Day 1 - 15 Facts About Yourself

1.) I attend Penn State, and I love it here. Whether you call it Happy Valley, State College, or University Park, it truly is an amazing campus and I feel like I really belong here.
2.) My favorite Creamery flavor is a tie between Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Arboretum Breeze. For those who don't know, Arboretum Breeze is mint ice cream with chocolate chunks and a raspberry swirl. Doesn't sound too appetizing, but boy is it delicious!
3.) I am the second tallest in my immediate family, only dwarfed by my father, topping in at 5'6".
4.) I am only 5'2". But I am proud of it!
5.) Including preschool and college, I have attended 10 different schools. One in Indonesia, two in North Carolina, two in Washington, two in Arkansas, one in Ohio, and two in Pennsylvania.
6.) I am a picky eater, but I still eat a lot, as long as the food is made the way I like it. And that's the way my family makes it.
7.) I love spending time with my family, even just doing the little stuff.
8.) I work at Root Candles, which is this amazing candle store that blows Yankee Candles out of the water!
9.) I am studying to be an Architectural Engineer, Structural option, which is a 5 year program at PSU. It is tough, but it is something I have been passionate about ever since I was little.
10.) I have lived all over the United States and World, as you can tell by my list above. The only state I didn't list above was California, where I was born.
11.) My hair grows super fast, so I have donated between 10 and 12 inches 3 times to Locks of Love. It was tough the first time, but now it is no big deal. I like to help out however I can.
12.) I consider Buffalo my home away from home, since it has been the one place in my life that has been constant no matter where I have lived.
13.) I love to travel, and hope to one day go to all 50 states in one year, as well as every continent in one year.
14.) I adore cooking and baking, and I really miss it when I am at college. Give me a recipe and I'm all set! I do experiment with cooking more than baking, because baking is a science, and I haven't messed around with it yet to get good results.
15.) There is nothing better than wearing warm socks out of the dryer, curled up in a blanket, playing a game with your family, while drinking hot chocolate on a cold winters day. It is a feeling I wish I could bottle up and keep for whenever I am feeling blue.

=)

Countdown to a Spring Break begins!

I haven't realized just how much I miss my parents till now, but this weekend hit me hard. But now that I get to see my mom in 4 days, I feel so much better! I miss seeing her, eating awesome food, and having fun without stressing out about school!

I just found out today that my mom is getting her implant for her chipped tooth in sometime during break, which means she and I will spend the day lounging and watching movies! How awesome is that??? And if she still feels bad the next day, she'll take it off and we can enjoy the fun times together!

So now that THON and most of my classes are almost done, I realize I have 9 classes, 1 quiz, and 1 test before I am home with my family! The only thing missing is my sister, but she is still at school. =(

I hope to do this, but next month, for 30 days, I will be posting a picture, both here and on Facebook, following the 30 day challenge. A picture a day for the next month. The only difference is that on here, I will talk a bit more than just the caption on Facebook. So here's to hoping I can do it!

PS THON two weekends ago was amazing. I got to see one of my best friends Angela, and get to really make a difference, when THON raised $9,563,016.09to find a cure for pediatric cancer! FTK!

And for those who missed it, here is an awesome video of the 2011 line dance!

