This is It: Freshman Year Ends

Well, friends, this is it.  I'm leaving Sioux City for the summer in just a couple hours.  I'm not going to make this a long post, because I think the last one was sufficient.
First of all, I would just like to thank those of you who have been reading my blog faithfully all year.  Your enthusiasm and encouragement is what makes blogging fun.  I would also like to thank everyone who made this year a crazy awesome adventure for me--my roommate, my best friend, my boyfriend, neighbors, professors, lunch ladies, and everyone else who has been there for me every single day here in Sioux City.  It's been a wild ride, and I know that this year was just the beginning.
Lastly, I would like to thank my friends and family back home, who have been cheering me on long distance since the day I decided I was going to school in Sioux City.  I'm absolutely sure that none of this would have been possible without you.  And know that, even though I love life here, my heart will always be right back home with you.  I'll always come home to the 651.

So this concludes my freshman year of college!  Woohoo!  Didn't it fly by?!  I have to say that this was a million times better than my freshman year of high school, so I'd say I'm off to a great start for college.  I'm sure the adventures will only get bigger and better next year.
Speaking of next year, I will be continuing to document my time in Sioux City on a different blog starting in August.  I've got big plans for this blog, so let's hope that I actually follow through.  The reason that I'm moving my blog is because WordPress will allow you to follow my posts via email, so you'll know right away when I put something new up.  So go ahead and sign up to follow it now, but know that I obviously won't be posting anything until I come back to school in the fall.

Until next year...stay shiny, Sioux City.  :)

[To God be the glory.]

A Lot to Learn

As of right now, I have one final and less than a week left here in Sioux City.  Can you believe it?!  I'm a day away from being done with my first year of college.  That's crazy!!!  Part of me still can't believe I already graduated from high school, so this is kind of a big deal.  Anyway, I suppose now would be a good time to reflect on the past nine months that I've spent here.  As I'm sure you know by now, I've had some pretty fun times here in Sioux City this year.  But you can read all about those in my previous posts. So let me make you a bullet-pointed list of the things that aren't quite so obvious, but still super important.

What I've Learned in my Freshman Year of College

• I have an accent.  I won't even try to deny it anymore.  Yes, I am that person who says "ohhh ya" and "you betcha" on a regular basis.  Iowans will always make fun of me for it, but I suppose that comes with the territory.
• Sleep is for old people.  No offense, Granny.  I love you a lot.  But I also recognize that sleep is extremely inconvenient in college!  Last semester, I tried to go to bed at 10:00 every night.  Naturally, that did not work out so well.  All the action happens in the middle of the night!  Someday, when I'm settled into a nice little house in suburbia with my husband and 2.5 children, I'll sleep eight hours a night.  Just not today.  :)
• I do not need pop to survive.  Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to publicly announce that I have been pop-free since July of 2011.  Don't get me wrong: I love pop.  Pepsi, Coke, just about anything.  But there got to be a point over the summer when I realized that the amount of pop (leftover from my grad party) I was drinking probably wasn't healthy.  And so I spontaneously quit cold turkey.  Now, knowing that pop was going to be available to me every single day in the cafeteria here in Sioux City, I didn't think I would be able to keep this up in college.  But guess what?  I DID!!!  And guess what else?  I feel awesome.  I really don't even miss it that much anymore.  I'm also a big fan of flavored water now.
• Location doesn't matter.  What I mean is this: wherever you go, your experience isn't based on the place you're at.  It's all about the people you meet.  I've met some amazing people in Sioux City this year that I know I'll be lifelong friends with.  Sure, this isn't the most glamourous town in the world.  But the people here are absolutely spectacular.  And that, my friends, is awesome.

I'm sure I've learned a lot of other things this year, but those are probably the most important.  So that's it for today!  Stay tuned for my final post of freshman year.  Until then, shine on.  :)

Second Semester Soundtrack

Alright, friends.  As we're about to kick off the final week of my freshman year of college, it is with great excitement that I present to you my second semester soundtrack.  I've spent the past few months figuring out exactly which five songs will always remind me the most of this semester of college.  And so, without further ado, let's get this show on the road.  Here they are, in order.

