Tagged!!

The loverly Kathleen tagged me in a post!!

1) post these rules
2) you must post 11 random things about yourself
3) answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post
4) create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer
5) go to their blog and tell them they've been tagged

The 11 random things about myself... 

One: I don't put anything in my tea.

Two: Embryology is currently my favorite class.

Three: Burt's Bees chapstick is the best!

Four: I love celtic music.

Five: The only kind of water I drink is filtered.

Six: I want to / need to learn HTML!

Seven: I actually like easy mac. (gaspeth!)

Eight: Photography is my "new" hobby.

Nine: Being back on campus is awesome!!

Ten: The book I read depends on my mood.

Eleven: There is currently an orange spoon on my desk.

Eleven answers to eleven questions:

1. what is your favorite book? Gah!  I don't know.  I'd have to say..... Waking Rose. :)
2. Do you have a favorite movie? If so what is the name? Persuasion (BBC version)
3. Are you a sports fan? Depends on the team- If it's the Patriots, Red Sox, Redskins, or any team that a niece or nephew is on, then yes. ;)
4. What is one of your favorite sports to watch? Volleyball!!
5. What is your favorite color? (if you have more than one you can say what they are) Blue and Purple
6. Do you like inspirational quotes? Absolutely!  
7. Are you a fast knitter? I'm fairly fast....
8. Do you like sewing, crocheting or knitting?  Knitting first, then sewing, and I don't know how to crochet.
9. Are you a crafty person? If so what do you like to make? Kinda!  I like scrapbooking, knitting, making earrings....
10. What is your favorite kind of animal? Uh..... I don't really have a favorite.
11. Do you like playing sports? Again, depends on the sport!  

And here are my questions:

1. What is your favorite quote?

2. What is the furthest you've been from home?

3. What is the last thing you ate?

4. Favorite "fun" book?

5. What is the last show you saw?
6. What is your favorite book of the Bible and why?
7. What is your favorite sports team?
8. Colored pencil or crayons?
9. Do you collect anything?
10. What is your favorite dessert?
11.  What is the last crafty thing you made?

Maggie: A Window on the West
Amanda: Come Along Pond
Lizzie: Corner for Writings, Musings, and Rantings
Robyn: Embraced by Bliss
Mae: Imaginations of a Princess
Libby: Passionately Full of Life
Ivy: Singing in the Dark
Renee: Sweet Unrest
K. Martin: Whistle While You Wait
(Yes, I am aware that I only have 9, but since I follow many of the same blogs as Kathleen, who tagged me, I didn't want to tag all the same people!)

And there you have it!  In the next day or two, I'm hoping to post about the March for Life experience. :)
Hope you're all having a wonderful January!!
xoxo,

A time to mourn, a time to dance....

Um, well, first of all, an apology- has it really been almost a month since I posted?  Whoops!  Needless to say, it's been quite a break!  There were some highlights (seeing family and friends, not having to do school work, reading a whole lot, being in the kitchen again...) and some lowlights (getting sick, Mom and Dad being sick, my brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews all getting sick within one week of each other.... yeah.  Sickness was the worst part.  But it didn't last long!)

Christmas was lovely.  We went to Christmas Eve mass, the next morning my parents and aunt and I opened gifts, and in the afternoon the whole family came over.  Lots of people, and lots of fun! :)  (There is actually a serious post shortcoming regarding a valuable lesson learned at Christmas dinnertime.... it may or may not be amusing as well. :P )

So, as you may have guessed, I'm back at school.  Hence the title of this post.  I'm mourning the end of break, but I'm extremely happy to be back.  I'm very excited for my classes this semester.  I'll be taking 6 classes, which is one more than last semester, but 5 of them are going to be really good, I think.  Today I had Media and Society and French 202 (this one'll be interesting.... there are 25 people in our class, which is big for a language.... and some of them have only had 2 years of French while others are in their 5th (that's me)...... and a couple don't know how to say their numbers..... and one girl is very excitable.  yeah).  Tomorrow is going to be nuts- I'm in class from 9:30-5 with one break.  I start with Introduction to Catechetics, run to Embryology in the science building, run back to Catechetics 1, have a lunch break at 2:15 then go back for Radio/TV at 3:30.  Welcome to my Tuesdays/Thursdays.  At least they're good classes!

I shall update you all on my classes tomorrow!!
xoxo,

Tell the World I'm (Coming) Home

Yes, it's true.... first semester is over, done, finis, and I am home once again!  Except this time, I'm home for a whole month!

