Thanksgiving Placemats

Today as I was doing some field experience in a pre-k classroom, I was able to lead an activity for the first time.  It was rather simple, but I was excited that I was in charge of something for once.  I had to help children write what they are thankful for on placemats that they will be using for their pie social.  Most of my job was just to write words that the students to copy onto paper, but I learned a lot about the children I am working with based on their answers.

Tractors.

Hugs.

Dads.

Family.

My friends.

Ballerinas.

Legos.

Princesses.

And my favorite…My bed.

I hear you, girl.

To Transfer or Not To Transfer

To transfer or not to transfer?  That is the question.

My grandmother sparked this idea in me like a slap in the face whilst discussing my life on her 20-year-old sofa with crazy designs plastered on the material.  She was sipping her coffee and watching The Price Is Right.  I hadn’t realized how old Drew Carey was getting or how expensive furniture was these days.

Anyways, my grandmother prodded me of my future plans down in Platteville and that’s when I stopped.  I attempted to imagine myself trying to find an apartment worth living in.  I tried listing off places I could get a better job than working in the cafeteria on campus.  I forced myself to picture my college graduation, but I couldn’t see any orange and blue.  In fact, I couldn’t see anything.  I saw a vast sea and my silhouette standing on a dock looking out.

“I can’t see myself physically living in Platteville,” I told her.  Her eyes crinkled as she smiled.  Out of her mouth tumbled, “River Falls has a good education program.  You should go there.”

I leaned further into the sofa and pondered this thought.  I thought of reasons to stay in Platteville of which included my roommate and friends, the fact I’d already obtained 15 credits there, I’m further from home, and I’m not having any trouble there.  I realized the only thing I would really miss about Platteville would be my friends and the familiarity of the campus.

I then considered reasons why River Falls would be better: closer to home, closer to the city, more job opportunities, and a wonderful teaching program.  I’d be able to dive into the community and university, more sure of myself than I had first been at Platteville.  I arrived in Platteville as an immature teenage girl with no clue whatsoever of what to do with her life.  Now I know who I am and what I want.  I have dreams and goals and the more I think about it, I’m not so sure if Platteville is right for me.

Of course, I have the spring semester to endure.  Not that it would be so bad at all—I enjoyed my first semester fine and dandy.   I’d be coming into River Falls as a sophomore in the fall.  Perfect timing.

I meet with the head of the Elementary Education program at River Falls on Friday to discuss how my credits would transfer over and what all I’d need to do.  If all goes well, I’ll be sure to submit my application the very next day.

It was a spontaneous decision to switch my major to education in November and it’s probably the best decision I’ve made.  I’ve never been more satisfied with anything.  Perhaps this decision to transfer to River Falls will be the next best thing.

Last Entry of 2012

It’s been a while, I know.  My plan was to continuously write these weekly updates throughout my break, but I’ve just been so busy being home that I’ve forgotten until this morning.  My last couple finals turned out swell.  I managed to do splendid first semester with a 3.73 gpa.  So YAY ME!  A snowstorm hit Platteville Wednesday night, which resulted in a campus shut down on Thursday.  We got 14 inches of snow in 20 hours.  They had the RA’s out shoveling snow from Thursday through Friday morning.  Nonetheless, I enjoyed my last couple days alone in my dorm room, watching not only the rest of the Vampire Diaries season, but also The Fox and the Hound and The Aristocats.  I sure felt like a little kid again camped out on my futon drinking tomato soup from a can and chocolate bars by the dozen.

Friday morning, my parents and their monstrous truck plowed through and rescued me.  We stopped at the bookstore to buy some last minute Christmas presents and we were on our way home.  Finally.  It was such a relief to dump all my bags on the floor and hug my fat cat.  It was even more glorious being able to officially unpack, which usually takes me months to do, but I managed to put everything away within a week.  My cat also snuggled with me one night, which he rarely does.  It makes me feel like underneath his ornery behavior, he actually missed me.

