Thankful

Wow. Well wasn't this challenge a surprise. Although I can't say I can complain. Our supposed limit was three weeks. I don't know how long it's been, and I don't feel like counting, but I can imagine I'm close, if not over.
My room number is 608. 6+3+8 (Since zeroes are threes for some reason. Honestly, Kara. At this rate I'll never understand math.) So if Google is right (Yes I looked it up instead of going through the trouble of thinking. It's a Saturday, don't judge me.) that means 17 things. Let's get started.

1. I am thankful for the cliched first choice but still important family. I wouldn't be where I am or who I am today were it not for the three people who were suckered into living with me for eighteen years, sixteen in Garth's case. They support and make fun of me. They know my quirks and curiosities. They mock my incessant obsessions. And I wouldn't have any one else doing it.

Summer vacation, 2008. We all like this picture because we're all hot and sweaty.

2. I am thankful that my parents are still together. I'm not gonna lie: I was pretty screwed up in middle school and part of high school. But I would have been even moreso if I didn't have both my parents to lean on, together.
There's a story my parents told me. It was shortly after Garth started school. They went over to a family friend who worked as a counselor in a high school. They asked what they could do as parents to help their kids in school. And his advice? Stay together. No no, my parents said. We want to know what we can do. And the family friend said "I know. Stay together." They did. And I know that's saved me in more ways than I will ever know.

Spring Break, 2013. First time at Zombie Burger.

3. I am thankful for my location. My physical, actual location. Because of where I grew up, I experienced fantastic Iowa small town living. I experienced all four seasons. I grew up in a small town, yet I was never more than half an hour away from any sort of "city" experience. And because I grew up in Iowa, I get to pay in state tuition to the school I'm currently attending. A school that's best in the world for what I want to do. That's a blessing.

4. I am thankful for Pintrest and tumblr. For those of you who don't know, Pintrest and tumblr are social networking sites. Pintrest is mostly known for having do-it-yourself crafts and recipes, and I don't really know what tumblr is known as by normal people. But I do know that I don't use Pintrest as I described. I use both these forms of social media quite similarly: for the things I love.
And sweetie? I ain't gonna be pinning or blogging anything about how to make doilies. No. I'm the one who floods the dashboards with hundreds of pictures of fan art, screencaps. and snapshots of my favorite characters, fictional couples, movies, TV shows, and books.
I'm thankful for these because I know I can sit back and pin three hundred things at once if I want to. Some people stress while stressed. Me? I pin and reblog. And I'm thankful.

5. I am thankful for Netflix. C'mon. I mentioned social networking. You had to have known that this one was coming. I love Netflix and how I can procrastinate for hours on end like a pro. I get my Disney movies, my SuperWhoLock, my My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, my Mythbusters.
I get both my stuff aimed at kids, and the TV shows about stuff that goes boom.

6. I am thankful for my brother. He's my best friend. I've been able to talk with him throughout my life, even when I couldn't go to a friend or my parents. He's always got my back, and that means more to me than he will ever know.

August 2012, Navy Pier, Chicago

7. I am thankful for my past work experiences. Did I have the time of my life? No. But did I learn enough to choke a cow? You bet I did. At Casey's, I learned not to judge people, and to keep up a positive attitude, since it impresses pretty much everyone.
While working at the South Des Moines Veterinary Center, I learned about being a team player and the meaning behind the phrase "hard day's work".
These lessons have gotten me pretty far already. I can only imagine where they'll take me next.

8. I am thankful for my best friend. I met her a little over a year ago at a summer camp, and at the time she didn't quite know where she wanted to attend college. Thankfully, she chose the same school I now attend. I don't know what my life would be like if I hadn't met her. She's a complete joy to be around, and I love spending time with her. Be it after our astronomy lab or shopping for feminine delicates, it's always a fun time.

9. I am thankful for my church. Yeah, I go to the number one party school in the nation. (Which is all I ever seem to say about Iowa City. Maybe I should work on that.) But my church is fantastic. I love the people who attend, and Salt Company, the college ministry, feels like a second home.

