A whole new world, every turn a surprise with new horizons to pursue.

IT'S FRESHMAN MOVE IN DAY AT MSU! :D :D :D

It's such an exciting day, too, with so many people to meet: your roommate(s), floor, mentors, and anyone else you happen to come across. There's rooms to arrange and books to browse for and last-minute things to buy at the local convenience stores. It's not too chilly and not to warm, and it's NOT supposed to rain (like it did the first day I moved in! :[) So freshman, you're so lucky! Plus, you have all the volunteers and upperclassmen to help you out. Don't be afraid to ask someone if you don't know where a building is or you can't figure out how to set up something in your room. Someone on your floor or in your hall is bound to know the answer or can lead you to the person that does. But most of all, have fun with it! I know this is going to be a difficult couple of weeks for transitional rooms (ie. having more than the designated number of people per room/suite), but just try to stay calm and reasonable. This year's freshman class is the LARGEST Michigan State has ever seen (7800!) so there is some accommodating that needs to be done on each side. But don't worry, MSU has a plan and this will all get sorted out. :]

Oh! Time to start my volunteer shift moving the freshman in to South Complex! Maybe I'll see some of you out there! :D

Guess who's back, back again!

It feels so good to be back on campus!!

First of all, moving in early is SO CONVENIENT. I didn't have to wait in line for elevators, the hallways weren't crowded with other people moving in, and I didn't feel pressured in the 20-minute-timeline they normally give you to move your stuff in. I also have plenty of time to think about how I want my room arranged and what I want on my walls and where I want it. I think that if I tried to move in next Sunday, I would be rushing to get everything done before classes start. So overall, I'm glad to have moved in early. PLUS, I'm working about 50 hours between this week and next week, so a good paycheck is a nice incentive to end my summer a little early as well. :] A ton of my friends have been moving in early too, so it's very nice being able to catch up with them, especially the ones I haven't seen in four months!

You know what's strange though? We only JUST moved in to the dorms, and my friends and I are already planning our living arrangements for next fall! It's so odd to think that contract signing on apartments and houses in the East Lansing area start in October, when dorm room signups aren't until late January. So if you're planning to live off campus next year, chose your roommates wisely! There's a long time between contract signing and when you move in the following year and you never know what's going to happen in the time between! I'm not too worried about that yet, though. I guess I'll just have to see what the rest of my friends are planning on doing once they get settles on campus.

These 4am bakery shifts are killing me though. It's 8:30pm and my body already wants to go to sleep?! Psh, looks like I should listen to it for once. Goodnight! :]

There's something, something about this place.

Here's to my last night in my hometown. It's getting late and I'm almost ready to go to bed, but I figured I should blog one more time before my summer officially ends.

Tomorrow, I will be moving back to MSU! I have mixed feelings about this. Of course, I'm ready to go back to see all of my friends and meet new people, start classes again, interview for internships, work my many glamorous jobs, and just to BE on campus again. Plus, I love the fall season. The weather is perfect, not too hot, not too cold; football and hockey seasons start soon; campus and everything else green is simply gorgeous with autumn colors and I get carried away with photography. But at the same time, I don't want the summer to end. I made some great friends this summer at work and within my hometown, and I don't want to leave them behind. Sometimes I wish I could just pack up my whole life with me and take it everywhere I go. :p

Speaking of packing, that is something I have done much of over the past week in preparation for tomorrow. I have boxes and bins full of my things, and half of it is already packed in the car! Don't worry though, I'm living in a single next year, so I'll have plenty of room. ;] I must say though, out of all my storage containers, I've found that the Really Useful Box brand is the absolute BEST! I would totally recommend them to any college student/anyone who needs their things organized. They come in every size, shape, and color you could imagine and I've found them perfect for using everyday. For instance, I use a regular 3 litre (litres.. I know, right?!) box for the charging cords for my electronics such as my phone, iPod, and computer, while I have the smallest, 0.07 litre, for my bobby pins. Really useful box, huh? :p

Oh gosh. In the midst of blogging, browsing, and packing, the time has slipped away from me. Goodnight for the last time in the Heights! Tomorrow, I'm East Lansing bound. :]

It's the final countdown.

One week.

One week from this moment, I will be sitting in my dorm room in West Wilson (or sleeping considering I will be working at 4am the next morning...). That is just so crazy to me! Now that it's so close to school starting up again, I feel like the summer has just flown past me. There's so many things that I didn't get around to doing. For instance, learning how to drum, make my t-shirt quilt, go to Cedar Point.

