Wasted Weekend

Do you ever feel like your entire weekend was wasted?

I'm not suggesting that you spent the entire weekend getting wasted and that come Monday morning, you will be so hungover that you won't even leave bed until Wednesday afternoon. Hey, drinking, that's against the SAU concept!

Seriously now, have you ever felt like you did nothing all weekend even though you planned on doing so much stuff?

I feel that way right now. This was the first weekend where I wasn't really traveling anywhere for the entire weekend, so I planned on getting a ton of reading and stuff done for classes.

Yeah, uh, that didn't happen.

Friday, I just wanted a break from everything, so I didn't do any homework and just went home. Saturday, I came back to school and planned on getting stuff done, but that really didn't happen. I read a little bit for Shakespeare and Core, but it wasn't much.

Was it really a wasted weekend though if I was doing stuff other than what I had planned to do?

It sure wasn't spontaneous, let me tell you that much.

I did get some homework done today, but I think this weekend was an academically wasted weekend.

Let's see, what did I do this weekend?

I scared Abby a ton and just hung out with her. I surfed the web and blogged (haha, that's a really funny story). I hung out with Abby and Bethany. We got really loopy last night. I played cards with some friends. We went to church today and brunch was interesting. I swear I can't take Bethany anywhere because she always acts so weird and obnoxious, but I still hate (completely LOVE) her. This afternoon, I went shoe shopping with Abby and got some really cute shoes.

Other than that, I haven't really done anything fun. Like I said, I did get some stuff homework-wise done. But we haven't done anything too exciting tonight.

The night is not over yet, but I have a strange feeling that Shelby is asleep again or close to going back to bed. She slept for nearly 3 hours tonight and then got up to get some food, but didn't want to wait in line, so we went back and I think she might be doing homework. That or she might be stalking my blog. That wouldn't surprise me either. But what do I know?

I don't think we're going to do anything very entertaining the rest of the evening. I think I should probably get some more reading done for my Core class...or maybe I'll blog some more. What to do. What to do.

Ok, so maybe it wasn't such a wasted weekend because I did do stuff and I'm blogging. That's a plus right? Yeah. Maybe next weekend I'll actually get something done. But probably not.

Traveling Daze

Once again I find myself sitting in the same exact seat as the previous weekend trip to Canada except I'm in a different van and I went west instead of east. At least the roads are decent, so I can write nicely and actually know what I'm writing (because this is another play by play of my trip that is being turned into a blog at this very moment).

I really didn't want to sit where I am sitting because I have nothing to lean on without falling off the seat. At least I'm not with complete strangers this time. But if I really wanted a comfy seat for napping, I feel like I'd have to sit by the window. Oh well. At least I can stretch my legs out.

Currently we're on our way back to SAU. We're in Michigan, but still about two hours away from school. The ipods are out, and everyone is basically asleep.

Can I go on a rant about that real quick?

It's my blog, so I really shouldn't have to ask. If you don't want to read about it or listen to it, then skip over it. It's really not that hard to do, but at least give me the chance to let out my frustration over this stupid thing.

My professor told us that in the vans she expected us to either be sleeping or talking to one another. That means no texting and no ipods. Ok, so two things about this, 1. My professor isn't hardcore, crazy strict. She's actually really fun, but she wanted us to be communicating with everyone and getting to know people. 2. I'm not in my professor's van. So naturally we can get away with things. Why am I included in that "we?" I really shouldn't be considering the fact that I'm only guilty of a few texts here and there. I didn't bring my ipod because I figured I could keep myself entertained. Apparently I didn't get the memo because almost everyone in this van right now is on an ipod. Dumb you guys, really dumb. I associate this trip being in some ways like Cedar Bend. You do not need your ipod and you certainly don't need to get on Facebook. You're not going to die. Frankly I didn't need my cellphone either. I think of my cellphone as being used for mostly emergencies and as my clock. The whole ipod thing kinda annoys me. To me (and I probably am guilty of it at times too (except today!)), it's almosst as rude as eating inn front of someone who doesn't have food at say a restaurant (it's polite, you know to wait until everyone at your table has their food). It's like, "Hey, look at me! I have an ipod and you don't!" It's rude really. I kinda wanted to check Facebook this weekend on someone's ipod, but I didn't ask just figuring no one would let me (and I really don't want what I just said to start an explosion of arguments or something because really that wasn't my intent). But hey, that's just an assumption. Now I could probably go on and on about how rude and selfish ipods are (mind you, I do have one too), but I think this rant has been long enough.

I think I need a nap.

Oh hello Spring Arbor University. No, I'm not really particularly excited to be back at school.

So what did happen this weekend?

So you know, I just realized something. I don't know if I'm actually allowed to say what happened this weekend because what happens in Chicago stays in Chicago. Please? Please tell us? I don't know if I'm actually allowed to. Actually I think I might blow up if I don't say anything. This is the best way for me to let it all out.

Where to start? At the beginning? In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...that's not what I meant. But I do have a question that I just realized. In the beginning, did God create Hell too? I don't think the Bible specifies that. I'm seriously just wondering.

