Halloween and Studying

This week is definitely going to be a tough one. Three midterms in three days. I have Theatre tomorrow, English on Tuesday and History on Wednesday. Let's do it!

I actually studied for my English midterm earlier today with someone from my class. We were actually doing pretty well for two hours... Then we started talking about other things. Overall, I feel pretty good about it now!

Last night every single one of my plans fell through. Even the RHPS one because they were sold out when I got there. I tried so hard... and it made me feel awful. But you know what? Doing stuff three out of the four days isn't too bad!

Today's activity was going to my family's little Halloween event up north. It was a nice little time with fun little treats.

The last three days I have been eating nothing but junk, and too much of it. It needs to stop! I used to alway read stories that talked about how they would eat way too much, eat at ridiculous times, etc and think, "How can people really be that ignorant to what they're doing? I'd never do that." Yet... I have done that. I'm no better than the other people out there. Everything takes work.
That brings us to our weigh in. Tonight, I weigh 133 lbs. That's about a three pound weight gain in a month. That's just not good. Truthfully, I've weighed myself during the weeks because I was paranoid, and it's fluctuated. However, I feel blobbier. I can see where the weight is going, and I don't like it. I need to start thinking about what I eat and how much of it I eat. I also feel better when I'm running and have less weight on me. It's harder to breathe with extra fat. C'mon!

I hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!

How did you spend your holiday weekend? Any midterms coming up?

Being In The Know and Halloween Candy

Currently I am trying to find out if there is anything happening back in town tonight. No such luck is happening... yet. I hope that changes. Anywho, let's take a look at last night and today.

Last night I went to a party down in Corvallis with people in my sister's class. Seems strange, but they actually think I'm pretty cool. (...That's not narcissistic.) It was a fun time just hangin' out, meeting new people and talking to people about random stuff. It might have not been one of the more intense parties out there, but I actually had a better time there than at some of those parties. I suppose I'm just kind of chill.

I woke up early today even after staying up until... 2? Yeah, I'm pretty sure 2. I woke up at 7:50 and couldn't fall back asleep because there is something wrong with me. I stayed the night at one of my sister's friend's house and watched Glee until my sister and her friend woke up. I can now say I've seen the first episode of Glee!

Rest of the day was doing laundry at home, then driving back here. It also involved eating a large amount of candy, especially my lover Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Why must you be so delicious?

 Now here I am in my dorm, hoping to find out of anything  happening tonight. I thought that I heard of something going on, but then my connection to that isn't even in town. If all esle fails, there's two showings of Rocky Horror Picture Show happening in Salem tonight. I've always wanted to go to a real showing... But that's a last minute plan because I'd rather go with a group of people. I suppose I will just have to see what happens. Hope everyone ends up having a lovely evening!

What are your Halloween plans?

Dance Recap and A New Running High

Yes it's Friday! It's one of the greatest days of the week, isn't it?

Here's a little recap of what went down last night for the Halloween dance:

My Halloween costume I think is pretty sweet first of all. It's from a recent SNL sketch, but not many people have seen it. Here's a blurry photo of it:

Pretty sweet eh? A lot of people didn't even know it was me under that hair! Funny.
Before attending the dance, I was going to go watch Cain's volleyball team play. Then their game was canceled, so we decided that we would just walk over from my dorm. Nice right? Well at the dance, I had this vibe from him that he wanted to get away from me. He said he likes to "drift".  I could be overthinking it, but it felt like it. And it didn't feel great. I ended up leaving alone. Boo.

Today I didn't have class until 11 yet I woke up at 7. You know what I did then? I ran 6 MILES. It felt amazing! I'm really excited about it. Plus, it was with no headphones. That's almost half of a half marathon! It's about a 10k! I'm moving up every day!

Tonight I'm going to Red Robin for a friend here's birthday, then I'm gonna crash a party... sort of. Sounds like a plan!

How do you act at dances?

My Special Seat and Empty Halls

Right now I am hanging out in the common room wondering, "Where is everyone?"  Usually there's more than one person out here. I feel like right now everyone is in their room. Bah. I don't have any homework due tomorrow, but should I study for my midterm in History on Monday. Nah. I might as well chill for a little while. (I will regret that comment later...)

Today has been an alright day. It's gloomy outside, but that doesn't mean it's bad here. I turned in my essay for English. I hope I do well!

You know how there's not an actual seating chart for classes, but you end up getting used to a certain arrangement. That's how it works for me, but recently that has been challenged by someone. I usually sit in the very front for my English class, but this girl keeps sitting in MY seat. This may sound possesive, but deep down everyone kind of thinks like this. The reason I am so determined to get my seat back is because nothing good has happened when sitting somewhere else. For example on Tuesday I became extremely tired. This has never happened in that class before. And today, my water spilled ALL over my desk. Now I have soggy notes that are not pretty looking. My seat must be reclaimed.

I ran 4 miles in 35.66 minutes today. That was without headphones too! My next run I'm going to run 6 miles! Wish me luck!

There's a Halloween dance tonight that I will be attending. It should be fun! (I hope)

Do you have a special seat, or do you just sit anywhere?

Breakfast Foods All Day

This week has been going pretty fast, hasn't it? Well, maybe that's just me.

This morning I had a strange encounter in the community kitchen. I suppose I should explain that more. Well sometimes I like to eat breakfast in the dorms, so I go to the community kitchen and eat while getting ready for the day. Usually I am alone, but today there was someone else in there. It was a girl from the next hall over. I had seen her and said hello as she walked by, but I feel like she doesn't speak English as her first language. So, it ended up being awkwardly silent in there. One thing I did notice that she ate so much! She had a mug of granola plus FOUR pieces of toast with Nutella! Where does it all go?!

I went to the writing center today to get help on tweaking my Oedipus essay. The guy didn't feel very helpful, but it always helps having someone go over something with you. He smelled like cigarette smoke, ick.

I've been feeling under the weather today. I felt pressure on my cheek all day, and I'm pretty sure it was my sinuses.

Pretty much all I've eaten today has been Peanut Butter Crunch. Seriously, it's ridiculous. My mom brought it up to me the last time she came up. Tasty cereal like granola and PB crunch is something I go nuts with. I will eat a ton of it. I need to stop getting it.

