Ringing in the New Year with anti-Style

18 hour flight + many friends not 21 = staying at home

no big deal

I'm going to Africa next year, so you'll be getting some posts about that in the future.

Just so ya know.

Oh, its also summer there. 

So that's cool.

Why I am Crazy reasons 3-8

Continuing with why I'm crazy:

20 Credit hours

10 late night skates

4 clubs

2 Majors

1 new caffeine addiction

0 countless nights with little sleep

80 Volunteer Hours

Continuing with why I'm crazy:

I took a class this semester that required we volunteer in the community.  It was the best decision of my life.  I loved this class.  By the end of the semester some of the students were struggling to fulfill their hours.  I had completed my required hours by the end of September (a whole three months ahead of time).  I continued to volunteer there because I liked the place.

Hours required by the class: 28
Hours I accumulated by the end of classes: 80

128 Office Hours

While I'm in Mexico I thought I'd explain to you why I am crazy.  This is reason number one.

I am in an organization called Habitat for Humanity.  We're a student chapter and we have an office in the student organization complex.  Last year, the Vice President (now President) had the most recorded office hours.  (He was present in the office for that many hours)

This year, he is now president and at our first meeting he challenged all of us to beat him in office hours.  Anyone who succeeded would be taken out to a steak dinner.  At first no one tried really hard.  But then I started racking up the hours because I had large breaks in my day.  And then everyone was cheering me on to beat him.

He once spent 18 hours in the office in one week.  So how did I respond?  I started playing dirty.  I didn't record my hours until the last minute.



So how many hours did he record?  122
How many did I record? 128
What was the average number of hours for everybody else? 45

Will I enjoy that steak? Why, yes, yes I will.

80 degrees and raining

That is, its 80 degrees and raining in Mexico.  I'll be going there for a few days with my family before Christmas.  For the first time this vacation is going to feel more like a real vacation.  Usually we go somewhere in August, but this year our schedules didn't work out.  When we go in August, I've been on summer vacation for two months and am pretty much relaxed.

Traveling right after finals?  I can't wait to relax.

I'll be back by Christmas hopefully armed with a picture of lights on a palm tree.

Dial a Carol

Around finals week, starting on reading day, you can call a number and a group of students will sing any carol that you request.  My friend seeing me frustrated the other day called these students and put in a request that they call me and sing me a song on my phone.


Well, they get calls from all over the world.  Not even kidding.  They never called.  But I appreciated the gesture.  It made me smile.

Welcome to Finals Part 2

-or-

How You Know You Picked the Right Major

I am no longer struggling my way through physics.  I have moved on to a much better subject.  Anatomy and Physiology.  A quick note about that picture, the study guide isn't even done yet.

For the past two days I have been struggling to get myself to study physics.  Now, I actually like physics.  I think its pretty cool.  I like it best when I can do the math.  I can't always do the math.

People who teach physics have a nasty way of just knowing how it works.  When they try to explain things to you they skip steps that are essential to understanding the result.  This happens in math too.  My frustration with physics stems from this: worked out quizzes with the solutions.  They cite an equation, say "hence" and have the answer, supposedly proven.  It takes about 10 minutes to figure out that hence.

Times like this I question why I picked the major I did.

The point of this is that I am now studying biology.  Not physics.  I have been more productive in the past few hours with this subject than I had been previously.  This can be measured - by the number of breaks I take.

So how do you know you picked the right major?  Well, even though I hate studying and its like pulling teeth to get me to start, I secretly couldn't wait to start going over this material.

After all, the brain is pretty cool.

(The diencephalon is a structure in the middle of your brain)

Welcome to Finals

  9:30: sleep through alarm

11:00: find your cell phone and realize you have a text from someone who wants to study with you

11:03: realize you should get out of bed and start studying

11:10: look at the shower and think "I should really take a shower, but I don't feel like it"

11:11: decide you really need a shower

11:30: decide to dry your hair because let's be honest, who wants to start studying before noon

11:45: stare at your computer (specifically facebook) and realize you should eat something before heading off to the library for who know's how long

11:47: stare at your refrigerator and freezer

11:53: there's nothing to eat

11:54: find the last chimichanga

11:56: eat the chimichanga

12:15: leave your apartment armed with a sandwich for dinner

12:30: arrive at the library, find a place to sit, stare at computer again

12:45: take out books and attempt to study

4:30: you realize that you're in a bad mood because 1) its physics, 2) you're hungry and tired

4:31: eat sandwich you didn't want to eat because you were dreaming of Chipotle

4:55: leave the library because you're a lot hungrier than that sandwich could handle and you really want spaghetti with your special sauce

5:35: eat spaghetti

5:52: check your phone to see that you've missed more texts and calls from another friend who wants to study with you

6:10: arrive at Caribou Coffee only to find out that the internet isn't working, so you switch to Starbucks

8:23: have a mini fit because of the high pitched voice of the girl to your right, the really loud guy to your left and the barrista who keeps shouting to Francis, oh and you're still studying physics

9:02: order a Chai Tea Latte because you want to sleep before 4am tonight

12:00: get kicked out of Starbucks because it's closed

12:01: side step all the college kids who are done with finals (including the crying girl - maybe she just realized she has another final?)

12:07: arrive at your apartment steps only to realize that you won't actually get anything done there because you don't have a real table

12:07.5: decide to go back to Caribou

12:13: arrive back at Caribou and side step the crazy college kids who are done with their finals and are wandering a grocery store

12:17: find a place to sit and hope the internet works now

12:30: go back to studying after staring at facebook

1:00: you're done with everything you wanted to do and now don't know what to do with yourself because you can't fall asleep before 4am but you really don't want to look at physics anymore

My new addiction, vice, whatever you want to call it.

Caribou Coffee > Starbuck's coffee> homemade coffee > Dunkin' Donuts coffee

My new love <3

What do you do on Friday Night?

Extremely hot canola oil + cut up flour tortilla shells + too much salt = deliciousness

And by deliciousness, I mean homemade tortilla chips.

My roommate and I were complaining how we have no food to eat, and I mentioned how I have boatloads of salsa (I made some and it was a bit too much) and no tortilla chips.  My roommate suggested that we make our own.

Best.

Idea.

Ever.

That's a Grocery Store too?

In this spirit of finals week I went to a local coffee shop, ordered some coffee with hazelnut (because its gross any other way) and stayed up way too late attempting to do work or learn something.  When I decided I was done, I went to the other side of the building and picked up some milk and orange juice because I was running low.

I used to think only bookstores and the like had coffee shops in the middle of their buildings, but so does County Market.  In fact, you can buy an entire meal ready to eat then walk to some of these tables at eat it.  There was even a microwave upstairs (yes, there are two levels) so you could eat frozen food.

The best part?  Its open 24 hours.  Much better than that gym I was trying to get into at 10pm the other night.  Or Starbucks which is about 2.5 blocks away (which closes at 12).

December is cookie time

Well, its December and that means its time for cookies.  So in the spirit of Christmas coming up I started baking.  My mom and I usually bake for weeks before hand and we bake a lot.

So I baked chocolate chip cookies.

And chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.

AND ginger snaps.

I believe I was baking for 7 hours. 

It. 

was. 

epic.