THON 2011 Line Dance
Stretch:
Stretch it out, Side to side,
Come on Penn State, Show your pride,
Grab left, Grab right,
Throw it up, and touch the sky,
1-2-3-4-5! 6! 7! 8!
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh,
WE. ARE. PENN. STATE.
Verse 1:
For the fight, til it’s done.
2-0-1-1
Stop requested, CATA speaks
Next stop, BJC
150, For The Glory
Wall Street Journal, front page story
Volley, Fencers, Soccer too,
GET IT! white and blue
JoePa wins 400th game
Adding to his Penn State fame
Feature twirler, he’s brand new
See ya later HUB lawn view
Thon 5k gets new start
Keep the cause close to heart
Dance, to make a difference
For The Kids
Chorus:
Penn State, can you feel it?
We got that dancin’ spirit.
BOOM! now shake those stands
BOOM! now rock that floor
We love Hershey’s heroes
We will dance some more
THON. ON.
LET’S GO STATE!
Verse 2:
Lindsay Lohan posts her bail,
Hashtag: #epicfail
Bieber fever sweeps the nation
Wizard world, new vacation
What up Oprah? Take a bow
Lady Gaga wears a cow
Flight attendent goes insane
Scan that bod to board the plane
Toy Story…
Back for 3…
You’ve got a friend in me. . .
iPad, iPhone makes a buzz
Can you bring it? Droid Does
Lost, final scenes
Inception, protect your dreams
Will gives Kate his momma’s ring
Pryor would have sold that bling
Zodiac, gets new sign
Glad i’m born before ’09
Antoine Dodson takes the screen
Ke$ha, Katy, OMG
Larry, turn it up up up up. . .
[Chorus]
Verse 3:
Spain scores to win the cup
Shut that vuvuzela up
Jim Joyce, whiffs the call
Legends, Leaders, in the fall
LeBron heats a superpower
Did he really need an hour?
I throw my diamonds in the air sometimes. . .
Sayin ayyy-o
FTK-o
THON hats, silly bands
Reppin’ hard, Barry Bram
Fed-ex Field
Lions roar roar roar
Redskins helping
For a cure cure…remix
[pause]
Teach me how to Dougie
Teach me, teach me how to twist
All the dancers love me
When i shake my can like this
I whip my can back and forth
I whip my hands back and forth
[Chorus]
Verse 4:
Obama signs healthcare bill
Gulf suffers oil spill
Against bullies we unite
Chilean miners see the light
For the fight, everyday
Nittany Lions pave the way
Our love, we will share
Nothing beats Hershey’s care
Courage to be brave
Wisdom never falls
Honesty gives hope
Strength empowers all
46, stand up tall
for the kids, give your all
Sailing on to the finish
THON together without limits

=)

Rough Times

I have been going through some really tough times with school and friends, but in order to help myself get though it, I have been listening to a particular song, "Arise, My Love" by NewSong. So I am putting it here so ya'll can hear it.

No matter what I am going through, God will always be there for me. And nothing I am in can even compare with what Jesus went through. He literally died after living a perfect life so I didn't have to. And God took care of him, so he will take care of me.

Not a word was heard
at the tomb that day.
Just shuffling of soldiers feet
as they guarded the grave.
One day, two days,
three days had past.
Could it be that Jesus
breathed His last?

Could it be that His Father
had forsaken him?
Turned his back on his son
dispising our sin.
All hell seemed to whisper
'Just forget Him, He's dead.'
Then the Father looked down
to his son and he said..

Arise, My love.
Arise, My love.
The grave no longer
has a hold on you
No more death's sting
No more suffering
Arise...Arise...my love.

The Earth trembled
and the tomb began to shake,
and like lightening
from Heaven the stone was rolled away.
And as dead man
the guards they all stood there in fright
As the power of love
displayed its might
Then suddenly a melody
filled the air
Riding wings of wind,
it was everywhere
The words all creation
had been longing to hear
The sweet sound of victory,
so loud and clear.

Arise, my love.
Arise, my love.
The grave no longer has a hold on you.
No more death's sting
no more suffering
Arise...arise....

Sin, where are your shackles?
Death, where is your sting?
Hell; has been defeated.
The grave could not hold the king.

Arise, My love.
Arise, My love.
The grave no longer
has a hold on you
No more death's sting
No more suffering
Arise....Arise....Arise

Actually, all the songs on NewSong's album "Rescue" are speaking to me. That's what I have been listening to all day today as I am doing school work.

