Whats up

Does anyone even read this anymore? I haven't posted since the middle of my Christmas Break!

So, I'm sure you are all wondering what i'm up to. Lets see...what has happened since I last posted.

I'm 19 now!!! YAY ME! My birthday was pretty fun, but it was on a Monday, so there really wasn't too much celebrating because as everyone knows Mondays are awful.

My class schedule isn't too bad this semester, it is more demanding than last semester because all of my classes have mandatory attendance and I have an 8am class 2 days a week and an 8:30am class 2 days a week, but I'm managing.

Rose, my roommate, goes home almost every weekend which leaves me very lonely but it does provide lots of time for me to catch up on work and to even get ahead on some work.

This weekend, for example, I have gotten loads of work done! I finished all 10 hours of my work this week on Friday instead of my normal doing it all on Saturday and Sunday. I finished and submitted my homework for my BUS 102 class which is due on Tuesday. I had to complete two informational interviews with people in a field I would be interested in and then I had to complete a one-page reflection on each of these and then submit them online.

I have almost finished my essay for my WRA class which is due on Wednesday. I have a rough draft and I have been making my way through it adding details and perfecting it. I plan to have that done tonight so I can email it to my teacher for one last look-over before I have to submit the final copy. At the moment I am working on an assignment for my HB 265 class in which I have to write a report on 4 restaurant inspection results. This assignment is due March 5th but its something that is fairly easy and the writing doesn't need to be as perfect as in my WRA class because my HB 265 teacher has English as her second language and her grammar is far from perfect. So, though it is due ages from now, I'm doing this to give me a break from my other work while I am still accomplishing things.

I have an Economics test on Tuesday which I need to study for, but I have yet to do that. I will probably start studying for that tonight and then on Sunday I will do most of that studying.

Anyways, I have been keeping very busy. I have Greek Week coming up soon. A week from today is Relay for Life!!

The good thing about college, I'm never legitimately bored. I always have things I can and should be doing.

Anyways, I just thought I would give a quick update, forgive any spelling or grammar errors, I typed this very quickly.


Procrastination...what?

2009

The year 2008 has ended and a new, even better, year has begun. So around New Years Eve I was trying to come up with some great way to bring in the New Year! And after some thinking I finally came up with the perfect idea. I'll get the flu!!! Oh wait...no...that wasn't my idea...that just happened on its own.

On New Years Eve I got the flu. I had to call off work for the next two days. I worked at South Philly Steaks and Fries for 1.5 years and then over this break and these were the first two days I ever called off. It was completely necessary too, I didn't check my temperature until I had been resting all day on Thursday, and at that point my fever was 102 degrees. So it was pretty bad. I pretty much lay in bed or on the couch without moving. Sometimes my phone would ring and i would just stare at it for several minutes before picking it up to see who had texted me.

But now, 4th day into the year, all I have is a cold. I told my family that I'm just hoping that my body decided to get all my sickness out at the beginning of the year so I don't have to bother later on. :-)


Lets have a Great Year!

Productivity

So last night I was feeling really productive and I decided to get lots of things done. I'm kind of getting into a "i'm going to school soon and thus need to get everything done" type of mood.

So I went online and found all the books I was going to need for my classes. I then went and found the cheapest site to buy them from and I bought all of my books. They will be shipped to my house around January 2nd.

I then went on the Kappa Delta magazine fundraiser site and bought the TV guide renewal for my mom and a wedding planner magazine for Rose and I. (Not because either of us are getting married, but because we are considering wedding planning as a career.) That fulfilled my requirement for the amount of money I needed to raise. I then began to fill out my application to be a SET leader in Kappa Delta, that is someone who helps to run and organize all new member activities for the incoming pledge class. I need to turn in the application by January 5th, I only have to answer 2 more questions and then I can send that in.

I sent some emails to the people in charge of different events for the Hospitality Association at MSU and in the emails I offered my time as a volunteer to each of the events. As I was sending emails I also went through and deleted a lot that were no longer necessary for me to keep. Yay for organization!

I also went and did laundry, we had a pile that was about as tall as me all of dirty laundry in the basement...so I did my part...and I still am, doing lots of laundry. In two weeks I'll be leaving and i'll need to take all my laundry with me, preferably clean.

Today I made a haircut appointment!!! YAY!!! I love getting my haircut, I'm thinking about getting lots of layers and a sweeping bang. I'm not sure though, but my haircut is at 4 so we'll see!

Today wasn't all that exciting, I took mom to work, the little girlies and I went out to lunch and then Leah and I took Steph to the orthodontist and I read New Moon while we waited.

I don't know if anyone is interested in all of this haha. But I felt good about getting so much done and I wanted to tell someone about it!