10. I am thankful for the friends I have met. Let me tell you: I thought that I was a pretty hardcore nerd and geek when I came here. Then I met some of these people. And they have been SO nice and SO fun to be around and SUCH a help in the transition into college life.
So thanks Patsy, Leah, Erin, Ash, and Jey. I couldn't have done this without you.

Not an actual picture of everyone. An actual picture of all of us doesn't exist quite yet.

11. I am thankful for lists. I know that whenever I'm having a bad day, all I need to do is start making a list. And not "To Do" or "To Get". The kinds of lists I make are the kinds you would expect someone like me to make. I make lists of my favorite characters, my favorite fictional couples, my favorite friendships, and the like. I make sure to include pictures. They may not serve an actual purpose, but they sure do make me feel better, and for that I'm thankful.

12. I'm thankful for books. For story. The things in life that are my greatest temptation and greatest joy. I'm so unbelievably thankful that I am able to have such enjoyment from such masterpieces.
13. I am thankful for Mexican food. Because yes. It is that good.

14. I am thankful for Iowa's four seasons. Because they are all beautiful, and I can draw so many parallels to life with them.

15. I am thankful for the fact that I live in a society that empowers women. I live in a day, age, and country where women can run companies, run for office, or run to the supermarket in sweats and sneakers if that's what they want. I can get an education as a woman, and I am extremely thankful.

16. I am thankful that I am who I am. I am my own person. I am confident in who I am, and no one can take that away from me. I know that I shouldn't be ashamed because of who I am or what I love to do.

17. I'm thankful to be finished with this list. Because DANG, it took a while.

Thankfulness

There's a big thing on Facebook during November where you post one thing you're thankful for each day, for 30 [40] days. I started this, but realized quite quickly that I was having trouble posting one thing each day. Oftentimes I couldn't think of something or I just wasn't on Facebook, or whatever. Either way, it's still a good thing to reflect on things you are thankful {grateful} for, especially during the Thanksgiving season, and especially after a year of many changes in my life. Instead of 30 or 40 different things, I decided to come up with 15 {my room number is 375, 3+7+5}. Eliza and Billie, feel free to play along! (P.S. The number 0 counts as 3. Ex: 400 = 4+3+3 = 10)
Here we go!
1. I am thankful for my family, especially my parents, aunts, and uncles.There have been lots of ups and downs and changes over the year, but they've supported me in all my endeavors, projects, and goals. They're always willing to talk/listen whenever I call them, and they're really good at being rational when I'm not.

My drumline friends are awesome!

2. I'm thankful for my Iowa/Nebraska friends. I means so much to have people who have known me for years and that I have known for years that I can have fun with, have heart to hearts with, or just spend awesome quality time together. I'm glad that we can stay connected!
3. I'm thankful for the friends I have made at college so far, through my floor, The Navigators, and classes,
too. I continue to be surprised as how college is such a fast track to friendship. In general, if you're doing something with a group of people, like the Barn Bash I went to for Navs, lots of people will introduce themselves and be more than happy to strike up a conversation with you! For me, it was almost overwhelming (in the best way possible!) and I'm still playing catch up with remembering names of people I've met!
4. I'm thankful for the sweet older ladies in the dining hall. They're much better about "breaking the portion rules" than the young student whippersnappers. For example, today at lunch,  when my 1 scoop of Riggatoni with meatballs didn't have any meatballs, she continued to fish around until she got me some!

This was on the first night that she moved in.

