Saturday, June 30, 2012

Relaying for Life

Do you ever have those times where you're surprised how well you're functioning? I certainly do.

I forgot to mention this before, but yesterday/today I participated in Relay for Life. The whole thing is done to raise money for cancer research, and what happens is everyone walks around a track for 24 hours. I got a total of two hours of sleep, then an hour of sleep when I got home. Like I said, a little surprised at how well I'm functioning.

The reason we did this was for my aunt who recently was diagnosed with breast cancer. Luckily they caught it fairly early, and 90% of breast cancer patients in the U.S. survive. So that's less scary.

Not really much to say about it because it was just that: walking around a track for 24 hours. Except for the five miles that my sister and I ran around the track. T'was nice to be able to say we got a run in as well.

Just a little update on life. Tomorrow, we get excited for the fact that it's July! Yeah!

Have you ever participated in an event for cancer/disease research of some kind?

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Not My Place Anymore

For the longest time, I couldn't understand why my sister hated the idea of moving back to our hometown for the summer. The rent was free, our parents would help pay for things like food, and there was plenty of space in the house to move around. Perhaps it was a bit like being a kid again, but the pros vastly outweighed the cons. Now I understand how she feels. I've finally gotten to the point where I'd like to live away from my original home away from my parents.

Don't get me wrong, I love my parents. However, there comes a time where something just feels... off about being home. Like you're not supposed to be there anymore. It's funny, but last year during school going home was a treat. Living in the house felt so much better than living in the dorm. Now I feel out of place in the house. I think this happened when going home started to feel like vacation instead of my house.

What feels like home now? I dunno. As you may have noticed with all of my moving around, I tend to not like staying in one place. I suppose I'm in a bit of a transitional phase.

In other news, three people I know are in London now. What the heck? Why couldn't y'all wait for me? Whatever. Right now I'm researching places to stay, places to go, and all of that before the official term starts. Oh, did I mention I'm going to land there ten days before the official program starts? Which means I have no place to stay? Yeah. There's so much information, I don't know where to start. One area where I do know what to do is getting a backpack. For my adventures, a backpack is looking like the best carry-on I can get. And I do have a backpack, but it's worn. For going to school? It's okay. For traveling? I don't think the huge rip in part of the bag would work, especially for an easy access area to steal from. Therefore, I'm perusing for backpacks. I'm looking for a cute one though. I've never really had a "cute" backpack, they've always been those boring ones you find in the big bin at Costco. So cute is what I'm looking for. Cute, but also able to fit stuff in it. Currently I'm lusting after this one. This one is fun, and it looks sturdier but I like the other one better. I'm going to go to Ross to look for some after this post. Hopefully I can find a cute (cheaper!) one there.

Wow, I spent a lot of time rambling about backpacks. Hm. Ah well.

When did you finally feel like you needed to move out of your parent's place?

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Healthy Goals and Such

Hm. It's hard to get motivated to start on the next big project right after you finished one. Anywho...

The last two weeks of school did quite a number on my body and health. I pretty much ate no fruits or veggies, and was constantly hungry. I was told it was due to stress, which I do not doubt at all. Strangely enough, while all of this was happening my body still looked like it normally did.  However, once everything had calmed down my body was quite willing to let me know just what I had done. I gained a few pounds, and just looked flubby (to my normal self, at least). Now I've had some time to get back to normal eating, getting my veggies in and eating a lot less than before. And guess what? I'm almost back to normal.

Here's the craziest thing about it though: I haven't been calorie counting.
Now, why is this crazy you ask? Y'see, I've been calorie counting since I started college, with only a few attempts at stopping. Sure I'm kinda lenient with it usually, but I just straight up haven't been doing it recently.
The reason I've always liked calorie counting is because it's given me a limit. If I don't have that, I tend to think, "Well, it doesn't matter how much of this I eat since there aren't any numbers involved." You can see the problem with that. Calories exist even if you don't count them.

I think I'll need to start counting for the very last bit though. For now, I'm going to try to get as fit as possible for my own personal Get Fit For London Challenge I'm setting. What is this challenge? Pretty much just getting fit by strength training at eating right. When it comes to studying abroad, I've heard that a lot of people gain weight. Not surprising since it's food your body isn't used to and your mind thinks you're on vacation. I'd like to not turn into a pile of mush when I'm over there, but in case I do, I'd like to start off with something not mushy to begin with.