<3

Semester One Finished

Semester One of my college career is officially over. Everyone has left for Christmas Break, finals were taken, books were sold, and now the grades are in. (Though I've known my grades for a few weeks so this post is a little late in coming)

But now I will give y'all a run down.

I took 5 classes, (as you may or may not recall),

BUS 101: My business seminar that was required through the Broad Freshman Program. This class was once a week for one hour totaling one credit. My class was very easy, we mostly had speakers come in and talk to us. The class was a total of 100 points with no final.

Final Grade: 4.0

FRN 201: My second level French class, which I took for my own amusement and my love of the language :-) though now I am planning on using this as part of an international specialization, which will add one more thing to separate myself from others on my resume. This class met 4 times a week for an hour, totaling as a 4 credit class. In this class we took 5 tests, the lowest score was dropped, we had a paper, an oral presentation, and a final. Participation also counted in this class. I think that participation is the only thing that kept me from receiving a 4.0. But honestly I am barely good at English in the morning, let alone French!

Final Grade: 3.5

STT 201: My Statistics class...the only math class I will have to take in college! This class met 4 times a week for an hour and 3 of the days and 2 hours on 1 day, totaling as a 4 credit class. We took 3 exams and a final, plus we had a lab every week that we turned in for 20 points, the bottom two labs were dropped. There was no homework and there were no participation points in this class.

Final Grade: 3.5

ISS 215: Every MSU student is required to take 2 ISS classes (I think that stands for Integrated Social Studies...or something like that), a 200 level and a 300 level class. Each class is on a different topic and you don't really know what you are going to get until you get to the class and find out the professor. My class was on Human Resource Management. We met twice a week for 2 hours each, totaling as a 4 credit class. We had 3 tests and a final all multiple choice, and 1 essay. This class was graded on a curve!

Final Grade: 3.5

HB 100: My Introduction to Hospitality Business class, we met in this class once a week for 2 hours, totaling as a 2 credit class. Every week we were given a 25 question test online on the information taught in class. The powerpoint for the class was posted online and it had all the answers so it was really easy to look at that while taking the test. But there was a 15 min time limit so you had to sorta know the information. The lowest score was dropped, totaling 700 points and then there was a 300 point final.

Final Grade: 4.0

So in the end I had 15 credits and a GPA of 3.6

Live + Laugh + Love= College

Coffee

Many of you, I am sure, have been watching my 2008 coffee count grow and grow...up until October...

May I assure you that the abrupt stop in the count has nothing to do with my lack of drinking coffee...quite the contrary actually. I have gone to get coffee 2-3 times a week since sometime at the end of October and I completely lost count. Thus my count ended. I have decided that I will take an average of the months that I know are accurate (the precollege months) and then in 2009 I will begin a new count, I am hoping that I will be more accurate from now on. Then I can compare the amount of coffee i drank precollege and during college.

My average cups of coffee per month, (precollege) is: 9.125

My most popular drinks in 2008 were the caramel macchiato and the white chocolate mocha I had 17 of each drink out of 73 total drinks in the 8 months.

It may seem as if I am addicted...and that may be. But since I have been home for Christmas break I have majorly cut down on my coffee intake from when I'm at college.

I think my main reasons for drinking coffee are (in this order), it is something fun to do with friends, its yummy, and it is a good source of caffeine.


Coffee=Happy=Love

Governmental Holiday Issues

I should probably be spending my time studying for finals, but instead I’m writing this blog on an issue that I just saw on the news at dinner.

This past Monday the Capitol Building was decorated for the Holiday Season. For the past 20 years a 25 foot tall spruce tree has been set up, formally called the “Capitol Holiday Kids Tree”, which is sponsored by the Association of Washington Business. In 2006 a Jewish group sponsored a “Capitol Menorah” as a symbol of Hanukkah. In 2007 a “Capitol Nativity Scene” was proposed by a local real estate agent, Ron Wesselius. Wesselius was turned down with the excuse of “they didn’t have enough time to wade through issues of government religious endorsement”. Wesselius sued, and won his case. In 2007, and now again in 2008, a “Capitol Nativity Scene” is on display. (The Menorah was not displayed this year.)

This Monday three displays were installed; the “Capitol Holiday Kids Tree”, the “Capitol Nativity Scene”, and a new display sponsored by the Freedom From Religion Foundation. The display is a placard that reads “At this season of the Winter Solstice may reason prevail. There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

Now, of course, issues ensue.

