I'm an RA again!

Last week Thursday, I was able to return to school and begin Winter Training the next day. I was very excited for this opportunity. I have greatly missed much of what being an RA is. I feel more socialized with everyone else living on my floor, as well as a greater connection to the rest of the building. I get to plan and design programs, make door decorations, and put up bulletin boards. I know at times this may get to be stressful, but I am still simply so excited about it all.
Also, my car ended up in the ditch again. I had some pretty bad tires on my car, and driving through the snow was not a safe feeling. It may have taken me about 4 hours to drive from Sheboygan to Green Bay, but a portion of that was pushing my car out of the ditch, as well as pulling off in Manitowoc and scheduling an appointment at Fleet Farm to get my tires replaced upon getting to Green Bay. The other 2 1/2 hours were spent driving 40 miles an hour. I'm very glad that there were no other drivers going north on old CR, otherwise I would have annoyed a vast number of people. I am glad to say that I now have excellent new tires on my car, that I don't start drifting whenever I sneeze while driving in a straight line, and that I feel far safer and much more secure. I heartily advise everyone to keep their tires in great condition, especially as the weather turns.
I like stories. Do you like stories? I hope so, because I want to tell a story of my childhood each time I blog now. Today's story begins with a recollection brought about during RA training. We were told to give a depiction of our families; either write or draw about them, and describe them to our groups. I drew three things; a croquet mallet, a croquet ball, and a croquet wicket. When I think of my what my family was like when I was a child, I most vividly remember two things, and both involved tears. First, that we were spanked as children, though not nearly as much as we deserved. We were loud, boisterous, and often fairly misbehaved little demons for a number of years. My brother and I shared a room, and mother or father slept in the room next to us. Come 10:30, Tommy and I would get in a row, or start laughing without restraint. The first few times this occurred, we were scolded only. We began to recognize that we were still able to shriek as midnight grew closer with nearly no repercussions. This is when we began to really get to know the Bible. It was a large-print Bible, the King James edition, with a supple, soft leather cover with gold lettering embossed on the front. It was  heavy book, but also flexible. My dad read from it every night before going to bed, and as he rose each morning. It was marked, dog eared, highlighted, with references and thoughts and inspirations written in the margins. It was also able to imprint the words 'Holy Bible' on our butt cheeks when swung just right. My mother's choice of tool was a wooden spoon. They no longer sat in the utensil's section of our cupboards, but lay within easy reach of her bed as she rose to once again quiet us down. Let me point out something I think is very, VERY important; I do not believe that I was once an abused child. I was disciplined. There is a very important distinction. Judging from the stories my grandfather told us of his childhood, I was downright coddled compared to the nuns that used to show him that a ruler was intended not from measuring, but for handing out welts to students hands, butts, and the backside of their cranium. Moving on with the story, though, we were near every night becoming more acquainted with the word of God (unfortunately without reading it) as well as cooking implements (without the bonus of licking cookie dough off the tools afterwards). The problem was that I had a pain thresh hold as a child that would make a full grown bull gorilla pale in comparison. I shrugged off a lot of physical punishment from my brother in 'friendly' games of football (he was 5 years my senior, so it was like pitting little league against a Division I power house in my mind), so spankings never did much for me, but they wouldn't stop until we proved we were repentant of our disruptive deeds. Tommy and I developed the uncanny ability to cry. It is a skill I have since lost, but I could cry on cue to stop a spanking. I also broke more than a dozen wooden spoons on my butt, however my dad still studies from the same Bible.
The second story is a far brighter one. My family would play croquet. It was a marvelous game, and I am not certain we followed the exact rules of the game, but we played. Within 20 minutes, tempers would begin to smolder, and less than three turns later, someone would quit. yet we still (mostly) enjoyed this game. One day, my brother Tommy and I were playing. It was just the two of us, and I was on a roll. He went first, and he made to just through wicket four, the one in the middle of the course. I came through the two initial two wickets, soared through the third, knocked it through the fourth, and collided with my brother's ball in the process. So at this point I had a decision to make. I had at least two hits now (one for the wicket, and at least one for hitting Tom's ball). I could either knock his ball flying and take the single additional hit (meaning two from where I now resided) or leave his ball be, and have two hits (meaning three from where I was). I quickly formulated a plan. I aligned my ball with his, and gently knocked his a few feet. Tom looked at me, surprise in his eyes, and said 'That wasn't that bad. Thanks'... well, he said something of that sort, anyway. So I used my two hits, got through wicket five, and had one more to go... and Tom's ball was perfectly in line for me. I knocked into his ball again, but left it laying to take two additional hits to score on the post, then came back through and hit is ball again, knocked it between wickets 10 and 11 (and wicket 11 is also wicket 4, if you are following closely), went through 10, hit his ball again, knocked it between 11 and 12, went through 12, hit his again, knocked him between 12 and 13 (which is also wicket 2), through 12, hit his, then went through 13 and 14 to win in one single turn. I began to celebrate, but such activity was cut short when something remarkably hard made contact with the back of my head. It was not, as you may be suspecting, a croquet mallet. No. It was the ball. You see, a mallet has a bit of rubber on the end to soft blows. The ball doesn't. I fell to the ground with the impact, and began to cry (ON CUE) as I reached back to feel a large lump forming about the base of my skull. I pulled my fingers away to find blood dripping down my digits. At this point, I was actually crying. Tommy, somewhat apologetic, got me an ice pack as an apology. We played croquet again the next day.
Stayed tuned for next week's story of "The Lumpy Haircut" and "How I Got Screwed"!