5. Indian Outlaw by Tim McGraw

Released in 1994, this was one of Tim's early hits.  It's #5 on my list because, as I'm sure you all know by now, I'm going to see Tim (and Kenny Chesney) in concert in July.  So I've made a playlist of Tim and Kenny music, and that's pretty much all I listen to every single day of my life.  One day when I was walking to lunch with my best bud, I started singing this song to her.
I'm an Indian outlaw
Half Cherokee and Choctaw
My baby, she's a Chippewa
She's one of a kind.
She proceeded to tell me that I am not an Indian outlaw.  In fact, I'm not even Native American.  So now, naturally, I sing this at her regularly, just because it's so funny.  So watch the video.  You won't regret it.

4. We Are Golden by MIKA

Ok, some of you might regret watching this one.  It's basically a guy dancing around in a diaper-looking thing the entire video.  You've been warned.
I had a two-week phase this semester of listening to nothing but this song.  Literally.  So of course it's on my list.  Despite the video being a little odd (because, well, that's what MIKA is), it's a really catchy song.  I love it because it reminds me that I need to make the most of my last year of being a teenager.  Some of the lyrics are a little bit cryptic, but I have my favorite line:
Like a magpie, I live for glitter, not you.
Magpies absolutely love to collect shiny things to put in their nests.  That's just what they do.  So this line is all about doing what you love and not letting anyone (friend, boyfriend/girlfriend, parent, professor--anyone) get in the way of that.  And I think that's awesome.  Magpies, I salute you.

3. Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen

Sometime last month, my roommate got me hooked on this song.  Since then, I've heard it played over and over again EVERYWHERE.  I'm telling you, this song is contagious.  It will get stuck in your head and never leave.  Now, I'm not hating on Call Me Maybe.  I really do think it's a good song.  But if I may, let me just do a minor lyrical analysis.
Before you came into my life,
I missed you so bad.
I missed you so bad.
I missed you so, so bad.
Before you came into my life,
I missed you so bad.
And you should know that.
I missed you so, so bad.
Wait.  You missed me before you even met me?!  How is that possible?  Have you been stalking me?!?!
It's hard to look right
At you, baby
But here's my number
So call me, maybe.
It's hard to look at me??  Well that's rude.  I mean, yeah, I haven't showered yet today, but I didn't think I was so unattractive that it's hard to look at me.  So why are you giving me your number if my appearance is so unbearable?  I think I'll pass on calling you, thank you very much.

2. Domino by Jessie J

This is yet another song that my roommate got me hooked on.  (I hope you're noticing a trend.)  I can't even count how many days we got ready in the morning to Jessie J belting it out.  I'm not gonna lie...I am absolutely in love with this song.  It's so fun and fresh and it just has a life-is-awesome-and-I-know-it kind of vibe.  I'm also a big fan of her bedazzled lips in this video.  I love them so much that one day, I tried to bedazzle my own lips.  My roommate laughed so hard she could barely breathe.  It was a lovely photo shoot, and those pictures will never be seen by public eyes.

1. What Makes You Beautiful by One Direction

If you've never heard of One Direction, you should probably Google them.  Like...now.
You see, my roommate has a minor obsession with these guys.  And when I say minor, I mean major.  Extremely major.
Baby, you light up my world like nobody else.
The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed.
The way you smile at the ground, it ain't hard to tell
You don't know, oh, oh
You don't know you're beautiful!
If only you saw what I can see
You'd understand why I want you so desperately.
Right now I'm looking at you and I can't believe
You don't know, oh, oh
You don't know you're beautiful!
Oh, oh, that's what makes you beautiful!
Well, One Direction, after hearing you sing that at me 5 million times over the past few months, even if I didn't know it before, I can honestly say that I do know I'm beautiful.  But I'm sure you're going to continue telling me that I don't because that's what you're best at: running around on the beach and making every single female under the age of 20 drool over you while you remind them that they don't know they're beautiful.  But hey, I'm not hating, because it's certainly working for you.  You're young, you're successful, and you've won our hearts.  Even mine.  :)

So there you go.  That's my second semester in a nutshell!  Stay tuned for more of my final thoughts as I wrap up my freshman year.

Penny For My Thoughts?