5. I'm thankful for my roommate! Miranda is super great, and really the best roommate I could have asked for! We share many of the same interests/disinterests, are both big on studying, and we do a lot of fun things together when we aren't. For example, on Wednesday night, we watched The Rescuers. Such a sweet movie! I'd never seen it before! We experimented with peanut butter and Ramen (we live on the edge!), and we do things like go to Walmart and buy a brick!
6. I am thankful for music! Playing or listening, it is  a BIG part of my life! I especially love playing the piano!
7. I'm thankful for my sister! We're super close and I miss her a lot while I'm here at college! It made up for it a little bit when I surprised her by coming home for the weekend and when she first saw me, she started bawling. She was very happy!
8. I'm thankful for those cool God moments where you've been praying about something (worries) and then you pick up your book by Max Lucado and read the next chapter which just so happens to be about the exact same thing!
9. I'm thankful for all of my teachers from High School. I feel so prepared for College, and I credit it to all of their dedication and commitment. I feel bad for the other students I see who didn't have people that cared about them as much as all of my teachers did.
10. I'm thankful for my church families, both at Grace and here at Laura Street. Everyone is genuinely concerned about me and is always asking about how I'm doing and how my family is. This is especially true of everyone here at Laura Street. Even though I've only really been here for 3 months, it doesn't feel like it because of how much everyone is always asking how I'm doing and how my dad is doing.
11. I'm thankful for my job. Even though it is certainly NOT my favorite thing to do, and I practically dread going to work, it was certainly been a really good crash course in people skills. It's not that I didn't have people skills before, it's just that this job has helped me get over not liking cold calling people and has also helped me be a little bit more comfortable asking people for money. Bot only a little. It's still uncomfortable. I will be done with my Cat Caller position next Thursday, but I applied for a job as a library assistant, which would be a position that is right up my ally! I've working in a library since 5th grade! I love libraries! It would be so cool to get this job!

12. I'm thankful that my mom taught me to sew and cook and bake and that both my parents helped me learn how to fix all sorts of things! These are very helpful skills, people! Also, it means that when I get married, my husband will not live off of Ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches every night! Huzzah for food! Huzzah for sewing!
13. I am thankful for sticky notes! Seriously! A list-maker's dream! (I know, I'm grasping at straws here, but all my other ones were really deep!
14. I am thankful that Northwest gives us all of our textbooks and a laptop too! A LOT less to worry about! I just walk into a room and grab a paper bag full of all of the books I need for the semester!
15. I am thankful for the mattress on my bed at home. I did NOT realize just HOW comfy it was until I went home last weekend! Oh my! And it doesn't make plastic-y wrinkly noises when I roll over or make any movement! So perfect! Ah!

There ya have it! Eliza and Billie, the ball's in your court!

Stuff

We just had Haunted Hospers in my dorm.  They turn the whole building into a haunted house and it was truly impressive.  Our floor was like an abandoned cityscape, so the walls were covered in crumpled newspaper, the doors and ceiling in black trash bags, litter was all over, it was really dark.  You couldn't even tell it was a dorm floor.  It was literally creepy to walk to the bathroom at night.

I begged God to give me the ambition to stay off the internets this week and get school done, which all climaxed at the anatomy quiz today.  He helped me do that, and now I get to enjoy a visit from Mom on Saturday.  I'm going to feed her fro yo, maybe we'll go on a hike at Oak Grove, watch Netflix in her hotel room, we'll go to church together, eat at some yummy place, I'll show her the cute main street park.  Yep, it'll be great.

Here are some pix of the "haunting".

Peace out, corn dogs :)

(I feel like that could be a gangsta Iowa saying or something.  P.S.  It's 11:30 p.m.)

Some Tuesday Morning Views at NWMSU

Today before I left for breakfast, I grabbed my camera and took it with me around campus. Here's some views from around campus. (It's homecoming week here at Northwest Missouri State, so most of these are homecoming-related.)

This is Centennial Garden. It's outside South Complex. That thing
in in the middle is a fountain. It's actually a pretty area. The shade is
making it look a bit funky.

This is the view from a 2nd story stairwell in South. This is part of the Lab
School and the playground. I walk by it every day and there are always lots
of cute kids outside!

This was my lunch today. Aside from the curly fries, it was good.
(Cheese grits, Mac 'n Cheese, and honeydew melon. Also milk. I love milk.)

