Blogs

Well it looks like I have not written enough blogs for the semester. I don't know why it has been so hard for me to keep posting on my blog every week. I have plenty of things to talk about. Also, ten minutes a blog times three posts a week is not that much. I guess the blog was just one of those small details that never made it high enough up on my priority lists of what to get done.

I do not think I am done with this blog even though the semester is basically over. I have enjoyed having a place to just spew my thoughts, feelings, and frustrations about everyday things. Thank you to everyone who has read and who comments on my blog posts. It is always fun to read the responses. I hope all of you have had a great semester wherever you may be. Good luck to all of you in your futures.

I would love it if you guys still took a look at my blog every once in awhile. I will do my best to keep posting on it over the summer. I am sure I have many adventures in store. Tata for now :)

The End is Near!

The school year is dwindling away and the pressure of classes has increased. All that fills my brain these days are mental scheduling notes about all that needs to be done and when to do the different tasks. Thankfully I have two online courses this semester that make my schedule more flexible than it would be otherwise. I am also fortunate that my work allows me to complete a bit of homework in peace and quiet almost every shift. Thanks to work, I have already finished  quite a few assignments due for this week.

On top of the school work are the other little things that I need to put some focus into. As I look around my dorm room I begin to wonder how on earth I packed so much crap in this tiny space. Why did I even bring so many things to school?! One thing I know for sure is it is going to take more than just my little Kia Spectra to get everything home.

Good luck to all of you with finals, projects, and other school work you may have on your plate! Get’r done!!!

Wake Up Time

I wrote this for my snipoff for this week and thought it also applied for my blog.

You are on a dock with your feet soaking in the water. In front of you is one of those views they put on the April or May month in calendars. It’s a beautiful mountain with one of those meadows in full bloom at the base of the mountain before it meets the water. You have your headphones in and the song that is playing is far too familiar. You wonder what on earth is happening as the music grows louder and the view dwindles out of sight. It literally just starts to disappear slipping right out of your sight and all you are left with is the music and darkness.

When it finally clicked in that sleepy brain of yours you were not pleased. You grabbed your phone attempting to click enter on your phone once the snooze option was highlighted. You had quite the struggle accomplishing your task of hitting snooze. First you tried to unlock the front screen but you failed about three times so you decided to just slide it open in order to automatically unlock the buttons. While trying to slide the phone open you managed to hit the button that starts up the internet, wait a second you don’t have internet. You then hit the clear button about a million times in order to avoid being charged by the phone company for your clumsy mistake. At this  point the snooze button was no longer and option and you decided it was good the window in your room is equipped with a screen because if not, the phone would have surly be hurled out the window headed straight for Sacagawea Hall.

You decided you would rather give in and force yourself out of bed than deal with anymore technology. Oh boy, why on earth did you make it so that your bed was so high off the ground? Well, after 1 2 3 you took the jump and luckily your wobbly morning legs held. Now the race was on, you set your alarm for so late that you only had 10 minutes remaining before you needed to be seated in Spanish. You should really have considered going to bed an hour or two earlier the night before.

Cough Cough Cough

So I thought I posted this on Wednesday, but something must have gone wrong. Better late than never I guess.

Lately all I have done is cough. On the bright side, I am getting a great ab work out. On the not so bright side, my abs, ribs, and lungs are killing me! I feel pretty bad for my next door neighbors. The walls in my dorm are paper thin. The other night I woke up around 5am and literally sat up coughing for 20 or 30 minutes. Yesterday and the day before have been my worst days. I am feeling a little better today. I really wish I could take something like Nyquill or Dayquill, but I am allergic to everything! I am even allergic to almost all vitamin C tablets because they are all orange flavored L This is enough complaining for one day. Everyone remember to wash your hands please!

I am feeling much better than I was on Wednesday but I still have a pretty nasty cough when I wake up and when I laugh. At least I don’t feel sick anymore!

Brothers

I have always wanted a brother. I have two sisters, one older and one younger. Yep, I am stuck in the middle. This summer, my life and my sibling role is going to temporarily change. Not only will it change, but the change will be dramatic.

I have spoken in previous posts about how I am going to be living in the Seattle area this summer. Living one the west side of Washington is going to be a change in itself since I was born and raised in Spokane. I have also never been away from home for a summer. Anyways, I will be teaching tennis at an athletic club as well as doing training for my own tennis all summer.