Enough of the whining! Goodness, it's getting old. I signed up for donating blood in a few weeks! Cool. Also, I'm done with my big essay. Lovely.

Hope everyone has a lovely evening!

What is your pig out food?

Writing Essays and Taking Tests

It's times like these when I start losing track of what day it is... But I remember that it's Tuesday, and I have an essay due on Thursday that I'm getting help with tomorrow. Should probably get farther on it, but I think I've gotten decently far...
I think I did decently on the test in health today. I'm always nervous about how I do, but I feel good.

It's one of those days where nothing too exciting happened today. All I can think of is that I ran 4 miles in 36.5 minutes on the treadmill today, woohoo! The rest of the day has been about work and class... yeah, cool kid here!
I suppose I also watched the new episode of Glee. It was wonderful.

I can't wait until the weekend, but there's so much to get done before then! See ya'll later!

How do you test?

Studying Health and Murder Mysteries

My brain feels like an already soaked sponge right now. I'm trying to get it to soak up more information, but nothing is staying in there. Anywho...

Oof, this is gonna be one wild week. I have a test in Individual Health/Fitness tomorrow and I've been trying to study for it all day when avaliable. Right now I'm in the library studying for it more, but I just needed a break. So here we are, with a new blog entry! I'm so giving, ha.

Let's see what is due this week for me:

• Study for Health Test
• English Essay
• Assorted Readings
• FYE 1-2 page paper
• Halloween Costume

It may not seem like much, but it feels like a lot compared to my usual workload. It's time to kick it up a notch and prove to everyone that I can do well in college! YES!

On the social side of life, my room mate and I went to this murder mystery game this evening. It was so much fun! The cast was silly, fun, and there were a lot of ridiculous dirty jokes. The coolest thing that happened was that I was the only one who guessed the murderer right! I even got a prize of a little certificate and a cheap magnifying glass, how fun!

I hope that I do well on the test tomorrow. I feel like I need to study more, even though I've already made what feels like a million flashcards:

Pish. Does it really matter if I know what the steps of working towards a lifestyle change are? (Right now probably not since I don't want to be tested on it, but maybe later in life?)

Before I sign off, I want to involve myself with something I saw in the blog Finding Fitness- Day by Day. The thing she talked about was for National Coming Out Day that happened awhile ago. Basically, you come out as something, it doesn't need to be about sexuality. It can be personality wise, body image wise, whatever. I haven't really been sure what to come out as, but I think I can come out as this: I'm coming out as being Undecided and being happy about it. Of course, I've been talking about this a lot. I don't know exactly what I want to do as a career yet, and it's scary. But you know what? It's okay to feel like that. Millions of people are like that. There are people who are middle aged and still don't know what they want to do. It's good that I'm admitting that now and not years later when I already have a lot of credits for a major that I realize I don't like. I'm planning to get mainly my required credits done first and throwing in some random classes that interest me. This works well for me. Maybe I'll find out what I want to do sooner than I think.

It seems that's all from me. It's time to go back to studying health. Joyful...

What are you coming out as?

Pumpkins, Family and Conversations

I am not pleased that it is Sunday evening. Mainly because I know that this week is gonna be one busy week for me. Especially homework-wise.

Last night as I said, I went to a haunted house with my cousins. Usually I am that person who is terrified of scary things. I don't go to scary movies because I know they will give me nightmares. Strangely enough, when I went to this haunted house I wasn't scared at all! Sure, there were some creepy things, but I wasn't super spooked. And they were good, too. Maybe I'm becoming more brave...

The main reason I went up to my cousin's house was because there was going to be a lunch for my uncle's birthday at their house today. Might as well hang out, right? I woke up early and went on my Sunday run. It was nice outside, then it started POURING. I was soaked! It was a nice 4 mile run anyway.
After everyone was up, we all went to the pumpkin patch. It alternated from pouring to okay so many times! We got some pumpkins and went through a little corn maze. Just a day out with the cousins.
When we got back from the pumpkin patch my parents were at the house and we had the birthday lunch. There was some chilling somewhere in there too. We carved the pumpkins awhile later, then it was time to go home.



How did this even become a tradition?



Sometime during the day I was feeling a bit off. Sort of sad in a way, but just off. I talked to my mom about it and she thought it was probably because I'm tired plus coming out of a cold. She's probably right. I've just felt stressed about things. I'm scared that I'm going to become overwhelmed. Scared that I'm going to try really hard to do well and not succeed. Worried that I won't get things finished. It's simply overthinking, but I can't help it. I suppose I should just chill out.

Speaking of work, I have some extra credit that's due tomorrow... After that, I should go to sleep. I've got a busy week ahead of me!

What stresses you out? How do you deal with it?

Birthday Recap and Today

Ello world! It's Saturday, and I wish it could be Saturday every day. Of course, then it wouldn't be as special. Anyways, here's a recap of my birthday yesterday:

I woke up early in the morning again, no matter how hard I tried to sleep in. My phone actually woke me up when it beeped that I had an email, but my body decided that indeed, 6:45 was a great time to be awake. I opened the letter from my aunt and my friend. I received money from my aunt (yes!) and the most adorable eraser from my friend! I was so surprised that she even sent me a letter. How sweet! I need to send her something special for her birthday in two months now...

Ate some breakfast, chilled out while writing some letters, went to class. We only had to do 3 sets of planks instead of 4 for my birthday in Weight Training. Pretty sweet, eh?
The rest of the day until that evening, I really didn't do much. I wrote letters, and talked to people in the hall. How cool am I? I just was thinking, "It's my birthday, and I'm not in the mood to actually do anything that requires effort right now (ex: homework)." I actually really like writing letters, which may seem weird.

A downer thing that happened was that my hall mate's friend died the night before, and she was really sad about it... I didn't know what to do, but I told her I could be a friend to lean on.
Later that night my parents, sister and another aunt and uncle of mine went to dinner with me. I always forget how I can never get a word in when around my family... I still love 'em.
My mom being the person she is, got me presents. Even though she said my school clothes were my birthday present... She just likes to buy things, that silly goose. I got this dress from modcloth, wireless headphones and a OSU sweatshirt. Yeah. My mom really wants me to love OSU as much as she does.

