was lost in time.

A pretty song for a cold day. (unofficial video for Whitley's song "Lost in Time")

And a link to a fabulous "color your world" website which just so happens to be the homepage of a wonderful musician. Paint by number on Tracy Chapman's homepage!

I also just figured out my free time based on the hours in a week and the hours I have committed to doing things. On average, I should have about 7 hours of free time. This is based on me sleeping 6 hours a night, and includes class, work, travel time to class and work, eating time, research for a magazine I'm going to start writing for, one STLF meeting a week, and getting-ready time. This does not include miscellaneous things such as planning the PIF tour, meeting up with friends, answering my phone and emails, watching tv, scouring the world for new music, etc. This is probably why I double-book myself on multiple occasions, why my roommates hardly see me, and how they are learning to actually make a set time for roommate-type chats instead of expecting them to happen naturally. Obviously, though, if I took the time to figure out if I had the time to do anything more, I'm making it work. And, thankfully, am just starting to learn the phrase "Sorry, I can't." It's a difficult one, but it's hopefully going to help.

In other news, I'm very tired today BUT did get to see some wonderful people from SD last night! They were up here for a concert (Kings of Leon, which I would have loved to go to but I had night class), called me after and we met up downtown. Anne, Tiff, Lisa, Amanda, and boy...I never really got introduced although I think he was called "Bizzo" at least once...thank you so much for the call, chat and fun!

and a chill went through the house...

all of a sudden it was windy, the leaves were turning colors and dropping down to the colder, harder, browner ground, and grabbing a cardigan wasn't just for work, but for the whole day.

this last weekend i was in fargo for a retreat. i cannot explain how excited for spring break 2010 i am. i actually had planned a post from the retreat last night after we had chosen our cities. it was going to go something like this:
"I AM SO EXCITED! SO SO SO VERY EXCITED!!!!! EEEEEEKK!!"

i didn't post it because i didn't have my computer with me, but i probably should have. :) now comes the hard part of keeping the cities a secret until march.

to distract myself this autumn, i'm going to:

-listen to the new album by mika
-plan a pumpkin patch picking and apple orchard going day with my core or friends!
-give scarlett johansson another chance. here's a pretty duet with pete yorn.
-drink lots of apple cider. or apple cuice. yes, cuice. (pronounced "suess," as in dr. suess) my friend v and i like cold apple cider and apple juice and i'm definitely ready to break it out.
-try to dress in pretty dresses and boots like ms. elsie.-host a dinner party for friends. :)
-be a little bit healthier with the aid of my friend mk's new blog, my healthy campus. she also has a twitter set up for it at http://twitter.com/myhealthycampus. its brilliant and witty, just like mk. it also has already made me start weening off the cream in my coffee. she's going to single-handedly keep me healthy during this crazy semester.

And last, but certainly not least, do you know this girl?
you know, the one who literally has kicked the Great Wall of China?the one who rocks out regularly?the one who cheeses when she smiles?oh, and the one who is the biggest OTH addict and actually touched Nathan's chair just after he sat in it?

Well, it's her birthday. So drop her a line on Facebook, give her a quick little text or call, and let her know you are thinking of her as she turns 19. :)

K, this song goes out to you:

love you! xoxo.

currently...

excited: for Fall Retreat in Fargo, more specifically choosing cities for the PIF tour!

missing: volleyball and my friends from home.

drinking: coffee. coffee. coffee.

wishing: I knew the rules of hockey.

needing: to read for all of my classes.

craving: music time.

packing: the 5 magazines I bought this week for bonding time with my core. (I have never bought so many magazines before in my life. I like this class.)

waiting: for my sister to call so we can go to my house. it's her first weekend going home from college!

anticipating: seeing my good friend Sam at the service project tomorrow morning!

dreading: the homework that awaits me when I get home from the retreat.

putting off: updating my resume.

laughing: as embarrassing as it is, at this site - http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

planning: to use the internet for the first time at our house today!

wanting: for it to be socially acceptable to play dress-up again.

deliberating: which Toms to get.

dreaming: of fall, scarves, cardigans, flannel and boots.
promising: more real photos once I get internet figured out at home.

hoping: you have a happy weekend!

the first of many.

This is the first of what I am sure will become a staple in my Facebook albums: a photo of my Pay it Forward tour core! From l to r: Katie, me, Rachel, Nate, Xixi

We took this photo the night we found out our cores, and are already going on our first retreat on Friday. I am getting so excited for this. Seriously. I can't wait to get to know these people even better; to be able to work, sleep, have fun, freak out, stress, hug, eat, etc., etc. with them at any point in any day. This is truly how a Pay it Forward tour (which I will fondly call a PIF tour) gets built, loved, cared for, and accomplished. We have one retreat this semester, one even larger and more intense one at the beginning of next semester, and as many sleepovers and late night work sessions as we can cram into our already busy lives as possible! Its going to be the first time I have worked with a single group of people over a 6-month time period for the same single goal. I'll stop rambling on about it, but I'm incredibly excited. And if you don't have spring break plans, come on my PIF tour March 12-20! (Or any one of the 6 leaving from the U of M for that matter - I have good friends leading other buses!)

In other news: when did it become standard to ask someone where they lived? I have been noticing this question being asked a lot lately, and have even started asking it myself. How interesting.

Hope your week has started off well!

Last Day of Summer

photo cred.