=)

New Year, New Schedule

Well, it is now 9 days into the new year. I just got back to school, have gotten unpacked, and now I am just relaxing and listening to music.

I think this semester is going to be easy in some ways, challenging in other ways, and most definitely busy. Since I will be so busy, I figure I will enjoy my down time when I can.

So far, 2011 has been interesting. I may have lost one of my best friends, but only time will tell. On the other hand, one of my good friends from Behrend is now at State, so that is super exciting. We have plans for dinner tonight, so that will be fun. It was sad leaving my family behind, but I am happy to see all my friends here. I suppose for every down there was also an up. Let's see how the rest of the year will go!

Break was pretty good. I enjoyed seeing friends and family, and Christmas was pretty good. I did get sick Christmas Eve and Christmas day, so that was not fun, but I still ate all the good food. I got some cool presents, including a model Ferrari that I have been working on, steel-toed boots, a Penn State Longaberger basket =), kitchen supplies, some awesome cookbooks, and awesome clothes and jewelery. New Years was spent at a friend's house, and we watched Despicable Me. The movie was absolutely adorable! We rang in the new year with a bang. Kinda. The poppers kinda failed. But it was fun nonetheless.

I was able to go back up to Buffalo for a few days to see my Grammie and Aunt, which was fun. It has been so much time since I have just visited without a special occasion. We usually go around Grammie and my birthday, Christmas, and/or Easter. I love hanging out with them, though the hockey games were disappointing to say the least. =(

I think I already miss the food at home. Now I have to survive off dorm food. =( But my bed is comfier here. =) But the bathrooms aren't the best. =( But I see my friends all the time. =) But I don't see my family. =( But I do like my classes. =) I guess it all works out.

Well, I am off now, but I will catch back up soon.

=)

Grades are up!

I said I would be back when grades were up, so here I am. I didn't do too bad. Wish I did better in Physics and Matrices, but oh well.

So let's see... I got an A in Statics, Calc III, and Studio. An A- in AE, a B+ in Matrices, and a C+ in Physics. I did better than last semester! That's always a good thing.

I really enjoyed Statics. My teacher was great, and I am glad I'll have her again next semester for Strength of Materials. I think it is a good thing I like this class, because if I go into the structural option of AE, it is what I will be doing. And my teacher is so funny. For lectures, she would bring in really big props to show the class. The people in the back could see them OK, but since I sit in basically the front row of all my classes, they looked comically large. And she knows that our time is valuable, so she will set an alarm for 50 minutes, and once it goes off, she stops talking.

Calc III, or calculus of several variables, was surprisingly fun. I think I like calc now. Who knew? But I think the reason I like it so much is because of Ali. She was fun, adorable, and spoke English. She is one of those teachers who makes learning fun. Plus she is really smart, so that is a bonus. She also gave lots of opportunity for extra credit to help boost your grade, which was nice. And she gave me play-dough. =]

As much as I love Studio, I do not love Rob. Ugh, Rob. Hopefully I won't have him next semester. Studio was a good chance to talk to friends, kinda chillax, and just have fun while working. I really like modeling, so that was fun. And all my friends have Studio with me, so that was awesome.

AE was a hard, but fun class. I really like Moses, but the topic wasn't too interesting. I know I am definitely not going into the mechanical option of AE, which is HVAC (pronounced H-Vac, not H-V-A-C). For those not with the lingo, that's "Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning". I don't think it is my cup of tea. Vitally important, yes, but better for someone else.

Matrices is not fun. Kinda worthless for the most part. My teacher, Jeff, or as I like to call him, Jeffy, was probably the dorkiest man alive. He was so awkward that it was slightly endearing. But the reason I got a B+ in the class was that I missed about 8 questions out of around 75-85 questions. The whole class was 350 pts! Blah!

