem to be complete as of today... in one way or another. For English Studies, it's Reading Lolita in Tehran; in Film and Literature, it was Morvern Callar and now it's Spider; and for Comparitive Literature it's The Epic of Gilgamesh. My head is spinning right now. I'm behind on my sleep and whenever I'm awake, my head is hidden in a book somewhere, either in my room, the Union or somewhere else on campus. The thing that's keeping me going right now is knowing that reading all these books (which are all great in their own ways) is going to be extremely worthwhile in "the end." I rarely ever regret taking the time to get stressed out over a book or two. Now is not the time.
Instead, I'll sit back and take pictures or do something else that relieves stress before, during, between, or after my classes.
(And here I am, about to leave for my next class after a little break. For some reason, Milwaukee became pretty cold in the past few days. I didn't think Autumn would hit so quickly here. I'm wearing my iPod, which is probably one reason I look distracted.)