When I was looking for housing options, some of our family friends really helped me out. Our family friends have family friends that live super close to the club I will be working at. That family offered to host me to help keep my expenses down. The family has kids!!!! Not only kids, two sons! Yes, I will be living with the family for about 12 weeks and there is an 8 year old boy and a 6 year old boy. I am so dang excited to temporarily be part of a family with young children.

I am going over to Bellevue to meet the family next Friday. I really hope I will fit into their family and home. I haven’t had a young sibling for quite some time since my younger sister is almost 16. I truly hope that by the end of the summer the two boys will view me as a sister figure.

Schedules

My schedule for next semester has been somewhat finalized. Now I am just waiting for the real process to begin. Tomorrow is my advising session with my actual advisor. Hopefully she will like the classes I have picked out for myself to take next semester. I have chosen 17 credits worth.

If my schedule remains as I have it at the moment, I think I may want to consider getting a real job outside of work study next year or maybe just for next semester. The bulk of my classes are on Mondays and Wednesdays or online. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I would only have class from 9am to 9:50am. That leaves mega money making time in my eyes.

I am sure most of you know the feeling of student loans. I don’t have to start paying mine for quite some time still BUT I would like to have some money saved up for when that time finally does come. I am absolutely dreading it already. I am sure I will be keeping all of you posted on either my frustrations or my elations on the whole figuring out my schedule process. Good luck to all of you during advising time!! Try not to go too crazy!!

So Many Dogs

So if you knew my boyfriend or his family and you also knew that I spent a lot of time at their house, you would never believe that I am terrified of dogs. There are currently seven different dogs that reside in my boyfriend’s family’s home. There are three small/ lap dogs, one medium size dog, and three big dogs. To give you a little help with your mental image of what I am saying, the smallest of the “big dogs” is a Boarder Collie.

When I was pretty young I was attacked by my neighbor’s German Sheppard. Luckily my dad had a pretty good eye on me and he had seen the dog running towards me. Before the dog could do much harm, my dad scooped me up out of danger. It was a really strange situation because the dog was out on many occasions before the attack and nothing like that had ever happened before. The only difference was that on this particular day I was playing in my other neighbor’s yard instead of my own. This yard was right next door to the neighbor’s house with the dog. My house was across the street. Since then I have been attacked two more times and both times it was German Sheppards.

Anyways, it is still pretty odd to be in a house so regularly that has so many dogs. I just helped my boyfriend’s dad feed the dogs and WOW, those dogs go crazy at feeding time.

When people come to visit it is not uncommon that they bring their dogs along too. The other day there was a total of ten dogs in the house. TEN!!! Only one of the dogs is not all the way trained so it really isn’t that bad. Ironically enough, the partially untrained dog is also a German Sheppard (but a mix) so I keep my guard up around her. I have a dog of my own and let me tell you, I think one dog is plenty

Advising Time

So it is that time of year again when they keep telling me I need to figure out my schedule for next semester.

I hate advising time. I do not like the pressure of: A) picking the right classes to take so that I stay on track B) figuring out how many classes will be challenging but not overboard and C) putting together a schedule that does not cut into practice time and will allow for training room time both before and after practice.

Ugh I just do not like dealing with putting the schedule together. The worst part is when you finally have the perfect schedule all mapped out and then the computer will not let you register for one reason or another. Thank God for the Education office always seeming to bail me out when the computer has decided indefinitely that I was not meant to take that one class that I need to take ASAP.

Good luck to anyone else trying to put their schedule together for next semester. I give you my sympathies for any problems you may face!

ME Time

I have decided I need to live a little. There are so many occasions where I turn down invites or don’t do something fun because I feel that I need to be productive. My mom has been telling me for years now that I need to relax sometimes. I don’t know why, but it is so hard for me to take “me” time. I have this issue where if I am not doing something that seems legitimately productive to me in some way, shape, or form, all I can think about is what I could or “should” be doing to be productive.

In the last couple months, I think I have learned some VERY valuable life lessons. It seems to me that practically every adult I talk to can remember specific events in their life where they can tell you a specific date, what year in college they were, or how old they were when the event happened. It has always shocked me because I have felt like I would never be able to remember stuff like that. I have also always felt that nothing would ever happen in my life of such significance.

Since the start of my sophomore year I think I have started to understand how people can recall such events. This is turning out to be quite a significant year for me. I honestly think that the events that have happened this year (making my sophomore year significant) have been the result of me taking some time for me (especially second semester).