I pride myself on being a Christian. I will defend my religion to the death. However, I also pride myself on being an open-minded, loving person. I think that it is important to share my views on this issue, but I want to do it justice and make sure that it is very clear where I stand.
First, I would like to point out that a ‘Christmas Tree’ is not necessarily a Christian symbol. True, the Christmas holiday includes the tradition of a decorated tree surrounded by presents. However, the true meaning of Christmas has nothing to do with a tree. Christmas, from a Christian perspective, is about the birth of Jesus Christ. Santa Claus, Christmas Trees, and things of that nature can only be tied to Christianity, through the secular part of the Christmas Holiday celebration.

Second, if a Menorah, a clearly Jewish symbol, was displayed I’m not sure why a lawsuit was necessary to ensure that a Nativity Scene, a clearly Christian symbol, should also be displayed. However, the Nativity Scene is displayed so that is not the issue.

The 1st Amendment in the United States Constitution reads as follows “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

We live in a country that offers us a wonderful thing, Freedom of Religion. The thing people fail to recognize is that along with the Freedom to have whichever religion you may choose, this also means that anyone may choose not to have a religion, aka Atheism. If Christians are allowed their symbol to be displayed during this Holiday season, it is fitting that any other religious group should have the same privilege.

At the same time, I can understand how Christians, or any other religious group would be upset by this sign. After all, “Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds” is a very big put down to all religions. The Nativity Scene and the Menorah, for example, do not put down other religions, they merely show support for their own beliefs. So here is the issue. Atheism, as defined by Dictionary.com, is the doctrine or belief that there is no God. Basically, Atheism is the disbelief of any religion. Whether or not this sign was meant as a jab at religion, as many people may believe it is, they are merely stating their beliefs.

Now, for my view on the matter. I find it unfortunate that the Freedom From Religion Foundation could find no other way to display their beliefs, for example a symbol that would not blatantly stab at other religions. However, I believe that legally they have the right. Since I greatly value the rights that I have been given, the same rights that allow the Nativity Scene to be displayed at the Capitol Building, I do not believe it would be fair to strip these rights from another group simply because they oppose my beliefs.

Now for my last point, I find the most offensive thing on the Freedom From Religion Foundations’ sign to be that religion “hardens hearts and enslaves minds.” I cannot speak for any other religion than my own, but I know that Christians are taught to love one another. We are taught the importance of treating your neighbor as you wish to be treated and loving one another no matter the circumstance. Call me a romantic, but I think that love is always the answer. I resent that they believe that religion hardens hearts. As for enslaving minds I think this article that I have written should give some proof that my mind is not enslaved. I choose to believe in God, no one is forcing me to. I have made that choice as I make millions of other choices daily. No one has enslaved me.


wishing we could all just get along

Finals

So...it has been forever since I last posted...sorry.

This week is finals week. I just took my first final, I have one tomorrow (Tuesday) and two on Wednesday. The one I took today was for my ISS class. Every MSU student is required to take two ISS classes, a 200 level and a 300 level. They are semipointless classes that everyone dislikes. My class isn't too bad in general, the topic is Human Resource Management. However, it is a rather difficult class. Fortunately my professor realized that he makes it difficult so he takes our final grade and curves it. I think that at the moment, though I'm not positive because not everything has been graded...I believe I have a 2.5 or a 3.0 that should be curved at least .5 up from whichever it is.

Tomorrow at 10am I take my French final. I'm not too worried about it, at the moment I have either a 3.5 or a 4.0 in the class and I think that I will do well on the final, I will definitely be studying hard tonight to be sure I am fully prepared.

Wednesday at 10am I have my Intro to Hospitality Business final, which I expect to 4.0 so I'm not concerned, and then at 3pm I have my Statistics final, I hope to do well on that, I think I should. I expect a 3.5 in the class, so we'll see!

After my finals are over my dad is driving me home to good ol' PA! I'm excited!
I came home for Thanksgiving of course, and that was nice, but it was almost a tease going home for such a short time. I'm excited to live at home and see my family and all that funness. I'm also going to miss all my college friends while I'm gone though!

Rose (my college bff) and I had bought cards at Barnes and Noble and we wrote christmas cards to a bunch of the girls in our hall and a few other special people! I'll miss seeing them all month, but i'm really excited to see all my highschool friends, and to see my highschool. I plan on dropping in and saying hi to a few favorite teachers.

Anyways, I realized that I hadn't posted in a really long time so I thought I would tell all this now before I start studying again!


Each Day is a Petal from my Enchanted Rose

I love my job!

Now honestly how often do you hear people say that?

But right now I truly do love my job.

I know that I mentioned that I had gotten this job but I don't remember how much I said about it, so forgive me if this is repeat info.

