Goodbye.

I started this blog when I was an 18-year-old freshman trying to figure out how to survive college. Well I'm a junior, and I think I've pretty much got surviving college down. I don't think this blog really fits anymore, because I don't want to write about just college. I've got two years of dorm life and getting lost and time management archived here and I don't think I have much left to contribute. (Notice how I haven't updated this much recently...)

I still like blogging though, so I'm moving. This is my new blog, It's the end of the world as I know it. It's similar I suppose, but it's more about figuring life out and not so focused on the school part. I think it will be better. You can follow me there :)

Peace.

August!

School starts in two weeks. I probably should be doing things like buying books and checking blackboard and other school related things, but I'm milking my summer for all it's worth and choosing not to think about school right now.

That is all.

Ding dong the witch is dead...

Ok so I never update this because, as per the last entry, most of my life is spent working. When I'm not working I'm usually too tired to go do anything too crazy and exciting, so most of my free time is spent watching movies with the boy and staying out way too late for how early I have to get up.

But, because I somehow got an entire weekend off when I only asked for Saturday night off (ok, I got Sunday off...not the whole weekend, but a whole day!) Anyway, I had a day to cram full of fun exciting things.

Thing 1: The lake! So yes this is Nebraska, and yes we are landlocked, but we've got a crap ton of lakes. There's at least 4 within 30 minutes of L-Town, and there's just something about murky water and burning hot sand that makes it so much more fun than hanging out at the pool. But really, I think it's just the fact that it's something different and it's always good to get out of town for a bit. Also, this time I correctly used sunscreen and did not get crisped. Always a bonus.

Chillin' at the beach.

Thing 2: Pinewood Bowl! Every summer, there's a musical out at Pioneers Park. This year, it's the Wizard of Oz (hence, title of this post). I've gone almost every year since I've moved here and it's like my favorite thing ever. I will admit that it's a little less fun when it's like 97 degrees out and like 400% humidity, but still fairly enjoyable. The last shows are July 14-17 and you (whoever you are) should probably go.

The outdoor amphitheater.
And all the people that come.

Thing 3: Garage sales! Ok maybe this isn't that exciting, I just think it's great because I'm moving to a new apartment and need furniture. Where else can you get cheap awesome things like these shelves?

15 bucks. Win.

I actually did all of these things in one day. I wouldn't recommend that, but hey, whatever works right? Oh, and I am done with summer class now so I don't have to do homework anymore. Hooray! It is officially summer now :)

WORK WORK WORK.

Ok I'll be honest, I haven't had a whole lot of time for finding fun things to do in Lincoln. Between class and working two jobs, free time is minimal.

But I have concluded that the #1 way to stay busy over the summer is...working.

Here's why:

• Depending on where you work, it can take up either a lot or a little of your time. Bored during the day? Get a 9-5 job. Need something to do on almost every single night and all weekend? Work in a restaurant :P
• It's free. Not only is it free, you actually get paid to do it and it also saves you money. I spend much less money when I'm not going out as much, and I'm not going out as much because I'm working more.
• Life skills. If you can find an internship or some job relatively applicable to what you want to do with your life, it'll probably help you a lot here in a couple years.
• It can actually be fun. This again depends where you work. I complain about work all the time but I actually don't mind it and I work with some pretty cool people.
• Necessity. Besides all the above reasons, unless you're spoiled by your rich parents way too much, most of us have to work. But hey, paying for school and books and gas and rent is always good.

So even though the majority of my summer is spent doing whatever random office tasks need to be done, or in a restaurant kitchen taking take-out orders and peeling vegetables, it's not so bad.

Summer in L-Town.

This blog is usually about college, or at least loosely relating to it. But since it is summer and I can only bitch about summer class so much (it's still terrible), I'm going to take a break from the whole "college experience" thing.

This is now (temporarily) a "Summer in Lincoln" blog.

I spose it's still relevant because I'm still a college kid and summer is part of college. Mostly, I'm just bored and even though I've lived in Lincoln for quite awhile now, I'm sure there are still some interesting things to do in this town. So I'm going to figure out what they are.

First on the list: Jazz in June.

Ok, I've been going to Jazz in June for years, but it's still fun. You sit outside, eat food, and listen to jazz. Or you sit outside, eat food, and talk to your friends while jazz music happens to be playing in the background. Whichever.

It's also an excellent people-watching venue.
You see all sorts of interesting things.
I have no idea why there was a person in an otter suit, but hey why not?

Oh hey poor college kids...it's free.

It's Tuesday nights at 7 pm during the month of June with a market-type thing that starts at 5. Dairy Store ice cream, greek lemonade, all sorts of deliciousness.

It's on UNL campus over by the Sheldon, Arch Hall, Westbrook, and Kimball hall, which is definitely the coolest part of campus.

I have a rare night off work tomorrow night so if it decides to warm up and actually feels like summer, I will definitely be there.

3 Day Weekend!

Ok so usually in the summer I don't get too excited about weekends. Even with work during the week, it's still summer so you can basically do what you want. Plus I always work all weekend too. (On a side note, my work scheduled me for Friday night, Saturday morning, AND Saturday night. Ugh!)

Anyway, this whole summer class thing is completely altering my perceptions of summer (Read: summer classes suck). Weekends have become the highlight of my existence, even with working all the time. So I was especially thrilled for a three-day break over Memorial weekend.

Not so thrilling was the process of attempting to get some time off work so I could actually enjoy the weekend. I legitimately needed time off because I had a friend's wedding to go to and I road-tripped out to Sidney, Nebraska to meet all my boyfriend's relatives. Anyway, they gave me Friday and Sunday off, but scheduled me for a double shift on Saturday. I had to majorly suck up to get Saturday off and had to work Sunday instead. So we had to leave Sidney at 9 am Sunday morning to get back to Lincoln by 4 so I could work at 4:45...

Road-tripping!

I suppose that was better than the drive out there. We had to leave Lincoln at 7 am on Saturday.

But that all is besides the point. It was a wonderful three-day weekend involving a lot of wonderful people, a wedding, 12 hours in the car, a gigantic family reunion where I was known as "Colby's Girlfriend," grilling, and not very much sleep. We were going to attempt camping at some point in there but the weather was uncooperative, so we camped in my basement, sleeping bags and all =)

The name tag they made for me.
I literally was "Colby's Girlfriend."

And now it's back to the daily grind of class and work...oh well.

Summer Classes and Adventures in Public Transportation

In my last post I mentioned that I'm taking summer classes.

For those of you who don't know, summer classes are super-condensed classes that cover an entire semester in 3-5 weeks. Mine is a 3 week class, so that means I have class from 8:30-11:20 AM EVERY DAY until June 3rd. I also had to buy an $80 book for it.