Old News Thursday

So the last post I made regarding our decrepit dog, Jenna. It is with a heavy heart I tell you she passed. We took her to the vet, and they claimed she was the most peaceful animal they had ever worked with. They also want her picture for their offices. It is very, very sad, so I, of course, try and not think about it.
To lift spirits a bit relative to the nasty feelings many of you may be feeling, I have brighter news. I learned a song on piano. Now, I have claimed to have little to no musical talent, so I am very, VERY proud to say that it took me 12 hours (many of them spent eating, sleeping, and playing video games) to learn to play 'Say Something' by A Great Big World. I feel far more accomplished than I did upon waking up.
Also, I have a throwback story. When I was a child I enjoyed running. I mean, I really liked it. I didn't learn to ride a bike until I was 10 because I figured I could run everywhere. The only reason I eventually learned to ride was so that I could have a motorcycle when I grew up. Anyway, I used to  race my mom to the corner. She would pull out of the driveway, line up, and we would take off for the corner. It used to be my thing with my mom. I loved it... and then I forgot about it. So the other morning, after another nice snow, I was up before the buttcrack of dawn to clear our driveway of snow, and move the cars so my mom could leave. I am in a rather foul mood at this point. I walk back across the street as my mom backs out, and as she starts to drive away she yells out her window "race you to the corner!" It wasn't until she was already there that I remembered our races. It cheered me up a great deal.
The last news I have is regarding dinner; I made it. I made ribs, a nice salad, and rice. It was delicious! The meat was falling off the bone, the tomatoes were nice and juicy, the cheeses tasty, the rice soft yet not mushy. It was a wonderful meal, and it was all my doing! I ain't some good for nothing kid! I can cook!

I'm a cornucopia of emotion!!!