I am working with a professor in the Hospitality school, Bonnie Knutson, who is doing research. I am her research assistant. I met with her at the beginning of the year and we talked about my interest in meeting and event planning. She decided to start me off working on a project called "Michigan Meetings" the goal is to determine why people are not holding meeting and conventions in Michigan, to determine how to attract people from in-state and out-of-state to hold meetings in Michigan. Bonnie is working on this project with another professor Jeff Beck. So they had me create a customer satisfaction profile to determine how to best measure customer satisfaction.

I began my work by meeting with a librarian who told me the best resources to use for my type of research and then I began reading a million articles on customer satisfaction and the new theory of customer delight, which is that customers who are satisfied are less likely to be loyal to a business than customers who are delighted by their experience. Thus it is best to measure customer delight to obtain customer loyalty.

So, on Wednesday I felt like I had done as much research on that topic as i could without making me pullout my hair... so I scheduled this meeting and Bonnie and Jeff and I decided we could all meet at Starbucks at 11 on Wednesday. So it was Monday and I was determining the best way to show all the information I had compiled. So...I made a PowerPoint. The PowerPoint was not very long, but it showed the most important parts of my research.

I got to Starbucks a bit early so I set up my computer and opened up my PowerPoint. Bonnie got there next and we chatted for a few minutes. Then we decided that we would go through the presentation twice. Once just for Bonnie and then i would do it again once Jeff arrived. I went through the PowerPoint feeling a bit nervous, I wasn't sure if what I came up with was good enough. Bonnie asked me a few questions throughout my PowerPoint all of which I could answer. She was thrilled. She told me that the work I had done was so much of a help and that it saved them so much time, and Jeff would be thrilled. Then Jeff came in, as if on cue and so he got a drink and then I went over my PowerPoint again.

They were so interested in my ideas and all that i had found out. Jeff said that he had had 'Broad Scholar Students' (that is the organization that I am in that has freshman and sophomore research assistants) before, but they had never done as much work the whole year as I had accomplished so far.

I was thrilled. I could not stop smiling. I had been apprehensive about my work, and I was told that it was exemplary. We discussed where we could go next with my work, what the next step would be. After discussing that Bonnie turned to Jeff and said "I think I found your new teaching assistant". Jeff teaches the Meeting and Event Planning class. It would be amazing to be his T.A. so I've arranged my schedule so I can enter the Hospitality school after my first semester of my sophomore year. That way I could take that class during spring of my sophomore year...and by doing that I can be a potential T.A. my junior year.

Bonnie and Jeff both said I'm not allowed to graduate because they love my research so I think that I'm pretty much going to be granted the T.A. position as long as I do well in the class and continue doing good research.

I was thrilled about this. So Wednesday was pretty much the greatest day ever, because I had coffee so I was wide awake and I had that meeting. I love my life sometimes.

"Don't think that I'm naive
Because even a person who's smart
Can listen to their heart"

Kappa Delta

So I should have posted this a while ago but hey, I'm in college now, I'm busy. So I went through sorority rush this fall...which in case you wanted to know is a semi-stressful, but very worthwhile process. And after attending many parties and dressing up and talking to lots of girls for hours on end. I have been accepted in Kappa Delta sorority.

For those of you who do not know Kappa Delta is the sorority that my mother was in as well as my one aunt. I was extremely happy to be accepted. Though I am not fully initiated yet. There is a several week long period during which we learn about the history of the sorority and attend meetings and rituals before we are fully initiated and can truly call ourselves KΔ's until then we are just KD's.

So I'm going through the very fun process of meeting the other Kappa Delta's and joining in with them. I LOVE it! I am going to have so much fun next year living in the Kappa Delta house.

So two really big things are coming up in sorority life. This Thursday is our Big Sis reveal. Every new girl is given an older girl as their big sister, and we become their little sister. They shower us with gifts that all say KΔ on them and we hang out with them lots and we become part of their family. So you then not only have a big sis but her big sis becomes your grand big...and then great grand big...and so on. It is a very exciting time!

Then on November 9th we will be initiated into the sorority!!

YAY!!!

"Because even a person who's smartCan listen to their heartCan listen and believeSo believe in what love can achieve"

Single

Jaime and I are no longer together...that is long story short. I refuse to tell the whole long hurtful story. A lot of people here at MSU know the story and I can't bring myself to tell it anymore. I'm glad it is almost the weekend because I am in great need of time to think. To think, to reflect, to cry.

He was such a good boyfriend. We really did love each other. Something went wrong though.

I need time.

Can a broken heart be repairedxoxo

Rainy Day

Ick, all day today has been a rainy awful day. It has been completely disgusting outside. I do enjoy that the weather is getting cooler. Normally the cold weather makes me sad because I love wearing my summer clothes. This year however, the cool air has been a gift, whoever thought dorms without airconditioning was a good idea must have been murdered long ago...though no one has resolved this flaw in college dorm life. Some dorms on campus have A/C. Unfortunately those are the ones that are so far from everything else so no one wants to live in them.