So... Yep! Getting hawt for London. That's the idea. Fitting that the Olympics are happening this summer, isn't it?

And I know, we should live our lives as fit as possible, but... that doesn't always happen. Eh.

As for the running front, I've been Run Streaking it up! I missed two days altogether (boo) but I've been doing pretty well on it considering. On the days where I'm running more than a mile I really need to step it up. I run about 3-4 miles on those days, and it's every other day. It's funny though- this run streak is almost like a break for me in the running area. I kinda need a break from big distances, ya know? Once the streak is over though, I'm getting something a little more intense back on.

Ta ta for now.

What healthy goals are you working on this summer?

Monday, June 25, 2012

If the World Should End...

As of today, I'm basically all packed up for both London and next school year. It's not even July. Aw yeah.

On Sunday I went to the movies with my parents. We went to the movie Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. Personally, I loved it but my parents were eh about it. Different opinions I suppose. There are a lot of funny parts, but there were quite a few times where my eyes welled up. It's a bit obvious to why, taking a look at the title.

Since we're on the subject, let's talk about the end of the world. I know we've all heard the Mayan calendar story, but let's review: The Mayan Calendar ends December 21st, 2012. Therefore, the world must be ending on that day because the Mayans have been eerily accurate about a lot of dates.
I have to confess, I'm a bit of a superstitious gal. I don't try to be, I just am. That's why I never pick up a penny that's face down. (It's bad luck if it's not right side up. Just in case you didn't know.) Therefore, when I first heard about the whole Mayan story there was a bit of worry in the back of my mind. Yeah, I'll admit it. However, as time has passed and I've thought about it logically, I'm not worried about it at all. For one thing, the Mayan calendar doesn't include Leap years. That means the date has been passed by about 16 years. Also, this.

Well, for now it's highly doubtful that the world's going to end anytime soon. Still, it's a weird thing to think about. What IF we knew the world was going to end? What would you do with the time you had left? Three words: Travel and food. I would eat as much deliciousness as possible, probably having cookie dough as every meal on one of the days. I'd also see the world, or as much as I could. Near the very end I'd spend time with my family though.

Now it's time to figure out what I'm going to do the rest of the summer. Huh. Oh I have other things on my plate too I guess.

What would you do if the world was ending?

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Bark Chips and People I'd Like to Know

I have a feeling Saturdays are officially home improvement days here at the parent's house. Today's project: spreading bark chips in the backyard.
When my mom starts on a project, she certainly has to see it through as soon as possible. My dad on the other hand likes to spread out the work. It's not hard to guess who won the argument of finishing the bark chip laying today.

During one of our little breaks, my dad suggested playing some music on his online radio station (not Pandora, some obscure thing). Looking for something we might both enjoy, I found the big band and swing channel. I really adore big band music, I just don't listen to it enough. Perhaps it's because it's a bit difficult to find? Or I'm just lazy. There's that too.
When I turned on the station, my dad gave me a bit of a surprised look. Then he smiled and said, "Your Grandpa Joe would be happy to hear you listening to this. He loved big band music."
My Grandpa Joe died when I was really young, so I don't know much about him. All I know is he was super nice according to everyone else. And you know what? Even though I have hardly a memory of him, I believe it. The only knowledge I have of him rests in an old picture. It's just a picture of my sister and I in his lap, but we all look so happy. And you know how people just look nice in pictures? He looks like that.

I can't say I miss my grandpa because I honestly didn't know him. What I can say is that out of all of the people in the world, he's the only person I can think of that I wish I had gotten to know. What can you do though, right?

Man, I bet y'all weren't expecting a talk like that after starting with bark chips, were ya? Eh, that's just where my mind goes sometimes.

Dang, I have got to start going to bed earlier. I blame the late night runs.

Who is someone you wish you had gotten to know if you had the chance?

Friday, June 22, 2012

Packing, Unpacking and Packing

I'm packing for next school year. Didn't I just pack up all of this stuff? Oh dear.

I'm getting a head start on all of my back to school packing, just so I can get it done. This is mainly because I want to make sure I have all of my necessary thing before the end of August, not throwing everything quickly into a bag.

So, in a nutshell, this is what I've done:
  • Unpacked all of my clothes/accessories
  • Organized clothing into categories
  • Started repacking all of my clothes accessories
Seem ridiculous to you? It certainly seems crazy to me.
The craziest thing about it is just how long it's taking. Fun fact: I tend to hoard things. Therefore while unpacking I've found a bounty of just junk. It's junk that might be useful in the future... but in all honestly I'll never use again. No wonder it took me so long to move out of my apartment.

