To Holly:

I think you and David might be the only ones who read my blog... but anyway, I just finished up my website and I put a picture of me up from your wedding. And well... it's black and white so it looks like I'm getting married! Haha, a few people have said, "Um, what's your picture from??"

Also, it's snowing like crazy outside and super windy. I read online that it's "near blizzard" conditions! Oh WOW! There are huge snowdrifts everywhere and it's 4 feels like -20. This is so intense! Kari's hoping school is cancelled tomorrow... you never know... it's pretty crazy outside.

A Note to Self

First of all, for those of you interested, I have an in-process project uno for my web design class which can be viewed at: ajenda.net/wheaton/hepburn

Second, note to self: just because you're used to sub-zero and itty bitty temperatures doesn't mean 17 degrees is warm enough to not have gloves. Your hands still get really cold. It's true.

Yay! I have a "job" and they want me!

Woo! I just got back from meeting with my "internship coordinator" at Crossway and I'm pretty much all set to go! I need to finish some paperwork, get some signatures, and tie up some loose-ends before I can officially be receiving credit for it. BUT, I went in today and met all the people in the design department (can't remember all the names... too bad) and I'm starting on Wednesday. I'm really excited, minus the fact that I have to convert my college clothes into grown-up-person-i-am-professional clothes - but I've got a few days to work on that. :) I'll be working MW 8-10 and Thursday 8-12. Yay books! I can't wait to see what I start working on. Now if only I prove so invaluable that they decide to pay me... that would be great! One thing at a time, right?

back to shhhcool

Yep, it's that time again... MONDAY time! I made it back to the Wheat and (be proud of me) I am COMPLETELY unpacked. Uh-huh. Completely. And I think that's about all there is to say. First day of school tomorrow... one of the best parts of the semester! woo!

happy holidays... from 1055B

So I'm pretty sure that we have one of the best (if not THE best) stairwells in all of Terrace. Don't worry, I come with evidence to back up my claim...
1. Stairwell Thanksgiving dinner
We all cooked up a legit Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, pies, etc.
2. Weekend before Finals week, schedule of events, 1055B
Saturday night: Suprise [M]ocktail party for Kari (hosted by B4)
Sunday night: Christmas Party Extravaganza (hosted by B2)
Monday night: Farewell party for two study-abroaders (hosted by B2 & B4)

So yeah, we've got a pretty great housing set-up.

And yes, Kari's party was a huge success. It was so fun!

And there would be pictures... but it won't upload. Grrr... the internet!!

Finals Week...

Oh man, it's been over a month since I've written. What are the chances that any of you are still checking? I should probably get better at this. Although, I do think that some of it can be blamed on the Wheaton Internet difficulties, but I digress.

I have a problem. A beef. An issue. Here it is: who thought of finals week? And WHAT were they thinking? Does it ever sound like a good idea to confine grade-defining exams, papers, and projects to the space of three days? Ever? I'm going to go with 'no' on this one - but not for my sake. No, my stressful time was last week, but after most of my friends are freaking out, getting 2-4 hours of sleep every night and stressing about an overload of 10+ page papers and weighty final exams, I just have to say that this isn't healthy.

Because I don't have very much schoolwork (comparatively) this week, I played broomball at Seven Gables Park today. On the pond. Which was covered in ice and snow. [SNOW!] It's crazy how much of it is lying around. Every now and then I realize, "OH MY GOSH, there's snow everywhere! This isn't normal!"

Well, it's midnight. And as the rest of the student body is just in the middle of the all-nighter they're pulling, I'm heading to bed. I've got nothing tomorrow. Nada. (see how Spanish has payed off?)

30 Hours in St. Louis

6 am Saturday morning. The apartment doorbell rings. Once. And then twice. Pushing through sleepy cobwebs, I suddenly come to the realization that it's SIX... Trisha and I were supposed to be ready to go at 5:45! And that's how the St. Louis roadtrip began. It was a fantastic 30 hours.

Thanks to the boys and their understanding, Trish and I threw ourselves together in 12 minutes and we were soon on our way. A quick stop at Panera yielded some breakfast and we set off South to the Lou. The 4.5 hour drive wasn't so bad (especially for a Hawaii kid) - the company was great and Ben, Trish, Adam, Paul, and I played some great music along the way, not too mention a few 20 minute cat-naps. woo!

Our first stop was Ben's house in the city. His parents work in and are a part of an urban outreach church and live in the same neighborhood. From the outside, the house looks deceivingly small, but when you go inside, it's amazing how many rooms there are spiraling up through all three stories. The best part is the loft/attic which doubles as LEGOLAND! We had a team pow-wow up there to make our plans for the day. Right from the start we were playing with toys and generally being little kids - it was so great. After lunch with Ben's family, we ran outside into the 60 degree weather (YEAH!) and jumped on the trampoline... more kid activities! Trisha and I laughed so hard we almost wet our pants... good thing we didn't. :)

We set off from there to the City Museum [http://www.citymuseum.org/home.asp], which is really a short way of saying "Huge Big Kid Playground." It's a three or four story building converted from an old shoe factory (I think) filled with places to crawl, climb, jump, and explore. There are huge caves with passageways and crawlspaces, tunnels made from metal, slides from one floor to the next, all of this filling the building from floor to ceiling. I can't really describe it; it was unbelievable. There was a giant "Extreme Dodgeball Pit" outside with places from within and without (?) to throw rubber balls at those inside. One room had skatepark-esque bowls and ramps made for running around on and with ropes to swing onto and off of the platforms. It was pretty much FANTASTIC. Plus, Talitha drove out and met us there so I got to see her! We spent almost 4 hours there before heading back to Ben's to shower.

We headed out to the suburbs next to have dinner at Adam's. Along the way, 5 blocks from our destination, one of the back tires was struck by a chunk of metal and flattened. The boys fixed it all up with the spare in half an hour and we finally made it to Adam's... very ready for dinner. We hung out with his parents and little brother and sisters before heading downtown...

To the Loop! We got some bubbletea, walked around windowshopping, and had fun. Yes, FUN!

Sunday morning we headed to Ben's church, had some lunch at his house, got our tire fixed, and hit the road again. It was another great drive... lots of music, laughter, and dancing.

So that was my 30 hours in St. Louis - which actually includes the driving, so maybe it was more like.... 22 hours in St. Louis. Pretty short? Yes. Worth it? TOTALLY. I laughed so hard all weekend and felt like a little kid - it was just great. Woo!