It’s my own fault, i know….it’s coming to that time of year where you kick your self in the ass and say….WHY DID I WAIT THIS LONG!  I have 3 books to read before my final exam on thursday and I only have one done, plus quizzes, labs, work, homework, and volunteering besides. Every year i tell myself that i’m going to keep up with the material this semester so this doesn’t happen again….well it does. Every year, every exam, and every quiz it gets to me because i’m left stressed out about how much i have to do when i could’ve been on top of it all along. i seriously think that i don’t have time to stay on top of everything because I don’t ever have time to read 2 books in a day and then prepare for labs, do homework, etc when i get home at 8pm from my jam-packed days. i’m so tired that by the time i get home from everything i barely have enough energy to read a chapter in my boring physics book before falling asleep. Come on tho….it’s hard and i feel you have to be really disiplined in-order to make it happen. If you can stay on top of things i applaud you because i’ve learned that it is impossible for me. I’m just not that type of person to stay on top of it…i must like the pressure or something. i’ve tried really hard to change and it normally lasts for about the first 3 weeks of school and then i fall off the edge. It’s so funny because when i talk to my mom, i tell her how stressed out i am because i have so much to do and she always replies that it’s what i do every year and i always seem to get it done….which is true. I think about the upcoming 2 weeks and by the time i’m done with it (meaning pulling all-nighters, drinking so much caffeine i can’t sleep, not having time to eat, work out or think, and spending 12 hours a day at the library) I crash for 2 days where i just sleep, lounge around and eat! Maybe one day i’ll change…or maybe i never will but ya know what i think about…if i did stay on top of everything i would still be stressed over something else so why not make it about the same things everytime because then i know how to attack all of it and know what i need to do inorder to get it done!

Recently I’ve been so excited for christmas. It’s always been a big deal in our family…making cookies, wrapping presents, decorating the tree and being with family is the best time of year. I can’t wait until I have a steady income so i can buy everyone presents that i want to. That’s the best part of christmas to me, I LOVE buying presents. I take a lot of pride in what i pick out for everyone and i always make sure it’s something they’ll love and the best part if seeing there faces when opening it. THere’s been a lot of christmas’s where there wasn’t a dry face in the place. I also love christmas because my birthday is the day after and i’ll be 21!!!Finally!!! It’s really hard for me to concentrate on everything right now and buckle down on my studies because i get so excited over christmas. I can’t wait to gain 10pounds during break because the food is amazing. It’s the stuff that you never have in college so i feel like when i’m home i have to take advantage of it! The girls in my house just recently put up a christmas tree and lights and other decorations so everytime i walk in, i can’t help but think about the joys of christmas. For me there’s no better time of the year, I’m kind of  a nerd when it comes to christmas stuff. We’ve had traditions for so many years now. My sister and my 22 and 25 year old cousins still decorate cookies together and things like that. I can’t wait to be done with school. When i’m driving home from my last exam on the 21st i’m going to definately be playing christmas music all the way home!

It has been a wonderful 5 months since our house has had bats. I came home today (sunday) and was in my room cleaning and putting away all of the things I bought from getting up at 5am on Friday morning, minding my own business. I heard a scream from my roommate that has a room next to mine and then i suddenly get a phone call from her. She said that she had been taking a nap and when she woke up there was a bat flying over her head! Creapy! Anyways, she had covered herself with her comforter but the bat was swooping at her under the covers! i quickly called my land lord and he came over right away and killed it. Whooo! That has been our 11th bat since i moved in last year! So, I decided to inform another one of my roomates what had happened so i walked from the 2nd floor to the basement. My roommate and I talked for a little bit and then we heard chirping in the corner of the room!!!! ANOTHER BAT! Is this mating or hatching season or what? We quickly ran out and called our landlord again but this time he couldn’t find it! What’s the odds of having two bats within 30min of each other. It’s kinda funny because we’re all closing up any vents in our room and "de-bating" them as much as we can. I’m sure it’s going to come out sometime in the next couple of days. If you’ve ever had bats you should know that they are so freaky because they have the element of surprise and come when you least expect it!!!

Sitting here with my belly full of turkey and mashed potatoes I couldn’t help but think about how much I miss home cooking. Sometimes cereal and toast just doesn’t do it for me. Thanksgiving definately came at a time when it was needed because these next few weeks are going to be hell. I’m stressed out thinking about all i have to do but right now i’m trying not to think about it because i’m with my family. I’m really excited because i haven’t seen my dad’s side in a while and it’s always a zoo at my grandma’s house because there’s about 40-50 people that are there. All my cousins are having kids so there’s about 15 little babies around. I’m definately going to be looking forward to seeing them all because the next time i will see them will be christmas. I just wanted to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving before we all have to buckle down and start cramming for finals!!