I'm going to share a sad story first, because I hope to cheer people up as the blog goes on.
My family continued our tradition of travelling to Nashville to visit my Aunt Nancy, her fun husband Kieth, and their two adorable daughters Frances and Jacklyn. IN order to make the trip, we need someone to take care of our dogs, Quigley, a young and boisterous red heeler with more energy than a kindergarten classroom after a snack of Smarties and Bug Juice, and Jenna, a decrepit and ancient shaggy dog with more dreadlocks than a Rastafarian. Our kind neighbors are willing to take care of these two polar opposites, but Jenna is actually more trouble than Quigley. It is difficult to get her to react to you, as she can hardly see or hear. For this reason, we called a family friend who has watched her in the past, and they agreed to take her in for nearly a week. Grateful for their kindness, we tried to make Jenna rather more presentable than she was at the time. We thought that giving her a VERY thorough brushing, trim up her hair, cut out some of the dreadlocks that couldn't be brushed out, and trim up her nails. Being the old and inflexible type of dog she is, she did not take to kindly to being pampered. We were just finishing up on some brushing and trimming around one of her front paws, when she started to shake, and then she let out a strangled, mewling howl, and slid to the ground, when she began to shake more violently. I had no idea what we could even do, but my dad just held her softly and stroked her, and eventually the seizure stopped. It was so horrifying to see our family pet laying there being able to do nothing for her at that moment. Jenna is 15 years old now, and nearing her trip to the ice cream shop (her last day with us). I will miss her dearly when she goes...
In MUCH brighter news, my two little cousins are huge handfuls, but they are so adorable, and really are sweet natured. Frances is 7 and Jacklyn is 5. They are true and blue southern girls. We drove all through the night to arrive here Wednesday morning, and the rest of my family headed straight to bed. Seeing as how the girls were already climbing on me, I had very little choice but to give them horsey rides, play catch, run amuck, and otherwise be a member of great, childlike, innocent mischief. I was thinking that at least my mom would be awake within two hours, but when 10 am rolled around, she remained fast asleep. 11 came and went. Noon passed. It wasn't until two o'clock that a real break came in the form of my grandmother sitting us down for lunch. By this time, I was sweaty, my arms and legs were sore, and my joints ached. As soon as lunch was over, I tried to sneak off, but little Jacklyn was simply DYING to play pilgrims, so I dragged myself into their 18"x36" cardboard box, dubbed the Mayflower... and fell asleep. Jacklyn tried smacking me in the face asking "are you really asleep?" for a couple minutes before Nancy saw what was happening, and I was able to get a God-send of a nap; a whopping 23 minutes! The rest of the night was spent convincing them to play cards and a color by numbers variation of horses.
The next day, after my brother Brandon had arrived, the girls were back at it with us. They especially liked to play with the air mattress that I spent my nights on. Brandon and I would hold it upright and they would charge at it full speed and bounce off, or they would try climbing it like a wall. As they pulled at it more and more, it turned from a wall to a slide. Then, they pushed us underneath it and started to jump on top of it. Simply to protect our ba-.... our faces, I mean, we lifted the mattress off the ground with our backs on the ground and our hands and feet up in the air. They now had a magic carpet to ride, and boy did they ride it! They asked us to make it hop up and down, to plummet to the ground, or do the wave. Within minutes, we were bruised, sweaty and Brandon kept yelling "low efficiency" every time we had to raise the mattress in the air again. Then it gt more out of control. Eventually, while I was under the mattress by my lonesome, Frances decided to take a flying dive toward the mattress, and fell off the end, smacking into the ground. Thankfully, no one was really hurt, but we had to stop that game. Jacklyn still comes up to me every hour or two and says "can we play the mattress game again?"
I love being able to come down here. I don't like car trips and I like being able to nap whenever I want, not feeling guilty about grabbing a snack at 2 am, and whatever else besides. But even though these surface reasons would point to me having a TERRIBLE time visiting this family, I love them so much. It is always a magnificent time, and even with the bumps, bruises, sore muscles, and lack of sleep, I always look forward to my next visit. I LOVE YOU, DUCKETTS!!!
In other news, just to wrap things up, I have been sneaking through the last couple weeks of school with as much laziness as I can muster. I speed read my assignments, doing just enough to finish my homework and do a good job on tests and quizzes. I have another two papers to finish up, and two more papers. Next semester won't be nearly as kind to me. First off, I have a lab (bleah!!!). Two history classes will mean a lot of papers, and my last 300 level Econ class. But by May, I will have a degree from St. Norbet College, and that will be worth it.
Lastly, I want to point out that I am a bit of a nerd. Doctor Who is awesome. I got to watch the 50th with a wonderful family, discuss details with a great friend, and then gossip with my mom about it. I am also re-reading the Harry Potter series again (when I'm not being pummeled by these two sweet angels pulling on my hair to get me to play with them right now!), and am just now starting Prisoner of Azkaban.  I have started a new Nicholas Sparks book as well, and am still working through the Jane Austen collection, and finished a new book called the Name of the Wind. My Christmas list consists of Harry Potter, bow ties, and other assorted fantasy books.
Well, a Happy Thanksgiving to all!!! May your lives continue to be fruitful and fun and full of love!!!!