After dinner I quickly put things back in my room and headed out to the bonfire. I met up with Danyon and her room mate there, and we just hung out for awhile... then it was time for my "date".
Let me explain. Last night, I remembered that the guy I went cosmic bowling with gave me his number to find a time to hang out or play tennis. We started talking, and then he asked,
"Will you be my date to the magician?"
I don't even usually care for magicians, but who cares?! It was awesome!
Back to last night, I used lessons my mother taught me and simply listened. Guys like to talk, and it was cool to hear about his life. He had brain surgery! Wild.
After walking around and talking to him, I was fading like crazy. I konked out afterwards.

Today I ran 5 miles on a treadmill today! Nice! I also went to the football game with some of my hall mates, and they won! Who knew they could? Now I'm up in Canby again, and I'm gonna go to a haunted house with my cousins. Once again, hard to concentrate, so I'm not getting the best info out yet. I feel like there's so many things that I have to say, but I don't know what. I think I got a decent amount out though. Hope everyone has a lovely evening!

What did you do for your 19th birthday? Was it fun?

Quick Birthday Post

Woo, today's my birthday! Yup. I'll post a more in depth post about it later, but right now I have no time. So, this is my Saturday post. See y'all later!

Friendship Breakthrough and a Plethora of Letters

I am so ready to get over this cold. Unfortunately, my body someone also thinks it’s a good idea to not let me sleep and wake me up at ungodly hours of the night…

Yesterday something I forgot to mention was that Danyon and I had a breakthrough. We both realized that we felt unwanted around the “locals” (Our Hawaiian friends) and it felt bad. It was a bit of a revelation. We also both realized it’s really hard making new friends, and it’s not just hard for you like you think it is. A strange thing to bond over, but bonding nevertheless.

I received so much mail today! I felt so loved. I got my shirt for my Halloween costume plus 4 letters! Wowza!

Since I can’t run with my headphones in during the half marathon, I ran without my iPod today! On a treadmill, which seems crazy. However, it was great! I felt amazing, even though mentally I was not all there. During the last mile or so, I was full on talking to myself in my mind.

“C’mon girl! You can go faster, can’t you? What?! That’s madness! Perhaps I am mad! Hahaa!”

39 minutes for 4 miles. I’m still sick, but I should have tried to go faster. One thing that felt really good was when I was done, and a girl next to me said something about me being skilled. It was pretty cool.
My room mate is going home for the weekend. Why? Just because. Even though she has class tomorrow… Eh, her loss.

My birthday is tomorrow! I wonder what that'll be like... Woo!

Who do you get letters from? Do you send letters?

Birthday Lunch and Study Time

Do you ever have one of those days where you keep thinking it's one day, but it's actually a different day entirely? Today has been one of those days.
Last night I was in half dream/half awake mode, and I said something in a full sentence, then was really confused when I heard,
"What?"
I opened my eyes, and my room mate is looking at me like I'm crazy. Yeah, I'd feel a little creeped out if someone across from me just said a bizarre sentence (I don't remember what I said) when you thought they were asleep.

I went to lunch with my aunt and grandma as I said yesterday. At first deep down I was worried that it was a pity thing (from the Seattle thing I mentioned?), but of course I overthought it. They took me out because they wouldn't be there for my birthday! How sweet are they? My grandma even made me specialty cupcakes! The are sitting in my microwave now, which seems a little weird but there's no where else to put them.

I did some studying in the library today. It was pretty legit. Look at my awesome little organized place:

Tonight I found out about a play thing happening in Salem. I was thinking, "All right, nice! I can get a play done for theatre class!" So one of my classmates, the brother of one of my hall mates, and I drove down to Salem to see it. Turns out, the ticket booth and the theatre are in two completely different places. What?! Oh well.

I sound like a boy going through puberty. Another time of lack of concentration, mainly because everyone in our hall is chilling in the common area, and I cannot think.

Where do you study the best?

Interview with a Professor and Lack of Motivation

It's one of those weeks where it feels like it's gonna take forever, even though I know the weekend will sneak up on me. I wish it was sooner anyways.

I had a meeting with one of my professors today. Originally, I made the meeting so I could interview her for a project for FYE, but I also talked to her about my thesis. Talking to her ended up being a great thing, because she made me feel less guilty about not knowing what I want to do with my life yet. One of my interview questions had to do with what advice you would give a college student, and she mentioned this:
"You know, during graduation there's way too much pressure on students to automatically decide what they want with their life, with all of the asking of, 'What's your major?'. You should just explore everything, see college like a smorgasbord and try a little of everything."
This is exactly how I've been feeling as of late. It was nice hearing someone else thinks that way too.

The trip up to Seattle the other day made me realize that I really would enjoy a career that involves a lot of travel. I understand the downsides of not having a permanent spot, always being away from loved ones. It would stink since everyone needs people to be close to and family. However, I know that I would love it, and going through the process of traveling doesn't bother me. As I've gotten older, I've begun to crave new experiences like crazy, finding new worlds and such. I'll think about it.

Oh, today I was not feeling the running. I was thinking, "I don't want to do this, I don't want to!" But the other part of my brain was telling me, "You need to do this! You've signed up for that half marathon in January, and you need to train for it. No buts." And I did. And, as usual, I felt fantastic that I had run afterwards. I was super dehydrated, and had too much snot in my head, but I got it done. 4 miles in 40 minutes? Ten minute miles is good with me when at first I didn't even want to do it!
I didn't really think about this before, but the race says that you aren't allowed to have mp3 players during the run. This means I better start doing some runs without my trusty ipod... Truthfully, I run faster without music, but the run feels a lot longer. Better get over that! My Thursday run I'll run without it.

My aunt and grandma asked to take me out to lunch tomorrow. Don't know why, but it doesn't matter! She is one of my favorite aunts, and I adore my grandma.
I got my first follower today! But you probably already knew that, ha.
Birthday this Friday! Get excited.

What motivates you? What drives you?

Sleeping issues and Quirks

Oooh boy. This was a rocky start to a day.