Fortunately the class is Nutrition 100. I thought this would have something to do with nutrition. It doesn't. It's basically like college P.E. We have lecture for an hour and then we go to the rec and work out. Every day. Best class ever? It is a little disheartening that I'm paying for credit hours to go work out every morning (along with my student fees that cover my rec membership).

I just realized I complain about paying for college a lot. It's a valid complaint.

So anyway, since I'm living at home this summer, class every day is fairly inconvenient. It's about a 20 minute drive to campus one way. So I'd be spending about 40 min in the car everyday and going through a crap ton of gas. Plus I'd have to buy a parking permit.

I've decided I'm not going to drive to class this summer.

That may have a lot to do with the fact that my car is completely empty and I'm avoiding buying gas as long as possible. It's more than just saving money though. It's being green and while one less car on the streets isn't going to make a huge difference, every little bit helps. (And remember Gas Boycotting (Or "An Easy Way to Change the World")? Exactly).

Day 1 of summer class I biked 8 miles each way to get to class. It worked well. Lincoln's got a pretty decent bike trail system that can get you pretty much anywhere in the city. Not so well was that my knee kind of kills from riding a bike that wasn't mine and a little small. I need to fix mine and haven't had a chance. Biking is great because, well I love biking, but it's super nice out and exercise and all that.

Day 2 was the bus. Knee=no biking today (plus I'm going to P.E. class!) This is where things get interesting. UNL students get a free bus pass that lasts for a year, so if you can navigate the confusing mess of bus routes and schedules, it works fairly well. Unfortunately, Lincoln's public transportation system is not as convenient as it's bike trail network, but it's not bad. I may have done a lot of unnecessary walking because I wasn't sure exactly where to get on or off the bus, but I made it to and from class. I'm lucky to live a couple blocks from a bus stop that goes downtown though. And it's about a 30-40 minute ride, which seems like a lot, but I worked on my homework. Nerd, I know.

It was slightly concerning because the bus driver was a very aggressive driver. He was going ridiculously fast (for a bus) and honked a lot. He even opened the bus door to cuss out a lady in her car. I made it home in 25 minutes though =)

Summer?

So I'm officially done with year two of this whole college thing.

Happy Summer!

Ok so actually I'm really only done for a little while. I start summer classes next week. Sad day. And you want to know what else is sad? Trying to sell your books back. I spent like $400 on books and got...wait for it...a whopping $16 back. College is slowly eating away my soul and my money. Sigh...

And I had to move home for the summer. I literally took all my stuff from my dorm room, threw it in my car, and then threw it in my room. But unfortunately, I have a tiny room at home and have literally nowhere to put all this crap. I have stuff all over my floor, desk, bed, everywhere. My closet is full. I haven't been able to sleep in my bed since I've been home. I need to clean my room, but there's no where to put anything!

But hey, I'm an optimist. It's summer, even if I'm still stuck taking classes. I plan on spending the entire day at the pool tomorrow. I'm going to make bank working, and I'm moving into my new apartment at the end of the summer. I'm excited.

Paying for college.

I just got a second job today. I'm going to be a take-out girl at a restaurant. It's basically like waitressing over the phone. I start on Friday. My minimum-wage, minimum-hours job at the Admissions office is just not going to cut it anymore. It's really nice not having to work all the time, but it's also really nice being able to afford things like rent for next year.

So for the second summer in a row, I will be working more than one job at about 50 hours a week. Goodbye, life.

My dad made an interesting point this weekend. He was talking about how college tuition has gone up a lot over the past 10-20 years, but starting salaries have not gone up that much. Plus, today, college graduates have to pay for a heck of a lot more than our parents did when they graduated. Internet, cell phones, gas...none of that stuff was an expense back in the 80s.

He's right. According to the College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for an in-state, public 4-year college is $7,605 a year. Out of state tuition averages $11,990, and private universities and colleges run upwards of $27,293. In 1980, it cost $2,373 a year to go to a 4-year public university. Granted, there's inflation and all, but tuition inflation is higher than general inflation.

So basically we are paying more for college, we are paying more for living expenses, and we aren't making as much money if we can even find a job when we graduate.

We're pretty much screwed.

Hence, the second job. I'm going to go start learning the 30 page menu now...

Dead week?

First of all, happy early Easter everybody!

Second of all, Monday marks the beginning of dead week. Every college kid has to deal with dead week and I'm sure it's great for some people.

I am not one of those people.

I do not understand why it is called dead week. In theory, dead week is supposed to be dead. It's the week before finals week, so there isn't supposed to be any tests, homework, meetings, etc.

Notice I said "in theory." Here is my "dead week" schedule:

Monday: Honors Project, online test, job interview, meeting, another meeting, work on group research project
Tuesday: 20 minutes group research project presentation, work orientation
Wednesday: Another group project presentation, work

Thursday and Friday aren't too bad, but holy crap the beginning of the week. Especially Monday. This means I should really be working on stuff this weekend...buuuut...it's Easter and I'm heading home in about an hour or so, so I'm sure I won't get too much done. Home is kind of a zero-productivity zone for me.

Actually, at this point in the semester, everywhere is a zero-productivity zone for me. I have lost the will to continue...ok that's a little over-dramatic. I'm just ready for summer! Less than 2 weeks left!

College Experience.

So this past weekend, I did Husker Hunt, a 24-hour scavenger hunt. I suppose you could call it fun. Definitely interesting and definitely epic. We had a list of about 200 things to find (100 right shoes counted as 1 item), another 100 or so things to take pictures of (you and someone with dreadlocks), and random challenges that included a dance-off, math quizzes at 8 am, and finding a stuffed dog hidden randomly around campus. We also went to the Red-White game wearing all green...

I was awake for about 38 hours straight...NEVER AGAIN.

I will say that I have probably never felt more terrible in my entire life, and I cannot believe I survived. Probably because we were running around literally the entire time, so we didn't really have time to sleep. Or eat. Or anything really. I think if I would have stopped moving long enough, I literally would have passed out. It was also freezing!

But college is about life experiences, right? I mean it was a lot of fun. I had an awesome team and honestly, how many people can say they've done something like that? Not very many.

Team Rapscallions!

Before the Hunt.
We are pumped.

After the Hunt.
We are dead.

We didn't win or anything, but sleep deprivation aside, it was a pretty fun weekend.

Spring.

Today it hit about 90 degrees, and it was absolutely wonderful.

