Day 219: The Lion King

Today was a pretty good day. It wasn't 9 billion degrees outside because there was an it's-going-to-rain-soon-but-not-actually-rain-at-all-coolish-breeze today. After classes, I picked up my football game ticket with my friend Sam. Because we have season tickets, we got a free shirt to start off the year!! It is my first free Gator shirt as a sophomore. Therefore I'm pretty excited. Not that I don't have enough blue shirts in my closet which is pretty much all I end up wearing...

After that, Elizabeth and I went to Mochi for a lady date. Both of our lady dates with Phi Lamb girls couldn't happen this week, so we decided to get together instead. We had a blast and after Mochi ended up sitting in that aforementioned breeze while we waited 45 minutes for her bus to come. Woops, guess we talked too long at Mochi! So the peanut butter/white chocolate macadamia nut yogurt was pretty much my lunch. I approve. We also went to the bookstore so I could buy my stat workbook which Amazon failed to send me within a week. And I need it. So now I have it! Yay! And since I have the book, now I'm finally catching up on lectures and took the first quiz today. Got a 100% on the first try. Granted, I could have answered those questions in elementary school (seriously, stem and leaf plots?? really?) but it still made me happy. Plus you get 3 chances to take each quiz and get to drop the lowest 3. I don't see how this class can be bad. :)

We had a fire drill during my stat lecture, so I paused it, grabbed a book and ran downstairs. I read a few pages and then remembered I had a package to pick up. And as soon as I got back from picking up my book, we were allowed to go back into our rooms! Good timing! After everything was done for the day, I got a Lion King song stuck in my head and decided to watch it. There's just nothing like one of your favorite Disney movies to end the day on a happy note. But I'm still not tired. Nothing an episode of House can't help!

Goodnight!

Day 218: Return to A Cafe

HOORAY! Hannah and I got to go back to the Arredondo Cafe for lunch today. If you are just joining my adventures, Hannah was my roommate last year and the A Cafe is the best place to eat on campus. Full salad bar, buffet, entree, meat carving station, desserts, and a drink for $8.49. Plus great friends that work there, which makes it an overwhelmingly awesome place to have lunch. Anyways, Hannah and I got to go there and enjoy ourselves. Yay for catching up!

After lunch, had 4 hours of class which was ok, then ran home quickly. On Facebook I saw that BYX, Phi Lamb's brother fraternity was having a worship night for their rush (Side note, if you are a Christian guy here, you NEED to join them because they are some of the best people on the planet) so I ate dinner and ran over to worship. I had to leave that early to get to my Girl Scout meeting. After GS, I ran into two of my sisters in the food court and sat and talked with them for a while. And then returned to my room where I finally wrote everything in my planner, and realized I have a stats quiz I need to do (aka I need to watch the lectures so I can do the quiz) (don't worry Mom, I'll get it done). I also finally wrote down all of my lunch dates, events, and homework/reading that needs to be done every day this week on the whiteboard by my bed. So there should be no excuse for me forgetting a lunch date hehe. And now at 2:15, I think I am ready to call it a night. Fare-the-well blog readers. And Ben.

Day 217: Induction

Tonight was the Induction ceremony for the new pledge class of Phi Lamb. As ceremonies chair, I got to be in charge of the event. So those "crafts" that we made this weekend? The lambs for the pledge's doors. So we spent all weekend making them, I organized them today, and tonight active sisters delivered the lambs to the pledges apartments or dorms. It's hard work sneaking in to deliver lambs! Since we don't have keys to the dorm halls, you have to stand there and wait for someone to come in/out or answer your knocking. I helped Elizabeth deliver one at the apartments on campus. My hand went numb from knocking and it took like 15 minutes. We had to be let in to 2 different doors by 2 different people. But it was a lot of fun! Thanks to all the sisters who helped out!

My lambie from last year!

So all I did today was Phi Lamb planning. I bought roses at Publix. They were the most beautiful roses! I should have taken a picture... oh well. The church ended up not having air conditioning in our normal meeting space, so we had to improvise in a different room that was cooled. It was worth changing up the plans. I love me some air conditioning.

Goodnight!