Last night my room mate came in at 9 to the room with her boyfriend. I was going to try to go to bed at 9:15, but that wasn’t going to happen. I managed to go to “bed” at 9:45 though. The problem was sleeping. Everyone in the hall decided that was the night that they would start making noise like crazy.
After who knows how long, my roomie and her boyfriend came back into the room. Then they started messing around on facebook. (Not on each other, goodness! That would be another story.) The clicking of a mouse pad is not helpful to sleep AT ALL. After what might have been a half hour, I told them, “Okay, if you’re going to be on Facebook all night, can you go outside to do it? It’s really obnoxious.” May seem a little mean, but come ON. They took this as they needed to go to bed, even though I didn’t care. Just as long as they go out in the common area. Not that much of a stress. Whatever.

This morning, my history class was canceled. Would have been nice to know that before waking up for it. Alas, she sent the email AFTER I went to bed. Oh well. The rest of the day was alright though, except I didn’t really do anything.

One of my hall mates might be going home, and it’s really sad. She’s one of the nice ones, and it sucks that she’s having issues. It’s more issues with she wants to get her life together. We’ll see what happens.

Lately I’ve been noticing quirks that my professors have. True, I do this for everyone, but today I was thinking about it a lot more.
My history professor is obsessed with quotations. She will use them for EVERYTHING.
My Weight Training professor calls people by the place they’re from. Today, I officially became Philomath. I think it’s kind of funny, because it reminds me of those ridiculous sports movies where the coach has little names for everyone.
My Theatre professor swears a lot and waves his arms around his head like jazz hands.
My Health/Fitness professor talks at a mile a minute, and she’s the stereotypical athletic nature-y sports person. She’s the one you’d see out with her husband and dog on a walk in freezing weather.
I don’t have quirks for my FYE teachers yet.
My English professor doesn’t really have any quirks, but I noticed that she always wears two certain pieces of jewelry. One is a pearl necklace with a tiny gold pendant in the middle, and the other is a set of golden bangles. I wonder why?

I love noticing little details like that. I wonder if I could use that in a job?

Still sick, should probably think about heading to bed early again. Now I have some Tylenol pm, so hopefully that will help knock me out.

What things do you notice about people? What's your quirk?

Battle in Seattle Recap

Hello everyone! The end of Sunday draws near, something I am not ready for. I need a rest day, and today was not it.

Yesterday was Battle in Seattle. We all got up to pile into buses at 9:30, and by 10 we were off. My room mate ended up not going. She didn't even stay the night in our room the night before. Any who, in the bus there were two seats in each space. I grabbed one near the front near some people from my hall, but the coordinators were like, "Oh, we need the front spaces, can you sit somewhere else?" I ended up sitting with some people from Landers I had met before a few rows back. Keep in mind the few rows back thing.

I talked to the Landers girls. I tried being social, but somehow it didn't seem like they were feeling it. Sorry that I'm trying to be friendly, I didn't know it was that awkward getting to know people you don't live with. Another thing I did was get excited to say "First one in Washington!" Apparently no one on the bus has ever done that in their lives. Lame. Though no one was too excitable, at least we watched good movies on the way up.

Then this happened. Finally, we get to a rest stop. I go over to my two dorm mates that I hang out with usually with my room mate. One of them says this, "OH my gawd, we could hear you the whole time. It would be quiet, then we'd hear you and be like, 'Oh my god Hannah shut UP!" Maybe they were trying to be funny. I didn't even think I talked that much. But it hurt. One of my biggest fears is that I'm annoying people, so it means they don't want to hang out with the annoying weirdo. Is it better that I remain in the background and fade away so that no one really notices that I'm there? Or is it better that I'm actually trying to get to know people, be social? This shut me up for pretty much the whole ride. I was texting my cousin Ali and mentioned it, when suddenly my sister calls. Odd. I answer and hear,
"Who does this effing b*tch think she is? Who the hell says that?!" It turns out that my sister was with my cousin and was reading the texts. I couldn't really talk to her about it on the bus, because *someone* would hear me from my over-ly carrying voice. That's something I really love about my family. They're extremely supportive.

Finally after arriving in Seattle, I dashed over to two of my other hall mates to hang out with them We ended up walking around and eating dinner in Seattle. It was great! I didn't feel as worried or judged, and we had a great time!



Cool people!



The game was... okay, the game was awful. We played HORRIBLY. Let's just say our team sucks and does not understand how to play the game intelligently.It was also freezing. I did get a free t-shirt though! Plus hanging with the hall mates (the non-bashing ones) was fun. They had never been to a college football game, and one of them had never been to a football game period! Wild.

When coming back, I noticed that the girl I sat next to before was napping and put her bag in my seat. Subtle. Once again, I was tossed into a random seat. The ride back was not so great because:

• I was exhausted and couldn't get in a comfortable position to sleep
• I hadn't eaten much, and my body could tell even if I didn't feel too hungry
• As I said before, I have a cold and it's getting to me. I was seriously feeling it by this time.

We got home around 2, so I ate something and went to sleep. When I woke up I felt terrible, but I've gotten to feeling a lot better. I also ran today! Nice. I ran on a treadmill today for 40 minutes. I was going to use the nice treadmill, but just as I walked in, a guy stepped on it. He gave me that kind of puppy look, you know the one I'm talking about? The one where they know they've done something to tick you off, but secretly are kind of happy? That's the one. This wouldn't have bothered me as much if he was wearing something else. You know what he was wearing? Jeans and a sweatshirt. That's what ticked me off. So I don't know officially how far I ran because the other treadmill was buggy and started at about a mile, but I'm almost positive I ran about 4 miles. I was so glad I did, because it felt so good. Plus, it's training!

I was going to write more about today, but I've already written a lot. I'll just mention a last thing that today was weigh in day! The scale says... 131 lbs. I can tell. I can feel it, I can see it. What did I do differently?

• Last week I didn't run as far, but I ran little incriments every day. This week was longer mileage, with days inbetween. I don't want to overwork myself, so I'm continuing the running the same way.
• I ate top ramen twice this week. Once is enough for any week. I had it as a meal each time, but even then it doesn't do anything for you.
• Finally... I've been eating too much granola. I need to start eating something else for breakfast. The problem with it is that I will munch and munch and munch on it. Not good. I need to find a breakfast with protein and carbs to give me energy and fuel for the day other than that!

Too much talking! I'm gonna finish some more work, read a little then go to much needed sleep! P.S.: I haven't seen my room mate since Friday night. I wonder where she is?

What do you do when someone bad mouths you?

Going up to Seattle!