Ok, so I had to get up at the butt crack of dawn (I know such a lovely phrase and I totally stole it from Shelby) on Friday. I also got about 4 hours of sleep Thursday night. Oh lovely. And you know why? I could have gone to bed. I really could have. But then two people who will remain nameless decided that they were going to watch The Backup Plan (GOAT NOISES!) at 1:30 in the morning and decided to make me stay up with them. Needless to say, I went to bed at two and got up at six. It was painful. I didn't get my sleep deprivation headache though, so that's good.

I tried sleeping in the van, but that was a major fail, so we played games instead. Let's just say that I fail at singing songs like Ke$ha's Your Love Is My Drug. Is it really my fault that to me it doesn't sound like she's singing "your love" three times? It totally does not sound like that to me. Jump in my shoes for a second and listen to it from my ears. It really does sound like "because yes, your love, your love is my drug." It doesn't sound like the other way. I'm so disappointed in myself, so annoyed, and completely humiliated (even though I probably shouldn't be). And how did I learn this? We played this game in the van where we turn up the volume of an ipod and sing whatever song it is playing, but we have to know the lyrics pretty well. I don't think I will be playing that game again anytime soon.

When we got to Chicago, we went straight to a Hispanic neighborhood to talk to a pastor. It was really boring...well, ok, it was interesting to a point, but I was falling asleep due to my lack of sleep. The pastor talked about how his church is on the border of many different gangs. That kinda freaked me out. Is it dangerous for us visitors to walk down the streets then? No, we're actually probably the safest. They do have street fights that the church people go out and get involved in. I guess the philosophy is, would you rather be scared to death praying for an answer or out there trying to help out the situation? I don't know. It was kinda weird. In the basement, they had a boxing ring where they actually teach kids to box and fight. Surprisingly enough the kids don't want to fight and do gang stuff when being taught because they could get kicked out of the program for fighting out in the streets. The pastor also meets with the gang leaders altogether from time to time and they're all cool with each other. Who would have thought? That is just so cool.

Next we went to get lunch. We had Chicago style pizza, which I'm really not a fan of I've learned. I don't like the fact that they put the sauce above the cheese. It's just not right to me. Of course, I do hail from the cheese over the sauce land, so I'm not judging. It was just different and not what I'm used to. But you know different is good at times because it's good to try new things from time to time.

After lunch, we toured yet another church where we actually went to today. That put me to sleep. Actually I think everyone was falling asleep.

So then we rode the El to the hostel where we stayed. It was actually a very nice hostel. I heard some people talking about how their parents said to watch out in some hostels. This one was for international students and such. There were 8 girls in one room and another 8 in a different room. The guys all stayed together. The guy to girl ratio in this class is just not good. Haha, but the guys we do have are pretty cool. The beds were really comfy.

We had three people from other cores join our group because they can't go with their own group, and I'm sad that they aren't in our core anymore because they are such cool people.

Friday night, we went to dinner at a place I can't remember the name of yet they had a really good chocolate cake shake, which was chocolate cake blended in with a milkshake. So good!

As we were walking to the subway, a bunch of cyclists passed us yelling, "Happy Friday!" to us. It was really cool. I think we should do that in Spring Arbor. That would be pretty epic (NOT!) because we'd have like 10 people doing it. Friday night was my first experience with a subway and the El train too.

The play we saw was good. It was called the Invasion of Skokie. It was about Neo-Nazis coming to Skokie, Illinois in 1978. I liked it, but it really didn't have much of a conclusion. We got to meet the actors and actresses as well as the writer of the play after the play, which was really neat.

Then we took the subway back to the hostel. I saw a mouse down there on the tracks, but no giant rats, which is I guess what I had expected to see.

Is it just me, or do I say "then" and "after" a lot? Maybe I'm just self-conscious, but it's probably really happening.

When we were back at the hostel, my introvert side really kicked in. I had been hanging out with people all day, and then I had to share a room with 7 other girls. It's one thing if it's just my roommate and I, but 7 girls all at the same time was overwhelming.

Now, speaking of my introverted side, it's shining again right now. Shelby just came in here and I don't know what she was talking about, um, I think about being bored. Anyways, I gave her a look, but I totally didn't mean to. It really wasn't intentional. I should not be blaming my swaying on this, but I am feeling rather sick right now. I feel like I'm still swaying from riding the El all weekend. I have a headache from it, and I probably shouldn't say, so maybe I won't. I've been around my core class all weekend and I just need a break. I feel like I've seen them a lot tonight already. I'll probably see them all week in random places. The same thing happened with Cedar Bend last year.

Yesterday was an overwhelmingly long day. We had to be out the door by eight, so we could go look at murals in a Hispanic neighborhood. I was sorta falling asleep, but it was some really cool art. Then we went to the homeless shelter where we helped for a little bit serving food and talking to people. I didn't serve food, so I did have the chance to walk around chatting. I had a culture shock moment when talking to a single mother who was 22. She asked me if I had any kids and I said, no, that I'm only 19. Big mistake saying "only 19" because I could have kids at 19. Girls get pregnant. It happens. I was just shocked that she was 22 because she looked a few years older than that. In my high school, girls would get pregnant every year, but it wasn't a whole ton of girls. Then at SAU, you don't really hear about girls getting pregnant or anything. It was just so different. What you see on tv might be the closest thing you have to things like this. I mean that in that I watch Teen Mom occasionally on Mtv, so I guess I just wasn't expecting what I saw. I don't know.

