what a great season!

well, MY weekend was definitely jam-packed. starting off, friday i helped this committee that im on (board of programmers) set up for the dance that was on friday night. i didnt stay for that long to set up because, and i know that this sounds selfish, but if i helped set up THAT much, i wouldnt be surprised for what it looked like for that night! haha- so i left after about an hour of helping. then, some little kids came from some kind of daycare center to trick-or-treat around the dorm rooms. i escorted them around and let me tell you, after being with them for an HOUR, i am POSITIVE that i do NOT want to be a teacher of any kind. they were cute and all, in their little costumes and everything, but i was VERY stressed after being with them even for that short of a time. friday night, there was the dance that was tim burton themed (so very dark, think "the nightmare before christmas" and "corpse bride") and i didnt think that i was going to go, but last minute i did. i dressed up as a "hippie" i.e. i put on the funkiest clothes that i already owned and went down. people TOTALLY got that i was a hippie, which was the best part, and i was even wearing my normal clothes! on saturday, after a little bus fiasco (missing my bus, then getting on the wrong bus, then finally finding the right one), i volunteered at some kind of "fall festival" for little kids in the bloomington, indiana area. that was cute, i just set up different tents and stuff. that night, i saw "broken flowers," have you ever seen it? i liked it, but some of the people that i went with didnt. its kinda considered to be an "artsy" or "indie" film, so not everyone is going to like it, i suppose. sunday (today) some friends and i got up and drove about a half hour away to brown county, indiana. it was SOOO cute! we went to nashville, indiana, which is a little town in brown county, and i SWEAR TO GOD, it is the cutest little storybook town i have ever seen. i LITERALLY felt like i was going to see mother goose walking down the street. it was so great- the whole time i just felt so happy! of course, it was BUBBLING with tourists, i guess the town is very busy around fall (brown county is known around the nation for being absolutely beautiful in the fall), but i still liked it. i had a friend with me who is actually from that area, so he showed us all the good places to go. we had lunch/dinner at a FABULOUS italian restaurant and then walked around some more. it was just so cute! i know i keep saying it, but i just couldnt get over it! then, we drove around the paths in the woods. it made me realize how much i am sick of the same old buildings over and over again. i mean, i know that in grandview, it wasnt exactly overflowing with woods, but i still miss the outdoors a lot. overall the weekend was wonderful! tomorrow is the ACTUAL halloween, but i havent heard about any activities that are happening (which is weird), so i might have to make my OWN halloween celebration with some friends and some scary movies. we shall see....
happy halloween!! and happy birthday mom!! :) I LOVE YOU

-a

my halloween...

did you knwo that the lottery that was around indiana (or maybe it was NATIONwide, im not sure) called the "power ball" was recently at the all-time high that it has ever been before? 340 million dollars. 340 MILLION. thats just obscene. it really is.

i cant wait for this weekend. on friday, local kids from bloomington (since the college IS smack-dab in the middle of a town) are coming to my dorm (since it IS the hippy dorm ;) and trick-or-treating! isnt that cute? my roommate is going to decorate our room all spooky and stuff and me and a couple of friends are going to go around with the kids (all dressed up in their little costumes) and play games with them and stuff. THEN, on friday afternoon, i am transforming (thats right, TRANSFORMING right before your very eyes) the dining hall into a room that will house the "tim burton themed" halloween dance that is that night. im SO excited- i thought that i was going to have a gig that night, so that i wouldnt be able to go to the dance that i was planning, but it turns out that i dont! so, now i have to do some last-minute costume shopping... it should be a fun time. then on sunday, a group of friends are i are driving out to brown county, (FINALLY!), some kind of famous county here in indiana, known for their BEAUTIFUL fall scenes in their different parks. they do the whole "fall festivities" with bobbing for apples and corn mazes and hayrides and stuff and then they have a cute little storybook-esque town right next to it. it should be a good day. now just to get to the weekend. hmm....

on monday, the floor below me is opening up their floor for other people in my dorm complex for us to be able to trick-or-treat! there are so many opportunties to get free candy and dress up like little kids here! i love it! also, and MUCH more importantly, monday is momma's birthday! what is it, 58 now? haha- just kidding! happy early birthday, mom! i hope that the day is great, and im sorry that i cant be there for it! i will make it up to you when im home for thanksgiving (november 18th, baby! im TOTALLY counting down...) happy halloween everyone!