After volunteering at an Easter Egg Hunt this morning and apartment-hunting this afternoon, I went and got frozen yogurt and then laid outside and did nothing/took a nap for about two hours. I brought a book with the intention of being productive, but ehh.

This is the part of the semester when productivity becomes near impossible because all you want to go do is sit outside. Nebraska is kind of known for having crappy weather, but it has its fair share of absolutely gorgeous days. I spose I should also mention that it's incredibly humid and we're in a tornado watch until 1 am, but I'll take what I can get. It's nice and warm outside.

This is also the part of the semester when everybody and their mother are trying to find apartments. It's a bit crazy. My future roomies and I don't have a place picked out yet, but we are on a waiting list and have a few more places to look at. I won't be homeless! (That's always good...)

This is also the part of the semester when everyone starts hating college. Ok I love college, but I am SO ready for summer. 3 weeks left! EEK!

STRESS!

So today in one of my classes we learned about stress.

Ok what college kid isn't stressed?

We did this evaluation to find out how stressed we are, and now that I have a number value for how stressed I actually am, I think I'm more stressed out about it. Hence, putting off some more homework to update this.

And on a related note about procrastinating....

I have been morally opposed to Twitter since I heard about it. It's stupid and pointless and no one is that important enough to "tweet" every single thing because no one cares. So guess what I just got? Yep, a Twitter account. I'm hooked.

Buh-bye, productivity!

Oh p.s.-You can follow me! @canderson310

Hello again.

It's been awhile hasn't it?

I'm sorry, I'm still recovering from Spring Break. I'm mentally not at school right now and I'm physically ill, as in sick.

This is literally the worst part of the school year because I don't know about everyone else, but I've definitely checked out for the year and have zero motivation to do anything productive. This is unfortunate because I've got like 4 projects due this month, plus finals in a few weeks. I just want to coast the rest of the year. This feeling will be much worse once it actually gets warm out.

I suppose it's ok that it's not warm out because right now, I just want to sleep. I managed to come down with this cough/cold/sore throat/fever/weird combination of things the last couple days of break and now I feel like death. That may be a bit of an exaggeration. Anyway, now I'm losing my voice because I can't stop coughing so after class I went to Walgreens and spent a good chunk of money on orange juice, cough drops, and Nyquil. Nothing like drugs and Vitamin C to make you feel better right?

L-Town.

I'm currently involved in a long-term, love-hate relationship. It's hard to believe it's been 12 whole years. I've thought about leaving so many times, but I never have.

It's not that I don't like Lincoln. I really do. I love it actually. It's big enough to be interesting, but small enough not to be overwhelming (I moved here from a farm outside a town with less than 700 people). Downtown and the Haymarket are full of fun little shops and boutiques and coffee shops. There's a pretty good local music scene, an amazing ice cream shop, bookstores, restaurants, you know, your typical college town. Add in all the bike paths, Husker sporting events, college, and all my friends that live here, well it's pretty much great.

I'm just tired of it. My family has lived here since I was in 3rd grade, so I don't even get to go farther than across town when I go home. I've grown used to it.

Usually, I get to go somewhere cool over the summers. Last summer, it was a week-long bike trip across the state and another week or so in Haiti. The summer before that, Minnesota and New Orleans. Before that, northern Idaho and South Dakota. Another summer was San Antonio. One summer was even Chicago, Niagara Falls (the Canadian side), New York City, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Virgina.

This summer, so far, is nothing. Absolutely nothing. I have to take 2 summer classes, so I'm stuck in Lincoln until July 8th. Everything I was planning on going and doing happens in June (read: plans ruined).

At first, I was pretty upset about this. Most of my friends are going somewhere cool for internships or study abroad stuff or something, if not this summer then the fall semester. I'm going to be stuck here in Lincoln all by myself the entire summer working. Ickk.

Then, I realized that I'm not going to be stuck here the whole summer. I'm only stuck here for half the summer. I have an airline voucher that has to be used by September. I have an entire month when I don't have to take class, and I've got an under-used passport collecting dust on my shelf. I'm going to go somewhere cool this summer. I don't know where, and I don't know with who, but I kind of want to go to Europe. Actually, I really really really want to go to Europe.

They say that you just have to go and do things or you'll regret it. I've been kicking myself all semester for canceling my study-abroad trip to France. I know I always say I'm going to go do stuff like this, but it's happening. I don't care what happens or how much money it'll be, I'm going to hold myself to this or I'll hate myself forever. So in July, I'm going somewhere. I'm coming back in August for school in the fall, and I'm going to have the most amazing summer adventure ever.

Anyone want to come with?

Gas Boycotting (Or "An Easy Way to Change the World")

So I was going through my Facebook newsfeed, (because let's face it, college kids have nothing better to do and creeping on my "friends" is more interesting than my paper that is due tomorrow) and I saw an event for "Don't Buy Gas on March 31!" or something like that. Ok cool.

Then I saw it again, except for March 14th. I figured they just changed the date or something until I saw one for March 10 and I realized there are several different events of essentially the same exact thing for the same purpose, just on different days in March.

After a quick scan of my newsfeed, here are all the different (but same!) ones that I found:

Don't pump gas on March 14 2011 "GAS OUT"
No Gas Day on March 31
Gas Strike on March 10

All of these events had at least a hundred thousand people marked as "attending" and a quick facebook search of "gas boycott" brought up several more results including one set for St. Patrick's Day, one during March Madness, and a lot still protesting the BP oil spill last April. A Google search of "gas boycott 2011" the same thing also brought up results for a April 15 gas boycott. The idea is that by not buying gas for one day, it will influence the oil companies to lower gas prices.

While these people have the right idea, it's not going to change the world. Why not?

First, if there's anything I've learned from being on student government at a Division 1 university, if you're going to plan the exact same event as someone else, coordinate efforts. Trust me, it'll work better that way.

Second? "Sure, I'll boycott gas on March 14th. I'll just make sure to fill up on the 13th." See the problem here? It's not going to change the amount of gas bought. Just because people refuse to buy gas on one day doesn't mean that they aren't ever going to buy gas again.

I finally found one group that seems to have it right. It's called Gas Boycott-MORE THAN ONE DAY. You don't like the price of gas? It's getting too expensive to fill up your car (or Expedition)? Don't buy it. Not just for one day, don't buy it EVER. Invest in a bicycle. Or a bus pas. UNL students get them for free (the bus pass, not the bike).

I'm serious. Granted, Nebraska winters don't have the best biking conditions, but I can definitely get by in the summer without driving, at least not very much. And I take the bus everyday to class and carpool to my practicum off-campus. I buy gas maybe once a month, if that, and in the summer when I can ride my bike, it's a lot less.