Friends, I've been on a blogging high today.  I had to write a blog post (on a school-based blog) about a reading that I did for my Honors class, just as I do every week.  Usually, the readings we do are boring and (in my opinion) irrelevant to my life.  But this week, our mentor picked the topic.  And you know what?  I'm quite pleased!  Finally I got to read and write about something that I actually care about.
And let me tell you, I'm pretty sure I wrote a really solid post about this topic.  So of course I have to share it with you!  So without further ado, here's the brilliant post I wrote for Honors today.  :)

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The Penny is on its Death Bed and I Think I'll be Fine

First off, a million thanks go out to Jacque for choosing a topic that's actually interesting and relevant to our lives!  The American penny has lost most of its value over the years.  Actually, according to this YouTube video, it costs 1.7 cents just to make a penny.  Much of America is convinced that it's time to lay our old friend to rest.

I'm feeling a cause-and-effect vibe today, so bear with me as I crank out a bullet-pointed list to explain how I feel about the death of the penny.

What Will Happen if We Get Rid of the Penny

• Our wallets will weigh a lot less.  Once we finally ditch those little things, we'll be left with a few nickels, dimes and quarters.  I am not opposed to this idea at all.  Less pennies in my wallet=less weight=more room for me to put other random stuff in my purse.
• The old ladies and foreigners who like to give exact change will lose their math skills.  Sorry, Granny, but you were taking forever to dig out all that change anyway.  The line will move much faster now, so we can all get on with the rest of our lives.
• My dad's collection of pressed pennies will slowly come to an end.  The die-hard collectors are few and far between, but they're out there.  Perhaps some sort of therapy will be necessary.
• Everyone will forget about Abraham Lincoln.  No one will forget about Abraham Lincoln, unless they didn't even know who he was in the first place.  Let's think about this for a minute.  This guy is, arguably, the most famous president in American history.  Aside from the fact that his face will always be on the $5 bill (which extreme penny-lovers seem to ignore), I'm pretty sure getting rid of the penny would not erase him from textbooks, official historical documents, and oh yeah...the Internet.  Also, eliminating a piece of currency does not simply make an entire society forget about a major historical figure.  So that argument is dead.
• People won't make as many wishes at public fountains.  Without pennies to throw in there, we'll have to resort to nickels and dimes.  But knowing how frugal many people are these days, I would imagine that most moms won't be giving out coins to their kids as freely anymore.  I guess we'll just have to rely on eyelashes, wishbones and shooting stars.  Oh well.

Friends, the penny is on its death bed.  And I think we'll all be just fine.

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So there you have it!  Proof that I don't save all my brilliance for this blog.  ;)

Stay tuned for the coming series of my final posts of freshman year.  Until then, cheers!

Life is Not a Musical.

I regularly tell my best friend here in Sioux City that life is not a musical.  You see, she often bursts into song at the most inconvenient times.  Not only is her timing undesirable, but she prides herself on singing each lyric about half a second after the artist sings it.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love this girl.  I'd probably go insane without her.  But that's ironic, because she drives me absolutely crazy with her singing sometimes!  She's a really great singer--quite a bit better than me, anyway--but sometimes her timing is off. And she knows that.  So don't worry, I'm not offending her by writing this post.  :)
So basically, "Life is not a musical!" has become one of my catchphrases.  Unfortunately, I sometimes contradict myself when I belt out whatever tune is stuck in my head while walking to the cafeteria.  I don't mean to serenade everyone on campus.  Sometimes I don't even notice that I'm doing it!  I blame all the catchy songs and lyrics that get engraved into my brain on a weekly basis.  Just to give you a taste of the random songs that have been running through my head lately, here are a few videos of what I've been singing lately.

Kenny Chesney-You Save Me

As many of you already know, I'm going to see Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw in concert this summer.  So it's only fitting that I would have a Kenny song stuck in my head this week.

Taylor Swift-Ours

If you've known me for even just a few days, you probably know that I'm a huge t.swift fan.  I'm sure I'm extremely biased, but I think this song is absolutely adorable.  There was one day last week that I sang the entire song on the walk from the cafeteria back to my dorm.  You're welcome, world.

Shrek the Musical-I Know It's Today

I realize that this one probably seems a bit out of place after the last two, but hey.  I can't control the songs that are running through my mind.  This song is about Princess Fiona waiting day after day for her knight in shining armor to come rescue her from the tower.  Listen to the lyrics, because they're pretty funny, and I wouldn't hesitate to say that this just about sums up my personality.  :)

High School Musical 2-What Time Is It?

