Blog. Blog.

We got our housing stuff last week.
Lorin, Lianna, Allison and I got into a two bedroom, two story + basement ["family room and utility room"] Townhouse. We're soooooo excited. I was asking my friend Irvinn about it, [because he lives in one now] and he offered to give us a tour of his. So we trecked out there and gave it a looksy. We were impressed. It's definitely a college appartment. But the carpet is decent, the kitchen isn't bad... and we have THREE FLOORS!!! We were really lucky to get in there. Housing is so short here that a TON of people got stuck in the RIT Inn. [An off-campus Inn run by the school] A lot of kids are also moving into the new [and expensive] appartment complex right off of campus. It's about as close to campus as my appartment is, fully furnished... going to be near all of the new restraunts and businesses they're building. Ben and his roommates actually went and got one after they got stuck back in the dorms in Photo House again. [So basically I get the awesome of the new apartments without having to pay!]

Things with Ben are going wonderfully. We both really like each other's friends... although we definitely hang out with his more often. [My hall is sort of a bust.] But he gets along with Lianna really well, which is good. They have this whole Vermont/New Hampshire thing going for 'em. ;) haha. We're hopefully gonna see each other twice over the summer, I'm gonna visit him/Lianna and he's gonna come visit me. Also, the more people talk about the the more i'm considering driving back out here this fall. It'll be a long drive, but it would be SO NICE to have a car on campus considering my apartment is more off-campus than on. [Even though it's "on campus"] Also considering the fact that for the majority of the time I'm here it's really nasty outside so while I CAN walk places... I'm not going to want to. And just in general it would be nice to not have to rely on Lianna and Lorin for rides all the time. Plus moving ALL of my stuff on my own without the risk of losing it all on the airline/having to way EVERYTHING = kinda awesome.

We've also had a bit of a re-layout of the rooms in our townhouse. Originally Lianna and I were gonna room together and Allison and Lorin were gonna room together. But Allison and Lorin don't actually really know each other... and obviously were sorta uncomfortable with it. So we changed it so I'm living with Lorin and Lianna is living with Allison. It's not a big deal though, I know Lianna and Allison will get along fine, and I'll love living with Lorin. [Plus lianna and I will still be living together just not in the same room.] There were more reasons too, but that was the major one. Now we just have to figure out which pair gets the bigger room. lol. ;)

In other news I probably look like a crazy person because I keep burning the crap out of my arms at work. I have huge nasty injuries on both my forearms now. =[ It's a lot of fun.

I'm getting REALLY tired of the classes I've had all year... art history... Material and Process of Photography... I can't wait until next year. *sigh* SO CLOSE TO THE END OF THE YEAR! It's gonna be so weird to leave... but I also can't wait to come back!

Especially now that I have an awesome apartment! =]

I have finished my first official week and weekend of the new quarter. It already feels like I've been back for a long time. It feels like break was weeks ago. Very strange how that works. Classes:
M&P:
The usual. I'm not really good or bad at this class. I get what we talk about in lecture usually, do okay on the tests. But I have NO idea what the hell is going on in lab. I have a new lab partner, thank god. She's another photo house girl. She seems pretty cool though, reliable if nothing else.

Photo:
So far we don't have many assignments. But I think I REALLY like him. He's an older guy, a professional photographer from the upper west side. [NYC] He commutes to teach us, and he definitely knows his stuff. He's just on a whole new level of talking and reflecting and teaching photography compared to my previous professor. I'm sort of nervous about turning in our first assignment though. I really want him to like my stuff. Or at least see enough potential to think that he can really give me the help and edge in my photography I want. [Or rather NEED.] I really don't want him to just think i'm lazy and without direction or something. I am sort of direction-less at the moment. But... we'll see.

Kickboxing:
=] I think this class is gonna be really fun. Pretty intense I guess, from what I've heard. But I'm really into stuff like that. It's all the traditional kickboxing moves with aerobic stuff in the beginning [sort of tae boe-esque] and then actual kickboxing with the bags for the last part of class. Plus there's a girl from my photo classes in there. [Photo classes first two quarters] so that should be fun.