The first Saturday home, I had breakfast with my boyfriend and a few of my old high school friends.  It was marvelous to see them all again.  On Sunday, I went to a concert in Minneapolis featuring Twenty One Pilots and Grouplove with one of my good friends.  We went to dinner at a Green Mill and he gave me his Christmas present to me.  A Doctor Who poster.  What a guy.  You can imagine how excited I was.  As for the concert: let me tell you, this concert was amazing.  Twenty One Pilots were so amazing and managed to keep my friend and I smiling the entire length of their performance.  I highly recommend you check these guys out.  Grouplove was pretty great too.  They were definitely different and crazy as the lead singer was wearing torn jeans and a nightgown with an Easter bunny on it.  Despite the fact that half the band looked like they had just gotten out of bed, they were very entertaining and energetic.  The fat guy in front of me couldn’t stop bouncing.  He stomped on my foot once, but despite my pain, I laughed at he and his friend because they were so happy and having such a lovely time, just like my friend and I were.  I’ll definitely be returning to the venue, as well as to see these two bands perform again.

Christmas with my family was lovely.  It was good to catch up with all my relatives and see the little younglings growing older.  Makes me feel old as well.  My sister received multiple scarves for Christmas and my oh my, did she get excited.  It was great to see everyone so merry.

Thursday I went shopping with my best friend who goes to school in Louisiana.  I splurged on myself and bought me a Doctor Who shirt.  Simply AMAZING!  It was fun to hang out with this lovely lady.  She bought us some red velvet cupcakes that were to die for.  Check your local Kwik Trip.  They’re red, cupcakey, and delicious.  You can’t miss them!

I’ve been spending lots of time with my boyfriend, which is beyond wonderful as we rarely see each other as it is.  Although most of our time together consists of sleeping, I wouldn’t have it any other way.  For Christmas, he decided to do the whole 12 Days of Christmas thing.  Twelve presents!  It’s way too much, but he insists I’m worth it.  Isn’t he the best?  One of the presents was a Tardis cookie jar.  It even makes the noise.  Now come on!  ISN’T HE THE BEST!?

This coming weekend is going to be a busy one.  I’ll be travelling to Madison on Friday with the friend that took me to the concert.  We’re going to visit our retired art teacher from high school.  Sounds a bit crazy, but this woman is amazing.  She was always there for us and we’re eager to catch up with her.  When I get home Saturday, my boyfriend’s taking me out for the weekend to end his 12 Days of Christmas.  I’m looking forward to it.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  I’ll be getting ready to go see my man for tonight soon.  No crazy parties for this girl on New Years Eve, which honestly, is a-okay for me.  I’m not the type to make resolutions for the coming year, but I do wish you all a year of happiness.  Have a lovely time.

Xoxo

15 Weeks Wiser

Hey all,

This week has gone by extremely fast!  I had a fabulous past weekend and I look forward to the end of the semester with each passing day.  Wednesday, I gave my final speech and did fine and dandy.  My professor chuckled to himself at my jokes so at least he thought I was funny(:  Thursday, I had two quizzes of which I’m sure I did excellent on.  Friday I had my Spanish oral exam where I had to go to my profe’s office and chat with him for ten whole minutes.  Apparently, my profe is very impressed with me.  He complimented on how well I could speak the language even though I don’t think I can.  He also told me I should consider getting a Spanish minor, which I am thinking about.  I have to look into the requirements and see if I could fit a Spanish class into my next semester’s schedule, even though I’d be having a different professor.  It’s something to think about.  Friday, I also had a biology quiz and since it was our last quiz, my professor let us work in pairs and let me tell you, THANK GOODNESS the girl who sat next to me attended class the days I missed because she saved us.  We aced it with a 100%.  BOOM! How do you like them apples.

My boyfriend also picked me up Friday and before that, I finally gave him a tour of my campus.  I think he liked it despite how many spit puddles we had to step over.  (: We ended up going to bed early Friday night after watching some Youtube and Doctor Who.  He still thinks it’s weird.  That silly boy.