Campus is huge. It is good for getting exercise, but when it is rainy and you really want a cup of coffee its frustrating. No one wants to go out in the pouring rain if they can help it. It isn't that I need to go anywhere now...but I did want to go to Starbucks and review some articles for work. I guess I will have to suck up and read them in my room.

Unfortunately it is supposed to continue downpour tomorrow. Tomorrow is Saturday! Saturday = FOOTBALL!

I have never really been a football fan. I mean I've always wanted my team to win, but it didn't really matter too much. In high school I think I went to 3 games, but that might be a stretch. I went to the first home game at MSU last weekend and I LOVED IT!

I had sooo much fun!!!! The game was set to start at noon but they let people in at around 10. My friends and I got there right when they started admitting people in and so we were in the 7th row of the student section. As soon as things started happening on the field we all stood up on the bleechers to see, that got tiresome after a while but it didn't get boring because we had lots of cheers to do. Everytime we got a first down we would put one finger in the air and say "1, 2, 3 *clap* first down bitch!" and we would make the sign for a first down. That was one of my favorites but we also did a bunch of other dance/cheers. I actually understood what was going on, and more importantly WE WON! MSU BEAT EMU! Now the reason I brought this up is because tomorrow there is another game, and it is going to be raining. I really don't think I want to be outside, standing on bleechers, in the rain for several hours...plus Rose and some of the other people I went with last week will be out of town.

So I don't know if I'll be at the game tomorrow. I would like to go, but not in the rain. I might sit in my dorm, watch it on TV and work on homework lol.

I had my first test today, it was in French and I'm pretty sure I did very well. It is not a difficult class. I'm sure it will get harder but where I am right now I mostly know it all. Though I suppose we shall see when I get my test back.



Loving Everyone Always Forever

Weekend Fun

So, I told you all about my classes, but I don't want anyone to think that it is all work and no play here. College is definitely fun. I've made a lot of friends, I told you about my roommate Courtney, but I don't think I mentioned anyone else. One person, whom I have become very good friends with is Rose. First of all I LOVE her name. Roses are beautiful and wonderful and so it is such a good name. Rose's room is two doors down from mine. She has a boyfriend named Justin. Rose and i have a lot of fun together, we are both similar in many ways. We often say the same things and when we talk about our boyfriends or things like that we are always saying "oh yeah thats the same thing with me". Justin and Jaime would probably get along very well, so that could be good.

After class last Friday Rose and I decided to go get our nails done. I had never gotten my nails done before so I thought it would be a fun thing. We went to the mall and both got acrylic french white tips. I think they look really nice.

After we got our nails done we went out to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. Rose is a vegetarian but she loves BWW, they have vegetarian things that she gets. After dinner we went to see a free movie on campus. We saw the movie Baby Mama. The movie was hilarious and we loved it. It was a happy ending type of movie, but in an odd and somewhat unexpected way. We laugh all the time now about things that happened in the movie. There were a lot of children there though...which wasn't the greatest. It is NOT a childrens movie. I don't know what the rating was, but it isn't a movie for little kids.

Every night we hang out pretty much. I haven't had too much homework yet so that hasn't been a problem.

Its been really hard not having Jaime here. I miss him so much. We try to talk a lot throughout the day, but it isn't enough sometimes. I love him.

I have to go to class now, but I'm sure I'll write more later. As always I urge everyone to get my address from my mom and then write to me!

Loving Everyone Always Forever

College Life

So...I feel bad because I haven't really kept anyone up-to-date on college life.

I must say I love it!

I've made so many friends with the people in my hall and with people in my classes.

My roommate is so much fun. Her name is Courtney and we have gotten along so well. We haven't had any arguments or anything yet. I think that we'll be great the whole year. We talk a whole lot in the morning and at night.

My classes aren't too bad. I have 5 classes. I'll go through and tell about each one:

French: I have this 4 days a week and its in the morning. I'm never thrilled to go to this class because its so often and it is my earliest class, but once I'm there i like it. I took french throughout high school so this isn't too difficult. It was mostly review at the beginning and now we're beginning to learn things that are new to me.

Intro to Hospitality Business: I only have this once a week and that is a shame because it is my favorite class (which is good because its an intro to my major). The professor is really cool and the way the class works is he gives us notes and stuff in class, and we have guest speakers, and after every class we have we have an exam that is put online. We just have to take it during the week before the next class. We can use all our notes, and he puts the powerpoints online and then we can use our book obviously too. We are giving 25 multiple choice questions to answer and 15 minutes to answer them. On the past two I've gotten 50/50 points. I love it.