According to an About.com article, a gas boycott probably won't lower gas prices much anyway, since gasoline only accounts for 20% of each barrel of crude oil. Unless you can reduce the demand for OIL that much, gas prices aren't going to go down. Oil is 55% of the price of gas, so even if the oil companies are hit hard (which they won't be after only 1 day of boycotting), it's not likely that gas will suddenly be less than $2 a gallon (and remember when we thought that was expensive?)

Even BP, the oil giant that saw mass boycotts last spring after the oil spill, wasn't affected much. The gas boycotts mainly hurt the people who owned and operated the local station, said an article in the Boston Globe published in June. The boycotts hardly made a dent in BP's overall earnings.

The same Boston Globe article said that Greenpeace wasn't endorsing the boycotts. The best way to make a difference was to actually move "beyond petroleum."

So as the Beatles put it,

You say you want a revolution
Well you know
We'd all want to change the world

There's a lot of talk and we all want to make a difference, so what are we going to do about it?

Groupon.

I have been on a quest for a new hairstylist for a couple years now. I had a fantastic girl back in high school, but junior or senior year she just kind of fell off the face of the earth (left the salon, stopped returning phone calls, etc).

I thought I found a haircut guy earlier this year, but he texted me the day before an appointment and said he no longer worked there and that my appointment was canceled.

So anyway, because of the unreliability of hairstylists (and a bit of bad luck), I have not had a haircut since December. (Yes I realize how terrible that is, but my appointment for January was canceled, and I haven't had much luck finding a new place).

A couple weeks ago, I bought a Groupon for $60 at a hair salon downtown. For those of you unfamiliar with Groupon, it's basically a coupon website. They have "Daily Deals" for your city where you can buy gift certificates at a lower cost. My $60 to the hair salon only cost me $25. You get the idea.

Of course after I paid for my Groupon, I read the "fine print." I had to use all $60 in one visit. Haircuts are not $60. This may sound a little strange, but I'm terrified of coloring my hair. I've always kind of wanted to color it brown, just for fun, but I've never colored it or even gotten highlights. I really like being able to say "This is my natural color, I've never dyed it" and I'm a little paranoid that I won't be able to get it back to my normal color.

So as much as I like saving money and all, I now have to do something drastic to my hair. I'll let y'all know how that goes.

Going Home.

Last year, I never went home. My parents live about 20 minutes away and I hardly every ventured across town, not even to do laundry. I paid $1.75 a load to do it in the crappy dorm washers. I just wanted the "college experience" or something. I liked pretending that I was somewhere far away at college instead of just being downtown. I liked feeling like I was somewhat on my own.

So I had my "independent college experience" last year (it's in quotes because dorm life isn't exactly independent--people feed you and clean for you and you don't really have to be responsible for anything). It was great.

I'm completely over all that this year.

I love going home. I really enjoy not paying for laundry and getting to eat real food. I still don't go home all that often, maybe every other weekend or so, and I don't usually stay overnight. I did last night though, it was wonderful sleeping in a bed that wasn't lofted.

It's not that I'm getting sick of college or anything. I just really like having some more space and freedom than I get in a dorm room. And real food is always wonderful.

I can't wait to live in an apartment next year.

Updates.

I've realized I'm really bad about following through on things.

I am a completely unreliable person. It's true. I forget things and lack motivation. It's something I'm working on.

So here are some updates about things I've written about on here and not followed through on:

Resolutions.

Remember when I posted my New Years resolutions on here so I would stay accountable and stick to them? Hahaha. I had to go back to my post to see what they were because I couldn't remember them. Fail.

Actually, I'm not doing too bad. Healthwise...well we have a crapton of chocolate, courtesy of my roommate's boyfriend (Thanks!) but other than that, I've been doing a pretty good job of eating healthy. I've rediscovered my love of pb&j and vegetables (not together). I seriously eat baby carrots like they're potato chips. Running is a different story. I think I've mentioned how my life is absolutely crazy this semester? I kind of forgot what it's like to have free time, meaning I don't have time to run. I have a feeling this whole half-marathon thing is not going to go well...

Spirituality...This one is going pretty ok also. I had to give up on yoga because I'm a poor college student and didn't want to pay $65 for it. But it's been going well otherwise.

Making up for not being in France...this is not happening. I wish I was in France.

The Housing Conundrum.

This is still a conundrum. I opted not to live with my guy friend and entered the lottery for the on-campus apartments with my roomie and a couple other girls. We got wait-listed. We're number 65. The plan is to move off-campus now so hopefully we get that all figured out soon.

It's really stressful not knowing where you're going to live next year.

Coffee.

I haven't drank coffee at all this week and I'm still functioning just fine. No caffeine problem! I have felt like crap the past couple days, but I'm going to chalk that up to lack of sleep and lots of stress. Coffee is being reinstated soon though, I miss it!

So yes, those are all the wonderful things that I've been doing (or not doing).

Coffee!

I think I have a problem. I think I've built up a tolerance to caffeine.

See, I absolutely love coffee. Not any of that fancy, frothy, flavored crap. I like it straight and black. No cream, no sugar, just coffee. Also, it has to be from a bean. I'm a bit spoiled from all my Hatian coffee I got this summer, and now I refuse to drink Folgers.

Mr. Reginald Coffee is one of my favorite things.

I really don't drink coffee all that much. I used to only have it every once in awhile, but this semester I've started drinking it just about every day because I have really early class. It helps me wake up in the mornings, or at least it used to. I still feel much more functional in the morning when I drink my coffee, but caffeine has lost its magical power to keep me awake.

Case in point, today I've had about 2 1/2 cups and I'm really fighting to not fall asleep.

I've tried really hard not to drink too much, usually about 1-2 cups a day, and only in the mornings. I don't drink pop, so my only caffeine exposure is from coffee. And according to a MedicineNet.com article on caffeine, a regular cup of coffee has about 135 mg of caffeine. So two cups of coffee puts you at about 270 mg, which is still in the "moderate" intake range and considered safe by the FDA and the AMA.

So is caffeine actually addictive? It depends on who you ask. The same MedicineNet article says that it's disputable since not everyone who consumes caffeine experiences withdrawal symptoms or dependence, but it's definitely possible. You've heard people say they get headaches if they haven't had their morning coffee.

I don't think I have an "addiction." At least if I do, it's not serious. I just really like coffee and happen to drink it fairly often. And maybe caffeine has lost its effect on me or maybe it's just been lessened as I've gotten used to it. I'm pretty positive I could go days without coffee and be just fine, just maybe a bit more groggy in the mornings.

Busy busy bees.