The rest of these are pictures of some of the banners made by the sororities and fraternities. This is not even half of all of them. There were enough to hang them on all sides of the student union. I took pictures of especially impressive ones, creative ones, and Disney ones. (The theme this year is "Rollin' Out the '90s" which I find odd, since I was born in the '90s, but whatever.)

Power Rangers

Lion King

Candy Land

Spongebob

Dragonball Z (?)

Powerpuff Girls

Toy Story

Star Wars

These last two pictures demonstrate some of the can art that the sororities and fraternities do. They buy groceries, build things with them, and after the competition, all of the food is donated to the food pantry. Again, this is just a couple. These snaked all the way though the second floor of the Union.

Barbie's Dream House, Mr. Potato Head (my personal favorite!),
and some sort of helmet.

A Furby! This one made me happy!

My Bad Boyfriend

Okay. So I've been enjoying myself here at college far more than I thought was possible. I like most of my classes, and I'm fine tolerating the classes I don't much care for.

Like my Language and Formal Reasoning course. It counts as a quantitative reasoning credit, which is great, because that means I don't need to take any statistics. It's a beautiful thing. LFR is my favorite class this semester. It's challenging. Because even though it is a "language" class, it involves a lot of . . . math.

A lot of math. I mean, it's not real math, but it might as well be. The "language" is so jacked up on crack, it thinks it's math. It's ridiculous. There are proofs in this class. PROOFS. AS IN, THE KIND OF THING THAT MAKES YOU WANT TO MAKE THE WALL BLOODY FROM POUNDING YOUR HEAD AGAINST IT IN FRUSTRATION.

Because really, what other kind of proof is there? I'm an English major for a reason. I don't do proofs. I hate proofs. Proofs should go step on a Lego.

But it's so fascinating. The way my professor talks, I can see how multiplication was eventually invented, along with division, in a sense. It's way cool to see how everything with subsets and members and absolute complements all work together smoothly.

But that's only if you know what you're doing.

Which has lead me to believe that my Language and Formal Reasoning class is like a bad boyfriend.

I love it. Possibly more than I should, and all it does to me is make me question myself. It's a challenge I want to overcome, but it makes me prove ITS problems.

I think that this is probably not the relationship I need right now, so I will have to break it off sometime. Maybe before Christmas.

A Day in the Life. . .

Wednesday was  interesting. Here's what happened. This is pretty typical as far as my days go around here.
7:00 a.m.-Alarm goes off. I accidentally turn it off.
7:48- I wake up and freak out. And then promptly get a nose bleed. Greeaaattt... I promptly proceed to throw on whatever is lying around, pop a piece of gum in my mouth and run out the door, all while dealing with this nosebleed. Halfway to my 8 'o clock class, I realize that I don't have the rubric I need, so I hurry like a mad woman back to my dorm, up the three flights of stairs, down the hall, around the corner, and back to my room. I grab the folder and rush back.
8:01- I get to my class, still kind dealing with a nosebleed, but it's minimal. And I'm late, but not too late. In class, I finished an assignment and worked on extra credit.
8:50- I head to the Union to acquire some food. I nosh on a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch while reviewing for my Mass Media mid-term.
9:10- I get back to my dorm room and breathe a sigh of relief. I don't have a class until 10. I put on real people clothes (and deodorant) and generally get ready for the day. I also make a list of things that must get accomplished today and a shopping list. So far: toothbrush, cookie mix, and
9:40- I slap some Nutella on a piece of bread, fill up my water bottle (I'm guessing the nosebleed stems from lack of water), and head to class.
10:00- Arrive at my Mass Media class. Take mid-term. Feel confident. Leave.
10:20- Leave Mass Media class and head to Administration building.
10:25- Talk to the HR people and set up direct deposit for my new job.
10:35- Head to Union to grab some mini muffins and start to type this post. The mini muffins were yummy!
11:00-Accelerated Comp. class. We talked about types of fallacies.
11:45- Head to the Union once again, this time for lunch. I decide on mac 'n cheese, carrots, a corn bread muffin, and milk. I sit down, eat, and then type some more on this. Also, I look at Facebook. And Pinterest.
12:10- Head back to my room to rotate my books out and get the stuff I need for my 1 'o clock class. I also check my mail. Alas, my daily dose of disappointment!
12:15-Hang out in my room looking up classical piano music. It's what I do.
12:45-Head to Stats. Woo hoo.
1:00-Stats. Anti-climatic
1:50-Head back to my room to fill out forms for my job and watch Netflix. And also eat a snack.
3:20-Head to the Union to grab a sandwich and fruit for a very early lunch. I eat it on the way to band.
3:40- Grab my bass drum and continue snarfing down my sandwich. The drum line boys offer me a ride up to the practice lot. I finish my sandwich.
4:10-Band practice. More of the same old same old. Marching, counting, getting a killer calf workout. . .
5:20-Load back up the drums in Wil's truck. Drive back to Fine Arts. Nels offers to put my drum away so I