But on the other hand, there's just so many things that I DID do. I got to visit my friends from different cities and have them visit me all summer. I went to Disney World for the first time in my life with my best friend and her family. I played summer muggle quidditch with my team and got to see friends from across the Midwest. I went camping with my extended family and went zip lining for the first time. I worked at my high school's band camp and met some really cool people and became closer to others because of it. I went to the Drum Corp International Finals with my family and was awestruck by the talent and passion put in to those performances. And through all of this, I took hundreds of photos to document my summer.

I just don't know if I'm ready to go back to school yet.. Back to working three(ish) jobs, back to doing homework everyday, back to stressing over exams and projects.. I don't have a choice to be ready or not, I just have to do it. What I am ready for though? Friends, football season, fall, hockey season, quidditch, and making new memories at Michigan State University. :]

Back to school shopping!

Well, I guess it's that time of year again..

BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING! Every student from grades K-12 to undergraduate and masters must go through some sort of this process before taking their first class in August/September. There's writing utensils, organizing tools, craft supplies for some students, and then furniture and storage for the college-bound. But even more important for the latter is BOOKS.

Now everyone knows that the price of books has gotten to be.. ridiculous, for lack of a better term. I mean $200 for a Calculus I book that the teacher doesn't even read out of? Not cool. I'm not saying that books are a waste of money, because that is definitely not true. Often times, professors require these books for students as useful tools in addition to the information taught in class. I've found that they're especially helpful in my Chemistry and Physics classes, just because the information is explained in a different way and example problems are spelled out for you.

But when these classes are over in four months what do you do with these books that were only partially used? This is why college students have created the Used Book System within their university book stores as well as online markets. I've been able to save a couple hundred dollars each semester by purchasing or renting my books online or even borrowing them through friends that I know have taken one of my classes previously. (I really lucked out last semester: I was able to borrow four books and lend out three so I payed a total of $0 for a whole semester of classes!)

Here are some of the websites I use when I buy my books:

• www.amazon.com - they also offer a trial version of Amazon Prime to students so they can receive free shipping on books for an entire year!
• www.half.com - sponsored by eBay **I'd say this is the best and cheapest place, but they don't have as wide of a selection as Amazon
• www.alibris.com - sign up with your email address and you will receive coupons for future purposes
• www.abebooks.com

And if you don't want to keep the book after your class is over, just rent them!:

• www.chegg.com - I have never personally used this website, but I've heard from many other students how easy it is to use!

Don't be afraid to buy slightly used books! They're maybe markings and highlighted pages in a few of them from previous students, but that just gives them character (and may even help you when you're studying for your own class!) I bought all three of my books USED and ONLINE for this semester, and it cost me less than $100!

So good luck, students! I hope you find some great deals out there!

I can show you the world.

Wow.

I have never had a more fantastic vacation. Disney World honestly lives up to its reputation as "the happiest place on earth." I don't have a single complaint about it, and everything there is just spectacular. Now this is coming from a twenty-year old girl who has never been farther south then Kentucky and who got to act like a five year old meeting here favorite princesses, princes, and other Disney characters for a week. So you MAY not feel the same way, but that's okay. :p Another bonus was that I got to spend the week with my best friend from home and her family (who are basically my second, adopted family!) because they were the ones who invited me to join them on their vacation! I cannot thank them enough for including me in their family and inviting me down to Disney. <3

And as promised, I took over a thousand pictures, 1120 to be exact. Here's a select "few" that happen to be my favorites:

Entrance to the park. :]

Our room in Kidani Village!

My favorite princess and prince! <3

My favorite Disney movie (next to Hercules :p)!

My second family. <33

Cinderella's Castle in Magic Kingdom. 

Alice & the White Rabbit!

Rapunzel! Probably the cutest and most friendly princess. :]

(Every other princess is amazing though, just saying)

I took an abundance of pictures of the castle.

Jasmine, Paige, me, Aladdin. :]

CASTLE. <3

The castle can turn so many different colors :]

Epcot!

I had SUCH a wonderful time at Disney that I have decided I want to apply for the College Program through MSU so that I can work there next summer. It may not be considered an internship, unless I can work with an Imagineer (which would be WICKED cool!), but it will give me great experience in the job world and an excellent source to put on my resume! Hopefully I will be able to! :D

You're the best friend that I ever had.