Last semester I decided that I would only take 16 credits (last semester I took 19. For me, 19 credits wouldn’t be too bad if school was all I had on my plate. With tennis in the mix, however, 19 credits allowed for very little “me” time. I decided to take 16 credits to allow for a little more time for tennis since our season is in the spring. In December I hurt my knee which eventually led to me taking this season off of tennis. I am still on the team but I do not compete. Only 16 credits and much less tennis have allowed tons more time in to my schedule that I am not accustomed to. When I look at the big picture, I am so happy about how things ended up. I have finally allowed myself to live a little. I feel great.

Boss Hog

It has been quite the roller coaster ride these past few days. It hit me pretty hard to find out that my friend, not to mention fellow athlete fighting for the Warriors, was killed in a car crash over spring break. Zach and I came to LC at the same time. When you come in as an athlete, you meet the other incoming freshmen athletes pretty quickly. All of you instantly have something in common.

Zach played baseball. He was a great pitcher and was on his way to doing great things. Zach was one of those players who was a definite exception to all of the stereotypes placed on the baseball players here at LC. Sure Zach was confident, but he wasn’t about to take it too far. I have never met one person here who has had anything bad to say about Zach. He was truly a stand up guy.

It hit me hard again yesterday when I returned back to school. Today was the memorial service. The gym was packed. Everyone in that room missed him; how could we not? Because of Zach, everyone wishes they would have attended just one more baseball game, cheered for him just a little bit louder, talked to him just one more time before his passing. I think all of us also ache to see such a fine young man taken so early in life. Just 20 years old.

Zach will be the topic of many more posts to come. As for now he is my reason to run, my reason to compete, my reason to live, my reason to study, and my reason to live life to the fullest. Zach can no longer do these things. I can, so I will.

To Zachery Hull:

Rest in peace Boss Hog! Lefty Nation here on Earth lost one of its finer members. I am sure you are already an active member of the new Lefty Nation where you are now. You were, are, and will be forever loved. This one is for you #34!!!  

The OC Sun

I am currently in Orange County with my tennis team. Oh how I have missed the sunshine. I have been very fortunate this year where sunshine is concerned. I was able to visit Hawaii on Thanksgiving and Christmas break. They weren’t your typical Hawaii vacation visits but they still were great in that I got to see the sun and feel its warmth. It is still pretty cold in Lewiston and very cold in my home town of Spokane, WA.

I usually get pretty bummed out in the winter months when it is hardly ever light outside and so gloomy all the time. I seriously think I may have that “Seasonal Affective Disorder” to some degree. It has been so nice to be in the sun. I am sooooooo happy when the sun is out. I am a little sunburned but it is so worth it.

The team has been doing really well and I am so proud of all of the players. We haven’t won a match overall but we are playing teams that are ranked very high in the national rankings. Yesterday we won three of the nine individual matches. Today we play Vanguard. Go Warriors!!!

Happy Spring Break All!!

Well I found out Friday morning that I would be traveling to California with my tennis team for Spring Break. I wasn’t expecting to go since I am redshirting this year due to a knee injuring. After my injury, I sort of fell into the manager position. I am getting better so I do as many of the workouts and practices as I can handle. I also end up doing a lot of random things for the team and for my coach. I will never compete this season.

I am pretty excited, but I am nervous for the trip at the same time. I literally have the “manager” title for this trip which sort of bothers me if I am being honest. It is just hard for me to not feel equivalent to an actual team member. It is also hard for me to put up with “manager comments” from the team. I guess I will have to get over it and learn how to laugh it off.

I am also nervous for the flights. I have never liked flying that much but I really hate it now. Ever since I grew into my severe peanut and tree nut allergy, flying has been a real pain. I am pretty good about keeping a positive attitude about it, but it is very hard for me when it comes to eating out and traveling.

We leave tomorrow morning. I will be driving a minivan to the Spokane Airport at 6am! SO DANG EARLY!! Maybe I will have enough time to make coffee in the morning. With the time change though, I may not be able to do it. Ok well I better hit the hay so that I am somewhat alert on my drive. Goodbye Lewiston, hello California!!

Family

So I am not a homebody by any means but lately I have been reminded of the things that are nice about living at home or with a family. I have recently started dating a boy from Lewiston and he is presently living at home with his parents. His brother, sister-in-law, and cousin are also temporarily living in the same home.

Last night I was invited over to my boyfriend’s home to have dinner. I miss home cooked meals so much! I live in the dorms at school and am on a meal plan. I have nothing against the SUB but food cooked by families just seems so much more rich, tasteful, and filling.