So much Halloween!

So I really got into Halloween this year. I went to three different Res Life parties, and wore a different costume for each one. I was one of the scientists from Pacific Rim for the first party Halloween night(where we played charades, had a toilet paper costume contest, and watched Hocus Pocus), went as a Scottish soccer player Friday night (I added the kilt to my costume as the temperature dropped about halfway through Ghostbusters), and then I went to the final party Saturday night as the Warded Man, a man who fights Demons by tattooing his whole body with powerful magical symbols (and we also had pizza, a dance, charades, and ended the night watching Pitch Perfect). I spent about all that afternoon making a loin cloth drawing nearly 150 wards on my legs, chest, and left arm. A friend put about 30 on my back and right arm for me. That is the biggest time commitment I have made to a costume, by far.
Since Halloween ended I made a big change; I no longer follow my strict diet plan (meats and veggies 6 days a week, binge one day a week). I wanted to test and see if there would be a significant change in my weight and/or visible body fat by vastly increasing my carb load. So far, negligible results. Hrmmm...
I also started one of my biggest commitments so far; my sister called me up and asked me if I wanted to set up a training program for her to get ready for the Phoenix marathon March 1st. Well, I nearly leapt at the idea. I have been dying to try out the marathon program from 4 Hour Body. I am 5 days in, and it is at least challenging, and my lower back seems to be bearing the brunt of the punishment. It is almost exclusively sprint training and crossfit, and three straight days of power clean followed by a 5k, then 800 meter repeats has put a nasty cramped feeling in my back. Any suggestions friends?
I have also really taken to schnazzing myself up on Thursdays. Originally, it was associated with my fraternity, but I'm not sure we are doing it anymore, but since White Collar airs every Thursday night, I now have White Collar Thursdays, and I am loving it. I get to wear a suit every week! It's quite fun, actually, and I highly suggest it to most anyone.
And to end with a two week randomness round up, time for a variety of stories. I was rather nervous November 8th. I felt the need to dress 'snappy casual,' and I worried about it all day. I started asking Kayla about my choice of clothes all through lunch, and eventually she had me stand up and sort of model it all for her... in the middle of the cafeteria. We both had a big laugh as I gave a spin and struck a pose.
Randomness, take 2: we were discussing particularism in my upper level religions class (Particularism basically says there are multiple true faiths that lead to multiple true 'salvations'), and as we took a break, one confused girl asked the professor a question for clarification, but still didn't grasp the concept fully. The professor asked simply "Well, how do you know what justice is?" And I instantly responded with a slightly raspy voice "Batman lives by it!" The class went silent and then lightly giggled as I continued walking.
Random story 3: Marc is hilarious. As an econ professor, one would think he is dry and boring. Recognizing that, he very randomly throws out stories of his kids. The latest one, he explained to his daughter that the toy she got for Christmas said made in China because, since Santa doesn't get Christmas orders until early December, he has to outsource the labor of some items from China and the US and Europe. She then, a while later, she asked why some of those toys are still on shelves in Target (et al). He responded without missing a beat that those toys were from children who were good when they wrote their lists, turned naughty over the next few weeks, so Santa eliminated useless inventory, selling it to stores throughout the world.
Lastly, I have two major plans for next semester. Starting in January, I will either be a returning member of SNC REH as an RA, OR I will be returning to the SNC Track team. The unfortunate thing is that these two organizations are mutually exclusive. Well, here's to the future!!

I have finally started!