I realize I haven't posted in forever, but I've been really busy. School is starting to kick my butt and there is ALWAYS something going on.

I had a quiz Wednesday and Friday in the same class. Our teacher didn't tell us about either of them. I have a test in that same class this upcoming Wednesday.

I'm taking 16 hours this semester, which isn't terrible, but it's more than I'm used to. Also, one of those classes is about six hours a week and only counts for 1 credit hour. Add in work, student government stuff, and everything else, I've kind of forgotten what free time is.

I'm super excited for today because it's the first day in forever that I have nothing going on. I don't have to work or go anywhere or do anything, I can just hang out. I went on a run this morning, ate an omelet, and now I'm probably going to take a nap here pretty soon, maybe study, and go to a movie tonight.

I love Saturdays.

Blogging.

Yes that's right, I'm blogging about blogging. I'm...metablogging.

Scrolling through my facebook news feed, I've noticed that an increasing amount of my facebook "friends" have started blogging, either though inadvertent creeping because facebook gives tells me what people write on each others' walls or because they post links to their blog posts.

Since when has blogging become so popular? I know it's been a "cool" thing to do for awhile, but it seems like now that everybody does it, it's much less cool.

Why do so many of us feel the need to tell the internet about every detail of our lives? Is it because no one in real life cares? Do we really think that what we have to say is that important? Are we really contributing to society by posting all this stuff online?

I'm completely guilty of this. I started this blog about a year and a half ago, and when I first started, I didn't know anybody else who blogged. I don't think I'd ever even read a blog before. I started blogging because I was going through my freshman year at college and I wanted people to read it and learn how to survive college themselves or something like that. I thought that I had this wonderful, unique perspective and experience and that this experience made me some kind of an expert.

Do you know how many people in the United States are in college right now? According to the U.S. 2009 census report on school enrollment, about 14 million people are enrolled in some type of post-high school education, with about 2 million of those being first year students at a 4-year college, aka college freshmen. Definitely NOT a unique experience.

People have blogs about things like vegetarian cooking, fixing up a home, raising a family, traveling, running a marathon, photography, any number of things, but ultimately blogging boils down to people publishing things about their life on the internet. I do it too, but why? Why do we feel the need for people to read our every thought and daily agenda?

We have such an overload of information sharing: Facebook, Twitter, blogging, and now you can even find out where your friends are with sites like Foursquare. Remember when facebook status updates were just that, status updates? It literally said "Cara is...." and you would fill in "happy" or "tired" or "excited for the weekend." Now they've dropped the "is" and it's become basically like posting on your own wall. You can write as much as you want about whatever you want. It's like one big online demand for attention.

I post my newest blogs to my facebook page so people will see them and read them. I monitor my blog stats to see how many people view each page and how many views I've gotten. Why do I care? I don't know. It makes me feel accomplished or something?

And see the weird part is, I never used to care who read this. I didn't publish it to facebook or "follow" any other blogs and I didn't care about getting hits. I've always loved writing, so blogging was a perfect outlet. I still love writing and I'm not gonna lie, I like blogging. I like knowing that other people like what I write. I want to be entertaining.

So is that why the blog community exists? Because we gain satisfaction from other people caring about what we write? Probably.

New favorite song at the moment..

Ok so apparently there isn't an official video to this song, so I'm sorry there's nothing to look at but it's a good song. A really good song. And I posted a video because I'm not smart enough to figure out how to do audio on here. I used to know HTML and forgot it all. Sad day.




Oh and I don't normally listen to Kid Cudi. Just to clarify.

Winter Weather Advisory.

So right now it is about 8º F with a windchill in the -20s and it looks like this outside:

Pretty much every other school in the greater Nebraska area is canceled except us. At least I got to sleep in because my practicum school had a snow day because of awful conditions. Did I mention that under all the snow is a layer of black ice? I have lived in Nebraska for close to 20 years now and I'm definitely used to the weather, but I wouldn't want to be driving in this crap.

More snow is expected as a Massive storm begins trek across Midwest. We'll see if it hits Nebraska and if Harvey gives us a day off tomorrow. Probably not, since we had snow days the first two days of the semester.

I'm still wearing shorts and I haven't left the building yet. My first class is at 2. I'm not excited.

Tips for Surviving Nebraska winters:

• Layer up! I'm probably going to be wearing my Under Armor tights under my pants when I leave.
• Invest in boots. And I mean good, waterproof snow boots, not Uggs or anything with heels. (I do have Uggs and I love them, just not today).
• Stock up on travel mugs, hot chocolate, and coffee. Nothing makes the walk to class better than being able to drink something warm when you get there.
• Keep an ice scraper in your car AT ALL TIMES.
• If you have to drive, leave waaay early. Even if the roads don't suck, people freak out and drive slow when there's snow on the ground.
• Don't think that winter is over when it warms up. It was like 45º on Friday. Nebraska weather is a bit bipolar.
• Don't forget gloves, scarf, hat, etc. My friend works downtown and he walks there and he was trying to find a ski mask. Creepy, yes, but warm.

I'm off to brave the arctic weather and head to class. Wish me luck.

Sometimes I just want to go back to kindergarten.

I realized that I haven't properly informed the internet about the joy that is kindergarten. I go on and on about it to anyone who will listen, and I think people have stopped caring. That's why people blog anyway, right? To post things that no one wants to listen to? Haha...

Anyways, for those of you who don't know, as part of my college classes this semester, I have to do an elementary school practicum. Basically that means I get to go hang out in kindergarten Tuesday and Thursday mornings. It is literally the greatest thing ever and I can not tell you how much I love it.

Actually, I probably can. Kindergartners are absolutely adorable. They call me Miss Anderson and give me hugs all the time. This one girl tells me she'll miss me every time I leave. One kid even told me he loved me today. Twice. I think my boyfriend's got some competition...

They're just at that stage where they're starting to learn how to read and write new words. They know all their letters already, but it's really exciting helping them learn how to read. Some of the kiddos are super smart, like the one who knew how to spell "snowboard" (I asked him to spell "snow" and he one-upped me). This is the same kid who raised his hand during stations and told me he was bored with making three-letter words. I love how unreserved kids are.

And yes, spelling "snowboard" is a big deal. They're still learning three-letter words and word families. Today we worked on "-it" words: lit, hit, sit, quit, etc., and some of the kids really have a hard time with it. A lot of them don' t know how to read "it" yet so I think it's awesome when they figure stuff out.

Today when I was leaving they all asked me if I could stay and come back every day. I really wish I could. Do you know how unappealing college is after being in kindergarten?

I'm not slacking off, I promise.