I have ten weeks until I leave, and a lot of stuff to get done before then. Hoping I'll get most of my clothes packed sometime next week.

Not the most exciting blog post, but what are you gonna do? All I know is that I'm ready to be done organizing. I like to organize, but this is a bit much.

When it comes to random stuff in your house, are you more of a hoarder or toss it away as soon as possible?

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Graduations

Happy first day of summer! It's like the weather knows, you know? It might go back to icky weather again tomorrow, but it always knows when the season is changing.

First of all, if you didn't see it before you should take a look at my graduation card to my sister. I like it. Second, I can't believe what a weekend it was. Certainly a hectic one, I can tell you that.

Friday was my cousin's graduation from high school. He's the second oldest in his family, but it's so weird to see another one of them off. I'm starting to feel a lot older.


The next one graduates in two years, when I (hopefully) graduate college. Then they have three more to go after that. Wooh.

On Saturday we had a graduation party for my sister. Morning was cooking time, afternoon was setting up in the park, and evening was party. All I can really say is that there was an old school merry go round in the park, and my cousins and I jumped right on it. Yes, college kids.

Sunday I did a little more work for the Olympic Trials, setting up booths and stuff when... I got sawdust in my eye. The stupid thing was, it only scratched my eye but it made my eye screwed up for the whole day. Pretty much just ridiculousness.

Monday I sold flowers. Yep. Selling for graduation, and it was a good job. Any way to get some money, right? Right. If I could have, I would have sold them until 5. However I could because...




It was time for my sister's graduation. The ceremony was for the Architecture and Allied Arts school, not the entire university. Still, even though it was just that school, there are a lot of majors involved. You wouldn't guess, right?


I suppose I don't have a lot to say about it all. May the next steps in their lives be great I guess? I never know what to say at these things.

Plus, I might not have seemed that busy but... I swear I was.
In other news, I have been quite productive this summer already it seems! I'm excited. Also, the new season of Futurama started tonight! YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! Goodness I love that show.

Congrats to all of the grads!

Anyone you know graduate recently?

A Graduation Card: Internet Style

Well. What a few days. It feels like it's been at least a week since I last posted, but apparently I last posted on Saturday. I don't know if I even remember that.

All I know is that it's been crazy. Two graduations, two different jobs, one party to set up, and just a whole bunch of things.

Finally got a chance to breathe today, is all I'm saying. I'll recap soon, but for now I'm leaving you with the card/letter thing I made for my sister.
Before we get started, the card I showed her didn't move. However, we're both obsessed with the website What Should We Call Me, so she knew exactly what each picture did. Also, sorry about the changing font stuff, blogger is stupid like that sometimes. Enjoy:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Chloe,

First of all, congratulations! Aren’t you excited?



Well, actually you’re probably more like this:


It’s been a tough week, I know. But you’re done with school! That’s freaking weird.


How are you already done?  You’re done with the studying, the finals, and all of that stuff that made school stressful.


Here’s the thing. I have no idea what type of advice to give you. I’ve never been in your situation, how can I know? Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you what you’re doing after school…


And I’m not going to suggest being a curator…



All I can really say is good luck. I know you’re persistent, and you’ll be able to go far. That might mean far away, that might mean far in the metaphorical sense. I dunno. You have balls though, and you can get through anything. Just go into every interview like this…



…and you’ll be fine.
As for this year, I just want to say thank you for everything. Thanks for going on runs with me...


despite my struggle-bus up the hills.
Thanks for letting me tag along for parties, and not just throwing me out.


Thanks for showing me the ropes of U of O, and just all of the stuff you’ve helped me with in college. I know sometimes we fight…


And sometimes we annoy each other…



But in the end, we tend to be like this…


And you have to remember…


So congrats on graduating! Now, I know that I’m terrible at giving gifts. Half the time when I give you a gift, you tend to look at it like this:


But if I didn’t do anything, I’d think,

Honestly, I would buy you a plane ticket to Europe, but you know me.

So that’s not happening. I hope you like what I got you though. For now, congrats on graduating! Don’t freak out!


Just raise your glass…

And follow your dreams. The sky’s the limit, so take off!

