Lessons Learned In St. Cloud

1. It's ok to stay in your pjs until 6:30pm, especially if it is New Year's Day.
2. Don't drink bleach.
3. Make parodies of songs.
4. Find long-lost family members at parties.
5. Maryland is a female name.
6. In Tangled, Rapunzel hides the crown in a tree stump.
7. Bambi really isn't that great of a movie.
8. Grammar hard at 3am.
9. Things get warm when you boil them.
10. Drive slow on ice.
11. Brush your teeth before biting someone (it's the courteous things to do).
12. Be careful when going down stairs.
13. Stomachs don't have ears.
14. St. Cloud, FL isn't the same as St. Cloud, MN.
15. The sun is bright.
16. It's possible to have a laughing hangover (those are the best kind).
17. Seeing people smack their heads is funny.
18. Denmark is the first country people think of.
19. Kitty!
20. Driving to St. Cloud is boring.
21. Bring sweatpants on trips.
22. It will be purple eventually.
23. Be aware of hatchet murderers.
24. Hound dogs running are hilarious.
25. 6 blankets > a fireplace.
26. Formality? Haha, no.
27. If a vampire bites a zombie, will the zombie turn into a vampire? Or will the vampire turn into a zombie? Or both? ZOMBIE VAMPIRES!
28. Being a surrogate mother is scary (especially in dreams).
29. Don't sleep in contacts.
30. Everyone loves carrots.
31. Watching the ball fall in Nashville is a lot less exciting than watching it fall in New York.
32. Beware the monologue.
33. Ojo bonojo is the best card game ever invented.
34. Learn to play 500.
35. Ancient Aliens is a ridiculous tv show.
36. Laugh and learn.

Sorry for such a long list of lessons (if you can even call them that). I am currently sitting in Megan's kitchen, watching her cut up potatoes for dinner tonight. I've been here since Friday afternoon and as you can tell from the long list of jokes and lessons, it has been a blast being here. New Years Eve, Megan took me to a party with her friends. I met her friends from high school (who I've heard so much about) and I taught them the best card game ever, ojo bonojo (if you want to learn how to play, just ask me). The night turned out to be a success. I ended up talking more with Megan and Melissa's friends than I did with Megan or Melissa themselves. Megan and I stayed in our pjs all of yesterday and today we are preparing for dinner with Megan's aunt Lori. Then on Wednesday, I head back home.

My time in St. Cloud has been an adventure to say the least. The timing of this trip has been perfect: I missed seeing Megan and Melissa and being home for a long period of time is weird and slightly annoying. If I could take one thing away from my time here is that friends make all the difference. Before I came here, both Megan and I were feeling down and bit off. Although being with my mom and family has been a blessing, my friends have become such an intricate part of my life and not having them around has been weird. Sometimes all we need is time with friend to laugh and learn ridiculous things.

Peace!

-Nicole

CHRISTMAS!!!

Melissa here.

I HAVEN'T BLOGGED IN FOREVER. HI, EVERYONE.

Right now, it's officially Christmas day (even though it's almost 2 am, it still counts)!

I'm really excited, because I get to spend a lot of time with my family. I've realized over this break that I've really missed them. Today, I spent the entire day with them. We ate lunch together, then went to Christmas Eve mass, and came home to open presents. I'm really excited, because I got three books (two of which I've already read, but who's to say I can't reread them again?), one of which is Looking For Alaska by John Greene. I've wanted to read it for over a year, and now I finally can! I also got the game 'Apples To Apples', which I ended up spending a good chunk of time playing with my mom and sisters. Like I said, I've really missed them, and it took being away from home and coming back for a longer break to realize this. Being home, I've been able to have some really good talks with my mom, like we used to when I was growing up. I forgot how much I really need those talks. No one can put things into perspective for me like my mommy can. I guess what the point of this post is, don't forget the importance of family during this Christmas time. Don't forget the importance of family ever.

I guess that's all I have for now, so...

Aww yeah.

-Melissa

Merry Christmas!

1. New PJs are glorious.
2. When watching the last Harry Potter with your mom, be prepared to stop a lot to explain things.
3. Blogging on a phone is hard, but worth it.
4. When it comes down to it, love is all we've got.

Merry Christmas all! I hope you spent your Christmas Eve with those you love.

My mom and I spent our night munching on artichoke dip, crackers, and cookies. We opened gifts (best of all are my PJs and Tangled movie) and then watched Harry Potter 7 part 2. Although I had to stop the movie multiple times to explain things to my mom, it was a great night.