-a

i have rhe best friends anyone could ask for

WOW! what a GREAT weekend i have had. my friends jacob, jordan, trophie, katie, and grace came all the way from ohio to visit me for the weekend. they drove up on friday night and stayed until sunday afternoon. we went to the OSU game (there were SOOOO many OSU people there! i swear, it was DEFINITELY 2/3 OSU people, 1/3 IU people. it was amazing! such fun!) it was so weird, though, because i was sitting in the OSU student section, and i didnt know who to cheer for, i mean, i GO to indiana, and we are here IN indiana, but i was sitting with all of these OSU peope and OSU will ALWAYS be "my team," whether or not i go to school in ohio, so i just cheered for both! haha. it was really nice though. last night we went to katie's aunt/uncle's house (they live here in bloomington, i have been over there one night for dinner) and her mom and dad were in town this weekend too (i dont know WHY, exactly, but they were) so we visited with them and THAT was nice. it was so great to see them. we sat around fizoli's (which i had never been to- good food for VERy cheap! yum!) for about an hour and half just talking about different high school people and experiences and middle school and elementary school and EVERYTHING! it was such a flashback! then, we went to see "a history of violence," which was graphic (sexually and voilenty), but VERY good. we all enjoyed it.

it was so nice of them to come all the way here to see me. it really shows me that i have great friends. they are going to send me their schedules so i can visit them when i come back for thanksgiving at their schools. i love them al so much. less than 4 mondays until thanksgiving break! time to buckle down and focus until break. :):):)

grandparents and friends

yoyo!
so, last weekend was amazing only to be followed by an amazing one coming up. (i feel like i shouldnt deserve all of this!). last weekend, my GRANDPARENTS CAME! i was so great (and TOTALLY weird) to see them walking up the sidewalk towards my dorm. what? grandparents in indiana? what?!?! it was so great though. we went around campus and i showed them stuff like the stadium and the auditorium and then we went out to lunch (which was DELISH). it was so great to be with them. i hadnt realized how much i had missed them. just hearing their voices and being near them made me feel so at home. they were only here for the day, but it was enough to make it clear how much they care about me and to make me start counting down the days until thanksgiving (4 more mondays! as natalie and i are counting them down, that is...). i cant for thanksgiving because its so FAMILY-based in my family. going home for homecoming was nice, but it was mostly filled with friends (which is GREAT, dont get me wrong), and not family.
AND, THIS weekend is going to be great, too! everything besides the weather is going to be wonderful. i dont know about the weather where you guys are, but the foreast for bloomington, indiana is FILLED with rain, rain, rain. :( that means a PLEASANT OSU/IU football game.... in the rain! but, im sure that everything will be OK. my friends are coming to see me! thats why we are going to the football game, they all go (except for troph) to OSU. 5 people: jacob (again! the sweet guy), jordam, grace, trophie, and katie will all be coming TONIGHT at about 9 or 9:30. i am so excited- im PAST the stag eof bursting. i have been anticipating this weekend since i even found OUT that OSU played IU in early JUNE! i cant believe that they are coming! they want to see a movie sometime, so i think we might do that some evening. they will be staying until sunday afternoon/morning i suppose. i hope i dont bore them! i dont want them to feel rushed while they are here, but i want them to be able to have options to do things while they are here. plus, the rain is going to limit our activities to indoors, but oh well. we might go to the student union and play video games or shoot some pool or bowl or something.
haha- i have my math MIDTERM soon. "when?" you ask? SATURDAY MORNING! out of ALL the saturdays- its the one wher my friends are here! im going to have to get up early and leave them alone while i go and take my test. oh well. the only thing i dont like about it is that they are going to have to get up in a new and different place in the morning without me being there for them. they are just going to have to manage i guess! time to go study...