Western Art & Architecture:
I love the theory of this class, but the actual class has been pretty hard for me. I understand the overall ideas and aspects of the eras, it's just all the specifics I often have a hard time with. We'll see how it goes. My professor from last quarter took leave, so I ended up going back to the professor I had first quarter. [Not necessarily by choice] She's an alright professor. Definitely less knowledgeable feeling than my previous professor. And a little less interesting. But she's a much less intense grader. Soooooo we'll see?

Psychology:
I think it's gonna be a pretty good/interesting/not too hard class. It's a 4 hour lecture once a week. You WILL pass the class if you pass the quizzes. You read the chapters, he lectures on the chapters that week, and you have a quiz over the previous weeks lecture. It should be pretty good. Plus I'm into all that. =]

I've been freaking out about money a little bit lately. [Not to mention we're all talking about it right now.] I just don't want to end up being in debt for YEARS because of college. I donno... I guess these things usually sort themselves out as long as you stay on top of them.

Ho humm.

Killer headache, and burned myself at work today.

SO

I'ma out.

LOVE

So I seem to be half way through my first week back to the grindstone. So far I'm fairly happy with my new classes. I don't have to get up until 11 any day of the week except for my photo lecture on Mondays. [Which every 1st year photo student has at 8am] So that's a real treat! So far Photography seems really promising. I'm super impressed with my new professor. [I wrote a little more about him in my other blog, here. He is very knowledgeable. He actually lives in NYC and commutes up to teach. I have the same Western Art & Architecture teacher that I had first quarter. She's much less intense than the professor I had last quarter... but I don't enjoy her as much honestly. The last guy might have been a REALLY hard professor, but his lectures were actually sort of interesting because he knew SO MUCH about them all. He had LIVED with most of this art. I guess I just find this other professor a little more boring. Other than that I have Cardio Kickboxing tomorrow and then my psychology class on Thursday! I'm really excited for that. [Other than spending $110 on a USED text book for it today.]

I don't have much exciting to talk about tonight, sorry guys. =]

So, I'm still on spring break! It's been really fun. We've gone out to dinner, done a bunch of touristy things, went shopping. Yesterday one of the things we did was visit the Ben & Jerry's factory and take a tour. It was SUPER fun. I saw them making Steven Colbert's Americone Dream. Which excited me a lot. And then at the end we got free samples and they talked about these new flavors that were coming out. One of which is a tribute to John Lennon, called "Visualize Whirled Peace" complete with chocolate peace signs in it. I was SUPER excited about it. I got some in the little scoop shop they had on site. =] Tomorrow I get see Ben and head up towards New Hampshire! I'm really excited. Mostly just to see Ben. I feel totally pathetic for how much I've been missing him... especially since we have to go through a few months, with only seeing eachother for a few weeks of it, this summer. But It'll be okay. =] We've definitely turned into the couple that Lianna never wants to be. =] haha. Not that she minds us at all... it's just a person thing with her I guess. Ben and I do fine with our alone time... but we've become fairly co-dependant on eachother. It works out alright though because I really get along with/enjoy all of his friends and he gets along with mine. [Even though when we hang out in my hall we mostly just lay around and watch movies and stuff, since my hall sucks] Additionally it works out fine because we both REALLY don't want to be the reason the other one gets behind on work or anything. So we're pretty good about leaving eachother [mostly] alone when work needs to be done. =]

We're finding out about housing for next year in a few weeks! I can't wait! It'll either be a completely awesome, or miserable day... depending.

In other news: I OFFICIALLY have gained second year status at school! I ended the quarter with an A in Photo Arts 2, an A in FYE [duh], a B in Western Art & Architecture [how... I don't know], B in Shakespeare, and a B in Modern American History. Thus giving me the 42 credit hours I need to become a second year [you need 40.] I sort of feel like both Shakespeare and Modern American History I could have achieved A's in if this quarter hadn't been THIS quarter. Outside of photo both my roommate and I [and a LOT of other people for that matter] have felt SUPER unmotivated. I think it has something to do with the way the breaks break up the quarter, and how you can't really go outside. There wasn't really enough snow to go do fun things out side, and it was just gray all the time. Gray sky, gray ground. At any rate I'm VERY excited to have my second year status... AND I'm VERY excited to start the new quarter. We'll see how it all goes.