Battle in Seattle is today! I'm pumped up. If you don't know what Battle in Seattle is, it's a bus going up to Seattle, then we get to explore, then we watch our football team play Central Washington. Should be fun, especially since I don't think I've ever actually been to Seattle!
I've got everything I'm taking all packed in my little purse:

And I took some Dayquil because I don't want to be feeling icky all day. The little single pack of Dayquil I bought even had its own little drinking cup!

How bizzare! It's about time I scoot, so I'll see you all later!

How do you pack up for a day trip somewhere?

The Not so Tasty Breakfast and Getting Work (kind of) Done

Friday is lovely, isn't it? It is here on campus. Most people have less or no classes this day, so it's pretty much a weekend day.

This morning since I didn't have class at 8, I went down to Valsets to have breakfast. I decided to try something different, so I had some oatmeal. I added some chocolate chips, some peanut butter and a dash of brown sugar. I thought it would be scrumptious. Uh, no. It was disgusting and had no flavor. I tried a few bites, then got rid of it and had my classic breakfast.


The bowl of not so deliciousness

I tried getting work done today. I guess I kind of did since I typed out my script for theatre and wrote up an Experience and Learn It for FYE. The only thing was I did more things that I could do later before I worked on things that are due sooner.

I am spending so much money lately. I need to start figuring out smart ways to spending. One of the things I spent money on was part of my Halloween costume. It's a secret for now, but it will be pretty sweet!

One of the biggest problems I find with blogging is that I always think of something interesting that I wanted to talk about, but when I get down to sit at the computer, I forget about it. Do you ever have this happen?

Danyon, Jason and I worked on a constitution for the club we are trying to create today. Very successful! We still need to get a few more people to sign up and to get a club advisor, but other than that we're almost there!

I ran 3.5 miles on a treadmill today for 33 minutes. The one positive aspect to running on a treadmill are no bugs. I cannot STAND bugs. They are seriously the dumbest things ever. For some reason they cannot see a 6 foot 7 inch tall female running towards them, even at an extremely slow pace. And they also seem to aim right for my left eye. A serious disgust I have against them.

Tomorrow is the Battle in Seattle! I'm really excited, it should be fun. Basically all day we get to explore in Seattle and then go to the game. I think I'm going to try as hard as possible to stray away from my room mate. Why, you ask? Why, because she is a downer. Almost on EVERYTHING she has to say, "Oh, this might not be fun, that could be stupid, etc..." It's a buzzkill. She's one of those people who doesn't want to do something until she tries it and then has a blast doing it. The before can just become tiresome though. I'm just ready to have fun and explore tomorrow!

A week exactly until my birthday! Yipee!

What's your biggest pet peeve when you run? What breakfast can you not stand?

Granola and DJ-ing

Oof. I wish I was one of those people who could run on no sleep, but I need at least 7 hours… That will probably have to change with college. I must start enjoying the taste of coffee.
Almost every morning I have one of the most delicious breakfasts ever. I have a mug of granola, milk, and some peanut butter mixed in. It may sound a bit odd, but it is wonderful. I’ve been getting the granola from Valsets since I have early class most of the week and get there before class starts. I must get more granola though…

Mmm, yummy!

I saw my mom and grandma today. We were making sure that my financial aid was all correct for the umpteenth time. I just like to make sure, you know? I worry that I’m doing the thing everyone says not to do which is see your family a lot the first year. My mom reassures me I’m fine. I suppose I over think these things.

My run today was a weak one. I was not feeling it, I was tired, and I didn’t drink enough water. I ran for 32 minutes but my Runkeeper bugged out again. I’ll have to do the drive test and see how far it was, but I think it was only 3 miles. Since we’re on the subject of running…

I am officially registered for 2011 Cascade Half Marathon on January 16th.

This is crazy! The most I’ve ever run I think has been 6 miles, and that was a run/walk. But I can do this. I WILL do this. And it will be awesome.

I’m getting sick. My throat is starting to really hurt. I’ll have some O J tomorrow and get some sleep tonight. I know you should be doing these things before to prevent getting sick, but I’m a college student! I don’t think logically!

My cousin deejay-ed a dance over here! How cool is that? I went for a little bit, but my throat was killing me after awhile.



Rocking the DJ booth

 It's time for me to drink some tea, finish my Shakespeare reading and then it's bedtime for me. Night everyone!
What's your go-to breakfast? What are some things you do when you are starting to get sick to feel better?

"Major" Issues

Goodness gracious, I am tired. Alas, I have things that I need to get done! Ick.

My room mate's on-again off-again boyfriend stayed the night last night. They didn't do anything (I think) and were asleep before me. This was not pleasant when I discovered he was a mouth breather.

I woke up at 5 this morning, a good reason why I'm tired. I thought that it was later, and by the time I was all alert I realized my mistake.

This afternoon, I officially changed my major to "Exploratory". Ugh. This is a ridiculous way of saying Undecided. I'm still not sure what I want to do with my life. I know that I'm interested in maybe working in media, or with languages, traveling, organizing.... There are so many different things! The worse part is that I might not be going to the right college for what I want to do. I like this school. I like the environment, the campus, the class organization. I just got here! I'm pretty sure I'm staying to do my LACCs as well. We'll see what happens in life.

Today was my sister's birthday! I drove down to Eugene and back tonight for dinner, so that's why I'm doing this entry so late it seems. She turned 21 today! I drew her a picture today, even though it was a bit rushed due to time restraints. I think she liked it though!

Sis and her pal sippin' some cosmos

How did you decide on a major? Do you like what you chose?

Spaghetti Night and Maybe Trying Something Crazy

Hello out there blog world! How are ya doing?
I'm doing alright, but I still have a million things I need to get done. As you can see in the picture above, I'm always trying to get something else done.
You know how I said I was trying to budget my life? Goodness gracious, it takes a lot of work. I'm not even looking at the big things like tuition, I'm just looking on spending money for random things I need during the school year. Such as laundry and Zumba and school stuff. So many things, so hard to try not to spend all of your money! I think I've managed to budget it all together, but... we'll see, won't we?

It feels like the teachers are starting to crack down on the big project plans. I have two pretty decently-sized things due in two weeks and a smaller project in a week that we got today. Time to get crackin'! It's scary though.