Statistics: Soooo boring. I have this class 4 times a week. 3 days it is a 50 minute lecture. We learn things like what a pie chart is and how to find the average of a group of numbers...and then the other class is 1 hour and 50 minutes and that class is in a computer lab. We are given an assignment that specifically tells us what to do on this statistical software and then from the charts we make we answer simple questions and then we go to a website and post our answers on the site and that is our only homework assignment of the week. I finished the only one we've had so far in 40 minutes. At least the lab is airconditioned because the lecture hall is not. But I do have a friend in this class so that makes it bearable. Her name is Emily, and we met in the class.

Business Seminar: This is my 'freshman seminar' class that i take with the rest of the Broad Freshman Students (Though we are in small groups, not all 101 of us in 1 group). This class only meets once a week and it is a pretty useful class. We have a lot of guest speakers and business' that come and visit to talk to us. It will be a helpful, interesting, easy class.

ISS: This is a class on Human Resource Management and Labor. It is a class I don't really want to take but I need a 200 level ISS class so I'm taking it and hopefully it will be easy...or at least not too hard.

Now the reason I'm even in the ISS class is because I couldn't stand my writing class anymore so I had to drop it. My writing class was called WRA195H. It was an honors class and the topic was "Major Topics of American Thought". Well...what they mean by 'topics' is that your teacher decides what he/she would like to teach about and that is the topic. My teacher chose 'Race'. More specifically she chose to inform us on how 'race is not biological, it is a concept that we as a society have come up with over the last 500 years'. I heard this and was slightly dismayed. Because honestly I feel that as long as people do not discriminate against different races it doesn't matter how we came up with that term. So after the first class I was frustrated with that, and that I had bought the wrong book, and that my teacher seemed crazy. Someone recommended looking her up on a teacher rating site. So I looked her up and out of 5 points she received a .77 her highest rating was a 2 and most rated her as a 0. I completely agreed with all the comments left.

During my second class we opened a debate on the topic. It was absurd because we would voice our opinions on why it is biological and she would say something along the lines of "I can see how you would think that now, but by the end of this class you'll realize that that is wrong and that it really isn't biological" or "that is a good question but I really don't have time to explain that now, but you'll see by the end of this class that I'm right." I was completely fed up with ehr belittling manner. So I raised my hand and when called upon said "The thing I don't understand about this is, as long as no one is discriminated against then why does it matter" and she was like "well...it matters" and I said "Why, who cares that there are different races" and she piped of "well all the people being discriminated against" and I said "but you said earlier that this class is not about racism, and I said that assuming there is no discrimination then who cares" and she replied "oh believe me people care". She reminded me of a cross between Professor Umbridge and Professor Trelawney.

Anyways, I left that class fuming, feeling sick to my stomach, wanting to yell at everyone, and in great need of coffee to calm myself. So, I dropped the class.

Another thing, the first week of school I started to receive the NY Times. I had no idea why my roommate and I were receiving the newspaper so I went to the front desk and asked. I was shown a list of 4 other people, and myself the list didn't explain why I was on the list however. So when i went to my first day of my writing class the teacher asked who all had been receiving the NY Times. I felt relieved that I at least knew why I was getting it...but I was the only person to raise my hand. So somehow something got messed up and now the only person who was receiving the NY Times has dropped the class...and I am still receiving the NY Times. I don't really have time to read them though, so they sit in my room until I have time to run down and recycle them. So, yeah thats that.

I really have so much more to tell but I'm going to cut this story here because I really do have homework to do.

PS. I like getting mail...I even enjoy going to the mailbox to get the NY Times even though I don't read it. So ask my parents for my address and send me a letter or something. I even bought stamps so I can send mail back!

Loving Everyone Always Forever

College

I'm at MSU now. I'd like to give you a long update about how it is, but I can't...because I'm not sure how things are going. I like college every now and then. But then there are times when I'm petrified. I suppose that's normal.

I was talking to Jaime about how I was worried and felt lonely. No one has been in my room for a few hours with me. Jaime said that it shouldn't be bad because he and I were still talking a lot, and that's true. And he said the only thing that is really different is that I don't have my mom to talk to. I started crying. I became glad at that moment I was the only one in the room. I don't want to cry in front of people yet.

Jaime was so right, I miss my mom a lot. Because I never realized how much I love coming home after a date or work and talking to her about her job and tennis and my job and everything else. I would have called her. But it was after midnight when that conversation occurred. I've found that as long as I don't talk to people about missing my family I'm ok. But as soon as it is mentioned I cry a bit.

I'm sure that will get better. I've only been her two days.

If anyone wants to send me mail you can get my address from my parents.
My email address is smit1300@msu.edu


Loving and Missing You All Dearly

BAM

It hit me the other day, hard.