Last night I also realized that it is not just immediate family things that I miss being around. There were also some family friends over last night for dinner and these particular friends have a 7 month old baby. I was in heaven. I have not got to play with a baby in so long! The baby did end up spitting up all over my pants. bless my boyfriend's mom's heart, she took my jeans and put them in the wash. Oh how I miss having a washing machine and dryer that I don't have to put quarters into.

I miss the home cooked meals, the stories told at dinner and all throughout the day. I also miss my parents, sisters, and cousins especially. It makes me a little bit sad that I am missing so much of the younger years of many of my relatives. I even miss my dog a bit even though I hardly know him and even though he likes to bark. I am so thankful for my family and I truly do miss them even though I am pretty independent.

The Epiphany

Yesterday I had an epiphany. I realized out of nowhere one of the key reasons to how I am able to get pretty good grades. The reason you ask; I HATE CLEANING!!!!!! I would literally do almost anything else to get out of cleaning.

I do not have a T.V. in my room because I know that having one would provide yet another unnecessary distraction from my school work that I do not need. What I didn’t realize though is that by not having a T.V. I get bored sometimes. Getting bored then leads me to think of how I could be productive with my free time. Two of the solutions always include doing homework or cleaning my room. Doing homework will ALWAYS prevail.

I do not know how I didn’t realize this sooner. It is like my secret to completing assignments. Oh how my mother would be so disappointed if she realized that one of my biggest motivators for getting my homework done was to get out of cleaning. Now don’t get me wrong, my room is not “dirty,” it is cluttered. My room does not smell or look gross. I just have a problem where I try o a few outfits and don’t put them back in the closet or my dresser. I also tend to leave my textbooks out and that sort of thing.

The reason for me writing this post at this moment is because I was looking at my room thinking about how there must be something I need to be doing besides cleaning. I also now realize that I am dragging out this post in order to avoid the cleaning even more. Well this is my problem I choose to admit to the world today. Now it is time for me to figure out what else to do J

It's a Good Day!!

Lately I have been in such a great mood. I am not exactly sure what is causing it but I just have been feeling upbeat for the past few weeks. The other day I was cleared to do some of the conditioning with my team at practice. I haven’t been cleared to do any conditioning for almost 3 months so that was very exciting. I am still very sore, but all I can think of is how it feels so great to feel like I have done something productive again. The next day I found $10 dollars in my pants pocket. Today one of my teachers decided to post pone a test I didn’t think I was going to have enough time to study for and tomorrow practice has been cancelled so I will have way more free time than normal. I know the good mood and stuff like that will not last forever. I hope that I will be able to “say hey it’s a good day even if things aren’t going my way” when things aren’t looking quite as good for me. I just wanted to share my positive energy that I am feeling lately.  

Where the End Meets the Beginning

Welp, it is now March 1, 2011 and my February challenge has been officially completed. I am not going to lie, I am pretty bummed out that it is over. I have done some awesome things and I know I made some great memories during February that I wouldn’t have made if I didn’t do the challenge. Some highlights of my February were going swing dancing, making tooth paste with first graders and kindergarteners, spending time with my teammate Sammie (she took on the Try New Things challenge with me), and meeting my now boyfriend Jeremiah.

It is crazy how a simple thing like this February challenge can impact your life. I have learned so much in the four weeks of February. I learned that doing a silly little challenge can really wake up your life, that I shouldn’t be afraid of the unknown, and that sometimes the little things will make you much happier than doing amazing in the classroom. I also would have never met Jeremiah (well not yet anyways) without this challenge.

I wanted to say thank you sooooooooooo much to Jennifer for planting this idea into my head. I think you came across something that is worth it to try for everyone. This is the first time in a long time that my life never really got boring for a solid month. For one of my days my friend suggested that I write a message, put it in a bottle, and throw it into the river. This is actually on her bucket list. I thought this was a great idea. In the message I challenged the finder to do their own challenge similar to the February challenge we have done. I really hope somebody finds the bottle because this challenge has truly been wonderful.

So for March, I think Sammie and I are going to do a RAK challenge. RAK is simply random act of kindness. Instead of doing this month for our benefit, we would like to basically just be nice to others, even if we don’t know them. So for anyone who reads this post, I challenge you to figure out something you can do for yourself that will help you to really live.

He Said She Said

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to talk about other people? It happens all the time. Say you want to go get lunch with somebody, what always ends up happening? The conversation turns to a person who is not at the table doesn’t it?