My favorite line from the movie is from Dumbledore: "Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and, above all, those who live without love." Beautiful line, isn't it?

On this Christmas Eve, all I want to say is it's all about love. God came down to earth to give us a bundle of love. Even if you don't believe in God, you have to agree that the best thing for everyone is love. So just love on people. As this season ends and a new year comes upon us, maybe our focus should be on love - nothing else.

May your night be filled with love (and hopefully Santa will bring you something pretty cool).

Peace!

-Nicole

The Story's Conflict

1. Baking cookies is exhausting.
2. A night with family is the best kind of night.
3. Write a blog post - Megan might get angry if you don't.
4. If there is no conflict, there is no story.

I am currently sitting at my kitchen table, surrounded by my family (mom, aunt Arlyce, uncle Rich, and cousin Joseph). Let me start off by saying that my uncle Rich is insanely brilliant and creative. He just got back from a script-writing conference in Hollywood. One of the main things he learned was "If a scene does not have conflict, there is no story."

My uncle, being the brilliant man he is, applied it to life. If life does not have conflict, then what is the point? Take a huge break-up. If it didn't hurt and if it didn't create some emotion, then that means there wasn't much there before.

Can you list all the fights you've had with friends? How about can you list all of the crazy things you've done in the past year? I know I can tell so many stories of fights/conflicts I've had with friends and I can tell you about the crazy antics that have happened too. Every single one of them has had a conflict involved, whether it be between myself and friends or myself vs myself.

And I've learned from each of them too. Try to remember a day where something crazy or weird or exciting didn't happen - pretty much impossible. If there is no conflict, there is no story. If there is no story, then there is no lesson. Without a lesson, then what is life? I try to learn something new every day (heck, that's why I blog). If I can't find something in my day that I can learn from, then what is the point of it?

Something can always be learned - no matter the situation. If a day seems too boring and utterly useless, create conflict. Scary, I know. But, why waste a day when posing a risky question or doing something a bit out there could create conflict and present a lesson?

Conflict also brings change. On a large scale, if a country disagrees with another, they will surely let the other know. But on a smaller scale, if something is not right in a relationship, the best thing to do is confront it and work it out. If it isn't talked about, the problem will still be there and change will never happen.

Don't be afraid of conflict. Without it, there pretty much is no life. So live, speak your mind, and learn.

Peace!

-Nicole

The Rest of the Story

1. Unplug yourself from technology during stressful times - it may increase your productivity.
2. Wear comfortable clothes during finals - you'll be happy you did.
3. Puppy love is the best.
4. The rest of the story has to be written.

Day one of finals week: Complete. Tomorrow is our last day of classes and then Wednesday-Friday are finals. It is getting to be crunch time - well, it has been crunch time for quite a while, but now everyone is feeling it. Most people can't wait for the semester to be over, but for me, it's bittersweet.

If I go back to back to August 28th, I was feeling so anxious and excited.

"Move-in day" me

I had no idea what was coming but I was ok with it. I was so excited to start a new chapter in my life - heck, I waited years for that moment to come. I was as ready as I could be. I situated myself into my room and went to orientation.

My club - see me in the middle, poking my head out?

I loved orientation. It prepared me for what I didn't know what I needed to be prepared for. I loved my orientation group and I would be spending the rest of the semester in class with them. This picture was taken one of the last days of orientation, little to my knowledge that this was my first college family. I love each and every one of them like a sibling and they are so dear to me.

Crazy how even now it represents all of our personalities (I'm center in the back row, choking my friend)

Then life became very bizarre...which is when I started this blog. I thought I would have a strict schedule and I thought I would act just as I had before, just without as much anxiety as before. I never expected for this to happen. Every day brings something new and I mean new. I never know what to expect. Sometimes I wish for consistency, but most of the time, I love the craziness. And I've done some crazy things. Heck, Megan jokes that I now have a reputation. I am the "pink-haired, bubbly, loud, emotional, girl-with-the-ideas, theatrical, cute-clothes-wearing, Harry Potter and Doctor Who fan, touchy-feely, organized, army-building" girl. Ok, so maybe most of that stuff isn't included in my reputation, but my friends sure do know about all of it.

I've changed so much. I think of when I've gone to camp or mission trips in years past and come back suddenly and abruptly changed. It's all good, but that change often doesn't last long. It's that mountaintop experience, where you feel so emotionally high and then you back to reality and that mountaintop experience was too short to really learn from that experience. For a while, I felt like college was like that. Orientation felt like camp: everything was planned out and I was in a specific group. It felt like a mountaintop experience.