The food the people were served was so appetizing. I wanted to join in and eat with them, but instead we went to a Thai restaurant. Could I please just have a hot dog? The food was interesting and different. I really wasn't a fan of it, but it was another good experience.

There was one dish that came out and I had said that I wasn't going to even say what it looked like to me. One girl at my table said that it looked like angel hair noodles. So I opened my big, huge, overly open mouth, and said it did look like hair. I'm sorry I'm so blunt and not very tactful most of the time. Geez, I tell it how it is.

At least I didn't say what I was really thinking. It did look like hair, but it looked like a big glob of wet, blond hair that you have to pick up out of the shower because you shed too much.

No, I didn't say that, but now aren't you glad I didn't really say what I was thinking? You should be.

Yesterday afternoon, we met with a female pastor who went to SAU. She answered a lot of our questions about gangs and ministries and just Chicago. She was really tall and really funny. This was also our chance to finally talk about our experiences, but we were only allowed to pick one thing that really got our attention and stuck with us.

Free time! We had 5 hours to walk around crazy, cold Chicago and do whatever we want. Shelby, our friend Candace, and I spent a lot of time in the 4-story Borders. I had only been joking about staying in there for so long, but at least it was a warm spot. We had dinner at this place called Soupbox (I just realized that it's spelled Soapbox in my journal), which had really good soup. We wandered around a bit and finally went to Starbucks just to hang out when we got really bored. Oh yeah and we went into the American Girl store. I haven't been in there since 4th grade and I didn't bring my dolls either. Sad day!

Finally we met back up with our group and headed back to the hostel.

Oh a few random tidbits from this Saturday. On one line we got on, it went from the subway to the air, which was really different. I didn't know it was possible.

And also yesterday, there was a Cubs game, so the El was pretty crowded sometimes. We were on it when people were coming from the game and there was this drunk guy who was acting so goofy. It was awkward at times.

I also noticed that whenever we got on the El, people would ask us where we were from and what we were doing in Chicago. I think it's because they saw the big group and were curious. It was cool answering their questions. There were, I feel like, a lot of people in Chicago from Central Michigan University.

Today, we went to church at the second church we visited on Friday. It was almost completely African American. It was really different. I didn't know any of the songs and the sermon kinda sorta put me to sleep, but I'm so sleep deprived, but it was a good morning service.

After church, we left because we lose an hour traveling back, and we wanted to get back as soon as possible.

And I think you got my play by play already about this.

I'm sick and tired (quite literally!). I hope I don't have to go hardly anywhere in the next couple of weeks because I just need a break from all these traveling daze. I need to catch up on homework too...ugh!

Axe Shampoo and Other Irrelevant Things

I'm back! I just said that out loud in a really long form just to let you know. I've been so busy lately, but I feel like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders today when I finished my Shakespeare paper...finally. It's due tomorrow, but I'm leaving for Chicago uber early tomorrow, so I won't be in class to turn it in and I had to get it in today.

I should be doing some more homework right now, but I just need a brain break, so I have some more common phrases to kinda sorta make fun of, but be serious about too. Have fun! Maybe I won't argue with myself this time.

A rolling stone can gather no moss.

Yeah, but it gathers speed and dirt unless of course it's rolling on a clean surface. I almost said clean, flat surface, but if it were flat, then the stone really wouldn't be rolling. Yeah, I'm smart and I'll just keep telling myself that.

As I was thinking about this phrase, a commercial I've seen a few times this week popped into my head. You know how when you're watching something online, the commercials are always the same thing because those commercials are sponsoring the show you're watching? Well, there's this Axe shampoo commercial that's been playing a lot lately. There's a guy running on a treadmill and this other guy turns on a fan in the room. The guy on the treadmill continues running, but all this grime comes out of his head off of his hair and hits other people. It's actually pretty disgusting, but sorta entertaining too.

A stitch in time, saves nine.

Is this a quote from Back to the Future? It sounds like it, but I don't know. What does that even mean? What do I look like, a cat? I don't have nine lives. I don't know how to stitch either. I wish I had a Stitch. He's so cute. And what am I saving? Lives? Whose lives? I don't have nine lives because obviously I'm not a cat. Maybe I am a cat. You don't know what I am. I could be a robot for all you know. No, wait! Maybe I'm a cat disguised in a robot operating the robot that is disguised as a human. Yeah, something like that.

Rome wasn't built in a day.

It wasn't? After all this time, I just thought it erupted out of the earth. I mean the ruins are just so authentically placed. I've never been there, so I really have no idea what I'm talking about. It reminds me of the Lizzie McGuire Movie. Is that weird? I'd like to go to Rome someday. That'd be cool. I'd like to see you build Rome in a day. Yeah, didn't think you had it in you.

You know what though? God could build Rome in a day. He really could have, but He didn't. He let us do it. Well, maybe not us, us, but someone built it. Or at least a bunch of people did over the years and ages.

I just know that I wasn't alive then. I wasn't dead, but I wasn't born yet. If you're not born yet, then you aren't dead right? You're just not born. Huh...this makes me ponder life.

Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.

You never know, one could end up being a giant man-eating lizard like a dinosaur that eats all the other chicken eggs and then has you for dessert. Hey, it could happen. That or your chickens could just not hatch. Sad day. :(

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

It could bite you...or have really bad breath. Well, I think horses in general have bad breath. Gross! POSSUM! Wow, that was random. Or the horse could have rotten teeth. Sad day. Has anyone invented dentures for horses yet?

Barking dogs seldom bite.

Duh! They're barking, so clearly they can't bite at the same time. That would be so hard. You try it and let me know how that goes for you. Dogs can't multitask like that geez. Cut them some slack. All they do is eat, poop (because everybody poops!), play, act really stupid, and sleep. They're like cats, but most people like dogs more. I'm a cat person frankly. You can probably tell that though. Cats rule and dogs drool!

I don't think cats can meow and bite at the same time. Though I know they can purr at the same time as eating or biting I guess. My cat likes to chew on my pajamas. I miss Max! Mr. Shaved Butt. My dad makes fun of him because he got shaved over the summer and has like no fur on his butt, but that's probably too much information to you.

There's no smoke without fire.

Ok, fine. I see how it is. But you know you can have steam without fire, and that's kinda like smoke, but it's steam. I was just thinking about contractions and how I might have forgotten to check my paper for those. What got me thinking? Good question. This has nothing to do with smoke and fire. However I just saw in the mirror some flames start up in my hair, but I just quenched the fire. Don't worry about it. It's because I'm hot, isn't it? Oh yeah, that's definitely it! I so have to pee right now, but you didn't need to know that. I just thought I'd let you know. Does anyone have a bottle? Dang it! I could have thrown the pee on my hair, but then I would smell of urine. GORILLAS!!!!! I'm starting to think I should have gone back to bed this morning because this mood I'm in is so weird.

SLAP HAPPY! Story of my life...literally.

Necessity, who is the mother of invention.

Necessity, tell me, who is the mother of invention? Duh! Necessity! What? That makes no sense. Well if you need something and it hasn't been invented yet, then you should go make it. What if I don't want to make it? Then you ain't getting what you so need. Who invented duct tape anyways? I think it's so cool. The colors are so much fun. How was tape even invented period? Interesting. Who invented this phrase? Just saying.

Abby just told me to decide what's more important, tanning or blogging? At least I think she said tanning. I'm clearly blogging though. I don't need skin cancer. Why did she say tanning? I was clearly talking about urinating. Uh oh! Telepathic voice in my head from Shelby. Stop it! I heard her voice and everything! That's almost scary, but not really because I've heard her say it so many times before that it just sticks in there. Sorry, it's just natural. I know a good blond joke about natural, but it's not about urination. I mean it's not that great of a joke. It is about other bodily functions like my stupid runny nose that won't go away.

I seriously just sprinted to the washroom (yeah, I went to Canada (I like to say that differently, but I'm not gonna spell it differently, or maybe it's like Canadia (I ain't gonna smell it if that's what you want (Name that movie!)))) because I had to go so bad. Don't ask me how I held my bladder so long. It's weird. Actually it's probably like the barking, biting dog. I can't run and urinate at the same time. That would just be weird! That's a funny thought though. It's going flying everywhere!

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

I was thinking about this quote the other day upon listening to a song called Sunny Days by Jars of Clay. My favorite part in the lyrics is when it says:

So far away. Still I think they say

The wait will make the heart grow stronger or fonder

I can't quite remember anyway

It kinda sorta really makes me laugh. It's quite catchy too.

But you know what else? I really like this phrase. I think it stands true. Over the summer, I was away from my friends mostly sitting around bored at home. I got to see both Abby and Shelby a couple of times (ok, so Shelby more than Abby, but whatever, I got to see them), but I didn't get to see my roommate.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder. I think the first day back moving in was kinda weird on all of us, and there have been a few issues I won't get into (I swear I'm bipolar sometimes, but my roommate is convinced tonight that she is too) so far this semester, but for the most part, we're having a great time back at school.

My roommate, no lie, she just belched...on accident. But it was loud! She was eating an orange and I guess it just made her burp. We just sat here laughing for a few minutes. Ah, laughter is so good for you. We're both a bit slap happy today from an early wake up call.

I'm not really sure how to explain the phrase, but I know it's true. Being gone for a while just makes you so happy to be back around friends. I guess it really has to do with anticipation of getting back to school after a long summer. You can't wait because you get to see your friends whom you haven't really seen all summer long. And you're so happy to see them finally.

Yeah, I really don't think I'm making any sense at all, but at least I tried.

All good things must come to an end.

True story. I'd also like to say that it's kinda a sad thing. Because sometimes you're having a really good time with people and you never want it to end, but it has to end eventually. If it never ended, things would probably get boring real fast. Treasure the moments you have because you never know when you might make a memory. That and you could die tomorrow. Life can be so unpredictable. Carpe diem. Seize the day...and no, I'm not gonna go all English major literature meanings and stuff on you.

And with that, this blog is coming to an end. But fear not! For I will be back at some point with more phrases to entertain you with. Who knows when. It could be tonight, or it could be two weeks from now. You'll just have to wait and see.