Today is the official last day of summer for 2009. Are you doing anything to celebrate it? I am incredibly excited for Fall. Autumn is definitely my favorite season of the year, and I can't wait to start being able to wear scarves (my favorite!) again and buy boots and drink chai tea and actually start getting into a routine with classes...hopefully.

These first few weeks of school have been crazy with classes, my sister getting sick and being quarantined to my room and care, preparing and attending STLF's annual event, getting assigned to a pay it forward tour core, meeting up with friends, finally working on my room, and just overall trying to stay afloat. My calendar on my Blackberry rings at me daily to alert me to some event or interview or plan or thing I need to do and it is starting to get a little wearing. (Especially since I happened to severely drop it the other day and now it is a little shook up and doing even odder things...) I took off the entire day Sunday to just do things for myself. Sadly, that meant simple things like taking out the trash and the stash of cardboard we had piled up in our house from move-in...which was 3 weeks ago now? Oops. I also finally settled down and unpacked a few things, got my room in order and filled my dresser with clothes. You know, all of those things that most people do right when they move in because they aren't doing a 16 hour day of volunteering or planning events or worrying about getting H1N1. I also slept in for the first time in a very, very long time. Sleep is wonderful. I think I'm going to try to do it a little more often.

This weekend I am heading to Fargo for a retreat for the cores of the upcoming pay it forward tours. While I should be focusing on the piles and piles of homework (especially for my law class) that I have, I am instead pouring over a map of the U.S. and trying to decide in what general areas we should stop for our tour. I'm crossing my fingers for one particular state, and really hope we can make it work to go there.

Ah! Such a crazy few weeks I have had! I am sure that all of you are equally as busy and would love to hear updates on your lives. I officially get internet installed at my house on September 24, so I will have a little more time to Fb, tweet, blog, overall be social-networking friendly after that. But for now, please enjoy the last day of summer. I saw someone on the bus this morning wearing Ugg boots and hoped that she was planning on doing something incredibly deserving of the footwear. I am going to wear my Birkenstock sandals until my feet get wayyy too cold to pull them off. Then I will retreat to moccasins or Toms and walk down the Mall area of campus in awe of the fact that Autumn really does love Maroon and Gold. :)

Whoo Washy Washy!

Last night I found out that I am going to be leading a mystery Pay it Forward tour to Washington, D.C.! This is going to be my spring break trip in 2010. We have a core of 5 people: Rachel (who I've been on two other tours with!), Nate (who was on my tour last year!), Katie, and Xi Xi. I am super excited because my first ever PIF tour was a mystery tour to D.C.! Now I will have the chance to lead 40 other students to this fabulous city and do all sorts of service along the way.Also, I am a college leader on a high school pay it forward tour in October. This is going to be a really fun experience as I have never been on a high school tour. AND next weekend is when we choose our "route" that our tour will go on. All of the core members of all of the buses go on a retreat up north and choose where they will go. I won't be able to post anything about whatever cities we choose (it is a mystery!), but I am sure I will be super happy with whatever route we end up with. I'm just really excited for this and it is still months and months away. Whoo!

p.s. I have affectionately nicknamed Washington, D. C. "Washy Washy." Seriously. And my core is already calling it that. This is going to be wonderful. :D

In numbers.

I know I haven't blogged in a long time, and this one will probably be very short. But, forgive me. I have returned to a crazy, busy life full of unexpected twists and turns.

130+ hours I volunteered for the Welcome Week program.
20 freshmen were in my group for Welcome Week!
20 is the number of hours I'm supposed to work each week.
11 days were spent doing Welcome Week before school started.
10 is the number of calls I've missed since K got sick. Sorry!
6 is the number of days my mom is here (she's taking a class.)
6 is the number of free shirts Welcome Week gave me.
5 is the number of nights I have slept on my floor or a couch instead of my actual bed.
5 is also the number of hours Kayla and I were in the ER on Saturday (she was very sick.)
5 is the number of classes I'm taking.
3 is the number of times I've come to the hotel room to chill.
3 is the number of hours between medicines for K.
3 is also the number of days of work I have missed so far this school year. They won't let me come back until they know I don't have H1N1 (what K has.)
3 is the number of days until STLF's Annual Event!
2.5 is the number of hours it took my mother and I to paint my room! (photos sometime...)
2 is the number of Pay It Forward tours I will be leading within the next 6 months!
1 is the number of people who wrote on my Fb that I hadn't blogged. (Forgive me, Joe, and please eat now.)

Welcome Week

I am currently involved with the Welcome Week program at the U of M! I am a Welcome Week Leader (WWL) for 22 freshmen; I bring them to all sorts of sessions, eat with them, answer all of their questions, and essentially get them excited and less anxious to be away from home and on campus. I have been in training since February for this volunteer position and by the end of it will have put in over 130 hours of volunteer work. I have been doing 14+ hour days since last Friday and continue on through this weekend until Monday afternoon. It has been a fabulous, hectic, chaotic, crazy, wonderful experience thus far and my students are making all of the work SO worth it. I hope you all have been doing well and look forward to catching up once I have more than a half hour break in my day!

p.s. The photo was taken last night on the NEW TCF Bank Stadium - all of the freshmen participating in Welcome Week made the "M" and I snapped a photo using my phone. SO cool and I am SO jealous they got to go onto the field and even more excited for football games to start!!!