Michelle & Ben Pre-Break.



Lianna & Michelle at the Ben & Jerry's Factory. =]

And thank god! This quarter has been killing me! Motivation has been really hard to find in general and I just... am ready for something new! I should end up with an A or B in photo 2. HOPEFULLY a B in M&P [if I can ever get myself to study for this last final...]. I got a B in history. I have NO idea what I'm getting in Shakespeare or Western Art & Architecture... but I should have an A or B in Shakespeare.

I had some SERIOUS drama while scheduling... but it all worked out! Thank god! [I'm taking a concentration in Psychology... which I will turn into a minor. And then double minor in Buisness.] My schedule for next quarter:

Monday:
Material and Process of Photography Lecture: 8am-10am
Photo Arts 3 Lab [with a new professor!]: 1pm-5pm

Tuesday:
Western Art & Architecture: 12pm-1:20pm
Material and Process of Photography Lab: 2pm-4pm
Photo Arts 3: 4pm-6pm

Wednesday:
Cardio Kickboxing: 12pm-1:20pm

Thursday:
Western Art & Architecture: 12pm-1:20pm
Photo Arts 3: 4pm-6pm
Intro. to Psychology: 6pm-10pm =[

So tuesday and thursday are gonna be pretty rough... but it's sorta worth it for no class friday [again] and one class wednesday.

What else? For spring break I'm going to Vermont with Lianna for the first half of the week, and then to New Hamshire to visit Ben [!!!] for the last part of break. =] I'm really excited! A little nervous to meet Ben's parents. I'm sure I can win them over, because I know I have a great personality and i'm polite and try to be helpful. And I've NEVER had anyone's parents not like me... but I'm a little nervous about first impressions. Nose ring. Industrial. Guages. =/ Eep.

I"m sure it'll be okay though =]

Within the last week: Ben + Michelle spent an excessive amount of time together, and not even completely on purpose. Two friends now have hearings with the school [possible probations], resulting in another friend feeling VERY uncomfortable - she has been put into a sort of 'rock and a hard place' situation,- one friend has left school [apparently he's coming back though?], my grandmother passed away, and it's almost finals week.

I'm having sort of a hard time with my grandmother's death. It's been approaching for a while I suppose, but I you never really expect it to happen when someone has been in your life since before you can remember. The hardest part of all of this is that I can't be with my family. I haven't dealt with death on a personal level very often, if at all, so it's difficult not being able to experience it with my family, or even be able to go to the funeral. I am someone who ALWAYS feels the pain of death. I always joke with my friends that I somehow ended up with too much empathy for one body. Strangely though, I feel like her passing has put some things into perspective for me. This might sound crazy, but it has cleared a few things up that I have been having a really hard time with. It seems so strange... that within a few minutes your perspective can change. But, I think I will always be grateful for that. I want to believe that it was her way of gracing my life and giving me a kiss goodbye, since I wont be able to do it officially. The decision allowed me to let some of the great beauty of life that I had been afraid of come back to me.

That night was a beautiful night. I could see the stars for the first time in months. I had forgotten how much I missed them. There was this beautiful breeze. It just felt good. I sort of felt like it was for her. Even though I don't know what I feel about the soul or afterlife or any of that... it just felt right. So on my way home from Ben's I had my own little goodbye to her, and I thanked her for everything. It was really so beautiful out. Very uncharacteristic. If you have ever been to Rochester it is made of gray sky, gray sky, sleet, sleet, snow, rain and gray sky in the winter. So i think there might have really been something to this chance beautiful night. The wind wasn't even cold.