So when you decide to go out into the real world, you’ll be able to say,
Congrats, once again!
Love,
Hannah
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All images come from What Should We Call Me, It's Ducked Up, and Quickmeme
Wow, seeing it all move is a bit of a mind f***. Heh. Also Chloe, I would have put this image for the Kristen Wiig/Melissa McCarthy image if it had moved:

You know why. (At least I think I do.) For the rest of you, I'll talk to ya tomorrow.
What's the most interesting card you've ever made for anyone?

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Finishing Finals

Is it over?

Well, kind of. Yes. The school year is over. All of my finals are done, I'm out of my apartment, and I've even found out some of my grades already. However, life is still kind of go go going.

My departure from the apartment was a bit odd. I moved out on Thursday, a day before my lease wass done. I was just ready to get out. I cleaned some areas of the apartment before I left. I didn't need to, they weren't my messes. I didn't pay any of the safety deposit, but if I did I would totally cleaned the apartment more. I cleaned for closure really.

As for finals, I did... alright? In some areas, anyways. I have to be honest though. I completely bombed my geology final. You'd think I'd be more worried... but I still got a B in the class overall. So, I felt fine.

Tonight was my cousin's high school graduation, and tomorrow we're having my sister's graduation party. She has her official graduation on Monday though. (Who does that?)

In other news, Kat is running her second marathon, and wants people to "run" with her! I wanted to, but it looks like there's no way I can. So please, join in if you can!

I seriously have got to go to bed. We'll talk more later.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Finals, Working, Moving, Etc.

Well. It's certainly been a crazy couple of days.

Since we've last chatted, here are a few things that have happened in my life:
  • Finished a big ol' research paper
  • Moved pretty much everything out of my apartment
  • Worked on a construction site
  • Finished my last classes of my second year of college
  • Made a fool of myself, but also had a lot of fun
  • Took my first final, three more and a paper to go.
Not necessarily in that order. Good lord, I cannot wait until it's Thursday afternoon.

I'm not quite sure how to process all of the information coherently to the rest of the world right now, which might be due to the fact that I've currently had very little sleep. On that note, I'd been doing well on the run streak until yesterday, but I missed yesterday's run. Aw. Honestly, I got home about nine after moving all day and... promptly fell asleep for about an hour and a half to two hours. This led to me being awake until 3:30 in the morning when I had to get up at seven. I'm not quite sure how I'm functioning either.

I'll be sure to chat more about stuff, but for now I've got to get back to studying. Blargh.

3.5 hours until my next final.
26.5 hours until my next paper is due.
Hoo boy.

Any day of the week you're looking forward to?

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Creating Story and Paper Writing

Have you ever heard someone say, "Oh my God, my life could totally be a movie"? If not, I'm surprised. I most certainly have heard this from many different people in many different instances. You know what? Your life probably couldn't be a good movie. At least, most likely not.

Y'see, when people say this, it tends to be similar to an inside joke. The experience you're living that caused you to think this would make a great movie scene probably isn't as entertaining to an outside audience. (No matter how I write that sentence, it seems run on-y. Ah well). The truth is, your experiences could be amazing and your story still could stink. Why? If you're boring. You could have traveled to Spain and had the best time, but if you're not able to make it sound interesting others won't care.

Which brings me to my slightly opposing argument. You can make a good story, even if your life is boring... if you know how to describe/write about it that is. Let's be real: for the most part, movies have stories about characters with amazing stories to tell. On the other hand, there are quite a few movies about normal people, or "normal" people. Take the movie Knocked Up for instance. That movie is just two people who are fairly normal, around normal people, in normal or a bit less than normal situations. Hopefully getting pregnant with a one night stand's child isn't that normal, but it's realistic. What makes it work as a movie? Writing. Even reality television shows have the power of making an average week into a good episode, and that's by the magic of editing.

Okay, weird thing: I started writing this before my History of Theatre class, and what we talked about was eerily similar to this post. Anywho.

So here's my opinion: You can make an interesting story out of anything, as long as your writing is good and the way you present it is enticing. I also believe that you can have a fascinating life, but your story would be boring if you couldn't write it right. Basically, the most important part of any story is the writing. Thoughts?

As for other life news, it seems like my paper is going to be this:

Lee Strasberg is AWESOME LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Yeah. Because right now, I've only got 112 words and only 54 of them are my own. What I'm predicting is an all nighter tonight and tomorrow. Hopefully that won't have to happen if I buckle down today, but who knows.
Random thing about my paper writing technique: I leave the introduction and conclusion to the last thing I do. I do this because a long time ago in an English class, a professor told me that this was a way to take the ideas from the rest of the paper and put in into the into/conclusion instead of vice versa. Also, when you're looking for length, it feels so much better when you're at the end and you add this whole other chunk on. Just sayin'.