At least I'm not intentionally slacking off. I've just been really spacey lately. I just completely forget about important things that are coming up, like assignments and meetings and such.

Example A: I had this project and paper for one of my classes and I swear to God it was due on Thursday (aka tomorrow). This semester I have a lot of my classes with the same people, so a few of us were talking as we were waiting for the bus after our Monday night class and I find out that it's actually due Tuesday (aka yesterday). Keep in mind that I find this out Monday after my night class and I hadn't even started it yet.

Example B: Yesterday, I was pretty pumped because I didn't have anything going on last night. I remember checking my phone calendar, seeing nothing, and thinking "Wow I actually have a free night? That never happens." Anyway, after supper I was doing homework and all the sudden I was like "Oh efff, do I have a meeting tonight??" Yes, I had a meeting. And yes, I was late. I have a committee meeting for student government stuff EVERY Tuesday at 7 pm. You'd think I'd remember it right?

I blame my dependence on my phone calendar. And my inability to remember things, but mostly I'm going to blame it on the fact that it wasn't in my phone (which is still my fault because I forgot to put it in there...)

I'm a bit notorious for putting everything in my phone calendar: meetings, appointments, work shifts, lunch dates, weekend plans, etc. See if it's not in my phone, I will think I don't have anything going on then. I know I work Fridays for three hours as soon as I'm done with class, but if it's not in my phone, I will be making plans with someone, look at my phone calendar, see nothing on that date and be like, "Oh yeah, Friday after class works perfect" and then about two hours later I will remember that I actually have to work.

The only think I don't put in my phone are classes and assignments. I write those in my planner. Unfortunately, I'm the kind of person who writes things in my planner, closes my planner, throws it in my backpack and forgets about it. Hence, the spaced-off papers and quizzes and such. I'm really trying to get better at actually looking at my planner this semester.

I've figured out that I have to write things in my planner and on my marker board. Towards the end of last semester, I started to have a permanent to-do list on my marker board. It's perfect because it's right by my desk and I see it every day. I can all sticky-note it and it's magnetic so I can put other reminders and stuff on it. For some reason, I haven't been using it this semester but that changed yesterday. Now it's got every class on it and what I need to get done.

Before

Just a side note, I didn't draw any of that.

After
Much better.

I told you I'm still trying to figure this whole college thing out.

Football!!

I was talking to a guy from Iowa and he said something about how Nebraska girls were all obsessed with football and how weird that was.

To quote another guy: "That just makes our women superior."

Agreed.

I don't think I'm obsessed with football (I say that as I just got home from watching the NFC championship game--Packers are going to the Superbowl!--and the AFC game is on in the background right now). I'll admit I'm a die hard Husker fan and I've liked the Broncos since I was five, but obsessed? Nah.

Ok I do watch football even when it's not a Husker game. I don't know how many bowl games I watched this year, but it was definitely more than just Nebraska's pathetic performance at the Holiday Bowl. And I'll watch Sunday Night Football (and Monday Night Football sometimes).

I know what the Wildcat formation is and I can tell you the difference between a tackle and a sack. I understand the concepts of downs, holding, rushing, kicking, punting, running routes, and safeties. Mention Johnny Rodgers, Tommy Frazier, Eric Crouch, or pretty much any good Husker player in recent years and I'll know exactly who you're talking about. I know who Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler and Drew Brees are. Danny Woodhead, anybody? I remember the glory days of John Elway and Brett Farve, who is finally retiring, thank God. It pains me that Tim Tebow is playing for my Broncos, because I hate the Florida Gators, but he's actually doing pretty well so I suppose I should be ok with it.

I can hold my own in a room full of guys when a game is on and I can have an intelligible conversation about Superbowl prospects (Packers and the Steelers, but I'd rather have it be the Jets. The Packers are gonna get creamed either way because the AFC is tough this year). I have guy friends who forget I'm a girl sometimes, but you know what? I'm ok with that.

So maybe I care a little more about football than your typical girl, but I did grow up with a bunch of boys. I have two brothers, no sisters, my dad, all my uncles, and most of my cousins are guys. When there was Husker football going on, we watched it. It's kind of a way of life here in the Cornhusker State (Yes, that is our state nickname). I wouldn't say it's an obsession.

The Housing Conundrum.

For the past year and a half, I've been living in the dorms at school. Freshman year I absolutely loved it. It was a ton of fun, things to do, people to see, the college experience ya know?

This is our room. It's a pretty good setup.
I didn't notice my photobombing roomie until
after I uploaded this, so sorry Jess! Love you!

This year I feel like I'm just tolerating it until I can upgrade. Don't get me wrong, it's not that bad. I like my roomie and we've got a cool room and it's still fun and all, I'm just a little bit sick of living in a 12 foot square. I'm tired of climbing a ladder to get to bed and sharing a bathroom with 30 people. I want my own bedroom and a kitchen.

So next year it's an apartment! Only I'm still not sure where I'll be living, or who I'll be living with. My current roommate is going to live in the on-campus apartments, which are really nice but really pricey. It'd also be nice because it's close so I wouldn't have to drive to class, and like I said, I like my roomie! Money isn't a huge issue, but I don't want to have to take out more loans just to pay for housing when I could live off-campus for way cheaper. Plus it'd be nice to have a little more freedom and not having to worry about moving back and forth between campus and home. And I'll be 21 next year, so....

The lottery for the on-campus apartments starts Monday, so I kind of need to figure it out soon.

Oh and another issue, my friend that I've talked about living with off-campus happens to be a guy. Not my boyfriend, but a guy that's a friend. I don't see this as an issue, but apparently a lot of people think it is. I talked to my mom about it and she actually seemed ok with it...at first. So now I'm waiting to hear back from my parents, because while I don't really need their permission to live anywhere, I don't want to make them mad. Plus they help me pay for stuff. It'd be really great if they would call me back in a timely fashion, since I do kind of have a deadline here.

Either place would turn out fine, but I'm just not sure what to do yet!

Health Insurance.

So today I was going to have some warm fuzzy post about my first day at Kindergarten (which was wonderful, I absolutely love my kindergartners and can't wait to go back), but then I read this article about what exactly will happen if the repeal of Obama's Health Care plan goes through. It's a letter specifically detailing the impact of repealing this act.

I've read several articles about this because it's been in the news a lot lately and the New York Times is my home page. For those of you that live under a rock (or just don't know), the Grand Ol' Party is supporting the repeal of the new health care initiative. It recently just passed in the House and is now going on to the Senate.

More info: House Votes for Repeal of Health Law in Symbolic Act
Senate fight looms after House health care repeal

Or you can just google it and I'm sure you can find a million other articles about it.