And Physics. If Physics were a man, I would be on death row for killing said man. As much as physics is important in the real world, I really don't know why I will ever need to calculate the magnetic field of a current passing through a wire. As long as I know that it happens, and I might need to adjust things accordingly, but I am not an electrical engineer, nor am I an electrician, or a computer engineer, or anything like that. The majority of the class was not relevant to me at all. "Electricity and Magnetism".... I knew all I needed to know about that from my high school physics class. Even my roommate who is an electrical engineer said that class is pointless. But now I only have 1 half semester of physics left in my entire life. HALLELUJAH!!!

So that's all for now. I'll be back soon to talk about break!

Love you all!

=)

Home is Where the Heart Is

I am so glad to be home. There is nothing quite like it. We are finally together, all of us, as one big family.

The food is so much better here, the bed, well, actually, I prefer my bed at school...., but the bathrooms are way better here. And I get to spend all the time with my family, both my legit blood family, our neighborhood, and my work family. I love all of them very much. And who could forget my awesome friends at home! Love them! If I could take PSU and plop in into Copley, my life would be perfect. =]

My grades haven't been posted entirely yet, but I will share, as well as talk about some of my favorite moments in each class.

As for the boy situation, I found out he just wants to be friends for now. Even though it hurts, I understand. So I'll either wait or find someone new. Which there might be a possibility......

Dinner is about to start, so I will run, but when grades are up, I'll be back!


=)

Concerts!

Ok, to start this all off, there is a guy I like. I won't mention his name, but if you ask me in person, I will tell you. =] I have a lot of classes with him both this semester, and next, and probably for the rest of my college career.

3 weeks ago, I asked him if he wanted to see Inception with my at the HUB, since I know he likes those kind of movies, and I didn't want to see it alone. He said that he already made plans to go to the woman's volleyball game with some of his friends. I was disappointed, but didn't let him know that. Then, he asked me if I wanted to join them. I of course said yes, and that was that.

When we got to the game, I found out his friends were good friends from high school, and they were all really nice. We watched the game (where the Lady Lions smoked the other team) and then stayed for "Rally in the Valley", a pep rally before the big Michigan game the next day. After the pep rally was done, I was just going to go back to South by myself, since he hadn't invited me to do anything else with them. I crossed the street, ready to head back when I felt my phone vibrating. He was calling me to see where I had gone. Turns out, he was inviting me to hang out with them the rest of the night. I said yes, and waited for them to come over to my side of the street. We first went to one of the boys dorm so he could drop his stuff off, then we went down to Dunkin Donuts to get beverages and munchkins. After we got our food, we traipsed up to the HUB, where we played Apples to Apples till 2 in the morning. =]

The next weekend, he invited me to join him and 2 of his friends to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I absolutely LOVE TSO, so I was pumped! We all went to eat at East before heading over to the BJC, where I sat next to him. =] The concert was phenomenal! The music, of course, was incredible, the lighting and pyrotechnics blew me away, and of course, the company was great. He walked me back to my dorm, mainly because he lives in the same building as I do.... But it was still a great night.

This past week, we spent a lot of time working on a project for one of our classes together, so I was able to spend some quality time with him. 2 days ago, on Friday, one of his friends, him, and I went to see the ladies' volleyball team again (which we also crushed the Badgers), then we got food at Panda Express, and then hung out in his room watching TV shows on Hulu. Yesterday, we (the same 3 from Friday) went to go see Carrie Underwood in concert! It was beyond great! I really love her music! Her costumes were awesome, and she even had this thing where she rode out above the crowd in a blue truck! It was so cool! The only bad thing about the concert was that since we got our tickets late, we weren't sitting next to each other =[ but we were within spitting distance of each other.

So my conclusion is that I really like this guy. I just don't know for sure if he likes me or not. =[ I mean, I hope he does, but he hasn't made his move yet. I want to ask him, but I don't want it to ruin our friendship. =/ It is a tough thing to go through. I may have to invite him to watch a movie with me, or studying for our upcoming test with me..... I'll have to see.

Until later,

=)