Since this past weekend my boyfriend had drill, I arranged a little surprise visit for my high school friend who had been going to college in Louisiana.  She had been home for not even a full 24 hours on Saturday afternoon.  I had a friend who’s attending Eau Claire as well who drove us to Clayton where we surprised my BFF.  I’ll never forget the way she shrieked my name, tee hee hee.  We spent an hour or so visiting with her and her mother, telling stories of friends and classes and such.  I’m so happy I had the chance to see her.  I then was dropped off at home for a couple hours where I talked nonstop with my mum and sister.  I also had a bowl of delicious Schwann’s icecream.  How I miss that stuff.  Pretty soon, my hours were up and it was back to Eau Claire.  That night, my boyfriend and I headed over to an apartment where another one of my high school friends was at.  It was lovely to catch up with her and her boyfriend, telling stories and watching their cat go crazy over catnip.  I look forward to more visits like those.

Sunday, it SNOWED!  I was dropped off at my boyfriend’s sister’s while he had his little practice for his choir concert.  I watched her boyfriend play Halo and we laughed at the sticky grenades he would launch on alien faces.  When it was time for the concert, We bundled up and headed into the great snowy land.  The roads were awful and even though we were only going 5 mph, we still managed to slide around, but we made it and the concert was lovely.  I was very impressed.  We decided I wouldn’t be going back to Platteville that night due to the horrible roads so I emailed my professors and spent some time doing homework in the dorm while he performed his second concert.

Monday was spent doing the homework I didn’t finish on Sunday and reading.  My boyfriend decided to wake me up when he had to get up for class and thought it was soooo funny.  When he walked out the door, I was left staring at the ceiling until I finally gave in and got ready for the day.  My day consisted of like I said homework, reading, and Doctor Who.  It was a long boring day until my man took me to his dodgeball game before we left Eau Claire.  I didn’t play, but it sure was amusing to watch.  I sat next to some other girl and we made fun of some of the ridiculous boys.

Today has been uneventful.  I saw my friends at breakfast and they made fun of me for skipping my classes the day before and I complained about the snow.  There’s only like two inches here.  It’s like …THAT’S IT!?  But it’s cold and I hate the cold.   My laundry needs to be switched to the dryer now so I’m off to do that before catching up on the stuff I missed this weekend.  Wish me luck(:  I hope you had a lovely snowy weekend.  I’ll be preparing for finals this week and just think.  One more email and then I’ll be home(:

Lots of love.  Have a wonderful week.

Xoxo

The 14th Week of a College Freshman

s

Good morning sunshine,

“Chapstick.  I’m out of chapstick.”  My lips felt like the desert.  I scavenged around in every single drawer and pocket until I sunk into my chair, my back against my bed frame, defeated.  I gave into the temptation of licking my dry lips and I sighed.  I looked to my right and saw my purse.  Turned my head again when I remembered.  Deep in the tiny pocket, I had stored my very last tube of lip relief.  I threw up the fist that was clutching the tube and thought about collapsing to the ground on my knees, praising the chapstick gods, but decided against it.  My lips were quenched.  Finally.