We had a 'Bistro Night' in our hall tonight. Basically it was our RA making us spaghetti. We were all so hungry we just inhaled it.

Amanda and Karin, our RA. She's adorably bubbly.

In the title of this post, I said maybe trying something crazy. This has to do with my project due in a week. For Individual Health/Fitness, we need to make a fitness plan. I've been running and I want to try running more and more. This got me to the thought: What if I ran a half marathon? It is on my bucket list, and it would be a great thing to do!  I looked up some info on races here in Oregon and found one happening in January. Could I do it? I keep running around the idea (ha ha, pun). Then I went for a run today and ran 4.20 miles for 38 minutes. That's about a 9 minute mile! I think I should. If not now, when?

I was going to go to the Save the Ta-Tas thing going tomorrow, but I'm going down to Eugene to have dinner for my sister's birthday. She's turning 21! (I got her a WOU shot glass, ha.) I should do something else too... I think after this, I'll draw her a picture. If homework doesn't consume me.

Have you ever done a Half Marathon? Any training tips/suggestions?

Nothing in Particular

The week begins again. I fear that the weeks are going to start speeding by, and deadlines will quickly come upon me. For now, I have to work on that.

Today seemed to be a day of trying to get a lot done and not truly achieving anything. It is not a good feeling. I've been conversing, finding out information on things, and setting up appointments. Still, it's like I have a lot of different starting points and I don't know where to begin.

My mom had her car broken into today. Nothing was stolen, but it's still scary. She called me trying to figure out a car situation, and she just wanted a hug. Poor mom! I felt so bad.

It was Zumba night tonight, so I didn't go on a run. I think that Monday will be my off day for the week. Also, I might go running tomorrow with one of my hall mates. Fun!

I'm trying to create a budget sheet. I might show you some details!

Have you ever had something of yours broken into? What did you do?

Race for the Cure on 10/10/10

How fun is it that today was 10/10/10? That's pretty cool to me. There have been a lot of cool dates this year, including 9/02/10 and such. But enough about that!

I ran the very first Race for the Cure in Eugene today! It was a blast, even though the weather was awful. That's Oregon for you.

It was my mom, my cousin, a family friend and I who went together. We were all so miserably wet before it even started as you can see.

Not the most photogenic at times, but whatever. I ran with my cousin while the other two walked. We were doing pretty well, especially since my cousin was sore from basketball practice. We usually run the Portland one but couldn't this year since it was the day I moved in to college. We'll probably end up running both of them next year though.
Since it was the first year of the race, there weren't as many people as the Portland race. I still thought there was a decent amount.



Just look at that grey sky...

 Ali and I ended up running the race in about 29 minutes. Not too shabby! Usually the race takes us almost 10 minutes longer just because there's so many people in the other race.

Afterwards, we grabbed some goodies at some booths and heading back to the car until... I lost my phone. I was freaking out while Ali was telling me to chill. I did end up finding it though when someone returned it to the lost and found. I left it on the toliet roll thing in the bathrooms... Gross, I know. I was just glad I found it.

The rest of the day invovled drying off, coming back to Philomath, chilling there, and returning to campus in the evening. When I got back to my room, I knew it was time for my weekly weigh in. I was dreading it, but curious to see what the number would be, especially due to these factors:

1. I ran a lot this week (for me).
2. I've been doing Weight Training.
3. It was you know what time.
4. I've been eating a lot, and feeling slightly bigger.

My weight ended up being... 129 lbs! Yes! Now, you may be thinking, "But that's a pound heavier than last week!" You may have forgotten that I started out at 129. I don't mind being at 129. However, I feel I need to eat wiser this week. I've felt a little sluggish from what foods I've been putting into my body. This will be easier with that food from the farmer's market!

My mom started reading my blog, making her probably my first and only reader. (a little sad, I know.) So if you're reading this, hi mom!

On a last note, I ran into Danyon in the hall while on the way to brush my teeth. The more we've been talking the more we've realized we have a lot in common! It's fun having someone to talk to about random things.

I hope everyone has had a lovely 10/10/10!
Have you ever done something for a cause? What was the cause?

My Adventure to Independence

Ah, what a wonderful feeling! The feeling of accomplishing something you think is great is amazing. First, let's start off with what happened last night.

I ended up going to Cosmic bowling with one of my hall mates, her brother, their friend and a few other people. Even though it was bowling, it ended up being pretty fun! The thing was, earlier in the night I was hoping I would meet up with Katelyn and be able to party. That didn't end up happening, but I realized something interesting. You see, that group lately has kind of been giving me the 'we don't want you around' vibe. Would it better to hang out with people who don't want you there even though they have booze, or spend a night sober with people who do seem to like you and are fun?
Something very frustrating did happened at bowling though. My hall mate is really into the friend that came with us. The problem is that he was flirting harecore with ME. I don't want to lose the friends that I am slowly making, but it just stinks that I have to be a good person and try not to be interested. Plus he's cute. Boo.

Today as I said, I went on an adventure to Independence. I decided that I would go on a run to Independence for their Saturday market. Of course, this needs to be the day that Oregon remembers that it's Oregon, meaning rain. I didn't care.

I feel I looked very runner-chic

I know it sounds crazy with the rain, cold and all, but it felt fantastic. I love running, even if I'm not the best. It feels good.



A very wet farmer's market

 The Saturday market was so wonderful! I've always wanted to go to one. There are so many wonderful things there. I went a little crazy with the shopping. Here's my bounty:

First in the brown bags are these things called ground cherries. I had never seen them before much less tried them. They are related to tomatoes and they are suprisingly tasty! They will be a great little snack.
Next are some Fuji apples and Asian pears. I was so excited when I saw the pears, they are the most delicious pears ever! The triangular thing is a cranberry scone. There's also some kettle corn that I ate two thirds of on the walking back home. I was hungry! The last thing there is a yoga book. Before going back to Monmouth, I stopped in this little used bookstore. I browsed through the books and saw this little book. I've never been a yoga person, but I've been reading healthy ashley's blog lately and I saw something that inspired me. She talked about doing 10 minutes of yoga for 30 days. Only ten minutes? Sounds not too bad, right?