That's Nels. I'm the one with the littlest bass drum. He's the one
with with biggest. And yes, our hats are on backwards. That's
band for ya.

can run to work.
5:25-I head to the Alumni House. I had computer training for 30 minutes before my job started. What is this job, you ask? Well, I am a "Cat Caller", which basically means that I am part of a phone-a-thon. I call alumni, update their information, and ask them for donations. Those of you who know me well know that my two least favorite things to do are calling people and asking people for money. However, after last night, I am a bit more comfortable with it. It was kinda like trial by fire, actually. Last night I made 156 phone call attempts and I'd say that 89% of those calls ended with answering machine, wrong number, busy signal, and more. But just like Russian Roulette, you never know if the next call will have a person on the other end. I got more comfortable as my 3 hour shift progressed, and I even managed to raise some money for the University! It's definitely a God thing that I got through that shift without a complete freak-out!
9:00-I head back to the Union and get my second supper; this time, Reese's Puffs and fruit. Back to my room I go!
9:10- Give Mom/Kell a call to unwind from my evening. Talk for a while. It was much needed.
9:50- Began working on finishing my Freshman Seminar paper about the differences between high school and college.
11:30-Actually finish the paper. Miranda and I were busy in between trying to untag ourselves from a post on Facebook and generally talking.about all sorts of things.
12:00-Crawl into bed. Watch some Melissa & Joey and nod off. (P.S. Melissa & Joey is hilarious!!!)

Eliza Learns a Lesson (and other news)

Don't do this.
Don't overbook yourself.

Being in the RUSH Dance Show at Northwestern is pretty cool and at times pretty fun, and it's great to do something out of my comfort zone... but it was probably not a good idea.
I'm getting a C+ in anatomy and my grades are just a little sketchy considering I need a B- average to even GET INTO the nursing program.

I won't be taking any more shifts for people at the Hub either, I don't think.  I worked five shifts this week and have been sleepy and stressed out.  At one point I broke down and bawled in front of my RUSH dance leaders.  Then I got angry for over committing myself.

As a nursing student, you aren't just keeping up good grades to impress your parents and keep your scholarships.  It's do good or go home, really.  Sometimes people don't really know what that's like.  It's okay to tell them "nope, not overbooking myself again.  Not gonna do it."

This reminds me of in VeggieTales when Bob asks Larry to play the tuba during the theme song, and Larry's like "nope, not gonna do it."  Anywayyy...

                                                (See how stressed out Larry looks?  He shouldn't be playing the tuba.)



In other news:
My super fantastically awesome girls dorm?  I don't get to live here next year.
They're turning it into a boys dorm cuz one of those is being torn down.

Out tight-knit, adorable community of only 50 girls are going to turn into dinosaurs.  We are the last of the Hospers girls.  Who knows where we'll all live next year.  Hopefully we can stick together.  I'm just thankful to have gotten to spend my freshman year here, cuz it is pretty darn utopian, let me tell you.

Good night :)