I don't really have much time to update, because It's already LATE and I need to work on a paper; but I'll give everyone a brief synopsis of life:

1. Boyfriend: His name is Ben. I actually met him on facebook when I was looking for people in my major before coming to RIT. We've been really good friends since we started chatting online. He's from New Hampshire. He's a photographer. He's a climber. And he is a skier. He has a rather organized bedroom of which I am jealous. [I don't know how he puts up with me... and our lack of storage in our dorm [Ellingson Hall has a massive lack of storage compared to most dorms]. He lives in Photo House. I already knew some, and really like the rest of his friends. He also gets along with my friends. He has good taste in music, doesn't mind my nose ring, and best of all: Doesn't mind dirty hair! Annnnnnnnnnd he's just generally amazingly sweet and awesome andddddddddddddddddd i'm completely smitten.

2. Roommate[s]: We have filled out housing for next year in hopes to get an on campus appartment. I will be living with my Friend Lorin [Video Game Design major, we listen to the same music, lives in my hall, SUPER funny, very nice]. My current Roommate Lianna [generally amazing], and Lianna's friend Allison [quite, nice, laughs at our jokes, outgoing, rides equestrian for school and a Digital Cinema Major]. We're pretty much willing to put up with whatever, we just want our own space that includes a kitchen. [At the moment, our dorm doesn't even have a microwave... =( ]

3. Spring Break: For the first half of the week [after finals...] I'm going home with Lianna, to Vermont, and for the second half of the week I'm going to visit Ben in New Hampshire. I'm really excited. At the moment... just to not have to worry about school. But I'm sure once I actually have TIME to think about break I'll be just generally excited! haha.

I don't know what else.

E-mail if you have questions?

I need to finish this paper so I can sleep. Seriously.

Goodnight, sweet loves of my life.



Michelle & Ben =]

This quarter has kicked my butt.

In a lot of ways it's really starting to even out and look up... quite a bit.

But just as a reference to the last month or two: They sucked.

It wasn't even the fact that I overloaded credits. I have MORE classes, and LESS WORK. But MORE reading. I can motivate myself to do work, because it makes me feel accomplished. But I'm having a hard time forcing myself to sit down and just read... read... read... when there is not work connected to it. It feels so dry and never-ending.

The breaks screwed me up too. Going home. Coming back. Going home. Coming back. Being VERY homesick. It's hard to re-gain the motivation I had at the beginning of the quarter when I have four weeks, leave, come back for three weeks, leave and then come back with half of the quarter already gone. We came back to midterms. It throws you off.

Then there was the drama; Kyle drama. Then Corey drama. Back and fourth...

Kyle drama is over with, as is Corey drama, actually.

I've been climbing 3 times a week. And it's murdered my hands, but I love it.

And I also seem to have a new boy in my life. But I don't want to say too much till it develops more.

Work is going fine. EVERYTHING is going fine except for school. I'll get back on the track... I just wish it wasn't taking me so long to get there...

Hello everyone! It's really been a while since i've updated. Sorry, life his been sort of a rush lately. The first few weeks of second quarter were strange, seeing that we only had three weeks between thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. Corey and I broke up and I overloaded this quarter [20 credits when we're allowed 18], we've also been trying to figure out what we're going to be doing for housing next year. My roommate this year, Lianna, our friend Lorin, and our friend Evan [hopefully] are going to try to get an on campus apartment.

I really enjoyed being home and seeing my friends, I really didn't want to leave. This quarter is going to be so stressful! And I'm not going to be able to see my family again for SO LONG... it was hard to leave.

Other than coming back here and trying to get back into the swing of things I've mostly been doing a TON of reading for class. TONS.

In photo we're doing color printing, which is really fun. The only problem is that you have to print in complete dark which leads to overactive imagination and running into walls. I've gotten better at that though. We're also starting to do some work on computers, scanning prints and negatives, using photoshop and all that. It's pretty fun, or at least new. There's a Kodak Lab on the fourth floor that's pretty much pimped out in 18% grey and huge mac monitors, new scanners, and some Epson's to print on. I'm a fan.