It turned out to be a 3.12 mile run, and I ran it in 29.5 minutes! It felt fantastic. I know that I should have done this with someone else. Something to help gain relationships with people. But I did it myself because I knew that if I didn't do it myself it would never happen. My room mate was going to come with me so she said and I knew that wasn't true. She had been drinking the night before, so she wasn't going to want to run with a hangover. Even then, I found out later she wasn't even in town! You see my point? I just needed to go and DO it.

I received a package today! It was from one of my lovely aunts. Isn't it cute?

This is what was in it:



Cocoa, ghost marshmallows, tea, mini jackolanters, lip balm and a chocolate!



How cute!

Now I am back in my home town. I've been trying to avoid coming home, trying to move on to something new. The reason for returning is because my mom asked if I wanted to do the Race for the Cure in Eugene tomorrow at 8 in the morning. Home is closer than campus, so it's a better idea instead of waking up earlier.

Have you been to a farmer's market? What fun foods have you found there?

Once it's Friday...

...It becomes a ghost town here on campus. It's like when school gets out for the summer and people simply vanish.
I woke up early today even though I didn't need to and ran before class. It was nice to get it done! I ran for 22 minutes because I started to get killer side aches. I tried to run through it, but it lasted for something like 5 minutes. It added up to 2.25 miles today.

My room mate is trying to "jam" on the guitar. Unfortunately, she's a self-taught learner. Also, I don't think she realizes that a guitar out of tune doesn't sound good. It may be annoying, but we both need to work together for a common ground. That's what happens with a room mate.

In the social realm, I've been having some issues with separating from people. I'm trying hard not to only hang out with my room mate, but somehow everything ends up being something with her. And this is the other thing that made me realize we need to separate. We were talking to someone from our hall and she said (basically), "Well I don't like those people because they're NERDS." This pissed me off. I've always toned down her, "Oh she likes to hang out with only certain groups", but this is ridiculous. I've never fit perfectly into a group. I have friends who are "nerds", I have friends who are "cool". You shouldn't judge being a friend with someone just how they seem to fall into a stereotype. Thinking you're cool doesn't make you cool.

I took a nap today with  pretty much everything still on my bed. That was interesting. Another thing that happened? I left my keys in my room, so I had to be let it. My room mate ALWAYS loses her keys, and I always have to help her out. When I need keys? She's not around. Not fair!

I'm going home for the first time this weekend! I've been trying to avoid it, but my mom asked if I wanted to do a Race for The Cure run in Eugene. Since it's closer, it's easier to stay down there.

I hope everyone has a lovely Friday evening! I'm going cosmic bowling tonight!
How do you deal with friends who are judgemental?

Colder Weather, Pizza and Wishlists

Today was a colder day. What is this madness?

I need to wake up earlier to go to Valsets for breakfast because I am running out of breakfast foods. Today I ate my last Bagel Thin and I have no more Peanut Butter Crunch. Only Cheerios, but still. Besides, I need to use my money on my food card.

One thing that I've been seeing today are that the cleaning people are ALWAYS cleaning. Both times I sat down at a table in the hall today the cleaning guy had to come in RIGHT then. I kind of snapped at him, which I feel bad about now. It's just a little annoying.

What else happened today... Went to the coffee shop on campus, had classes, had this pizza thing in the common area with our residential professor... It was a good day.

I've noticed I've been really negative lately and it's got to stop. When I write, I seem to write only about the bad things. However, life is awesome!

Another thing that makes life awesome? My birthday is on the 22nd of this month! I'm excited, even though nothing happens when you turn 19. It's just you last year of teenagerdom. Even though I've received my birthday presents via school clothes, I still have a wish list:

About the Artist Dress

I love Modcloth stuff. My favorite pair of shoes is from modcloth!

You've Got it Jade Dress

Another dress from ModCloth. Cute!

Eat This, Not That! Supermarket Edition

I think this book looks really interesting. I browsed through the restaurant version in a bookstore, and it was fun to look at.

Itunes Giftcards

I've been wanting new music, but I'm a good little kid and don't want to steal it!

Wireless Headphones

During my runs, my headphone wires are always bouncing around obnoxiously. It would be really cool to have wireless ones! Since I'm mentioning running, I ran another short run 1.73 miles in 15 minutes due to lack of time.

Last thing on my wishlist was this cookbook for single serving cupcakes you can make in a microwave with a mug! How fun is that?
Even though I know I won't get all of these things, it's always fun to make wish lists. See you all tomorrow!

Do you have a wish list? What's on your wishlist?

Grilled Cheesus and Cousin Dinner

Today is Wednesday... yes? Oh goodness, the days are all mixing together.

It is a good time right now because I do not have any homework. No homework due until Monday, how lovely! What happened today, anyway?

Well, last night was PB and Glee night which was fun! And Grilled Cheesus? Hilarious.

Classes were alright today. The one thing that I noticed was that I was the only one who didn't seem to act like I was dying in history class... It could be because it's an 8am class that people hate it so much. Eh, doesn't bother me.
I'm still waiting to get info on the running club, but I have gotten info from the dragon boat team! I'm considering joining... Unless running club takes up more time. Or if I join. Who knows!
Today I ran for 15 minutes for... 1.65 miles? I'll have to check it. I decided more speed (in my case) for a shorter time since I had weight training today.
Oh! I found out that my run for Sunday was 2.8 miles. I'll have to run more! That's why I'm hoping to join the running team.

I went to dinner with my cousins Ali and Laci at a restaurant called the Ram. It was delicious fun!



Laci, Ali and I

Laci is in graduate school living in Salem and Ali goes to school in Salem, so we are all pretty close to each other. An interesting thing about me and my family is that we are all really close. I've noticed  that a lot of people usually see their family maybe once a year, but my cousins and I are all love to hang out with each other.

I had a super delicious sandwich with bbq meatloaf or something. My fridge is starting to fill up with leftovers!



I ate too many fries. This sandwich was huge!

Right now I'm chilling in the common area with some of my hall mates. It's all good.

Are you close to your family? Why or why not?

Zumba and Craving

One thing that should not be allowed is me writing a blog entry with the influence of mood swings. My goodness!

Last night, Sabrina, Leihua, Katelyn and I went to Zumba club. It was so much fun! Definately going again next week.

