Snow Day at UE

We had a snow day today. The university was nice enough to inform me at 5:45 this morning. So I unset my alarms and went back to bed. Half the campus is without power, tree branches are falling everywhere, and I wasn't able to go to work, and when i called to tell them, the phone was disconnected, so I'm hoping I don't get in too much trouble tomorrow. Anyways. Here's some pictures from today!

3pm? Really?

Now as I mentioned earlier... I love snow, but I would prefer to play in the snow, not walk through it on my way to class. As I'm sure most of you know, the Midwest has been pelted with snow and ice since yesterday morning. It started icing here around 10 pm last night, just in time for me to walk from the the gym, where I was watching IM basketball, back to my dorm in my heeled boots. Needless to say I slipped a few times. By the time midnight hit, the ground and cars were covered with a mix of snow and ice. Everyone was really excited because surely that meant there would be no school. All the schools were closed as well as many businesses. Well 8am rolled around, and no Text Messages were sent out letting students know there would be no class. 10am rolled around, and I got my computer hoping my teacher had cancelled his class... no such luck. So I got out of bed, got dressed, and walked over to class. As I walked into class I received a text messgae "The University of Evansville will close at 3pm on Tuesday Jan. 27, 2009." Perfect... my only class is at 11.... *sigh* Oh well. At least I have the afternoon to play in the snow. :) Supposedly we're supposed to get 4-8 inches... I'm kind of like I'll believe it when I see it.

Exciting things this past week. UE had Musical Madness this past weekend. Musical Madness happens every year, and how it works is, organizations sign up to participate, and get paired with another organization. Usually, a fraternity will get paired with a sorority, so everyone has guys and girls. Then each group is given a theme. This year's theme was Brother's Grimm Fairy Tales. My group was given Snow White, there was also Hansel and Gretel, The Frog Prince, Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, and Rapunzel. You take that fairy tale and you put a new spin on it. You write a 15 minute musical and the people from your organization perform that musical. Ours was "Snow White Gone Wild" and Snow White went on Spring Break in Mexico where she met the dwarfs, and the evil step mother sends her henchman, Hogar, to drop poisonous apple chap stick in Snow White's bag, and then of course, the prince comes along and kisses here and all is well. I was a plane going to Mexico, a random girl who throws money at Hogar and a dancer. I didn't have a bigger part, because i could only make it to a few rehersals at the end. I had so much fun though. I'm sad that it is my last one. I've done it every year, and I think this year was probably or best year. We didn't place or anything, but when they had everyone cheer for their favorite group, Phi Mu totally won! That was pretty cool.

That's really the big things that happened. Sig Ep A Go Go (which is a dance competition) is the next thing to take over my life. The theme is 50s and I'm really excited. We have our first meeting tomorrow night. Yay!!! The end for now. Time for bed.

Snow!

So anybody who knows me, knows I love snow! It always makes me very happy. :) So it has kind of done this dusting thing all weekend, where the snow just kinda flies around in the air, and doesn't stick to anything or ever look like it's coming down. When I got up yesterday morning to go to work, it was still doing this dusting thing, and my friend from Texas was like, "it's snowing outside" and me and Amanda were like, umm... it's just kind of flying. So it did this dusting thing all day yesterday off and on. Last night, we decided to go to 80's night at SAE (I have never understood my generation's fascination with the 80's), but Amanda and I kind of dressed up, and went over. The snow was actually starting to stick a little bit, but it was barely snowing still, so we didn't have high hopes. Neither of us go there very often, so it was the beginning of the school year all over again, but that's another story for another time. I finally got bored of SAE, and decided to go see who was at FIJI, who was having a PJ party. When I walked outside the snow was ocming down harder and in big huge flakes! It was so cool. So I walked over to FIJI and of course, I passed many drunk people playing in the snow (it was like 12:30 or 1). I walked around FIJI a little bit and so quite a few people I know who were all like, "K-Pick! Oh my god! you're out! and you came from 80's night didn't you?" It was amsuing. I stayed for a about 20 minutes, and then decided to go back home. Because it was Sunday, most of the partied stared at 8 or 9 instead of 10 or 11, like normal, so they were all dying down around 1 anyways. So I went back home and went to bed, but it was snowing the whole time. The snow was sticking more and more, and I could hear more people outside playing. At one point, a couple of friends came and knocked on out living room window to get me and Teich to come out and play, i was already in my PJs, so I wa slike, nah, I play tomorrow, but amanda went out, but they had already left to go somewhere else, so she was pretty mad. But I spent the next 30 minutes randomly looking out my window watching the snow fall and stick. We got at least a good inch, which was very exciting! Of course the sun is out this morning, but it's still only 20 degrees outside, so it hopefully it won't melt really quickly. I really need to be prodcutive today, so hopefully that will happen, but I am so happy we have snow!!!! YAY SNOW!!!!

First week of my last semester

So this week i started my last week of undergrad, and possibly school in general. It's a cool feeling.

This semester I am taking Ad Agency Creative Philosophies and this class only meets Wednesday mornings at 9. This is taught by Dr. Stankey who is wild and crazy and I love all of his classes. I am taking Senior Seminar which is M-W-F at 10. I am really excited about this one because we are put into teams and we find a company and we come up with a campaign for that company. Today we were split into 3 groups and came up with activities for the rest of the class to play that were competitive, so we played charades, thumb war, and paper football. By the end of the semester, we won't be meeting very often if at all. I am taking Media Law and Ethics on M-W-F at noon with my advisor, Dr. Shifflet. It's another Shifflet class, but I love Dr. Shifflet, and he's a great teacher. Monday nights at 6 I have Video Production, and I am really excited about it.