But now I have started to live on that mountaintop. And I've made friends. I became friends with Melissa who accepted me for who I was instantly and allowed me to be me fully for the first time in a long time. She introduced me to Megan, who I have become connected to at the heart. I've also met Sally, Stef, Erin, and so many other people who have started to camp with me onto of that mountain with me.

Throughout my classes, I've learned to look up, instead of looking down from my position on the mountain. Little did I know that there are other mountains to climb where I could experience more mountaintop experiences. Before, I've always been looking down to see where I've been and to see how far I've gone. I'd been waiting for college for so that I didn't remember to keep on looking farther up. There is so much more waiting for me to climb. And I'm not discouraged by it...these aren't goals set by other people; I choose what one to climb. If I don't like it, all I have to do is switch to another.

I've been living on this mountain for a while and it's become semi-comfortable. As the semester ends, I can't help but think I am ready for the semester to end. But maybe I'm not. I love how everything about college is still new to me. But as these last few weeks have passed, things are becoming not-so-new, like when to eat dinner to avoid the dinner rush, the best places to study, when to get the best shower in the bathroom, or how long it takes to walk to class.

I'm also slightly sad because I will have to home for about a month. The concept of home has completely changed in my mind. Home has always been at my house; now it's mainly my dorm. When I spent mid-sem and Thanksgiving at my house, all I wanted after a few days was to go back my dorm. My college family was there and I missed seeing them. Yes, I do miss my house and my mother, but I was ready to move out when I came to college. I'm not ready to say goodbye to my friends, even if it is only for a month.

The end of the semester doesn't mean huge changes are in store. It just means that the beginning has ended...now it's time for the rest of the story to start. And I can't wait to see what crazy things are going happen.

It's going to be quite the adventure and quite a beautiful mess. 

Good luck on finals and whatever else is going on in your life.

Peace!

-Nicole

Better Days

1. Conserve dining dollars so you can pig out on comfort food during the last two weeks
2. My laptop (now known as Dorky) does not have the battery capacity to handle both a Spanish film and a Psych lecture.
3. Appreciate little moments, like when someone starts playing a flute in DS
4. It's nice to receive two letters in one day.
5. Find things to look forward to. (I'm looking forward to the Christmas concert)

Hey, It's Megan. Happy Wednesday.

It is the first week back on campus and we've all been hurled into hyper speed with finals, projects, and papers. It's definitely rough and stressful going, but all the Christmas decorations are popping up over night and they're fun to see.

All the stress and projects and things have left us a little bit at a loss. There's no time to sit and simply exist anymore. On Friday I'm reading Life Without Principle by Thoreau, and in it he criticizes being busy all the time because it doesn't allow one time to reflect or work on reaching a deeper level of personal depth. It's true though! When we have open time to just exist, we usually spend it together and talk or do things that contribute to our own depth of existence. We take that time to learn about ourselves and one another, but we are still learning, and it is still hugely important. Now, we don't have much time to do that at all... and it's easy to lose oneself in the mess.

Unfortunately, we can't avoid the stress of everything. And it's almost certain to get worse before it gets better, so here is some of my advice for getting through all the work.
1. Eat well
2. If listening to music, listen to instrumentals to not get distracted (Search "Study music" on Youtube)
3. Take short study breaks
4. Plunge

Let me explain plunge. Plunging is when you completely throw yourself into what you're doing. Find some passion and use it to complete your current project. You have to lose track of time and stop focusing on how big of a pain it is and just dive right into it. I find that If I can get into the zone, I'm more efficient and end up with a better finished product. Think of it as swimming under water. I don't know about you, but I swim faster under water than on the surface. Less splashing and flailing, and overall chaos I think. So take the plunge (and it's perfectly okay to wear floaties.)

It may not seem like it, but better days are ahead. It may seem like the chaos and stress will never end, but it will. You just have to maintain your sanity, hunker down, and push through it. Better days will come, and it'll be okay to sit and talk for a few hours, or have a relaxing lunch, or just goof off. So find something to motivate you to get all the work done, remember your floaties so you won't drown when you take a small study break, and smile. It's going to be okay. It is definitely going to get better.

I leave you with a link to this song... 'cause I like it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-kHleNYIDc&ob=av2e

And here's an acoustic guitar playlist I always find helpful for studying:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQlyHbu0zz4&list=PL7C739E2E2D7E861C&feature=plpp_play_all

-Megan