Oh my gosh...I'm going to college

I'm going to college 6 hours away

All my friends are going to be scattered around the country

I will most likely not see any of them until Christmas.

I will be far away from my family too.

6 hours isn't too much, but it is enough to keep me from seeing them often.

I'll get new friends. And so will my current friends

But will I be able to maintain my friendships I currently hold (I hope so!)

I'm away on vacation leaving myself a day and a half to prepare to move in to college.

1 and a half days to pack up the car, say goodbye to everyone I love, and leave until Thanksgiving.

It just hit me the other day that I am seriously going to miss people. I began a list in my head of people who I am friends with, that I hadn't thought about missing until now. And now I really wish I had loads more time with them.

I also thought of people I had been wonderful friends with, and then, now I have lost contact with, it is crazy.

I'm also thinking of Jaime, I'm going to miss seeing him as much as I like, and I'm going to miss not talking to him as much too. I know we can stay together through this, though many others doubt it. But it is sinking in how hard this is going to be.

I certainly don't regret attending Michigan State, even though it is much farther than Penn State. I have so many more opportunities at Michigan State. Things have been going great there already and school hasn't even started yet.

I plan to keep this blog running as frequently as I can. I don't know how many people even read it anymore, or how many people will care what is going on. But somehow I feel a kind of connection, this ties together the life I'm leaving behind and the life I'm about to enter. I'm hoping that this tie, among others will keep me centered in both the old and the new.

Loving Everyone Always Forever

Tums

So, There are these things called Tums...and I love them.

As you've probably read in my blog I want to France, and in France they eat bread...all the time...lots. Along with lots of pastries, cheese, and other wheat and yeast filled products that I am allergic to. But thanks to Tums I can now eat these with no problem. Providing I want to take 3 or 4 Tums tablets before or during each meal in which I eat one of the many things I'm allergic to.

Many of you should have seen the long list of things that I can no longer eat without extreme pain.

I still do not eat these things frequently but if I would like to I can have Tums and no longer have the pain that comes with the eating of wheat/yeast/vinegary things


Loving Everyone Always Forever

France

I love France. I've decided that.

I just spent about 9 days in France and it was absolutely fabulous. We had a group of 18 people:

Me, Alyssa, Emily, Jenna, Sara, Kelsey, Eliza, Lisa, Debbie, Marcus, Eric, Jake, Connie, Mrs. Baker, Mrs. Dominick, Mrs. Kondrot,Madame McCoy, and Jean-Christophe...our tour guide.

We started off in Paris where we visited the Louvre, which is huge. Yes we did see the Mona Lisa and it was just as impressive as anyone else who has been there would say. We were a bit very much jet-lagged having not slept for quite some time at this point though. WE saw the Arc de Triumph, and many other parts of Paris the first night. The second night we went to the second level of the Eiffel Tower, we couldn't go to the top because it was closed but the view was spectacular.

Now I'm going to get the rest of this mixed up because I don't remember the exact order we did everything so I'm just going to list all the things that I loved. I LOVED the Loire Valley. That is the area that has all the Castles, Château de Chenonceau was my favorite (I'll show pictures later). We went to a wine tasting that was fun, this trip was the first time I'd ever had any drop of alcohol, so it was cool trying all the wines, I liked them all haha. After the wine tasting we went into this restaurant that was a cave and so that was fun. It is apparently a thing only rich people can do, live in a cave. Then we had a dance party in the cave.

We went to Nice at the end of the trip, Nice is gorgeous. Though, to get a good view you have to climb very high, I was very proud of myself for keeping up with everyone though, I made it to the top of everywhere we went.

We visited one of France's famous Parfumeries...Perfume Factory...We had a tour guide show us around the factory and then we sampled many different fragrances. I bought one for myself. I smell pretty now haha. I also bought some soaps that smelled very nice.

Now the trip was not flawless, I should mention the two downsides of the trip. One would be...pickpockets. There are a few in France, as there are everywhere and they tend to target touristy looking people. Debbie was pickpocketed...her passport and money were taken from her backpack. This was devastating. Madame, Mrs. Kondrot, and Debbie visited the U.S. Embassy to get her a new passport. That story ended happily.

The worst part of the trip was the way home, no one wants to go home. Our plane was supposed to go from Nice to Frankfurt, stop for a 4 hour layover then Frankfurt to Newark, stop for a 3 hour layover, then Newark to Pittsburgh.