Wait! You're leaving me?

Yes, what part of that paragraph did you not understand?

Well, I got lost after the first word.

How can you get lost like that?

Very easily. What am I supposed to do until you come back?

Wait around. I don't know. Do what you want.

I don't know what I want to do!

Oh geez. I guess you're gonna have to sit here then and think.

Think?

Yes, think real hard.

I LIKE PURPLE!

Good. Go off of that. You just keep on working through those problems. Meanwhile, I'm gonna leave.

Leave? What?! You can't leave! What am I supposed to do now that you're leaving and going, going gone?

I don't know. Do what you want. Go color everything purple.

I don't have any markers.

Fine. Use your imagination.

Imagination? What's that?

I just hit myself in the forehead with the palm of my hand at your stupidity.

Hey, who are you calling stupid?

Nevermind. It's not important. Go sing a song.

La. La. La. La.

Oh you're so great that you could be on American Idol.

REALLY?!

No, you actually suck.

You're so hurtful. I'm gonna go cry in the washroom.

And while you're at it, why don't you go take a shower because you smell like urine?

Yeah, because I peed myself.

That's just wrong.

I had to put out that fire earlier.

You know my roommate and I were just talking about mummies and toilet paper. If we be mummies for something, then we could just borrow toilet paper from the bathroom. I promise I'll use it all. Yeah Bethany said I'd be carrying a bucket full of toilet paper every time I had to go to the bathroom. Speaking of which, I really have to pee again. So I think I should split.

But not split my pants. I don't want a banana split. I can't do the splits either.

Sad day. Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now! That's from a commercial. But seriously I need to direly urinate, so I'm going.

Fine, but see if I let you ever come blog again. How could you not? NAPOLEON DYNAMITE! That was random, but I have to pee. That really had nothing to do with peeing because peeing is not random.

Just go. Stop talking about urinating.

Has anyone ever blown their nose in the toilet? Just saying. I haven't, but maybe you have?

Stick Out Like a Sore Thumb

The other day I was thinking about common phrases in our every day language and the meanings of them. I wrote something on one of my blogs and I don't remember the context, but I remember saying something about sticking out like a sore thumb.

What in the world does that mean?

Good question. Sometimes I feel like just writing a random blog to let go of some stress. This is one of those blogs and it's probably a goofy one at that. Don't expect to see any real answers here, but also don't be surprised if I throw something at you that might make you think.

What does it mean to stick out like a sore thumb anyways? I can picture it in my mind. My thumb is like the size of a lemon except it's red and throbbing. Yikes! What did I do to it? It sticks out everywhere I go.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Now this is like taking a risk. I was just talking to a friend about taking risks. She gave me a quote and I just now realized that this quote could go along with this phrase:

Your risk does not come with insurance, so of course there is a some concern about leaving yourself quite so vulnerable. However, I would say that the rewards far outweigh the risks and even though the risks will remain, you cannot experience the heights without risking the fall and you can't plunge the depths without risking drowning. So take the risks, that's where you will find the greatest thrills! When you finally learn that there's no risk that He can't turn for good, the adventure is even sweeter!

If you don't take a risk by setting out there, then you probably won't gain anything from the experience.

See? That was a sorta serious one. I've got funny and serious ones in here, so no worries. I've got something for everyone. That sounds cheesy like a salesperson or something. Yep, that's my story right there.

The early bird gets the worm.

Duh! Of course it gets the worm because it decided to get it's little butt out of the nest early enough to go get that darn worm. Sucks to be the other birds who did not get this particularly special worm. It probably glowed in the dark and everything.

As you make your bed, so you must lie in it.

I just don't understand this quote. What's the point of making your bed if you're just going to lie in it again and just mess it up? Well I make my bed every day because people can see it and who wants to see my messy bed? Ok, so maybe I don't exactly completely make it, but it looks ok. Don't judge me.

Though you know there are times when I'm making my bed and I just take a break from making it to lie there on the sheets. What? It's a difficult job putting sheets on my bed. You try putting sheets on a bunk bed. Ok, actually, the last time my bed was really made up well, my roommate volunteered to do it. Note the emphasis on "volunteered." I did not force her to make it as some may assume. She so nicely offered to do it and she didn't even short sheet my bed either. Thanks Bethany!

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

I really like this quote. It's interesting to me. And it stumps me. I have no funny jokes about this one. I really just have to ponder the meaning of it. Does it make you wonder too?

I kinda take it as we're all fragile people and when we throw stones or say hurtful things to others, then we're shattering their glass houses. The same thing could happen to us if other people say hurtful things to us. So I guess, watch what you say. You can never take it back no matter how hard you try. It's out there floating around in space somewhere.

Too many cooks spoil the broth.

Stop adding so many ingredients. Every time someone comes around, they add another ingredient. Now it just tastes like duck vomit in my socks.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

You want to do something? Do you have a desire to make it happen even though it seems impossible at the moment? Relax. If you can think it, then you can make it happen. It just takes a will.

By the way, I'd just like to say that this is probably the most common of the common phrases that I see and say, but I guess I probably don't say it as much as I did when I was a kid.

Many hands make light work.