Last Wednesday, I was forced go to Spanish class and I did it grudgingly.  I presented a lovely powerpoint of my family and soon after I had finished my presentation, my professor started asking people random questions.  Somehow television shows were brought up and one girl said she liked Supernatural.  My professor asked if it was like Doctor Who.  The guy sitting next to me and I dropped our jaws as he pretended to climb into his Tardis and time travel.   The guy next to me stuttered as he asked if my professor was a fan to which he replied MUCHO!  My jaw stayed dropped for a good thirty seconds until it was replaced with a huge, dorky smile.  Another reason to love my quirky, old Spanish profe.  (:  In speech class, I was assigned a speech.  Obviously.  My final speech.  I present this week so I should probably work on that, eh?  During class, my professor asked if there were any education majors in the class.  I raised my hand and everyone gave me a weird look.  Last that they had known, I was gonna emphasize in journalism.  I had mumbled “Changed my major again” and my professor was like “Oh, Nicole! Nicole’s gonna be our teacher today.”  First off, I was surprised that he remembered my name because he still gets Brad and Cody and Brandon mixed up and every one else he just forgets.  Second of all, I chuckled along with the class thinking he was just messing around until he said “You think I’m joking, I’m not” with a hearty laugh. So an hour passed and I was summoned to the white board.  Honestly, my “teaching” was just writing on the board, calling on people, and summarizing, which I butchered terribly.  But my class loved me and still applauded me profusely.  Two people even complimented me.  Maybe I am just that good…or they were all just glad they didn’t have to do it.

Thursday, I finally gained the courage to go talk to my biology professor during his office hours to see if I could take my final early, in hopes of coming home a whole three days earlier.  That was before I found out my speech final got moved to Friday as well.  I won’t be home early ):  Anyways, I entered his office with a smile on my face.  “HI!” I had said.  He immediately brightened up into this helpful ball of cheer.  We discussed the final and he had said he’d try to set an alternate test date on that Wednesday.  That discussion lasted about a minute and as much as I wanted to leave, the poor guy looked like he wanted company.  So I asked if there was anything to do about my grade even though it’s perfectly above average.  We spent some time calculating my grade to which he praised and somehow we got talking about my major, my hometown, and before I knew it I had told him my life story.  I walked out of that room with my face to my palm.  I had exposed myself to him and now he believes we’re friends as he now uses me as a focal point during his lectures.  I have to actually look like I’m happy to be there now.  Thank goodness there’s only two more weeks of classes left.

Friday, my roommate went home and I had just snuggled into the futon with the Doctor Who theme song playing in my ears when I heard about five hundred knocks on my door.  It was two of my friends.  Who were half drunk.  We started talking in my room until another friend and these two other guys joined us.  Pretty soon I had a beer in my hand and we were laughing as we retold high school stories.  How the boys had TP’d their school with $500 worth of toilet paper and how they created a cheating line in one of their classes.  Two of the boys complained about girls.  It was pretty interesting seeing these boys crack.  A couple of my wing mates came into the room and one was completely trashed.  The boys changed their names and talked all big until her roommate finally talked her into going to bed.  Then one of my friends soon fell asleep on my shoulder and another started using permanent marker on his face until he woke up.  It was 1:30 when the boys left and I received multiple hugs and apologies for disturbing my night even though I had a pretty great night.   I hadn’t laughed that hard in a while.

Saturday was spent watching Doctor Who until dinner when I met the guys.  They were gonna go out again that night, but I decided to pass.  I skyped my friend in Louisiana and my boyfriend for a few hours each. It was a lovely night where I went to bed way too late, but it was lovely talking with my besties(:

Sunday I met my only girl friend besides my roomie, who I had taken Intro to College Life with, for dinner at the GWAM.  I hadn’t seen her for a couple months and as soon as I sat down, I remembered why we had become friends in the first place.  We never stopped talking.  It was like boom.  Again, I updated her with my life and she with me.  She loves Doctor Who too.  We spent at least fifteen minutes discussing which characters we liked and which we didn’t.  I definitely want to stay in touch with this girl.  She’s gonna go places.

Monday, I skipped my two classes that day and spent most the day in bed.  I felt sick and exhausted and I didn’t want to move until dinner with the guys again.  My roommate was gone at a class, but it was good nonetheless.

This coming weekend I’m heading to Eau Claire again so I am definitely looking forward to Friday.  I hope you all have had an amazing week.  May this week pass as quickly as I would like it to.  Lots of love!