less than 4 more mondays to go!! i can make it, i can make it.... ciao

my past weekend

WELL, what a weekend i just had! on friday, i had my first gig with the R&B band that i am in. we played at a local theatre/movie showplace and opened for another R&B band that is professional and is known around indiana or the midwest (im not sure which). it was a LOT of fun. of course, i had my fair share of "first time mess-ups," but all in all it was a great gig. then on saturday, i went to the IU/Illinois homecoming football game with a few of my friends- it was so great! i discovered that not only do i not mind football, but i also am in love with brats! double score! they are so yummy, it really makes a football game worth attending, you know? we won, 36-13, so that ALSO made it a fun game to watch (its always fun to root for the team that wins, you know how that goes). after the game, my friend sarah-anne and i walked around the square that goes around the courthouse that is filled with different cute little shops and cafes. we discovered 2 new little cafes that neither of us knew about- i cant wait to hang out there and eat lunch/study! on sunday, i ushered at the IU Auditorium. guess what i got to see? BLAST! it was AMAZING! if you ever get the chance to see it, do NOT pass it up. i repeat, do NOT miss it! its an amazing show put on by both the musicians and the dancers. and the best part was that since i was an usher, i got to see it for FREE! how cool is THAT?

now the week has started and im just trying to stay as busy as possible, it will make the weekends come faster. i am trying to get all of my HW out of the way NOW, so i dont have to stress about it late at night or over the weekend. tomorrow night, there is a traveling food service group that will be coming to my dorm and be serving a sushi bar! yum! i just go down to the dining room like i always do, but instead of choosing from the fresh meal of the day, i can choose to get as much sushi as i want, too! i am DEF going to take down some sealable containers and slip some in my bag, you know what im sayin'? on friday, a friend and i are going to go to brown county, indiana. im told that brown county is famous around the country for being beautiful in the fall. im told that the parks and the festivities are one-of-a-kind, and i love all of those fall festivals, so i cant wait! even MORE exciting is that on saturday, MY GRANDPARENTS ARE COMING! yay!! i cant WAIT to see them- i miss them a lot. i am going to show them a great time, i hope that they enjoy seeing where i live.

well, im off to do some math HW *blah*, anything to make the days go faster- bring on the weekend! ciao!!

a reflection on homecoming weekend

hey there!
the weekend at home was.... interesting.... it weird to go back to a place that hasnt changed at ALL physically, yet is so different at the same time. i went there and everything seemed so THE SAME, but when i saw all of the people, it was weird. people who have graduated have always said "when you come back to grandview after you have graduated, it is strange around everyone." i never believed it- i mean, come on! its grandview! how can it be weird? everything is the same, duh! but it totally was. i felt weird. i was around all of these people that i knew and loved already, but i was completely disconnected from them. i cant really discribe it, but im sure i dont have to because im sure that some of you have felt that before. then, when my mom left today (which, by the way, was really great that she came with me back to IU. it really helped me transition better), i was a WRECK. its just hard to think that my life is HERE now. im not just here for some kind of break from home and then things at home would just resume: NO! THIS is my life now! i am going to be here for th next 4 years no matter HOW fast the days go. that was a hard reality to deal with. i dont mean to get you down, im just realizing everything kinda late. but, overall, it was really great. i mean, i was still in grandview in my OWN bed (which feels SO nice). i cant wait to go home again. but, this time, not for the people (like it has always been), but because of the feeling that i get when im home. the great comfort that i feel at home with my family, my house, and my favorite coffee shop ;)