First thing to be written is the latest to happen. For years I have been contemplating digitally scanning all my journal entries and keeping them stored that way as well as the physical copy I have. So this morning, a day in which I will have no class due to student advisement for course selection for next semester, I began to do just that. I scanned in nearly two years of entries, though I was hardly journaling over those two years, and I also scanned in the inserts (sometimes I write on little sheets of paper and put those in my journal) all the way up to March 4th, 2013. For me, properly using technology in and of itself is quite an accomplishment. As I was finishing up for the day, an elderly man came over and asked if I was using the scanner. Immediately feeling insecure for inconveniencing someone else, I told him I was just finishing up. He said not to worry, and we ended up chatting for about 15 minutes about how school (he is a retired Doc, and studying a Masters of Theology here at SNC) and life and the future. It was really interesting.
My second story involves my Christianity and Cultural Diversity class. We were in the process of discussing revelation, and truth. Prof. Brecht reiterated the teachings of a theologian stating that if we accept something as revelation, we must also accept it is true. She expounded saying that in order to accept a revelation, we must therefore live it. Using me as an example to illustrate observation versus experience, she said that she knew me; my name, that I am open, intelligent, friendly and a Mormon. Sitting there in my purple suspenders and bow tie and Calvin Klein shirt, I gently waved from my back corner of the class room as people turned to look at me. She then stated that, even knowing that, she really doesn't understand me at all; what are my deepest hopes, fears, and dreams? What was I like as a child? How do I get along with my girlfriend? It was this last statement, that caused me to burst out a partially stifled laugh. Prof. Brecht looked up at me and asked "Is there something inherently wrong about that question?" I responded, as thoughts of how often my mom makes fun of how remarkably single I have been for nearly three years, while crossing my legs and gently waving my hand like a Jane Austin character attempting to 'poo-poo' a subject "Yes, but don't worry about it." Less than a second later, I realized the absolute femininity of my response, at which point I turned to my fraternity brother sitting next to me and whispered, complete with unintended lisping and a higher than normal octave "Oh my gosh, I think she thinks I'm gay now!" I had a pretty dang good laugh about it for the rest of the day. It was a really fun way to start my day!
Continuing along the lines of fun Professor stories, my Econ Professor, and my adviser, was writing up on the board regarding how theory and application of international trade do not always (and actually hardly ever) reflect each other. He wrote "increasing tariffs can like start a tariff war." The entire class, as they copied the words into their notes, started to laugh. I read the sentence out loud in a complete Valley Girl voice, and Marc, a French born German immigrant, started laughing along with us. He continued the lesson, and even used an example. He turned to a starting defensive lineman for the St. Norbert football team and said "If I slap Dan in the face, what would he do" Without skipping a beat, I responded "Kill you." Dan just leaned back in his chair with a smile as the class again broke out laughing. It may have been the most fun I have had in a class.
My workouts continue to progress. Just the other day, my cousin joined us, and the workout was tough enough that a) he puked (SCORE!!!) b) he asked me the next day if he should be so sore that he can't move c) I was sore. This is new for me. I am consistently sore following these workouts, and I do not know why. Although, I did increase my three rep max on Squat from 185lbs to 275lbs over a week... probably simply because I haven't done squat since 2009. Oh well, big PR for me! Also, the sprints are kinda fun, but definitely challenging.
Oh, since it is advisement day, I think I should probably talk about class selection. Firstly, I hate the Gen Ed Program. It is sooooooo freakin' upsetting! Second, continuing with Gen Eds, I hate having to take a science lab. Most people get this done in their freshman, maybe sophomore year. I am finishing it my very last semester of college.Which brings up point C... point Three.. point Thirdly?... anyway, I have been able to efficiently plan my course studies to allow me to graduate following my standard 8 semesters of collegiate studies. These semesters included an over abundance of near useless classes, including some overdose of social science classes and three gym classes. But, baring any failures, I will have a degree in hand come the end of May. Boom sticks!!!
Now, to throw in my football section, for some bad news. The Mariners fell at home to the Untouchables on Saturday. The officiating was absolutely horrendous. The two biggest calls were for a touchdown for the Untouchables where the receiver obviously pushed off, AND only had one foot come down in bounds, but they called it a TD. Second, following an INT overturned by penalty, after using the WR screen effectively most of the game, out DB broke perfectly on the play, picked the ball off, and ran it in for a TD. As he was running down, a flag came out. They called illegal hands to the face, gave the ball back and gave them 15 yards. No one even knows who the call was against. Oh, well, on to next season.
BYU beat Boise state, too. That looked like a dang good game! And in less than two weeks, BYU at Madison. I can't wait to go to Camp Randall!!
Also, ENDER'S GAME COMES OUT THIS WEEK!!!!!! OMIGOSH OMIGOSH OMIGOSH!!!!!!
And on that overly subdued note, good day to you all.