Anyway, I like the letter because it says exactly what will happen if the health care plan is repealed, and it's not pretty. Granted it is from the Democrats' House site, but it does a good job spelling everything out. It's got hard numbers backing it up, and you can click on your congressional district to see exactly how it affects you and other people in your area.

It's especially relevant because as a college student, I don't have a full time job. (Read: I don't have my own health insurance). Neither do probably most of you. Under the current plan, I will be able to remain on my parents' health insurance until I turn 26. So will most of you, if you're 25 or younger. If it's repealed, I'm going to be SOL on my own here pretty soon. So will most of you.

There are currently about 32 million uninsured Americans. The current plan provides them with affordable coverage. Repealing the plan would mean that they would continue to be uninsured. I personally do not want to be one of those 32 million Americans without health insurance. Nobody should be without health insurance.

So why do these people need health insurance? Why can't they just buy it themselves? Why do they need the government to provide it?

Well, in a nutshell, heath care is EXPENSIVE. I know that when I need to go to the doctor now, it's a $20 co-pay, and insurance covers the rest. Without insurance, it'd be a hell of a lot more. And then insurance itself is expensive. Honestly, I can't afford to pay for health insurance while I'm working part time and going to school, so until I have a full time job that provides it (which I won't for at least another 3 years or so) I probably won't have it (unless the current plan stays and I can still be on my parents' insurance). And with this whole economic crisis thing, unemployment is high and it's getting harder and harder to find jobs, especially for newbie college grads. So more people are unemployed and don't get job benefits, meaning less people have health insurance...and I think I already alluded to this, but if you're working some minimum wage job just trying to make ends meet, after feeding your family and paying rent you're not gonna have a whole lot left over for things such as, oh I don't know, insurance.

So people who can't afford it don't have health insurance. And they'll probably be fine. But what if their kids get sick? What if they're in a car accident and have to go to the hospital? It's not likely to happen, but if it does, then what? No insurance, you're pretty much screwed.

We're not becoming socialists. The government is stepping up to provide affordable health insurance as an additional option for people who can't afford it. Capitalism is all about competition and the market right? Well by providing government subsidized insurance, it helps keep prices down, and that's better for everyone. There will always be private insurance companies. The government isn't taking over, it's just helping out its citizens.

All three Nebraska representatives voted to repeal the health care plan. Why? Because the United States needs a more "common-sense" approach to health care reform.

What makes more sense than affordable health care for everyone?

Nap Time.

You know how when you were a little kid and you absolutely abhorred (yeah, that's a $5 word right there), anyway, when you absolutely abhorred your parents for making you take naps?

Now in college, naps are seriously the greatest thing ever. Unfortunately, I never have enough time when I'm in my room not doing anything to take a nap. I always have class and work and such. Sigh...

On Mondays and Wednesdays, I have a class on East Campus at 8-8:50 AM and another one at 10:30. I usually get to the Union around 9, have breakfast, and then have a little over an hour or so to kill. Perfect time to take a nap, except the East Campus Union (or probably any campus union) is not the best place for naps. Lots of people and plastic chairs at tables ya know?

Well today I found the perfect place. There's this little corner behind some stairs with two really comfy purple chairs and it's pretty secluded. I figured it'd be great because who would come back here and I can sleep all curled up in chairs. Andy says I'm like a cat or something.

This isn't the best picture, but I had to get it off the website. I took a
better one with my phone, but it won't send picture messages
anymore. It's kind of under the stairs in the left corner.

Anyway, I'm curled up in my corner chair with my iPod in, and some older lady decides to come sit in the other chair and starts talking on her phone in Spanish. Now she's just sitting here reading the newspaper, even though there's a million other places to go do that, and nap time is ruined because I think it's a little awkward to sleep in public places when there's other people around.

So instead of catching up on my serious sleep deprivation, I'm blogging about it.

Oh and she just left, but now I only have like 10 minutes left until I have to go to class.

Photo Credit: http://union.unl.edu/east/

Teaching.

Today I had orientation at my practicum school!

Practicum is basically a step down from student teaching. I have a classroom, but I'm mainly just observing and helping out and the regular teacher is still in charge and plans everything. I'm just there to get the hang of things.

Today was just kind of an overview. We met the principle and she told us about the school, then we went on a tour and got to meet our supervising teachers and classes. I have a kindergarten class and I only got to meet them all for about a minute today, but they're all adorable. It's a really small class too, maybe 15ish kids and Lilly the Rabbit so it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm super excited for this semester =)

Things are probably going to get pretty busy now that I have a bunch of kindergartners plus Ben the virtual child (who is now 8 months old and doing fine. I virtually went back to work so he's been going to daycare and it seems to be going well).

I should throw out that Ben is really not that much work, maybe 15-20 minutes a day. Definitely not as time consuming as an actual child. But still, I want to do it right ya know?

Parenting?

I've realized that as I've gotten into some major-specific classes, my assignments get more and more...what's the word...interesting.

I started raising a child today. His name is Ben and he is three months old.

For my Human Development class we have to raise a virtual child, from birth to age 18. Ack.

It tells you your initial situation (I had pregnancy complications and my baby was born way early and had to be hospitalized for a week) and then it gives you a bunch of situations and you have to decide what to do. My child is probably going to be really screwed up because I have NO FREAKING CLUE what I'm doing.

To paraphrase one of the questions, "You want your child to develop curiosity and interest in things, how do you do this? Pick one of the following:

• You deck out his crib with the latest baby gear, like red and white rattles, etc
• You hold him, talk to him, and interact with him as much as possible
• You give him lot of audio stimulation, like talking to him and listening to music"

Umm...they all sound pretty good to me. I picked B.

Another example: "Will you breastfeed your baby?

• Yes, he will only be breastfed
• Yes, but we will supplement with formula
• No, we don't see the need to"

Again...ummm...B?

Remind me never to be a single parent.

Hopefully this kid survives. We'll see how it goes. I don't think I'm quite ready for this whole parenting thing.

Not quite yet...

I know my last post was all about getting back into the swing of things, but it's a little hard to do when there's a three-day weekend already.

And while I should probably get started on some homework, I'm going to put it off a little longer. See I've a had great weekend so far full of stupid funny movies (Eurotrip and The Other Guys), Packers football (Go Pack Go!), late night sledding (Brrr!), sleeping in (sort of), and spending time with some great friends, and there's still a whole day left. I'm not quite ready to do school-related anything.