So those are my communication classes, and it's great b/c those first three have about 15 people in common. Wednesdays are fun. After advertising about 15 of us migrate one floor upstairs for our next class, and then after that class, most of us go to lunch, and then an hour later we all returnto the same room where advertising is and sit through Media Law. :) It really is amusing, and it's nice too, because I will always have someone around me to ask what's going on.

I am also taking voice and piano this year, both for one hour. Piano is Mondays at 2 for a half hour, and I'm no sure when voice is yet. On top of this, I am a tutor for Basic Web Production again, but I am actually tutoring a blind student in this class, so I have to attend classes with him which is Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 to 12:15. So my Tuesdays and Thursdays are no longer free. Oh well. I get paid $25 a week to sit in a class i've already taken and play on my laptop. Woot!

Of course I'm still working at Texas Roadhouse, at least through March. I work Wed, Thurs, Fri, and Sun morning. In April starts softball season. I'm an assistant coach for Mater Dei High School again. I'm pretty excited about it. Of course working makes it a little hard to attend all the pre-season practices, but I will be going to as many as possible.

It should be a good semester. I'm excited. I worked Wed, Thurs, and tonight, and I work Sun morning (all of those shifts were picked up). Tonight after work I'm going out with a couple of my girl friends to RiRa's Irish Pub. I think this semester is starting off well. :-D

"to know what you are, would take a lifetime"

My friend Zac wrote the following, and it seems like a good entry for this particular blog:

what is it "to know"?

how do we establish what is right and wrong and know the correct course of action?

one of Webster's definitions

know:to be aware of the truth or factuality of : be convinced or certain of

this is how we most commonly use the word. Another definition given by Webster's is: to perceive directly : have direct cognition of (2): to have understanding of knowing oneself> (3): to recognize the nature of : discern b (1): to recognize as being the same as something previously known (2): to be acquainted or familiar with (3): to have experience of

so by the first definition the word is used in absolute terms. if something is known it is understood fully or infallible. by the second definition it is something previouslt experienced, understood, or similar to something else known...not quite as concrete.

anyway, the reason this question "what does it mean to know something?" comes up is...

how does one select the proper course of actions in their life? they obviously must base their decisions on what they "know", be it the people in their lives, the events, knowledge of circumstances. but all of these theing come back to what we know, or more importantly, what we think we know.

absolutely nothing can be known ansolutely (kinda sounds like the phrase "never say never") So if we understand that nothing can be truely known we admit that all of our decicions are based on what we think we know. We must act on information that we choose to be correct or things that we choose to beleive. But why do we choose to beleive if we cannot be certain without any shadow of a doubt? Because we have faith. We have faith that the odds are in our favor, that the science will back up the facts, that the people we trust will come though, and that our god will be there as we were taught. Any or all of these are how we defend the choices we make from the attacks of our own minds, of our own doubts.

at some point we must act. damn the incessant voices of self doubt. we must act and truley know that what we did was right because we have faith in ourselves and everything that supports us because if we don't we will be torn apart by our own minds.

It is a new year. Welcome to 2009. A lot happened in 2008, but a lot more will happen in 2009. For starters I graduate in 4 months and 3 days. Then it's off to the real world I go complete with a full time job and a place of my own (hopefully at least). As the new year sets in, I've decided to be one of those people who makes a new year's resolution, but they are less of resolutions and more of goals. Goals for the semester, that will hopefully spill over into my life after school. I've decided to post them around my room and hopefully I will see them everydya and so it will help me accomplish them. Some of them are concrete and others are more abstract. I will post them at the end.

As I said, next up in life begins the real world. I did a lot of thinking over break, and although I had been considering Teach for America vs. getting a job, i decided getting a job would be better. I've decided that I'm going to try to avoid things that are just prolonging the future b/c I am too scared. That's all that would be. I thought long and hard about places that I wouldn't mind living and have decided to concentrate mainly in the St. Louis area, but as my mother pointed out, I should explore all my contacts b/c those might lead to something amazing. I also decided that getting a job is the priority and a dream job would be nice, but is not necessary or even necessarily attainable right out of school.

To know oneself is very difficult, and it is possible that you can go through life never knowing yourself fully. I don't want to be one of those people. I believe everything happens for a reason, whether to teach you something, or lead you somewhere, the trick is figuring out which. So that is my next step in this crazy mixed up time we call young adulthood. I've been told many times, everything will work it's way out like it's supposed to. Now comes the hard part... waiting.

"I am who I choose to be. I always have been what I chose -- though not always what I pleased." -- Lois McMaster Bujold

"First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do." -- Epictetus

Goals:

Eat 2 cooked meals a week
Graduate Cum Lade
Send out at least 10 resumes/follow-up on at least 10 connections a month
Step out of your comfort zone when applying to jobs
Start learning how to save and budget now
Work first, play later
Reward yourself for a job well done
Have an amazing Spring break
Go to Colorado for Joana's graduation
No speeding tickets
Stress is not worth your time and energy
No drama! (Especially boy drama, they aren't worth it)
Be open to new ideas
Work out 3 times a week (work does not count)
Live, Laugh, and Love more