Katelyn has been staying in the room now, and I don't know if I like it as much. Let me explain:
I have this whole process of slowing getting to the point of sleep. Right when I'm almost there...
*Click!*
Katelyn comes in. And I know she's going to turn on the light, so I duck under my covers. It throws me off! I suppose that's part of living in a dorm room, ha.

Today I was thinking about how I'm doing in classes. I'm worried that I'll end up getting just alright in. Always doing well, but not quite exceptional. I'll keep working!
I've also been RAVENOUS today! I wonder why? (ahem).

I emailed the head people for the dragon boat team and the running club yesterday. I'm thinking one of the things might be fun! Even though I'm not the greatest runner, that would be okay right? He still needs to email me back though.
Speaking of running, I went on a little run on the treadmill today! I went 3.06 miles for 30 minutes, but when I was done I still felt like I could run more! I'll have to start upping my running/time.

Tonight I'm going to PB and Glee night down on the main floor! Get excited!
I have not watched last week's SNL yet. This is tragic.

I'll leave you guys with a picture of a letter I'm sending to my friend!

What do you guys do when you have crazy cravings?

Learning to be social

I'm not sure if it was all of the Diet Pepsi I drank at the surprise party or my room mate making me get out of bed to let her in just as I was falling asleep, but I did not sleep well at all last night. Ick.

I know it's only a little bit into the school year, but I've been feeling really alone. I hate for this to be a downer post, but I'm feeling a bit down. I've been trying really hard to make friends, but I'm having the same thing happen that always happens to me where I feel like I don't really click with anyone right. Katelyn clicks so much better with Sabrina and Lehua than I do because they like things that I'm not into. And Danyon has her Wyoming friends that she's always with. Where do I fit in? I'm still looking into clubs, I'm trying so hard! But why is it so much harder for me? And yes, I know we should be the best us, but it's hard when people are doing what you want to be doing so much better.
That's the same with guys. Somehow when I try to talk to guys, there never want to talk to me but when Katelyn tries they are all into her. I try all of the tricks that everyone tells me, but it never works! Do I scare them off?

Ugh, this is depressing me more. (I could also be a bit down due to lack of sleep and you know what...) Let's end on a positive note! I'm going to go to Zumba club tonight, hopefully it will be fun!

How do you get to know people in a new situation? How do make friends?

Running Outside and Parties! (Or lack thereof)

Last  night turned out to be just another bleh night. We were going to a party, but then our ride fell through, and I was not going to be the designated driver. I didn’t want to because I am always the DD. Also, under no circumstance will I drive with anything in my system. Because that’s STUPID. A first happened last night: My room mate slept in the dorm last night! I couldn’t believe it, but it was because the person’s house she stays at was mad at her.

I love the feeling of running in the morning because even though you haven’t done a lot the rest of the morning, it feels like you’ve accomplished a ton. I was planning to run on a treadmill in the RSC, but it was closed. I wanted to run then, so I ran into the countryside. It was actually very nice. I love running outside because the scenery is amazing in Oregon. An unpleasant thing on my run is that I felt a bit out of breath. This has been happening for my last runs, and I don’t know why. Any ideas? For mileage, I have no idea because my Run keeper on my phone bugged out and said I ran 14 miles in 30 minutes. Would be nice, but... (Maybe it’s because I have the free version…)

After running, I received a call from the Safety Department on campus. It turns out I had dropped my license on the way out running. Thank goodness someone found it!
Lunchtime I went with my roomie and two other girls from our dorm to a bagel place my cousin told me about. It was pretty yummy!



This was my bagel called The Oregonian.

Tonight I drove down to Eugene for my Aunt’s surprise 50th birthday party. It was so fun, and she was so surprised! The only weird thing was that everyone there was older than me except my adorable little second cousins, but they’re 5 months and 2 years old.
I’ve been trying to read my body’s signs more lately. I want to be able to understand when I’m actually hungry, but sometimes it’s so hard to tell what your body wants. I’ve also been trying to chew my food longer and slower. While I was at my cousin’s house for their homecoming, I read something in a magazine saying how we take fewer bites now than a few years ago. I’ve done pretty well on this the last two days, but when I ate birthday cake at my Aunt’s birthday I just inhaled it. Not a good thing to do. I’ll keep working on it.
It’s Sunday evening, and that means weigh in! I checked the scale, and it read 128 lbs again! I was surprised because I’ve eaten out a lot this week. Maybe I’ve been actually listening to my body?
When I was at the birthday party, I wanted to take pictures. I was all ready for it, but once I saw all of the nice cameras that everyone else had I felt ridiculous with my sad little silver guy. Do you guys ever feel camera shy? How do you get over the fear of taking pictures? Also, what motivates you to run? Lately I've been really inspired by the blog http://healthyashley.blogspot.com/ . It's a pretty fun blog to read. I read pretty much all foodie blogs and it makes me want to post food pics. But it's that camera shyness again. Anywho, that's all from me!

Laundry Day

Boy, I am tired, and I don't know why.

 Not much to say about today. I did laundry after I came home? That's about it.

There's nothing like fresh out fo the dryer laundry.
I might do something fun tonight! We'll see!
(Sorry this is a boring post, but I just can't think of what to write about!)

My stereotypical college outfits...

Friday Friday Friday! Thank goodness it's Friday. Sadly enough, there is not much excitment in Monmouth on a Friday, so here I am once again in Canby. Alright, it's also because my cousin became Freshmen Homecoming Princess! How fun.

Hanging out with my cousin was fun, but it was kind of difficult because even though we're cousins, we are so different. I always forget how preppy she can act.

It was nice having only two hours of classes today, and then just being done. Today, my plans have changed a million times. It all started out with yesterday hearing there was a party going on tonight in town I was like, "Yes! Finally, something in town!" Then today around lunch I found out the party was in Corvallis. Everything is in Corvallis. I don't WANT to go back there, I want to escape my old home ya know? Then it was like, "Wait, we don't know what we're doing, maybe we could go hang out with my brother (Katelyn)?" Umm... I don't really want to party with Katelyn's brother. It's weird. SO, here I am. It's fun.

I've been trying to be the cute dresser for school, with fun dresses and shoes. Unfortunately, I've become the sporty dresser. This is because I have athletic classes 4 times a week, so I have to dress down! I suppose I just have to make it work.

I seriously can't concentrate right now because I am surrounded by talking. See you all later!