Some friends rented a cabin for the weekend and it was great to get out of Lincoln, even just for a night. Definitely an awesome way to spend some time off. I spent the weekend with, among a few other people, my boyfriend, an avid Packers fan, and a kid from Wisconsin. I like the Packers and they had a pretty fantastic game, but let's just say we all heard A LOT about it. Even when we all finally called it a night and went to bed, the two of them kept going on about Green Bay's 48-21 domination of the Atlanta Falcons. It was actually pretty hilarious. They were like girls at a slumber party, except they were two 20-something guys laying in bunk beds talking about football.

Even better was that we woke up at 8:30 and watched Tom & Jerry (I love Tom & Jerry, no joke), followed by Sports Center for more Packers highlights and then pancakes.



How am I supposed to handle homework after all that?

Back to the grindstone...

I actually think I'm going to enjoy my classes this semester.

All of them.

That's a first. I usually have a couple good ones and a couple terrible ones, but if the first day means anything, I think they are are going to go well. I haven't had my Monday-only class yet, since this Monday was a snow day (YAY!!) and next Monday is MLK Day (YAY!!!), so I don't know about that one, but so far all my teachers seem great and all my classes seem interesting.

Hopefully it stays that way, because I can not get up for 8 AM class if it's not going to be a good one.

Oh yeah, that's the crappy part of my schedule. I have to be on a bus by 7:30 three days a week or leave to go to an elementary school by 8 am the other two days. I'm going to have to become a morning person. I also get done at 4:45 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and have a night class on Mondays.

This is why I need my classes to be amazing.

But these first couple days of class were really encouraging because for once, I actually felt like I belonged there. I'm so excited for the rest of the semester. All of my classes are Child Development/Family Studies/Education something, so I really feel like I'm finally in the right major. I feel like I'm on the right track and taking my life in the right direction.

And it only took me a year and a half of college to figure that out!

Remembering Haiti.

Today is the one-year mark of the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010. The earthquake destroyed much of Port-au-Prince, the capital city, and the surrounding area, killing over 250,000 people. This summer when I went there, there were still nearly 1.5 million people still living in the "temporary" tent cities.

Not exactly the picture of success and recovery.

I don't want to focus on the negatives, I just want to take a minute to think of Haiti and it's people and what it's been going through the past year.

Earthquake, cholera, political instability...it's a lot for the poorest country in the western hemisphere to handle.

But amazingly, they are handling it. I saw nothing but faith, hope, and love among the Haitians this summer. They had so much faith in God, that he would get them through their struggles. They had so much hope for the future, that things would get better, that things already had gotten better. And they had so much love for everyone, even for all the people (like us) who came from the United States and only stayed a week.

I met some of the most amazing and inspiring people in Haiti.

One of the organizations we worked with in Haiti is called Wings of Hope. It's part of the St. Joseph's Family in Haiti, a group of homes and organizations for kids. Wings is a home for special needs children that was destroyed in the earthquake. Many of the children living there had been abused or abandoned, and Wings gives them the only home these kids have ever had. This is Wings of Hope, Haiti: One year after the earthquake.

This is Josephine, a girl who lives at Wings. She couldn't
walk on her own, but is one of the smartest kids I know.
She can speak perfect English. People in Haiti speak
creole, a mix of French and traditional languages.

And while Haiti continues to face struggles and still has a long way to go, life in Haiti goes on. It has to.

Resolutions.

Yes, I realize it's January 11 so I'm a little late jumping on the New Year's resolution bandwagon, but I'm finally getting around to making them and I figure by putting them on here it'll actually make me somewhat accountable so I actually try to stick with them.

That's the idea anyway.

I've never actually made a New Year's resolution, and this year someone told me that I had to make three. I can't remember what the categories were supposed to be, so here's three random ones that I think are good.

Resolution #1: Be healthier. I know it's vague and cliche, but it's a good goal. I'm running a half-marathon in May and hopefully going on another bike trip this summer, so I really need to keep my body up for it. This includes getting (and staying) in shape and eating better. I'm already a runner, but I need to step it up so I can run 13 miles without dying.

Coconut milk is healthy, right?

Resolution #2: Make this semester a damn good one. Another vague one, but I'm still a little bitter that I didn't get to go to France, so I'm going to milk Lincoln for all it's worth. I know it's not going to measure up to a study-abroad experience, but I'm at least going to have a good time.

Resolution #3: Be more spiritual. I don't know exactly what that means, but I'm going to try to figure it out. I have pretty strong beliefs, but I've never considered myself a spiritual person so I'd like to become more so. I'm not really sure how to go about doing this, but it's definitely something to work towards. Suggestions are welcome.

Resolutions start tomorrow (maybe I should have made one to procrastinate less...?), but no resolutions start tomorrow with yoga class. I figure yoga is a perfect way to be healthier, have fun, and I'm sure it can be a spiritual experience. It's not the only thing I'm going to do for my resolutions, but I figure it's a good start.

The Rec has free classes all this week and they have one called Yoga for Runners. Yoga 101 is tomorrow, so I'm going to go to that and hopefully learn a little about it (I don't really know how to do yoga...) and ideally I'll be ready for Yoga for Runners on Thursday. We'll see how it goes.

Wish me luck!

I'm BAAAACCKKK!

Hey everyone.

So this blog was originally intended to chronicle my freshman year of college, but I've developed a bit of insomnia lately so while I was laying in bed awake at 3 A.M. last night, I decided to revive Operation College. See I was going to start a new blog this semester because I was supposed to be studying abroad, but a series of unfortunate events have prevented that. So now that I'm stuck in Lincoln, NE instead of Besançon, France, I figure why not. And though the novelty of this whole college thing has worn off and I'm about to start my fourth semester, I don't know all there is to know. I am a seasoned professional when it comes to dorm life and navigating my way to class, but every day is something different. Everyday you grow a little and hopefully learn something new.

So here it is. The updated, improved Operation College, Version 2.0.

And since the first two days of the semester have been deemed snow days (YAY!!), here's the important things the blogging world has missed out on in the last 8 or so months since I posted last:

• I rode my bike across the state of Nebraska in a week with my Dad. Yep, 490-ish miles, 7 days. It was intense! It was in tents! (We camped).

• I spent part of my summer in Port-au-Prince, Haiti helping dig a foundation for a home for boys that was destroyed in the earthquake last January. With shovels and buckets. Easily the greatest experience of my life thus far.

• I got a boyfriend! Well technically two, but the first one didn't work out. The second one is great though!

• I changed my major. I'm now studying Inclusive Early Childhood Education. Just a little bit different from International Studies, but hey, I said it might change.
• I survived the first semester of my sophomore year.
  

So there ya go. I'm not a stupid freshman trying to figure things out anymore. I'm a stupid sophomore still trying to figure things out.

It's good to be back.