Xoxo

13 Lucky Weeks Gone

Hey you all,

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Mine was absolutely divine, fact being I was finally home for the first time in over a month.  Being home gave me a sense of comfort and security I hadn’t felt in a couple weeks and it also proved to me that I’m maturing.  I baked for not myself, but for my family.  I washed my own dishes with in 24 hours and didn’t complain.  I offered to clean out the sugar my sister had spilt all over the cupboard six months ago (My mom had been waiting for it to magically disappear every time she opened the door).  I also wash my hands a whole lot more and expect respect for my privacy.  You can imagine the look on my face when I didn’t close the bathroom door completely and my cat pushed the door open with his head, causing it to slam against the wall as he sprinted in for an opportunity for some pets.  The last thing that I’ve noticed that’s changed is that I appreciate my time with everyone back home a whole lot more.  I spent a lot of my high school days at home, hiding in my bedroom drowning out the world with music and now when I’m home, I always have something planned with a new face because I try to visit everyone that I love while I’m home.  I’m just really glad I have such amazing people in my life.  And I guess that’s the whole point of Thanksgiving, right?  Being thankful for everything?  I didn’t really understand the concept of that until this year being away from practically everything that I know.  People used to ask me “Why Platteville?”  I chose Platteville so I could expand my horizons and be on my own completely.  Now I’m realizing that choosing Platteville made me realize how important the little things are back at home.

So yes.  My break.  Wednesday I got home around 9PM and after talking with my parents and sister and yes, my cat, I walked into the kitchen and started baking.  I never baked when I was in high school and when I did, my cookies usually didn’t turn out so great.  It’s a great goal of mine, isn’t it?  Learning to bake well.  Anyways, I made three different batches of baked goodies.  I put too much flour in the cookies so they didn’t spread out at all, I failed at melting chocolate chips so my somoa bars turned out…disastrous, and I now know I need to invest in a mini cupcake pan because muffin-sized Reese’s peanut butter cups are WAY too much for one person.  But my family and boyfriend ate em’ anyways so I have succeeded right?  I’d say so.

Thanksgiving with the family was lovely.  Lots of “how’s college going.”  There’s not much to say other than “good.”  What do you expect?  I told the rest of my family that I switched my major to Elementary Education and they were really happy for me and said it was a good choice.  Can’t wait for those teaching classes.  I ate too much, but can you really blame me.  Real food.  It was delicious.

Friday morning was spent driving 35 miles an hour down highway 8 in hopes of making to Rice Lake alive to do some shopping, which we did.  My coffee sat untouched the whole way because I wouldn’t take one hand off the wheel.  It had snowed all night and at five in the morning, there were no snow plows.  The roads were terrifying.  My poor coffee.  I also went to visit my coworkers at my old workplace.  I swear one of them almost crashed into another car when she pulled in the parking lot and saw me.  She flailed her arms and honked her horn at me.  I couldn’t stop laughing as I walked into the store where I was greeted with a few more hugs and some conversation.  I sure do miss it there.  After that I went to see my grandma on my mom’s side because for some reason we weren’t doing Thanksgiving on her side.  I ended up talking with her for about an hour, which I didn’t expect at all, but it was great nonetheless.  I also stopped by my other grandma’s to talk to her because Thanksgiving had been so busy I never really had the chance to talk to her.  Her kitten is so cute.  Friday night was spent at the local diner where I had my $2 pancake and chocolate malt I’d been craving with some of my ole friends.  We then went bowling where we all did surprisingly well.  Well, my man and I did average, but the others did good!  I had such an amazing time with that group that I did not want to leave them, but lingering in the parking lot was not going to do because it was cold.  I don’t like the cold.

Saturday was spent with my boyfriend’s family where I ate a ton of delicious breakfast food and smiled at little children.  My boyfriend kept telling me I was probably looking like a creeper, but they were so adorable I couldn’t help it.  I spent that night with my family until my parents went to bed and…(insert dramatic music) MY SISTER AND I WATCHED DOCTOR WHO!  Yep.  She likes it.  Yep.  It’s so great(:

Sunday, my dad and I ended up leaving around eight and despite the fact that I had gorged myself the past few days, we still stopped at this little gas station for pretty much the best donuts ever.  They were delicious.  We also stopped at this place called Crazy Franks where they had all this junk for really cheap.  Besides junk they had, well, everything.  It was fun to look around.  Sunday night, I spent reading The Hunger Games.  Yes, I hadn’t read them yet, and yes, I’m on the third book, which I’ll probably finish within the week.  They’re good.  I’m liking them.