Now I am not saying this is always a bad thing. Sometimes people talk about others in the most positive ways possible such as, “Did you hear that Sally got a full scholarship to UCLA?” That isn’t bad at all right? Where I find the problem is that humans are so great at talking about others but we are not very good at talking TO others.

It is so much easier to bring up things about people that you are impressed with to someone else than to the person you are impressed with. I have found myself time and time again telling somebody how awesome one of my teammates has been playing but I never seem to tell my teammate I am impressed with them to their face. It is even easier to write to them about it or send a text. How come it is so hard to confront a person on even the most positive subjects? I think this topic is one of the main reasons as to why I can be so bitter about technology. Face to face communication seems to be disappearing.

Man I always feel like I am rambling. Thanks for sticking with me J

Women

In my Social Sciences class we talk about values gender and culture. It always seems to me that we are talking about hardships for women and how men get off so easy in many situations. I would have to agree to this to a point, but they make being a girl sound so bad! I don’t really understand I guess because there are only three boys in the class (assuming that all three show up on the same day). Do that many girls really feel this way? Is it common for women to feel like everything is so unfair? I guess I might be different, but it really doesn’t affect me that there has never been a female President or that fewer females than men occupy “positions of power” in some job scenes. 

Men and women are different. We each have our own strengths and weaknesses. It does not mean that women are of lesser value than men. We are just different. Sure, a woman is capable of running our country but as a female myself, I know I would crack under the amount of stress this position holds. I feel like I am going off on a tangent here but it really does bother me how women view others as having an unequal view of them in comparison to men. As people, we enable stereotypes, trends, and ways of thinking. I think we first need to view ourselves as true equals. When we accept ourselves as being absolutely equal to men then maybe we won’t see as many inequalities; instead we will only see differences.

I realize that my way of thinking is different than most. I understand that life for women did used to be very unfair. I am not trying to argue events of the past. I just feel that the current situation for women in the United States is pretty dang similar as the situation for men.

What to Write?

So sometimes I know exactly what I am going to write for my blog posts. Today is not one of those days. I am just hoping the rambling I am about to do turns into something worth reading.

Well, I had my interview to get into the Education Program yesterday. I feel like it went pretty well; I hope the women who interviewed me feel the same way. It is crazy how fast time flies by. It seems like just yesterday I didn’t even know where I wanted to go to college. I truly feel like I am in the right place though. It is funny because so many people think it is really weird that I had to have an interview to get into the Ed. Program because their schools do not make Elementary Education majors do anything like that. I actually think it is great that LC has us do the interviews.

Ok, new subject. I would like to give a shout out to my sister Erin. It is her 23^rd Birthday today. I cannot be home for it which makes me sad. She doesn’t know it yet but I am going home to Spokane, Washington tomorrow to go to her Birthday party. Yes you heard right, her Birthday party haha. She said she feels old so she wanted to have a party. She is having her, a bunch or her friends and some family go play laser tag in downtown Spokane tomorrow night. I am excited! I absolutely love Erin and again it is crazy how time flies. It wasn’t to long ago that Erin and I were racing home frantically on our bikes to try to beat the setting sun.

Happy Birthday Erin!!!!!!

No Sleep

Usually on weekends you catch up on sleep, well at least that is how it usually works out for me. This weekend however, I got basically no sleep. I have always been wound pretty tight when it comes to getting adequate sleep and all of that stuff but I think it was actually very good for me to just live a little bit and stay up until it was basically light outside.

The thing that is cool about staying up late is that nothing is really open. I feel that most people would find a problem in this. What I like about not much being open is that it forces people to talk and bond. You can learn so much about a person in just of couple hours of talking. This weekend I was really shown how great of people I have in my life. It was even pretty sweet to be reminded of that every time I felt tired.  

So I don’t know if you guys know, but I am doing the February challenge where everyday I do something I have never done before. I had no idea that it was going to impact me like it has. I wake up excited everyday plus I am also very happy and energetic. Last night I caught and held a chicken for the first time in my life. I don’t know about you but I think it is pretty sweet that this challenge is making me do something creative with my life.

Because of this challenge I have also met some amazing people. These people are a lot of the reason I did not get as much sleep as usual this weekend. They are also the reason why I am in one of the most amazing things ever as I write this post. I hope everyone has the nerve to be spontaneous at times and maybe give up a couple of hours of sleep to live a little.

