Full Thursday

...which, as you may recall from weeks past, is unusual for my Thursdays.  This one had me busy all day, but everything was fun and different, so it was still refreshing. :)

One of the highlights was lunch and studying with Katie W; here's the view from her room, with the skyline for Bryanna and the baseball field for the boys (though she pointed out that, unfortunately, they can't see the scoreboard!):

Another was meeting with Daddy with one of the Computer Science professors about my plans; it's weird to already be planning the next four years, yet, at the rate that this one is going, they will be here before I know it!

I also got to pray at Planned Parenthood as part of 40 Days for Life (the girl who drove identified me as a homeschooler after less than an hour in my presence; I'm just going to take it as a compliment and be proud that, apparently, I exude that much homeschoolness!).

However, even homeschoolers stay up late finishing homework, so if you'll excuse me, I have to go finish my Theology assignment. ;)  Goodnight!

Another Piano Wednesday

Today was my usual Wednesday: Theo, piano practice, piano ensemble, piano lesson, and Music History (I kid you not!).  All I can say is that it's a good thing that I like to play piano. ;)

The unusual part, however, came this evening, when I attended a "Campus Ministry Story Slam," organized by my lovely roommate.  I wasn't sure how it would be, but it turned out to be great; I have not laughed this hard since I don't know when!  (Wait, I do know when; since last Monday.  But laugh attacks aside... :))  Basically, everyone got to tell a story, with a 5-minute cap, and somehow incorporating one of the trigger words -- "pumpkin," "breakdown," and "The Arches."  Fr. Tobin told about his first job at McDonald's (can you guess his trigger word?  Remember, there are Arches at UST, so it's a pun :D), Tim, one of the peer ministers, told about the time that he made a sparkler-bomb-thing, and Michaela told about how her family tried to get her to go on a date over the summer (she's discerning religious life).  All in all, it was a great night!

Oh, and here is the picture of the MMCs that is hanging in the Campus Ministry office:

(From left to right: Micaela, Michaela, James, me, Margaret -- in case you have trouble identifying him, James is the one with antlers. ;))

And can you name two other people in the other pictures?  Given the tendency of everyone in the Catholic community to know each other, maybe you know more, but, my family, you should recognize two for sure. :)

Only a few days until I'm back in Ham Lake; can't wait to see you all!

The official end of midterms

Yes, I had my very last midterm today -- in Music Media, which has been a wonderful little 2-credit class. :)  But how I get more credits for that than for piano, I just don't understand...

However, I was able to put my piano playing to use today, as our accompanist came late to choir, and Aaron had me play for one of our pieces!  My initial reaction was shock and disbelief and a whole bunch of excitement, but the choir was just singing unison, so it was actually really fun, though I couldn't get my left hand key signature to save my life (yes, it's the same as the right hand, but choir pieces just shouldn't be written in E flat).  I fear that I was confusing my fellow choristers, but what can you do... I will now work on my sight-reading with a renewed passion!

Delicious house dinner tonight (Whitney made BBQ pork!) with lovely conversation, followed by hot chocolate with Erin. :D  My paper is nearly ready; it's been a good day. :)

But it is time for it to be over (as you may be able to tell from my run-on sentences :)).  Goodnight, everyone; sleep well!

Post-Break Monday

...which I half expected to feel like any normal Monday, since I spent my break writing a paper; however, it was nice to be back in class and go to Morning Prayer with everyone.  Then Music History was cancelled, and since by that point I was missing my care-free class-less weekend, I got the best of both worlds. :)

Tonight, though, I was really feeling the need for some warm cookies; so, not having class, I made these:

I'm torn, because one could argue that, with a paper due this week, working on it would have been a better way to spend my evening.  But on the other hand, this way I got to eat these cookies...

And I think it has finally happened:

My inner food blogger has come out.

You know what I mean -- they post little sentences about how the thing they just cooked is the best thing ever between pictures of it.

Just like this.

But they are really good cookies. :)  White and semi-sweet chocolate chips and swirls of raspberry pie filling -- though the raspberry isn't very strong; it's supposed to be jam, and I think that that way the flavor would cut through more.

Anyways...  I got my e-mail inbox down to nothing, and I also walked down behind BEC to the river.  I didn't plan to, but I couldn't help it; it was so beautiful! ;)

Basically, I just really didn't want to do any more paper writing today.  But after today, the saw has been sharpened, the rest of my life is in place, and I feel ready to tackle it tomorrow (for an hour). :)  Goodnight!

Study Sunday

...and the first Sunday that I went to St. Mark's for Sunday Mass; it was beautiful, and I enjoyed seeing families in Mass again!  There was a Baptism, too, which is always exciting. :)

After Mass, I worked on my Philosophy paper, which is coming together fairly smoothly.  Here is a tree outside the library:

(It is applicable because the day was beautiful - thus the tree - and I spent the afternoon writing - thus the library. :))

I also walked to Whole Foods before dinner, which served both clear my mind and increase my store of fruits and veggies -- so win-win!  Carrying the bag back was good exercise for my arms, too, which haven't lifted anything heavier than a textbook since this summer (though given the size of some textbooks, that's not necessarily saying anything). ;)

Sunny Saturday

On the way to Mass this morning, Hannah (P.) remarked that I had picked a good fall to come to school, and I have to agree with her!  The weather and leaves are both stunning this year, and there are plenty of trees to appreciate around campus. :)

Today was a day of study punctuated by a couple fun breaks, the biggest being that Amanda and I went to Jamba Juice and Breadsmith for lunch!  We walked from my house, which turned out to be quite a hike, but it gave us time for a nice chat.

As you can see, I took no picture of that, so to make up for my deficiency in that area I took a picture of my pumpkin white hot chocolate this evening:

My housemates are all at a play tonight, and, for a variety of reasons, I am not. :-(  However, this drink alone nearly made up for that; I highly recommend it (there are many recipes online)!  Not only that, but I have my whole Theology paper and almost all of my Philosophy paper drafted, as well as my homework for Tuesday finished, so I think it was a wise trade-off.

And now my computer is about to die... so goodnight!

Friday of Fall Break

Today, the University generously gave us a whole day of fall break!  It's nice to have a long weekend -- turns out that a day-long break is still very much a break. :)

Yesterday, however, already felt like break because I got a visit from Hannah A., back for a short time from Michigan! :D  Catching up with her was wonderful as usual (but has no picture; I'm beginning to suspect that I'm not much of a photographer at heart).

Not that I'm opposed to taking pictures -- I do it when I remember, such as when these showed up at my door:

Think I've got enough HLA Mushroom flyers??  Unfortunately, the flyers and complications with the distribution plan both arrived on the same day, so please pray that they are able to make it out of my house and into the hands of students!