Spring Break on the Horizon

The flight is Friday morning. It feels way too far away and like it's so stinking close!

I'm feeling like I have a zillion things to do to ready myself for our trip. My room was tidy on Saturday as I packed. Now, things are all over the place because I've gotten ready in the dark and wildly unpacked to be sure something is in my bag. 

I have two to do list that are ever-changing and one packing list that's ever-growing. Being a good packer is difficult! I don't have a suitcase at school so I'm sort of stuffing things in bags until I get home Thursday night and can quickly repack.

Many of my profs are acknowledging that everyone is stressed and ready for a break. I wasn't feeling overwhelmed but now I am because I'm realizing how much has to be finished before I leave and how much has to happen over break. Yikes. 

Is there any magic wand I can wave to be organized and packed perfectly with everything I need and nothing I don't? Let me know if any of y'all are willing to let me borrow it. 

I'm so ready for break and being warm and laying by the pool. I plan to take a zillion photos. I can't wait to share them!

Friday, Baby.

Today today today. 
Today is Friday. And I am glad about it. 

On Tuesday, I was finishing the last 60 pages of a book and writing the review. But then I got an email from my prof saying it was due Friday rather than Wednesday. Booyah! So rather than getting ahead, I went to Steak & Shake with Jess to celebrate. 

On Wednesday night I stayed up late finishing a literature review for our research project. BLEH. Have you ever heard of DropBox? It allows me and the other members of my group to share files across our computers. Lucky for me, all of the sources I wanted to use were in the DropBox so I didn't have to scour for sources. That's the worst part. 
Still, the paper took a long time to write. Rehashing the research of others who have already researched the research of others is a drag. Clinical research is not my jam. Then on top of that we had a workbook assignment. Thanks for that, prof. Maybe that was him trying to get me to not procrastinate? Nah.

Thursday I'm running on low sleep, but I had my research proposal finished for my 9:25 and I was early to class. Winner. 
Then after class, I studied for my 1:40 midterm for theories of group counseling and I think it went really well. I'm glad studied when I did instead of trying to stay up even later to study. Thursday afternoon I tried to get in the rest of my reading of Defending White Democracy: The Making of a Segregationist Movement and the Remaking of Racial Politics, 1936-1965 by Jason Morgan Ward. Not really an easy read for someone like me with, like, zero political knowledge. 
 Next thing I know, it's like 9:00pm and I have about one line written of this dang book review. Kay stayed up doing homework too and it was nice to have a buddy.  By about 12:45, I decided I was not writing well anyway. I got up this morning at 6:00am to finish, edit, etc. It's not maybe the best writing I've ever done but after the class discussion I realized I had kind of misunderstood the book in some ways. I think I wrote decently for as well as I understood the book. 

I don't watch Arrested Development, but I found this screenshot online of the show and however out of context it may be, this describes me in my honors seminar:

Spring break is inching closer and closer and closer! My background right now is the path that our cruise will be taking! I can't wait to blow up the blog with photos. Just one part of a week left and you can bet I'll be dreaming of the Caribbean. 

I've been reading Jesus Calling and My Utmost for His Highest for the Graduate [nearly] every morning this week and it's been fantastic. Check out 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19. I keep thinking about it today. 

Remember that song "Our God is an Awesome God" by Rich Mullins? There's a line that says "And the Lord wasn't jokin' / When He kicked 'em out of Eden / It wasn't for no reason / That He shed His blood". 

That idea that God isn't joking. I do think God has a sense of humor and creativity  specifically with all the creatures He created under the sea. But these words for the Thessalonians are not just tossed out flippantly. They are still relevant. We should still meditate on the words because they are from God for them and for us. 

*I keep hoping this blog will be discovered by high school students thinking about college and wondering what it's like. I try to keep this blog as real as possible. Sometimes I say "True Life: I'm wearing two different socks" (ya know, like from MTV?) or "Real Talk" (like "Coffee and Poptarts at 7am. Real talk") because this is college life. My experience is not the same as everyone else's and it's certainly not the same as the movies. And I like that. This is a real account of me.

This Week

Wow. This week has been SLOW.

I haven't been getting a lot of sleep (boo) which means a lot of headaches (boo).
I'm trying to drink more water and I'm trying cut out my late night snacking. It's unnecessary and usually out of boredom.

On Saturday I went to my very first track meet. We heard that last weekend the meet lasted from 12:30-8:00. Woah. My roommate and I stayed for two hours and that was plenty. I don't think I'll be a regular attender but it was a good experience. In high school I went to a couple of swim meets and there's a similar feel. Sometimes teammates cheer you on but there's a lot of waiting around for your event. I played soccer so you're involved the whole time and watching the play and being involved. It's definitely a different vibe.

I'm feeling pretty stinkin' overwhelmed with the world of school right now. It feels like I have horse blinders on like this world of classes and assignments is all I can see. Although, on the positive side, I did make the Dean's List last semester. Booyah!

I need a break. Lucky me, I have a trip home planned for this weekend. I plan to take photos until my iPhone gives out. Get ready y'all for a play by play. When I start thinking about a trip (home or away for spring break[!]), I plan. I make lots of lists about things that I want to bring home, things I want to bring back, etc. You name it, I list it.

Sometimes I use the "Notes" function on my iPhone, but I really like to use Evernote. It's a free app (although you can pay for more storage) that keeps track of things you write down. Now that I have it on my phone and my computer (I have a MacBook Pro), I can put something down and it will show up in both places when I sync it. I used to find it unnecessary because I do have Microsoft Word, but it's nice for things I might need to jot down on the go or that pop into by brain that are important later. And to me, Microsoft Word is more "let's write a paper" and Evernote is more "movies I should see" and "music to look up". True Life: both of those are notes I have on my Evernote right now.

All of this to say, I can't believe it's only Wednesday. I'm already dreaming about being home and already dreading the 4 hours back to school on Sunday. Thanks for that one, brain.

Link up

Sometimes you fellow bloggers do link-up Friday.
I have found some really great things on the Internet in the last week and I desperately wanted to share them. Some of them were shown to me by me friend Jess, so she definitely deserves some credit.

If you are an artist, you may appreciate this. Apparently this guy found a way to make your markers usable for a longer amount of time.

I like dogs and I like men's fashion and this blog is those two things combined.

When this huge fire broke out, it was very cold. When the firefighters walked away, the abandoned building became an ice castle. My eyes liked the final effect.

These are color photos from the 1930s and 1940s. So cool! It makes me want to take photos of everyday life so that someday the Library of Congress will use them.

Finally, another photo set of an abandoned Detroit school. WOW. The editing on it is so eerie- the past and present together in one photo.

A similar concept to the Detroit school photos is the blog dearphotograph. One of my favorite things is how they line up the photos exactly with the background.

And finally, you should vote for your favorite song of the 1990s. My pick was "I Want It That Way" but the choice is yours.

Happy weekend, friends!

Happy Birthday, Daddio!

Today is my dad's birthday. I love that guy.

Sorry I can't be there to celebrate with you today. Enjoy the next year of life!