Today, I got to see my quidditch team for the first time in two months, and it felt like we'd only been apart for a week. The Spartan Spitfire were invited to play at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI for the release of the final Harry Potter film, against Oakland University's up-and-coming team, the Oakland Owls, as well as teach other muggles ("non-magic folk") how to play. It was an all day event and we played on the lawn in front of the Ford IMAX Theatre. So many young kids and groups showed up to learn how to play, it was so much fun being able to teach them and see the excitement on their faces as they learned it's possible to play without being able to fly! I think the parents enjoyed this just as much, too. :p

Well anyway, we were scheduled to play two games against OU throughout the day and we DOMINATED with scores of 250-70 and 170-20 respectively. In OU's defense, they just recently started their team and it was the first time they played against another school instead of just scrimmages against themselves. And I think they played rather well for being so new, so congratulations to them! I'm stoked to play them again, especially once they get a little more experience in the IQA! I was also happy to learn that the Owl's seeker is actually one of my friends from high school whom I graduated with. What are the chances of that?!

Shannon and I, a friendly rivalry. :]

The Henry Ford Staff gave also gave each team a nifty trophy for participating in their event. It's a wax model of Henry Ford with a broom between his legs on top of a gold painted cup and pedestal.  Such a creative idea! Do you think it's worthy to place in the Skandalaris building with the rest of our football trophies and such? :p

Everyone who came to play some QUIDDITCH. 

Left: Oakland University Owls

Right: Michigan State Spartan Spitfires

I was just so happy to see my team and PLAY quidditch again. I guess I never realized how much I missed it until I stepped on to the field today.. I can't wait for next season now!

Here's a heads up for you though! I'm going to be in Disney World for the next week and a half, so I probably won't be able to update this blog for a little while. Don't worry though, I'll have plenty of pictures to upload when I get back! :] 

It's gotta be the best love song she ever heard in her life.

Wow! It's been a while since my last post! I suppose I was in such a rush earlier last week that I forgot to tell you all where I was going for a long weekend.. camping in the beautiful state of OHIO!

Now that may not see incredibly exciting and luxurious to you, but it's probably my number one favorite weekend of the year. It's the five days I get to spend with my absolute favorite people on this earth: my Kentucky family. My uncle and his cousins (so my second cousins, I believe) started this camping tradition nine years ago where they just met in the middle between Michigan and Kentucky. Ever since, we've just been adding family members to the trip each year. My immediate family didn't start going until about five years ago, but ever since, I can't wait to go back to see them. I guess I never realized just how big my family was!

Plus, I just love camping. There's something about stargazing, bonfires, bike rides, tenting, and lakes that just get me. I wish I could go all the time, but there's jobs and school that tend to interfere with that.. ha, oh well. I guess I'll just enjoy every bit I get!

This year, some of us went on the zip lines and tubing at the local parks. I had never done either of these things before, but they were definitely a good time! I have a slight fear of heights, but I was with a ton of people and the guides were really good about talking me in to just going with it. Definitely a great decision! :]

Tubing down the river with first & second cousins!

Zip lines with my brother, Alex.

1100 ft zip line and 150 ft off the ground. Okay.

"Coming in hot," stopped abruptly by the guide.

Sarah, Alex, and I on the rope bridge!

I love my family so much, and I can't wait until the tenth anniversary trip next summer! <3

Proud to be an American.

Well happy birthday, America, you're 235 today! :] That is so old!

Guess how I get to spend my Fourth of July holiday? Work! I don't mind THAT much, but I wish we at least got paid time and a half for working holidays..

I hope everyone else has an enjoyable day with beautiful weather, family, friends, and tasty barbeque! As always, my thoughts, prayers, and many thanks to all of the men and women who have served this country to protect its peoples and freedoms. You are the heroes and heroines we strive to be every day of our lives. <3

Favorite firework photo, Sparticipation, August 2009.

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR SUMMER.

I just finished my final paper for my online history class, and I am so excited!! :D

It may not have been my best work, but the question was difficult to come up with the correct approach, so I just went with my best guess. I'm just happy it's done though! I finished my psych class earlier this week with my third and final exam, and that went pretty well, I'm pretty sure I 4.0'ed that class. :]

So now that my summer has officially started, I can start doing all the things I have wanted to do since last summer!:

- reading more from my book list, but I've already discussed that
- make a fleece blanket from my high school t-shirts
- learn the basics of drumming with my brother as my teacher!
- find recipes and learn how to cook a good dinner
- bake more! because those cake pops were delicious :]

I have quite a bit to do I think, but that's okay, because I really like to keep myself busy. That just makes it seem that much closer to getting back to East Lansing! Did I mention, it's finally July?! :D

I think I'm going to go reward myself for finishing school with.. more reading! Ciao!