The People You'll Meet

Some of the people you meet say hi and others say hey. Then there are the people you meet and actually remember. The ones who didn’t seem to have a box they were confined to after the introductions happened. In many cases these people have become my best friends. Some of these people though I have never talked to since the initial introduction. They have, however, made a mark in my life. Who knows, maybe they don’t even remember me at all; maybe I was just another “hi” or “hey” person to them. But to me, they gave me hope. It is and was a kind of hope that shows me that not everyone is conforming and that there are people out there who are willing to show their true colors.

One hope that I have for myself is that I would not be a “hi” or a “hey person. I want to someone worth meeting. I don’t want to be forgotten; don’t want to sit back and let myself be forgotten. I am even ok with being one of those “hard to remember, yet impossible to forget people.” Sure I make have, do and will make a fool of myself at times, but that is living. I want to live, I want to soak up what this world has for me, I want to make memories (good and bad), and most importantly I want to learn. I want to learn about myself, the world and about others.

One last thing: I don’t want to make subconscious restrictions on who I allow myself to learn from. I want to learn from people from here, from my home town and from others from anywhere and everywhere. I want to learn from children, teens, young adults, adults and the elderly the same. Every single person has taken a different path from me. All I know is my path. I want to venture into the unknown. Undoubtedly, I will get hurt at some points and at other times I will seem like I am on top of the world. I won’t let the fear of getting hurt stop me. If my fear prevails I will only know the path I have chosen and never get to see new scenery. “It takes both sunshine AND rain to make a rainbow.”

AND THE PACKERS WIN!!!!!!!

Super Bowl is such a crazy event. As I was watching the game, I sat in my seat thinking about how this is one of the only events I could think of where masses of people come together to watch something on TV. I mean at the house I went to there was a massive TV upstairs and a projection screen that took up basically the whole wall downstairs. The surround sound could be heard all through the house and let me tell you this is a HUGE house I am talking about. I find it crazy how so many people either buy a TV for Super Bowl (and then return it after the game has ended) or they rent a TV for the big game. This was not the case at the house I went to but it shocks me that people are really that obsessed!

Not only do so many people do it big where technology is concerned when it comes to the Super Bowl, but the food is astonishing as well. The amount of food that was available for consumption tonight could have easily fed a small country for a night. Have you been to any grocery stores lately? They take up whole sections of the store just to advertise “Super Bowl refreshments” or “the perfect Super Bowl snack.” I wish I could go back in time and experience all 45 years of Super Bowl evolution. Think of if people got this excited about presidential elections.

I absolutely love sports. I guess I had never really taken the time to notice how “Big” Super Bowl really is. I am soooooo happy the Packers beat the Steelers. I have two rules as far as professional football is concerned. Rule #1: I cheer for the Seahawks. Rule #2: I cheer for anyone who is playing against the Steelers. It is too bad that the commercials weren’t that good this year but oh well. I would take the Packers winning over amazing commercials anyways.

Green and yellow green and yellow green and yellow J

Celebrate

I don’t know why, but I have always loved the first day of a new month. There is something so exciting in wondering what is to come. I do feel a little strange though because this will be the first Valentine’s Day in a long time that I won’t have an actual date. This seems like a silly thing to think about but I just feel odd being on this side of the fence. I now understand why so many people consider February as “Single Awareness Month.”

My goal for February is to not have any unnecessary allergic reactions. To many this will seem like an extremely odd goal but for me it is a serious issue. I let a candy bar slide the other day thinking I was invincible or something. Let’s just say that I had a big reality check. I am still not all the way accustomed to not being able to just eat whatever I want. I love the spontaneity of trying a new food that I have no idea what is in it. I am not able to do this anymore and just a little thing like that can have a rather large impact on a person’s life. Someday I will write a post on my allergies but that will be a different day.

Today I am just going to be thankful for the new month. I will make today a celebration of goals, hopes, dreams, and the excitement of not knowing what is to come.  

Could it Be?

For today’s post I have decided to share a list of the things I have been reminded of and learned about myself in this past week. Here it goes:

1. I am far more creative than I give myself credit for.
2. I shouldn’t try to force people into my future because sometimes you meet people, they become part of your life, and then at some point they are supposed to stay in the past.
3. I can make a trash bag and some packaging tape stylish.
4. I really do enjoy reading even though I complain about reading all the time.
5. I have a couple extraordinary friends in my life.
6. I have a passion for people who don’t want others to care about them.
7. I give people the benefit of the doubt even when they do not deserve it (which can turn out bad for me).
8. It kills me to see people not giving their all.
9. I absolutely love snack packs straight out of the fridge.
10. I would rather have a million things on a to-do list than have a “nice relaxing day to myself.”