Monday and Tuesday have been pretty boring.  I found out I did surprisingly well on all my exams I had last week so yay me.  I got a Spanish presentation to finish up tonight so I’m gonna get started on that!  I hope you all had a absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving.  I wish you all the best for this next week(:

Xoxo

Twelve Weeks Passed

Good afternoon you,

I leave for home in less than 25 hours.  How exciting is that!?  I have a busy next few days that I’m super excited about, but alas, if I tell you my plans now, there’ll be little to talk about next week.  But yes, the rest of my week includes food, family, friends, boyfriend, shopping, more food, and sleeping in my own bed.  How I’ve missed it so.  I also look forward to seeing some of your faces this week(:

This past week has gone by pretty quickly despite that I’ve only had a couple interesting things happen.  I’m well into the fourth season of Doctor Who—which is so splendid—those of you who don’t understand my obsession…you’ll never understand until you watch it.  So watch the first four episodes and then you can say what you will.

This week has been warmer than the previous, which has been lovely.  There was actually a day that I went to class without my winter jacket.  Proud of me?  I’ve initiated Wake Up Wednesday for myself.  I’m allowing myself to order a coffee drink one day a week since my meal plan budget has just enough extra cash for coffee once a week.  Also because if I get hooked on Starbucks, Christmas break is going to be just a tad bitter with no caffeine and sugar filled deliciousness in a cup.

My roommate had another choral concert this past Saturday.  This time a bunch of our friends came with me to watch.  We sat on the second floor balcony where we could feel powerful, looking over the rest of the audience.  One of my friends came in late, smelling of beer and smoke from the night before, and plopped down in between me and…SURPRISE: the choral director who gave us dirty looks the full concert hour.  People like her make me start questioning whether or not people are actually happy with their lives, ya know?  Anyways, Taylor Swift’s Never Ever Ever Ever Ever Ever Getting Back Together is playing again next door. (;  ANYWAYS, after my roomie’s lovely performance, we all waited out in the lobby for her, when (insert dramatic music here) her mom came over and gave me the biggest hug ever and then listed off the boys’ names correctly even though she had never met them before this moment.  They all glanced around at each other awkwardly until she explained she had been practicing names while creeping on Facebook.  She’s so great, ha ha.  When my roommate had finally changed, we all headed to the fancy pizza place here called Steve’s where we ate until we couldn’t eat anymore.  It was a great time nonetheless talking about what we thought of college and our families.

Monday night was spent over at one of my friend’s watching the Bears game and although they lost, it was still a pretty entertaining night.  His roommate said some judgmental things,  he wrestled his RA, and quite a few funny stories were told.  It was a pretty good night.

Otherwise, that’s about it.  I hope your past week went by just as quickly as mine did.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Lots of love.

Xoxo

It’s Been Eleven Weeks?

Ello you!

After finishing the third and final book my mum sent me last week, I dove straight into the world of Doctor Who on Netflix.  Now let me just say, I almost didn’t watch Doctor Who because everyone was telling me how bad it was.  Well…they were wrong.  It might just because I have a British obsession or because two of my friends here have daily chats about the latest episode they watched that make me think it’s absolutely amazing, but that’s okay!  The aliens make me laugh with how ridiculous and dramatic they make everything seem.  It’s such a good show that it’s invaded my dreams.  Doctor Who.  Lovely.