It’s about that time of year when everyone starts freaking out about living next year. I’ve already gotten calls from people who have had other people lease there apartment or house for next year and wanting me to say right then and there if i wanted to live with them. It’s just a cycle, because when one person gets worked up it makes other people think they have to too. I wish i cared enough to get all worked up about the situation but honestly, there are SO many places to live here and it’s not like we’re going to be homeless. i just asoon wait because the really expensive apartments, that i can’t afford anyways, always fill up first which is fine by me. I have too many other things to be worrying about right now than looking for a place for next year. As long as i have a roof over my head right now i’m happy. I’m looking forward to the time when I’m going to search for a house next year, but on my time and not feeling pressured into just picking something because all of the other places are gone. I know i’m going to find something I like and with the people I want to live with…STOP FREAKING OUT...everything’s going to work out. Picking a place to live is not supposed to be as stressful as our up-coming midterms, it’s supposed to be an exciting new experience and something to look forward too! Sit back and relax because everything will turn out just fine…no one will end up homeless

I couple days ago I realized something pretty funny. I was soon going to be in the midst of what I thought was so humorous. I stopped at a light waiting for it to change when it suddenly did. Around noon time everyone’s out and about so when people cross the street, it’s like a herd of elephants. I started to walk across and realized that we all form into lines when we cross. I watched the head person start it while everyone behind formed into his line or someone elses. There are some stragglers who go outside these lines and end up getting hit or side stepping with somone to get out of the way. It’s just a really funny sight to see everyone march in lines while going to class. I never realized it. I think we do it because of the fear that we’ll get hit or something with so many people around looking at you. We all do it subconsciously. There are many rules of the road that i’ve learned such as you start walking on yellow, you can can walk even when there’s a green turn signal for oncoming traffic and my favorite you can jet across the street where ever you see a gap in traffic. It’s pretty funny to look at all these things, especially all of us moving into position while we cross the street!

Things are starting up again for me. I have a full week of stress coming up. I have 2 exams on thursday so i already feel the pressure and stress of that. It never stops…There are so many things that I have to do. I seriously don’t think there’s enough time in a day to get everything done that i need too. Having 2 exams on top of homework, quizzes, projects, work, lab seems a little too much! I feel that because I didn’t do anything this weekend, I’m behind on everything. Anyways, I live in a house with 8 other girls and one of them doesn’t get along with us because nothing is good enough for her and she doesn’t like to go out so she gets angry when we do. For example, she was really mad on sat. when people were coming home late during halloween weekend (what do you expect). Anyway, she’s on the lease so Sat. she decides that she’s going to move out and tell our landlord that she wants out of the contract or she’ll take him to court. Legally 5 girls can be in the house and there are actually 8, so if she takes him to court, she’s going to kick 2 other roommates out on the street. She’s going to lose the case because she signed a year contract and she’ll have to pay the rest of the contract anyways but she might do it to kick 2 other roomates out. There’s a lot of stress right now in the house. Our landlord is so pissed and so are we. He’s doing everything in his power to help us out, which is nice. I just don’t understand why you woudln’t just buy out your contract instead of kicking 2 roommates out who have never done anything to you. THis week is going to be crazy on top of everything. We all don’t know what we’re going to do!  

On Friday my mom came down from good ole’ Fond du Lac with my sister and they spent the day with me. It had been the first time that my mom has actually visited rather than just drop me off. I was so excited to see them both. My sister ended up staying the night with her big sis while my mom went home later. Whenever people come here i feel like I have to have a whole bunch of events planned and kind of be a hostess, so i decided that we would go pick out some pumkins. It was so much fun, it brought back so many memories as a child. So, my mom, sister, roomate Gena, and I finally decided which pumpkins we were going to take home with us. I didn’t know how the carving was going to go because it has been so many years and I didn’t know if it was going to be as exciting as it used to be. It ended up being a blast! We got our hands dirty and gross and ended up carving some master pieces. I had forgotten how the simpliest things can be so joyful. Who wouldv’e thought that gording out pumpkins, carving them up and then putting a light in them so your design glows at night could be so much fun. I remember when we used to carve pumpkins when I was a little kid, i would have to be dressed in my halloween costume otherwise I wouldn’t carve. Now I get dressed up for halloween for different reasons instead of carving pumpkins. My mom left and then my sister and i hung out the rest of the night. I took her to the movies and dinner and when we got back our pumpkins were still glowing. I get excited when i see our awesome pumpkins glowing on our front porch…everyone should do it again sometime in there life.

I’ve been thinking lately about what it means to be a college student and I’ve come to the conclusion that we are all amazing! The things we do and how we go about doing them are awesome. I think each of us deserve a medal for all the hard work we do. Never in my life would I think that I could go on 5 hours of sleep each night, live off of cereal, volunteer, work and have time to make new friends. I forget sometimes how much my day is packed because it’s just a routine that i’m used too. I don’t realize sometimes that I’m up by 7am and don’t have a chance to sit down until 7pm. Neither of my parents had the college experience that i’m going through, so when I try to explain all the things i’m up too, they are pretty amazed. I think about finals week or just recently for me, midterms, and how my body survives it. It’s funny to think about how I used to be, in high school for example. i would never study and sleep in until 1 pm on weekends. I can’t even imagine doing that now. We’re all trained as robots to study, roll out of bed and go to class during the week. In the end though, we all know what we’ve gone through is worth it because we’re leaving here with a degree and a coffee addiction.

I had a physics exam last thursday and I had an ochem quiz on friday so by the time the week was over I was so stressed out and upset. I decided to go home because it was my sister’s homecoming. It was so fun helping her get ready. I remember the old days when homecoming made you feel as though you were a princess. I couldn’t stay for long tho because i had to go to the library and study, where i spent the majority of my night. With all my exams and things this week, I just needed to go home. I hadn’t been home since summer so going was such a relief. I love going back to all of your favorite restaurants and places that you don’t have here. I also love my family when I come home because they spoil me with whatever food I want. I probably could’ve gotten more studying done if I stayed in Madison, but it was just one of those weekends where you needed to go home and have a little family time.