True story. The more people who help, the less you have to do. It's as easy as that. Unfortunately I only have two hands and that's just not that many. Sad day. What if I had nine arms? That would be weird. Where would they all fit? They would go on the sides of me. Why nine and not ten? I don't know. And wouldn't I have more shoulders?

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

It's true that God puts people into our lives for a reason. I think this is a cool saying. We all need something and our friends have the ability to take care of that need. Ok, so maybe I'm saying the opposite of this phrase. If you know someone who is in need of something, and you can help them, then you should because that's what God calls us to do. We should love others because that's the second greatest commandment and I really think that's something Jesus would do. You know, WWJD? Yeah, that's right.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

Yeah just because you got the horse there doesn't mean that it's gonna want to take a drink. What if you lead your horse to poisonous water because you wanted your horse to die? And then the horse knew exactly what you were planning, so it refused to drink. Yeah, you can't make that horse drink your nasty pasty poison water. Way to be smart about it. Don't you know that horses are telepathetic? Geez.

When the cat's away, the mice will play!

Yeah, and get into everything. Hey furball feline, get your shaved little butt back there and get those mice before they get us! I might get eaten by a moose tonight. If I die tonight...

Ok, I think that's enough for tonight, but watch out because I have more random comments to common phrases up my sleeve.

Up my sleeve? What if I'm wearing a tanktop right now? That's a sleeveless shirt right there. But you're not. You're wearing a t-shirt. Shh, don't tell the others that. Now they know that I really do have sleeves.

Huh. I don't get it. I looked up my sleeve and all I saw was my arm.

If you're not laughing out loud at me right now, gee, I hope you're "laughing" on the inside. Yeah, I think that's the case most of the time. Why do I even say stupid stuff? Clearly it's not that funny anyways, so what's the point?

There is no point. I am like an unsharpened pencil. I'm a flat head, not a conehead. Hey, have you ever seen Coneheads? That's such a funny movie. But I mean coneheads don't have particularly pointy heads either. They have cone shaped heads. That's no point.

Ok, fine, I'm dull. I get it. Thanks for pointing out the obvious. Hey, pointing and staring is RUDE!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Sticking to it with tape? Or do you prefer glue?

Oh geez, when will it ever end?

Never because this is the never-ending story of my life.

You have a life?

Yes, but I'm slowly losing it because this blog just keeps going on and on.

Is it that or your sanity?

Sanity. Good point. You know what the word "sanity" reminds me of? Sanitation or sanitary. So does sanity mean clean and insanity is unclean? I'm just saying.

Yeah, you just keep saying. Meanwhile, I'll just quit writing this blog because I'm pretty sure I lost everyone ages ago before you started arguing with me.

Fine! I see how it is. And don't come back ever again! I'm gonna go cry in a corner of that ditch where your 9th life died a few minutes ago.

What do I look like, a cat? I don't have 9 lives.

That wasn't you? Oh, I thought that thing was quite hairy and had these very long whiskers.

Yeah, no, I'm not a cat. However, I am a cougar. An SAU cougar or at least that's the mascot at school. I am not that other type of cougar like the TV show in case anybody was wondering. That would just be quite odd. Let's not go there.

Meow.

Cougars don't go meow. They go moo.

That's what a cow does actually.

It smelled like cows today when I left the building.

I milked a cat once.

What does that have to do with anything?

Well we were talking about cougars and cows, so I just thought it fit.

Ok I'm leaving now because this conversation has gotten wildly out of control.

You wouldn't care to stay for a spot of tea?

No.

Oh fine be a party pooper then. I'll just go party it up with the poopy smelling bear that got stuck in the fish bowl.

Sounds like a real party there. It's like Spongebob Squarepants.

I don't see the connection.

Good. I'm leaving.

Farewell until next time...if there is a next time since I already banished you.

I'll be back! I said that like Arnold what's his face. I'm too lazy to go look up how to spell his monster of a last name. You know that guy in California? That actor and isn't he like the governor of California or something?

Yeah. Something like that.

Like I said. I'LL BE BACK!

Surprise Visit!

Ok, so short story time. I was sitting in class this morning after chapel and I forgot to turn my phone on silent. Well, truth be told, I wasn't expecting to get more than one text during class, so no big deal right? I was completely wrong. I got about five texts today in class. The girl sitting next to me in class probably thought I was crazy or something, but then again, she lives on my floor and knows how crazy I am already. Haha.

Finally about 20 minutes before class was to be out, I turned my phone on silent. What's up with all the random texts anyways? Shelby and Abby just wanted to make sure that I knew where to meet them for lunch.

Cheesy stuffed potato or Italian wedding.

I'm going to meet you and Shelbs at Ada's.

Meet @ Ada's.

Are you meeting us at soup?

That's clearly only four texts right? Yeah, I did get another message from one other friend, Kate, who was complaining about her computer.

I don't care that Shelby and Abby were texting me, but it was getting excessive. They're gonna read this and probably think I'm mad and not text me too much in one time period again for a while, but I'm not mad.

And how does this have to do with the blog? It really doesn't, but as I was walking to get lunch, I was texting Kate or Abby back and I got a call from my old roommate Katie. She was going to be passing by good old SAU and was wondering if she could stop in for a little bit to visit us. I haven't seen her since the last day of school last year. Sad day.