Picture time? But my hair is a mess!

This past Monday, a member of the St. Norbert College Admissions office came charging into the cafeteria, and announced to the entire area that I was in "Everyone of you, get down to the river now. We are taking photos for school publications!" I looked at Alex deadpan and said "But my hair is a mess!" Well, he pleaded again before rushing off, and I decided to go along, so I ran some water over my mop of hair, ran my fingers through it, and headed to the river. It was fun, but also really awkward. I was walking around campus with people I hadn't met before with a man yelling "Laugh more! Have fun! Be more animated! Go back and do it again!" in a firm yet friendly tone.
In more important news, the Manitowoc County Mariners won the Central Division Title, and earned a first round bye following a 42-0 win over the DC Braves. We will take on the Untouchables out of West Bend at home (in Two Rivers) Saturday, October 26th, with the winner advancing to the League Championship game! I am so excited for this! The last game we had against the Untouchables was also the last one we lost. Since then, our offense has begun to click, our running game has really gotten going, and our defense has been dominant! Since giving up 35 points in our first 2 games, they have only allowed 44 in the last 7, and scored 8 touchdowns themselves, and the special teams has added 3 touchdowns of their own. I am really excited for this match up!
I recently started working my way through the complete works of Jane Austen. I read Pride and Prejudice at the beginning of the year, but after watching the Jane Austen Book Club (which I absolutely loved!!!!), I decided to read the rest. I am currently working my way through Persuasion, and it is wonderful. I love her characters!
I am also working out on a more regular basis thanks to the White Russian, Maksim. We work out three nights a week, and we are working on getting more guys to join us. I need to start some sprint workouts, though, because I really don't feel as fast as I used to be.
Hrmmmm, what else? Go Pack go! On Wisconsin! Go BYU!
Ta-Ta!

Dunno what THAT was about!

So just now I tried to log into my profile, and Google told me I didn't have access. Confused, I entered the web address again, and I was directed to a site titled "Mega site of bible studies & information." No freaking clue how I got directed there.
Anyway; I lied. I am so not back in my groove. I am falling asleep while reading again, which is bad, because  I have a LOT to read, so I really need my eyes open. Football practice was moved, so my Wednesday night is changed completely. My Professor for my 6-8 class just changed up the time on me, and now I can consider going to Zumba (I haven't done Zumba in FAR too long). Right now I am rather out of sorts.
Here is the good news; the sunrises have been spectacular! This morning, I woke up a minute before my alarm, slowly got out of bed, and turned my alarm off once it buzzed. Wondering what the weather was like, I took a peek out my window, and was instantly awake. The air was dark, shadowed and only slightly misty, but the sky over Old St. Joe's Church was a beautiful tapestry of light, coral pink, fading from east to west. I eagerly jumped into the hall to look out the east facing window, and there was the Fox, restful and serene in the shadow of the trees. The sky was gold and red above the foliage, and a small group of clouds broke the light into radiant beams as the sun crept up, and over the woods.
It has been like that almost every day this week; light of thick gold blanketing the fresh fallen leaves, thin mists that are imperceptible under 100 yards, but hang in a ghostly veil on the distant buildings, and such quiet. Walking through campus just before the red orb of the sun peeps over the leaves is such a calming and meditative experience. I have really loved and enjoyed the last week of mornings.
And on that note, it is time to read for one of my classes again... and hope I don't fall asleep.