Also, I just can't wait for it to be Friday afternoon. Once I'm done with the stress of the paper I have... two finals on Monday. However! I feel alright, considering. I'm thinking about other things that I'm doing this weekend, which include fun and moving. I'm excited about moving things. Is that weird? I don't think normal people are excited about moving.


What are your thoughts on creating story? What are your paper writing quirks?

Monday, June 4, 2012

Countdowns to Laundry and Other Things

I know I'm constantly starting off these posts with being shocked by the date, but I'm seriously shocked by the fact that it's Week 10. I don't think my brain is actually registering this fact.
Gosh, if I'm feeling this shocked, I can't believe how shocked all of the people graduating in two weeks feel.
Seven more classes to go. Yep.

With this countdown to the end of school, there are plenty of other countdowns I'm making as well. Countdown to this paper being due. Countdown to moving stuff out. Countdown to finals.

Speaking of the countdown to moving things, I have definitely been antsy on that subject. For all of my moving around, I've always packed up much earlier than the actual move out date itself. I know how long it takes to pack, and I like to be ready. Especially now. As soon as my mom comes on Thursday after my last final, I am dashing out that door. I don't care if I can live here until the 15th, I'm gone as soon as I can.

My parents are coming down here to help me pack up some stuff this weekend to get some stuff out of the way. When they do this, I'm probably going to go up to P-town for a bit. Mostly to help put stuff away, but there's one perk included with going to the hometown: Laundry.

I need to do laundry so bad. My laundry is disgusting. I need to do it so badly.

You may ask, why don't I simply do it here? Oh ho ho. You may not know this, but I'm a cheapskate and laundry in my building costs money. I don't like to spend money if I don't necessarily have to.

For me, I don't get a lot of my clothes super dirty. There are only two types of clothing that I really get dirty, which are exercise clothes and underwear. I still have clean underwear, but I might have to resort to the awkward pairs soon. (Like the ones that don't fit well). Perhaps this is a bit too much information. Ah well.

All I know is that when I get a house, the first thing I'm buying are a washer and a dryer.

What kind of clothes do you get dirty quickly?

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Making Friends or Not

Funny thing about people is you'll never know where your relationships will go with them.

Hmm. That's a bit cryptic, but I had no idea how to start this post. Let's try this again.
Recently, I've been thinking about my levels of friendship with people. Levels of friendship? Who knows, but that's the best way I can think of to describe it. At the beginning of the school year, I joined two groups. One was called Alpha Phi Omega and the other University Film Organization. I joined one mainly for friends, the other also for friends but more for the interest in movies. At first glance, I thought I would be really good friends with many of the people from APO. As for the UFO first glance, a lot of them seemed uppity, like, "Oh, we only like high class movies and such".

Flash forward to today, or recently in any case. Even though everyone in APO is very nice, I honestly feel a lot more welcome in film club. Everytime I come in to UFO meetings, I get an enthusiastic greeting. Another thing cementing this feeling of welcomeness into my head was a film club party I went to last night. I ended the night with my face hurting because I was smiling/laughing so much. Plus, I didn't need any... substance of any kind to make me smiling and laughing at the wee hours of the night. (I'm a college kid. You know what I'm talking about.)

Don't get me wrong though, there are a lot of people in APO that I really like. Still, even sometimes with the people I really like I can get the left out vibe. Like I don't belong. Plus, I definitely get the dislike vibe from two APO members, and I have no idea what I've done to give them that vibe. I don't know why they don't like me. I just want to make friends.

Hopefully that doesn't sound too pathetic near the end. It's just surprising to me how things change in ways you don't expect.

In other news, I got a job setting up booths for the Olympic Trials! I'm so excited! Mainly for the fact that I'll have money, but hopefully I'll get a peek into the trials. We'll see. (And honestly, the money thing is diminished by the fact that this now means I'll have to pay rent to my sister for the summer. At least a little bit.

I have just been go go going for the past 3 days. Finally things are calming down... Which is probably good, because I have a research paper I need to get done. Agh.

For a last thought, I really want to bake. Not in my current kitchen though. Going in there just makes me sad.

When was the last time you had unexpected friendships occur?