But she did get to come visit us today. It was a bit of a surprise because we had just gotten that call at lunch time. And it was also a surprise to other people walking down the hall.

When she came, I was washing my nails in the bathroom sink (they were gross looking!) and I heard a few people out in the hall who were being really loud. I looked at Abby (who was in there too (bathroom party? Not quite)) and said that I knew that voice. Katie was so excited to see everyone. When she was hugging Bethany I couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying. Maybe she was doing both.

So basically we hung out for a little while this afternoon exchanging stories and talking about school. She seems to really be enjoying herself at the new college she's at. It seems like a very diverse place to be.

We miss her and she really misses all of us. Hopefully she'll be able to come and hang out some more at some point this semester. I think we'll probably see her again in October, which is pretty cool.

Yay! We miss you Katie!

And I wasn't even joking about the blowdryer thing. I miss the blowdryer. Now I wake up to Joyce Meyer talking every morning. I swear she invades my dreams. I'm pretty sure that's what happened this morning. Oh how I hate Monday mornings even though I don't have an early class. Ugh. But the day was good because we got to see Katie. It's just not the same without her in our room.

And then Bethany had duck vomit for dinner. Is my life pretty epic or just average?

Busy as a Beaver

I have a million and one things to do right now. I should be reading for Shakespeare, reading for Early British Literature, reading for 19th Century American Literature, reading There Are No Children Here, and doing education homework that I'll probably forget to do on Tuesday. I need to write a paper for Shakespeare (the class, not the guy) and write my billion close readings, which suck.

Oh hi there.

I really have to apologize here because I haven't been writing that much lately. I have a ton of things I should be doing other than blogging, but what am I doing? Blogging of course. That's probably because I'm about to be at my wit's end here and I just need to get it all off my mind.

You know, I've been keeping a lot of stuff to myself lately and not writing it out. I feel like my friends almost expect me to write what I'm thinking and feeling more than I have been lately, but I just haven't had time to write.

But you know when I do write about things, I find myself in an interesting situation. This has actually happened to me all summer long and probably a lot last year.

How was Canada? Oh it was--

Yeah, I already read your blog.

Why do I say anything? Why do people ask me questions if they've already read it on my blog?

I feel like my friends, in this last week (and I'm probably most likely actually really wrong about this) in how I've been acting and feeling (let's not get into that right now or actually ever because it's really not something that needs to be discussed on my blog), have been looking to my blogs a lot more to see what I'm thinking and see if I'm writing anything about them.

The point still stands that I'm trying really hard not to post anything negative about my friends. If you're just a reader and don't really know who I'm talking about, then you really don't know who they are and what they are. I shouldn't be writing the negatives. Let's keep to the positives here.

I haven't been writing because I'm so busy. If I have too much to do tonight, then why am I writing? Because sometimes you just need to stop and write. Writing is my way of getting everything out there. It's my stress relief. It's how I chill and relax. It's something I haven't been able to do much of as of lately.

Though in some ways, it's probably a good thing that I haven't been writing a lot lately. I've been feeling quite crappy lately and you don't need to see the blogs that I write out of anger. Delete key anyone?

I hope in the coming weeks for things to slow down, but for now they're just so busy. My friends and I haven't even really been hanging out that much lately because we're all so busy. I see them at meal times and chapel and that's kinda about it right now. We did have an ice cream run last week though.

I think I'm ready for the semester to be over already. Is that wrong? We're entering our second full week and I'm already ready for it to be over. Ugh. Hopefully it gets a lot better because right now it's just not good at all.

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival

As I write this (though you're seeing the typed out version; lucky you!), I am sitting in a van driving home (or my home away from home SAU) wondering if I'll be able to read this later (be glad you don't have to look at my "on the road" handwriting) because the roads are so bumpy in Michigan. And I thought the roads in Canada were more bumpy. Well I did feel as if I was flying every bump we hit in Canada.

We have just eaten lunch and we have three more hours until we get back to school.

NAPTIME!

Ok, I'm back. Where was I? Taking a nap, duh! No, I don't mean it like that. Well, what did you mean by that then? I meant to ask where I was in the blog. Oh, well say it the way you want me to understand it, geez!

Anyways, yesterday I had to get up at the butt crack of dawn to leave for Canada. I woke up with an incredibly sore throat that hasn't really gotten any better today. My roommate also had to get up because she was going to Chicago with her core class. That's what I'll be doing next weekend. I did NOT want to get up and out of bed yesterday. We met in front of the student center where the core classes were packing up and getting ready to leave. There were drivers of the vans and instructors that kept coming up to ask why we weren't in the vans. When we told them where we were going, a lot of them wished to that they could go with us. Yeah, that's right. Be jealous of Shakespeare.

Do you know how hard it is to get into a comfortable sleeping position in a crowded van with people you hardly know? It's one thing when I'm riding in a van with people from my church on a mission trip because we sleep all over the place and most of us know each other to some extent, but seriously, I hardly knew anyone on this trip.

I tried sleeping and I tried reading. Sleeping was uncomfortable to find that exact position to get into that wouldn't leave me in pain. Reading just made me want to fall asleep. Writing this almost makes me want to fall asleep, but I will continue on.