As you can see, I have learned/ remembered quite a bit about myself this week. I feel like I am at such a crazy part of my life. They really weren’t kidding when they said you change a lot in college. My whole way of thinking is drastically different than when I began college August of 2009. It doesn’t seem like it has been that long but I have done a lot of changing and hopefully growing up since I came to LCSC.

The Land

Well it is 11:26pm and I am about to crack open a new book. This time I am reading The Land by Mildred D. Taylor. I have never read any of her books before so I hope this is good. I love it that my homework this semester keeps turning out to be things that I actually somewhat enjoy. I really thought I was going to hate blogging but it turns out that I kind of like just spilling out my random thoughts at the end of the day. This one is going to be short though because I have class at 8am and as I said before, I am about to start a new book. If I get hooked this could end up being a later night than expected. NIGHT!!!!

Say Hey it's a Good Day

Today is a good day. One of my very best friends from high school is visiting me this weekend. His name is Bryan. Bryan and I played mixed doubles in a bunch of school tournaments when we were in high school. Mixed doubles is where each doubles team is composed of a male partner and a female partner. Bryan now plays for Spokane Falls Community College.

We started the day off by having way too big of a breakfast at Waffles and More. Man I love that place. We then went shopping at the “mall” to buy one of my other best friends a birthday present. She attends the Art Institute of Seattle so I will have to ship it to her. The residents are all able to go bowling for free tonight so I think we are going to hit that up after I take Bryan to Pita Pit for the first time in his life. Then I think we will go see a movie at the dollar theater. Got to love free and virtually free events!

I am so lucky to have such great friends from home! I feel like I should mention that so far, practically everything Bryan and I have done together since he got here yesterday has been done to Taylor Swift tunes. As I said before…. It is a good day J

The Spoken Word

The spoken word is often flawed; we forget what we were saying, state facts incorrectly that get passed on further than we know, and pass beliefs off as ultimate truths. We also speak too soon far too often. We hurt feelings. If harsh words are spoken many try to forgive and forget.

Once something is said it cannot be taken back. With writing things are different. You can produce sentences and then perfect them for as long as you want. That way you can check your facts and have extra time to think about if what you have to say is truly worth saying.

The thing about writing, however, is that once published, it is almost impossible to take the words back. Writing also has the potential to be exposed to a much larger audience than words that are spoken. Spoken words can never be recreated in the exact same way as the original. Written words on the other hand can last for centuries in the same state as first published.

I find that people are much more critical about what they write than what they say. Because of this, there are often things written that obtain a higher quality than things spoken by the same person.

The Written Word

As I was reading my book today I realized that printed words affect me in a great way. I have so many conversations each day but the words that really hit me are the ones I read. I began to ponder reasons why this may be the case.

The written word has far greater impact on me than the spoken word. The spoken word can become lost in translation so easily. When words are spoken, their meanings are influenced by the tone of which spoken and by accompanying body language of the speaker. Spoken word is also often changed over time or completely forgotten.

Stay tuned for more of my thoughts on this subject. It is turning out to be more complex than I had imagined.

Productivity

Well it has been a productive day today… NOT! I woke up “this morning” at 2pm and ate some oatmeal. Behind cranking out some science homework and reading part of my book, eating oatmeal was the most productive thing I have done. It is odd how I always find myself wishing to be busy when I have nothing going on, yet I wish to be doing less whenever I am busy.

I would have to suggest that anyone who is interested in young adult literature should read the book Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher. I am about 75 pages into it and it is very well written. I love it when books I have to read for class turn out to be books that I end up reading for fun.

I am almost certain that my next “productive” activity for today is going to be watching the Australian Open. If you have never really watched Tennis you should tune in for a few minutes.  I sure wish there was a way to earn credits in college for watching tennis.

As I have started making this blog part of my routine I have noticed I actually like the idea of sharing my thoughts. I love to talk and sometimes feel I am talking somebody’s ear off. It is nice to blog because if a person thinks I am talking too much they can just go to a different page while I have still been able to say whatever is on my mind.  That is all for tonight J Buenos noches amigos!!

An Interesting Day

It has turned out to be a very long day. It all began with my alarm clock squawking at me at 10:15am (rough life right?). Then I spent a lovely hour alone in the training room doing rehab exercises on my knee. I then went to the tennis center for our first two home tennis matches. Our head coach was traveling to Spokane with our men’s team so our assistant coach took over. Our coach decided that the assistant would then need an assistant and he decided that assistant would be me. Immediate pressure!