This is the week that I register for spring classes.  I see my advisor once again tomorrow so he can approve of the classes that I want to take.  I’ll most likely only be taking 15 credits next semester, which really bothers me, but I’ll still be on track even though I’ll be starting my specific major classes a semester behind.  But yes!  If my advisor approves, I’ll be taking two teaching classes (where I’ll have to observe both children at a daycare and at Platteville elementary-WAHOO!!!!), a computer class for educators, a math class for educators, psychology, and intro to government.  You all should know me well enough to know that I know absolutely nothing about government so…yay learning?

I went to yet another concert on Sunday, but this time, it was for my roommate.  She’s a part of two choirs here on campus.  Sunday’s concert was for her women’s choir and I must say, it was a lot better than I thought it was going to be.  They did some cool songs that my friend and I enjoyed thoroughly.  Before the concert, he and I went over to our other friend’s to try and get him to come with, but being him, the Bears football game came first.  My friend has her mass choir concert this coming Saturday, where her parents are coming up too.  We’re all going to go out to this fancy pizza place in town afterward.  Yay real, good pizza!

My speech went well last week.  You’re probably rolling your eyes thinking well of course, but it was exciting!  I talked about November being National Novel Writing Month and guess what!  People listened to me talk and two guys laughed at my jokes.  There was no awkward pause because they actually laughed.  FINALLY!  As you can probably guess, I was merrily walking out of that classroom that day.  I have four exams coming up in the next week so towards Friday, my goal is to start studying.  I’ll probably be too wrapped up in Doctor Who to even want to study.  I’m excited to be coming home next week, although I’ll probably be writing more about that in next week’s email.(:  There’s no snow here.  It snowed last week, but it didn’t last.  The wind just blows here.  There’s no escaping it—the cold wind.  BURR!

Anyways, I hope you guys are all doing swell (: I miss you all so.  Lots of love and have a wonderful week.

Xoxo

Ten Weeks Gone By

Good Morning Lovelies,

This week has been one of the most uneventful weeks of my entire life.  I ended up caving Thursday night and with disgrace all over my face, typed Netflix.com into Safari.  Things haven’t been the same since.  I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.  A quote from the movie is pictured above. As depressing and messed up as the movie was, I recommend it.  It was good and it left me thinking so bonus points!  I also started watching the sixth season of Psych.  I giggle like a schoolgirl receiving a lollipop.

My mum bought me some books, which arrived on Friday.  I finished the Perks of Being a Wallflower that same day and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green the next.  As I said, most uneventful time of my life.  I’ve had a lot of time on my hands and honestly, I’ve loved this week.  I spent Friday, Saturday, and Sunday camped out on my futon.  Everything was in reaching distance.  I must say there was a moment where I hopped up on my futon so I was half standing, half-crouched because my bed was above me and shouted, with my arm stretched out, clenched fist and all,  “Aye! Thee treasure awaits meh!”

I went to an orchestral concert on Thursday.  My friend bailed on me, which was a-okay because I got to sit with all the old people.  I looked out at the audience seated below me and I saw this family.  Within that family, there was a grandpa and a little kid, maybe seven years old.  The little boy kept looking up at his grandpa and his grandpa kept talking to him.  Maybe that’s what made the scene so wonderful to me: his grandpa was talking to the boy.  So many people just talk AT kids and I hate when I see that, granted, everyone does it at some point.  Kids are people too and some people just think they have to be so superior to their innocence.  Anyways, those two were adorable.  As the orchestra started playing, the boy leaned his head on his grandpa’s shoulder.  Priceless.  If my luck couldn’t get any better, a cute boy and his mother sat next to me.  That little boy gave me one of the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen and gosh, I couldn’t stop smiling for the next ten minutes.  That brings me to my most important news for this week!

I switched my major again.  I finally decided on Elementary Education with a minor in Early Childhood.  You surprised?  It was a spontaneous moment when I just decided this and for probably the first time in my life, I just went with it. In two weeks, I’ll register for spring classes and in between then, I’ll have a meeting with a new advisor so yay!  It’s exciting to be happy about this decision.  Or maybe I’m just excited because I’ll get to observe children next semester.