Does life get better?  I submit that it cannot!
(And if you don't get that reference, come talk to me.  I will quickly solve that problem)

Sooo....what's been happening these past couple weeks?  Lots o' stuff.
Last week, I had five exams in six days, which meant very little sleep and lots of hilarious conversations with Evelyn :)  (In case you're dying to know, I did get my scores back, and I am happy :D )

After we were all done with our exams, we piled into a van.  What an amusing car trip!  Picture this: a driver and 6 students, an 8-seater van, 5 suitcases, 3 oversized duffel bags, 6 backpacks, and approximately  10 smaller bags.  I kid you not, we literally could not move.  And when we stopped for a stretch break, we pretty much had to unpack 5 bags before anyone could move.  :P

Oh- saddest moment of my week.... I had bought a CD to listen to after finals, so I finished my last final went back to my room and ripped open the plastic, put it into my disc drive........ and it wouldn't load.  Turns out the CD won't play on macs, but it will on PCs.  Seriously, Apple?  That's just lame.

I can't believe that Christmas is only 5 days away.  Woah.  Where did the year go?  Christmas is going to be so awesome..... Christmas Eve, we'll go to mass then to my sister's house for hors d'oeuvres.  Christmas morning, My parents, aunt and I will open presents, then get ready for all my siblings and nieces and nephews to arrive in the afternoon.  I love spending time with my entire family... we play games after dinner, and that's always tons of fun.

This has been a post full of italics..... wasn't it Anne Shirley who made some comment on italics?  Or was that Rose Brier?  It's so bad when you get book quotes mixed up.....

"And I shall memorize every line in this book and paint it in calligraphy on my living room walls.” 

That is very tempting, honestly.  How interesting would that be, to have a living room with calligraphied walls?  Better yet, to have a library with calligraphied walls!  (Before you go look it up, no- calligraphied isn't a word.  I made it up.)

Last, but not least, I will be changing my background and design once again, so don't be confused when you see my blog next time!!

xoxo,

It's International...

So, this is gonna be super duper quick, but I saw that I now have readers in 10 countries!!  I knew about Canada, the UK, and Australia, but some of you are from Russia, Croatia, France (Bonjour!) New Zealand, and South Africa!  Welcome to you all!  *sigh* The wonders of media!

I'm 2 exams down and 3 to go..... soon I'll be home!  I can't wait!
I leave you with the song I've played the most..... 30 more times than the next song, in fact!  It's Defying Gravity from Wicked, sung by Idina Menzel.
xoxo,

Answered Question #2

This will most likely be my last post of any length until after exams.... so here you go!

I wanted to answer Super Frugalette's question: "I want to know more about how you feel as a college student.  Is it living up to your expectations?  Do you feel anything is lacking in your experience?"

Hmmm..... well, all in all, I am thoroughly enjoying college.  I am learning sooo much, both in classes and by talking to other people, I am meeting lots of new friends, and, most importantly, I'm growing in my faith!  


I should probably expand on those areas.  Firstly, learning.  Even though I'm not necessarily taking classes that I love, they have been good for me in the long run, and I've ended up liking aspects of them all.  For instance, my poetry class has really helped me appreciate Christian poetry more.  This past semester, my favorite class, by far, was Foundations of Catholicism.  It was a "required" class, but I loved it.  We learned a lot about doctrines of the faith, historical aspects of the Councils, and current-day issues.  Under the same "learning" category- even though I attend a Catholic University, there are people who are either not Catholic or who come from a different background than I.  I enjoy talking to them and learning their points of view.  In a totally less significant area, it's been interesting to learn more about different ways that people grew up.  There have been countless discussions about Christmas traditions, favorite family foods, and summer vacations, among other things.


Secondly, I've met so many wonderful friends.  You know, it's funny.... in high school, it took me a while to make strong friendships.  Since August 26th, I've formed 1 extremely strong friendship, 3 or so really good friendships, and about 15 good friendships.  It's so much faster and easier to get to know someone when you're living within walking distance of them!!  I love it.  


Finally, and definitely most importantly, my faith has become so much more prevalent in my life.  For goodness sakes, how could I NOT grow in my faith when there are 3 masses a day, perpetual Eucharistic adoration 6 minutes (walking) away, Jesus is one floor away, the main chapel is always open.... there are rosaries, worship nights, and night prayer meetings in "the bell tower".  Oh yeah, and there's confession 4 days a week and spiritual direction in my dorm 16.5 hours a week.  Seriously, I'm going to miss my early morning and late night journeys down to the chapel while I'm on Christmas break.  (Before I leave the dorm in the morning, I stop in to say "good morning" to Jesus, then I try to say night prayer each night, as well).


As far as anything that's been lacking.... I guess the only thing is that I still feel like I'm in a "bubble".  In high school I was in a very small bubble, so the bubble's gotten bigger.  But let's face it- we live on "the hill".  Everyone here acknowledges that we're in a Catholic bubble.   I can't think of anything else significant!  I wish there were more hours in the day, but doesn't everyone?!?


Hope that answers your question, super frugalette!!


To all my Christian followers- Happy Advent!  I hope you're having a wonderful season of preparation for Christmas!  I will be changing my blog theme to reflect the advent season, so hopefully I'll get that up soon!


As I mentioned at the beginning, I'm going into finals, so I'd appreciate prayers, but I also won't be posting anything significant for a week.  'Til next Wednesday!!


xoxo,