Day 216: Back to Cooking

Hooray! I finally got back into the kitchen today and made some delicious ziti. Bonus: I get to have the rest for dinner later this week. Mmmm. Downside: I found out that whoever else cooks in our lounge is a slob (apparently our RA). There were dirty dishes left all over the gross counter and in the sink. I just don't understand why you would leave the tiny space we have dirty. AND they live like 6 feet from the kitchen door. That's just inexcusable. If Danielle was our RA, all of the dishes would have been thrown out by now. Hehe.

Other than that, I went to church this morning, finished up the Phi Lamb crafting, went to Publix, watched Becoming Jane, and chilled in the room. :)

A happy Sunday indeed. <3

Day 215: Crafting

I spent the afternoon crafting some things for Phi Lamb with a few of my sisters. It was a little hectic because 15 people had responded that they could come, but only 4 of us showed up. Everyone just figured that the other 14 people were going so it would be okay. It ended up working out fine because we needed an overnight time for stuff to dry, but now we have to do part 2 tomorrow. Thus, I am going to head to bed and get ready for church, more crafting, and Publix. Happy Weekend!

Day 214: Progressive Dinner

I'm officially through the first week of school! And throughout the week I dropped 3 courses and added 1 new one. So I'm only at 12 credits, but I'm going to enjoy that. Plus football tickets AND I applied for a part time job with the food services company on campus, so we'll see where that goes. Two of my friends got jobs super quickly after applying since apparently they need a lot of people. Even a few hours would give me a little spending money and something to do (as long as it's not at 6am. I happen to love sleeping in...)

Tonight's Phi Lamb rush event was the Progressive Dinner, everyone's favorite. You hop into someone's car with people you don't really know. Then you drive to one house for appetizers, one for dinner, and one for dessert. While you're at each house, you get to meet up with 2-3 other carloads of people and get to know them, too. It was a delicious blast! Except that there are now 3 Lauren's in Phi Lamb. This should get interesting... Extra bonus, met a rushee that is a friend of a friend from back home and knows lots of people that I do too! I love strange occurrences like that!

I watched some TV and now I am so ready for bed. Plugged my new computer battery in today and it worked great except for the fact that it's been plugged in for over an hour and it's only gone from 20% to 52%. That's a little funky. Hopefully it's just because it's the first time it's really charging. Because I am not sacrificing longer battery life for longer charge time. That's ridiculous. I may have to rethink computer brands next time I'm shopping (which hopefully won't be for a while...)

Goodnight everyone!

Day 213: Treasure Hunt

Today's Phi Lamb adventure was a treasure hunt across campus. I was a clue giver, so I got to stay in the same spot and meet up with the rest of the groups at the final destination. We all got ice cream as a secret treasure surprise. Yay! After the treasure hunt, we headed off to the first CRU of the year. Elizabeth and I got there kind of late, but we didn't miss much. There were over 1,200 people there!! We had to walk all the way to the top of the theater to find seats. So grateful that so many people were there. Not to mention that throughout the night, at least 94 people gave their life to the Lord. That's just so fantastic! That was pretty much my Thursday. The end!

Day 212: Take Home a Treasure

Tonight's Phi Lamb Rush event was a craft night. Our rush week is centered around treasure, so we painted little treasure boxes! I of course did mine in zebra print. It was lots of fun!

Other than that, I woke up early to table (hand out flyers) for Phi Lamb, watched lectures, attended lectures, (archaeology lab is so cool!) and realized that I was getting/am sick. I hate the beginning of school sickness. Boooo. So now I'm going to take some Nyquil and get some rest. Busy Thursday ahead! <3

Here's a link to the front page story about the beautiful Amy that ran in today's school newspaper.

Day 211: Memorial

Today's classes were much better than yesterday. I think I need to sit in the front to hear better, but they should be more interesting and educational.

Besides class, tonight was the memorial service for Amy. It was moved inside because of rain, so the room overflowed with people. It was amazing to see how many lives she touched. The President of the school came to speak as well as the dean of the Health and Human Performance college (where Amy studied). Her family was present and spoke, recognizing her sisters as a major impact on her life and had us all stand so they could see who we were. I forgot to bring tissues, so my shirt sleeves were completely soaked by the end of the evening. The stories and thoughts that her friends shared were truly the highlight of the night.