There were times when a few of us really had to use the facilities, you know to urinate (that's just so awkwardly funny to say. The thing is that we were in a convoy of three vehicles (joy), so our professor had this one girl call her husband who was driving behind us to get the cell number of the professor driving the van in front of us. It was just so awkward and funny at the same time. The professor driving the van in front of us thought the girl on the phone was crying, but she was just laughing so hard.

If you haven't figured out what I was doing in Canada by now, I might seriously question your ability to read. Just kissing. I guess I never did state that, did I? I'm sorry about that.

I'm taking a Shakespeare class right now and this weekend (more like just yesterday and today), we took a trip to Stratford, Canada to go to The Stratford Shakespeare Festival. It wasn't exactly what I was expecting it to be, but it was still pretty cool.

I honestly thought I would see the people walking around in tights and old Shakespearean type outfits. That didn't happen. Everyone just kinda went on with life as if the festival wasn't going on. The festival does go on from like April to November. It's craziness! I did see a little boy, as we were walking to our first play, who was wearing a Peter Pan costume. It was so cute!

The first play we went to see was The Winter's Tale. I kept wanting to fall asleep. It was interesting, but boring at the same time. At one point, there was this big, scary looking bear in the play, and that scared the living daylights out of me. You just had to see that thing. And the noise it made and the darkness, ugh, it was scary! I thought it was a T-Rex or some other creepy dinosaur monster thing.

The plays we saw were really long. They were probably around 3 hours each.

After the first play, we had probably two hours to walk around town and get dinner. My group went to this place where we got burgers. We had some trouble doing the whole Canadian money exchange thing. It was confusing. As we were walking back to this other theater to see our evening play, we passed by a ton of ducks and beautiful swans. The swans didn't really care how close we got to them. It was neat. Is it weird that I kinda wanted to hug a swan?

In Canada, do you just call Canadian geese, geese? Just wondering.

At dinner, I found myself missing my friends like crazy. I hadn't seen them all day and I'm used to seeing them at some point. Although we haven't been hanging out a lot lately, we have been able to see each other often enough. I'm not gonna talk about the logistics of that right now though. I just know I found myself missing my friends. I think I felt like I was missing them more so because this seemed like something we should be doing together. It would have been fun to do in our little trio.

I'm feeling another nap coming on, but I want to finish this.

The second play we saw was As You Like It last night. It's a Shakespeare play, but they took a very modern approach to this version. Ok, so maybe 1940's isn't that modern, but it is more modern than what Shakespeare's time would have been.

Nap.

Ok, I'm back. That nap lasted a while even though I wasn't entirely asleep the whole time. What better things do I have to do in a van for five hours? Exactly my point.

Where was I? I enjoyed As You Like It a lot more than The Winter's Tale. As You Like It kept me more easily entertained and kept me really wondering about the play. There were a lot of the same actors and actresses from The Winter's Tale in this place. Crazy how a person could memorize so many lines. I think it would be really cool if my brother ever did anything like this. I miss my little brother! And I think what I'm jealous of with him is not so much the attention as is the guts and confidence he has to try out for a play and to be on stage like he usually is.

There were these soldiers always appearing like at the beginning of the play right before it really got started, and some of them had animal faces or what looked like covers over their faces. My professor said the covered faces might be people who wear masks on the outside and don't show who they truly are. There was this one soldier with a dog face on, which was kinda creepy, but really cool.

There were also things on the ceiling that came down at various times during the play like this huge apple. That was really neat.

The setting of the play is in a city at first, but then goes to a forest. There was what looked like a silky covering over the stage floor for the city, but then when they changed to the forest scene, the silky covering all came down and fell into a hole in the floor. Those holes in the floor are just so neat. I'm not even gonna try to explain because you probably know what I'm talking about. At one point, there was the head of a man sticking out of the hole. I wondered how they did it, but then I found that there was a hole shaped for him. So cool! Oh the stage floor under the covering was flowers and butterflies. It was so pretty!

There were other animals in this play like a moose and a lion, but it was only the heads in a mask. That probably would have scared Shelby. There were even flower head people. That was kinda odd. But yeah, I really enjoyed that play. It was romantic, funny, and captivating. I loved the ending! And don't worry, I didn't cry, but I could have.

We stayed the night at this place that was next to a hospital. I think it used to be a nursing school or something. It wasn't a bad place to sleep in, but it kinda reminded me of walking into a mental institution. I was also freaking myself out that there might be ghosts or the place was haunted or something. Then again, I think some of the other girls were feeling the same way. But I did sleep like a baby until I woke up freezing cold at one point.

This morning, we got breakfast and then decided to leave a bit earlier than we were meant to. I always feel like trips home are faster than getting to where we were going. I think that has to do with anticipation.

Well, we're actually almost back to school. Our exit sign is on the horizon. This is so exciting! Hooray!

Note: This was mostly written as I was on my way home from Canada today in a journal, but not in the journal I day to day journal in of course. That would be far too easy!

And one final note. Stratford has a lot of interesting festivals during the year. Today was the Stratford Garlic Festival. At least they probably have no vampires in their town. Such a relief to know that much!