My job as the assistant was easy and complicated at the same time. I basically ended up spending a lot of time on the computer creating attachments to send to the Lewiston Tribune via email. I’m sure this sounds simple but I am so bad with technology that it shocks me in itself that I was able to create this blog!

Well, we didn’t end up winning either of our matches but I was very impressed with the play of my teammates. The teams we played today were both NCAA Division 1 and were very tough. Alright that’s all I have to say for the night!

As I have been racking my brain, thinking about my next post, what I should write, and how to be somewhat interesting, I figured that we have our text book for a reason. I might as well use it right? I like to be somewhat spontaneous so I decided to crack the book open and use something from whatever random page I ended up on. PERFECT!!!! I can work with this J

 I am in chapter 11 of the Painter text. The line I have decided to work with is on pg. 48 and states: “We can all be writers; just what kind of writer is up to you.” This is so true. If you asked me a few days ago if I were a writer, I would certainly have told you no. My answer today would be, “Aren’t we all writers?”

The time we first got a writing utensil in our hand we became writers. Some had a tendency of being a “wall writer” others were very good at writing scribbles on paper. Then as we got older things began to change. Some began pursue writing as a career, some people only use writing to sign their names on the bottom of receipts, and others, such as myself, write when points are on the line or when we want to come up with a genius Facebook status.

Whatever kind of writing we do doesn’t matter; we are still writing. I don’t know about any of you reading this blog, but I have spent quality time perfecting those Facebook statuses. It is really quite the challenge when you think about it. I only have 420 characters to, often times, fit 3,000 characters of thought and feelings into. If you ask me, that takes some serious skill.

I guess my point is that it doesn’t matter if you are recognized as a writer or not. If you want to write then write J Write about the things you want to write about. Most likely, especially if you are in school, you are going to write about some things that don’t really interest you. Don’t let those occasions keep you form the type of writing you would enjoy.  

A Piece of the Past

Growing up I enjoyed writing more than reading. I loved it when the teacher would start the paper with something like : "I was on my way to the bus stop when I noticed a secret door in the oak tree on the corner. When I opened the door I was shocked to find.... (finish story)." I think it was the novelty of being able to write whatever was in my imagination. It seemed the crazier my imagination, the more my teacher liked my work.

Over the course of my education, previous to graduating high school, there were endless amounts of papers to write. I can barely remember any of those papers. The only ones that actually stick out in my head are the ones that had very little structure; the times when I could write about something that I actually cared about. Those were the papers I put the most effort into, just because I got to be in control. Looking back, I really wish someone had encouraged me to write more of those super imaginative stories when I was younger.

Sometimes you Gotta Wing It

Hey everyone, my name is Erica. I am currently a sophomore pursuing a degree in Elementary Education. I am also working toward a reading minor. I have just finished up the application process to get into the Education program so cross your fingers for me! I am a member of the Women's Tennis team here at LCSC. We kick off the season with an away match against WSU on Jan. 21st so my life is about to get a lot busier. Along with playing on the tennis team I also work in the Tennis Center office and teach lessons, 4 days a week, to all different age groups.

To be honest, I have no idea what this blog is going to be about. I am currently just winging it hoping to get the hang of it along the journy of the semester. Realisticly speaking, I would have never created a blog without it being mandatory for a grade.

In my opinion, reading and writing go hand in hand. I would like to share some of my experiences with reading to create a partial understanding of where I am coming from.

My favorite book of all time is Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss if I am being honest. I like to read but don’t have a favorite style or author. The book just needs to hold my attention. I was read to as a child by my parents and older sister but I struggled for a long time with reading. I honestly would have told you I hated reading all the way through junior high and high school. My older sister is very competitive and she was naturally a very talented reader. She could read faster than me, at a higher level than me, and she learned how to read earlier than I had. I remember feeling pretty dumb when I would read so I often found other things to fill my time. I began to look at reading differently when I took Children’s Literature here at LCSC.I am completely fascinated with children’s literature and the rate of improvement of cognitive development in relation to literature in children.
This is a recent photo of my two sisters and I on Christmas. My older sister Erin is on the far left. She is the one who always kicked my butt in reading. My younger, though tallest, sister Dana is in the middle. As you probably already guessed, I am on the far right. If you ever see me around campus I can almost guarantee you that I will not look this dressed up :)

Please let me know any suggestions you may have for my blog!!