Amy's entire life was lived for the Lord, and every single person that she met recognized that. She lived as an image of Christ, something we should strive to do every day.

Day 210: First Day of School

Thank goodness for drop/add week. I had 3 classes today and dropped two of them when I got home. That's the kind of day I had...

My environmental economics class seems great; love the young intelligent professor. Cultural Anthropology professor, not so much. I'm sick of not being able to understand the teacher! When there is an American TA standing right next to him, correcting what he says. Not to mention the fact that he spent the class reading the syllabus aloud word by word and explaining how to use the online grading site that is pretty much self explanatory. The syllabus is under 'syllabus', assignments under 'assignments' and the online tests under 'assessments'. We go to the best university around, and you think we can't READ!?!? Needless to say I dropped that class until next semester when I can get a different teacher.

Then came West African Dance. Which would have been an awesome class. Unfortunately since my fall in Ohio, my knee has been failing me in the good-feeling department. After just watching the 4 minute demonstration, I knew that I wouldn't be able to do that this year. Hopefully another time I can go back and take it again.

So my new schedule is Environmental Economics, World Archaeology and lab, Intro to Sustainability Studies, Statistics, and the online career planning class for my dorm. I think that should keep me busy enough with Phi Lamb, football tickets, and gym classes across the street, don't you?

On a more positive note, I finally got to go back to Mochi tonight with a few of my sisters and a future pledge. They had cake batter AND red velvet tonight. Swirled was delicious. And made me very happy. Then I came back here and played on the computer until 2 am. Now I'm tired and can go to sleep! I seriously love being able to wake up at 11am. So awesome.

Have a great first week of school to you students.

Day 209: One More Angel

Today has been a very hard day. During our Phi Lamb pre-rush tea party, we discovered that our sister and chaplain, Amy, passed away this morning. It broke all of our hearts. She was the most encouraging person you would ever meet. We are so thankful that she was in our lives for this brief time, but now she is dancing joyfully with the Lord. I am especially thankful for our community and sisterhood that has been so supportive and comforting. Here are just a few of the things that were shared in our community today.

Rest in Peace Amy, we will see you soon!

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." John 14:1

Although we mourn the death of our beloved sister in Christ, we rejoice because she is in His presence and has heard the greatest words one could ever hear: "Well done, good and faithful servant."

You say: "I can't figure things out" but God says: I will direct your steps (Prov 3:5-6)
You say: "I feel all alone" but God says: I will never leave you or forsake you (Heb 13:5)
You say: "I'm anxious" but God says: Cast all your cares on ME (I Peter 5:7)
We are grieving, but we know that God's plan is bigger than ours.

"And I tell you all of this so that you may have peace in me. Here in this world you will have many trials and sorrows, but take heart for I have overcome the world." John 16:33

"Weeping may last through the night, but Joy comes in the morning."

You Hold Me Now

Earth has lost a wonderful woman, but heaven has gained an Angel.

Day 208: BTS part 2

I just rented a book from this site. So you should link to it from here and rent a book or two, too. It was super cheap and included shipping both ways. PLUS if you rent from here, I get $5. So if you are a college student in need of some textbooks, check out Campus Book Rentals.

http://campusbookrentals.extole.com/a/clk/bxLW

Day 208: Back to School

Welcome back, blog readers!!! I am officially back at school and moved in to my new dorm. Which is FABULOUS I must say. I have my own room connected to my roommate's and we share a bathroom with the rest of the gang from last year. Only 8 girls sharing a bathroom? Yes please!! It's so much nicer, although I loved my room last year. Plus I have a great window view and curtains too! So here are some pictures of my room all set up. Gotta go get ready for the day. Helped my neighbor move in, taking my roommate and her friends to find their classes later, then going to Jenny's new apartment for a Girl's Night In.

I LOVE COLLEGE!!!

Window view that is difficult to capture because of the screen. But it's pretty with architecture!

Day 207: Summer Break

In case you haven't noticed, I've taken a break this summer with the blog. I'll start back up again once I get into the swing of school. Just wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten you, just relaxing and being stress free!

Enjoy the rest of your summer!