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.