So yes, that has been my week.  I’m writing this on Sunday, and my roommate just got back.  Well, she’s been back for an hour and she hasn’t stopped talking since.  She’s currently looking through campus photos laughing her head off at the ridiculous faces from the action shots of soccer players.  She left with two bags and came back with four.  After her mom left, she unzipped her bag and exclaimed “I GOT MORE SWEATERS!”  Gosh, she’s great.

Monday and Tuesday have been pretty uneventful as well.  I have a speech tomorrow, which I must prepare for now so I’ll leave you to be on your own merry way.  It’s snowing here.  A pretty snow.  I’m going to enjoy it as long as I can before I realize snow is cold and now it’s going to be even colder, but until then…I will enjoy the beauty of the flakes floating down out my window.  Lots of love.

Xoxo

The Seventh Week As A College Kid

Watching a leaf tumble through the air was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen in my grandma’s forest this past weekend.  I’ve begun to notice and appreciate the little things a whole lot more since I moved down to Platteville.  I don’t look down so much when I walk, instead looking ahead and around to take in everything surrounding me.  The world’s so beautiful and I can’t believe I had been taking that for granted for so long.

This past week has been lovely.  I presented a speech about palm reading on Wednesday.  It was pretty great seeing all my classmates hold their palm two inches from their face seeing if what I said was true for them.  I had my first legit Spanish exam on Thursday, which I aced.  So BOOYA!

Wednesday night, I ended up going to a piano concert with my friend and a couple other people we know.  The theater was full of mostly elderly people-men with their grey hair balding and women with their tightly curled hair.  Mostly all the elderly were with their spouse, which I thought was the cutest thing ever.  When I get old, that’s where I want to be on a Wednesday night.  Either there or at some fancy art gallery where there’s free food critiquing different pieces as if I could do better.

My dad, grandma, and sister came to pick me up Thursday night.  My grandma loved the experience of seeing campus and my dorm room despite the long drive.  My family has this new tradition of stopping at the Sparta Family Restaurant at some point of the long journey to bring me home.  It’s cheap, quick, and delicious.  Reminds me of my hometown diner only with tons more people.  After we had eaten, we got back on the road again, only to get a flat tire a half hour later.  It was dark and it was cold, but eventually we managed to get it switched out using a cell phone as a flash light.  We were home later than expected, but we made it.  That’s the only thing that matters.

I had a wonderful weekend home, being extremely busy the three days there.  Friday I went to Eau Claire after stopping in at my old workplace to see some of my coworkers.  I’m impressed with some of the clothes they now have.  They’re actually cute!  I received a couple hugs from a few of my coworkers and some harassment from my old boss.  It made me laugh.  Felt like I had never left.  My boyfriend showed me around Eau Claire’s campus and even though I totally think Platteville’s better…EC’s pretty nice.  I’ll give him that. (;  One of my high school friends goes to EC as well and we met up with him.  He taught me how to long board, which was a pretty amazing experience.  Riding around a parking lot was such a lovely way to pass some time.

I spent Saturday with my family at my grandma’s cabin on her back 40.  We celebrated my sister’s and grandma’s birthday with tons of food and a squirrel hunt.  Despite the rain, we had a pretty great time.  It was amazing to see all my family.

Once I returned to the great city of Platteville, it felt like I had never left.  My roommate got back a little later than I did and soon a couple of our friends came over.  We spent the night together listening to different country songs, laughing at the dirty parts and staring at the floor and seriously thinking about the meaning of some of the sadder songs.  It was great. Classes this week are going to be hard as I have two exams and one quiz.  I have the motivation of an old fat man considering taking up marathon running to do absolutely anything.  It’s pretty sad actually, but I think it’s just because I had such a lovely homework free weekend that I don’t want to go back to being a studious college kid.  I need a nap.

I hope your week was just as busy as mine was.  Lots of love.

Xoxo