We went Nice to Frankfurt, 7 hour layover because the workers went on strike, then we got to Newark and we had missed our flight to Pittsburgh, it was the only one until the next morning. We were all tired and wanted to be home, there were some tears shed and hugs exchanged as we called home with the sour news. We went to a local hotel for the night, we woke at 4 in the morning for a flight at 6:30, when we got through security and to our gate we were told that our plane was having maintenance problems and that we would not be able to leave until it was fixed. That was more than frustrating. After an hour or so we went upstairs to the USAir counter and talked to someone who was going to get us onto a flight with another company, they booked us and we went over to turn in our luggage and they told us we weren't on the flight, the adults tried to figure this out and we sulked...while trying to remain happy.

In the end they said OK, we are on the flight, they took the first persons ticket, took one look at it and said this was distributed by Lufthansa (the German company). They wouldn't take it, we were feeling thoroughly hopeless at this point. We went back to the USAir counter and they sent us to the plane that was still being fixed. Eventually we got on this plane and the 16 of us went home. We arrived there around 2 or 3, and all of us exhausted we went home.

At least that happened at the end of the trip and not the beginning.

Anyways, I loved the trip it was wonderful and photos will be posted soon.


~Love Because You Are Loved~

So...France

I'm back everyone!

For those of you that did not know (shame on you for not reading the million posts on it) I just got back from France. I know you are all looking forward to all the details of my absolutely fabulous trip, but it will have to wait a bit, not that I'm not excited to share all about it with you...but I'm busy having a good relaxing summer...

And of course I'm busy preparing for MSU. I also believe I have to tell you about my orientation, Fear NOT! I will share all these details with you possibly tonight...or perhaps tomorrow, we shall see

~~~~~

to the world she is ordinary in truth she is extraordinary

London

I do really need to write about my graduation party but at the moment I haven't really the time. I have noticed, however, that someone from London visits my blog a lot. They visit frequently enough that I know that it can't just be mere happenstance. I'm really beginning to wonder who this person...or these people are. I highly doubt anyone would come forward to tell me that they are the ones from London and all that, but I am awfully curious. Anyways thats my little notice of the moment that I thought I would share.

Loving Everyone Always Forever

Prom

So Prom was on Friday!

It was a lot of fun. The day started pretty well. We got out of school at ten so we could prepare. I went out to lunch with some friends which was awesome. I did a lot of hair and makeup preparation on my own.

Because Jaime couldn't go to Prom with me I went with one of my friends who happens to be a junior so she wouldnt have been able to go otherwise. Her name is Blair Koch. Our group consisted of...the two of us...Libby and Trae, Jay and Andrea, and Vickie. At Prom dinner we also sat with Haley, Courtney, and Marissa. That may or may not be the proper spelling of their names.

It was fun when we first arrived because we put our stuff down in the seats we had been assigned and then went off to talk to people. I was rather peeved though when I came back and realized that my stuff had been moved to the complete opposite side of the table. The original arrangement had been (starting with me and then going to my right) Me, Libby, Trae, Andrea, Jay, Haley, Courtney, Marissa, Vickie, Blair. Then of course after Blair was me because we were in a circle. When I got back Andrea had moved us all around...without asking...and refusing to move back...so we now sat...(starting with me again) Me, Haley, Courtney, Marissa, Vickie, Blair, Andrea, Jay, Trae, Libby. Then me next to Libby as well. Now I realize that it isn't really as if Blair and I are dating but she was there with me. So I think that it was completely unreasonable to rearrange the seats so that I didn't actually get to talk to Blair at all at dinner...I was a little more than slightly peeved.

Then after dinner and watching the prom video Blair and Andrea ran off who knows where and I didn't see them for several hours. I did have a lot of fun though, I only danced a little but when I danced it was loads of fun.

I had my handwriting analyzed and though I don't think she really got most of the things she said from my handwriting it was still fairly accurate I would like to think. She started by saying that I was a strong-willed determined person, as well as a bit of a perfectionist. She said that I don't like others telling me what to do. I thought that part was pretty accurate. She said that I was nice, and intelligent, a very sweet person overall. She said that I like to surround myself with people but that I keep some things to myself. She said that she believes I will be very successful though when she was guessing my future occupation she was looking more towards Lawyer and I don't plan on being a lawyer. She said that she thinks I feel unsure about the future...(though really...who doesn't). She also noted a few other things which slip my mind at the moment.

The one big downfall of the night was that this one girl...who has never been very nice to me, who is generally mean to pretty much everyone, who very few people like...was wearing the same dress as me. I didn't ever think myself the type to be peeved by something like that. I suppose it was just that this girl has been mean to me in the past and so I didn't like that. Though I was told I looked better in the dress haha.

Despite the fact that this blog is semi-negative sounding I really did have a good time. It wasn't to die for amazing but it was fun. I also loved that I got to see a lot of my friends dressed up and I talked to a lot of people that I don't normally have the chance to talk to.

Love Because You Have Been Loved