Alright, before you judge me for openly singing a song from a High School Musical movie (the worst of the trilogy, at that), let's all just admit that almost everyone under the age of 21 had an HSM phase at some point in their life.  I am no exception.  So whenever someone asks me, "What time is it?" my automatic answer is to sing, "Summertime!"  You can't blame me.  This really is a catchy tune.  It also features the infinitely handsome Zac Efron, as well as Corbin Bleu wearing a custom t-shirt that, naturally, says "I majored in vacation."

And after re-watching that High School Musical video, I'm starting to wonder if, perhaps, life really is a musical.  But even if it is, I'm going to continue telling my best bud otherwise, so as to avoid the spontaneous dancing that will inevitably follow the singing.  Sorry, my friends, but this is not Grease.  :)

Shout-out to my best college friend.  Keep using your beautiful voice to sing, and remember that a) life is not a musical and b) my life would suck without you.

The Beauty of a Bonfire

Last night, I got to experience my first bonfire of 2012.  And you know what?  I had a blast!  I went with my Bible study group to one of our adult leaders' house.  After enjoying plenty of hot dogs, pasta salad and strawberries, we went outside and spent a couple hours around the fire.  I told a couple of my girlfriends there that it felt like we were on some kind of northern retreat.  It felt great to just sit outside and enjoy good friends, conversation, and the beauty of this early April evening.
Actually, as I'm writing this, I'm looking back at all the pictures I took of the evening and smiling.  It really was a great night!  Here's why.

What I Learned at the Bonfire :)

• If you can successfully roast six marshmallows on one stick at the same time, you are officially a bonfire champ.
• 'Mallow = cute nickname for a marshmallow.
• If you're really deep in conversation with some of your best friends, you won't even notice that it got completely dark while you were talking until you get up to leave and realize that you can't see anything around you.
• After 19 years of living, I'm pretty aware of and content with the fact that the fire is, in fact, going to feel like it's melting my face.  And it's completely worth it.
• You feel really cool when you get back to your dorm at night and smell like bonfire.  Well, I felt cool, anyway.  
• Only your true friends will sit outside and freeze with you for two hours just to answer your burning (that's an unfortunate pun...) questions about some of life's biggest controversies.  

And that's all I've got for today!  Shout-out to all my lovely ladies.  I hope you're reading this.  :)

Might as Well Jump!

Alright, I know Doodle Jump isn't quite the newest trend in apps.  But I have to admit, it's my current go-to game.  Whenever I'm lying in bed, waiting for the toaster or just killing a minute or two before I leave for class, you can be sure I'm playing Doodle Jump on my iPod.
Why, you might ask, is a simple game so addicting?  I've thought about it, and I've come to the conclusion that playing Doodle Jump is like taking a vacation.  Really!  Hear me out on this one.  I've even got pictures to help me make my point.  So here we go!

This is the genuine original Doodle Jump.  For those of you who aren't familiar with it, all you're supposed to do is get that little yellow guy, called the Doodler, up as high as you can by letting him bounce off the green planks.  Don't trust the brown ones, though.  You'll fall right through them and die.

But this is just the beginning!  Doodle Jump has nine other themes, and that's where the vacation part comes in.  I'll show you just a few of the themes to make my point.  :)

Craving a cruise?  Let's go scuba diving!  The Doodler is geared up and even blows bubbles.  How awesome is that?!  You'll pass starfish, crabs and other sea creatures.  Enjoy their company, but don't bump into them.  They'll kill you.

If you're more of the explorer type, take a jungle safari through the rainforest!  Notice that the Doodler is in full safari getup, and it actually is raining.  I wouldn't hesitate to say that this is the most exotic of all the themes. 

Ok, I promise this is the last one.  But look at the Doodler...he's in outer space!!!  Dressed like an astronaut, he's literally jumping through the Milky Way.  This is the perfect vacation for when you really need to get away, because you're completely leaving planet Earth.  

I'd give more examples, but I have to get packing.  I'm leaving to go home for Easter break in three hours...and nothing is packed.  So I'll see you when I get back to Sioux City!  Until then...go ahead, jump.  :)