Lianna and I have been reclusive from the floor a bit lately. It's not that we're being purposely anti-social, however we're getting a little tired of only having ppl come down to our end of the hall when we want a ride. Sooooo we've sort of just been doing our own thing. Which is fine with me because she's AMAZING and we get along so well. This week we stayed up watching all of the old Saw movie's [sorry dad :)]. Tuesday night we decided that if we were good and did our homework [we'd been procrastinating too much] we'd reward ourselves by watching a movie. We watched the first Saw movie and LOVED it. So the next night we watched the second one, then thursday the third one. Yesterday [Friday] Lianna and I decided to plan our own night and THEN invite others along because we were ICNREADIBLY tired of spending our friday nights asking ppl what they wanted to do, and having them tell us they would rather just sit at their desk and do stuff on their computer all night. That way WE'D have fun and if others came, they came... if not... then ohhhhhhh well. We took our friend Lorin and went downtown. We wondered around for a while after, for the first time, getting down to the parking garage without getting lost. And then we went to Java's which is a trendy coffee shop downtown that has another one on our campus. We hung out there for a while and then decided to go back to the car and see what else the world offered. It took us about a year to get out of downtown, after getting stuck in a sort of slummy area looking for a bathroom for Lorin. After about 7 or 8 stops lorin went into a fish fry where a an asian girl around our age took pitty and let her into the back and let her use their private one. She came back to the car smelling like fried fish. We also had a guy trying to peddle stuff to us who got all mad when we told him we were in a rush and had to go. We FINALLY found our way back to Henrietta and drove around there for a while. We drove by a dollar theater and noticed Saw IV was playing, so we took Lorin back to the dorm to finish homework and Lianna and I went back to see Saw IV in theater. It was really fun. After we hung out for a while in the dorms, got food an then my wonderful friend Evan downloaded South Park the Movie and we all watched it on my bed. It was fun. Lianna and I were going to go the the Rochester Market today but we decided sleeping in was better. So we're going next weekend.

Hmmm what else? I decided the idea of an apartment with a kitchen and friends outweighed the idea of being an RA, however I'm going to try be an Orientation Adviser instead. I'm also using not being an RA this year to motivate me to do work for a bunch of Scholarships, some of which I will hopefully get! I'm not sure what else is going on, just school work and hanging out.

I hope everyone is well!

:)



Lorin, Myself & Lianna at Java's. Lookin' a little awkward. [we were in a little cushioned harem looking booth thing with a tiny table set in the middle so it was sort of hard to coordinate]

It's about twenty before noon right now. My flight boards at 4:30. Annnnnnnnd i'm already at the airport. Awesome, right?

I probably COULD have found a ride that could have brought me ohhhhh at two? But Lianna offered to take Corey and I. Corey's flight was at 11:45, so we got here nice and early. I got to hang out with him until his flight left, which was nice. But now he's gone and I already miss him... and everybody!

This airport is infested with RIT students. lol. Yay, I just found one I knew who could watch my stuff while I went and got food. He's not my FAVORITE person, but I know where he lives and have classes with him, so he can't mess with my stuff. :D

He sort of smells. And has terrible fashion sense. But whatever... mostly he's just lazy. :D Okay, i'm going to stop obsessing about that now.

I just checked my grades: So far, I have an A in Photo Arts 1. :D, a B in Writing Seminar, and an A in Freshmen Year Enrichment. ...which is a joke of a class. But YAY! The only class I'm REALLY worried about is my Survey: Western Art & Architecture class. For some reason I had a really difficult time with the tests in that class, the emphasis of what she was asking for on each of them was sort of inconsistent... plus they were all multiple choice, which was sort of a bummer because I knew a LOT about the pieces of work, but maybe not the specific fact she was asking for. So it didn't really judge what I knew exactly. But as long as I get a C so I can get credit I'll be fine with that. I have a new professor next quarter and I'll strive to get an A to make up for whatever I get this quarter. Hopefully my journals are enough to even out my test scores a bit, we'll see...

I love college though; reflecting over this last quarter. I'm so happy here. I donno if i've ever been so consistently happy, while working so hard. I've definitely had my moments of un-happiness. FOR SURE. But in general I'm SO HAPPY i'm here. I ended up in the perfect place. It's so crazy. Like the fates really just put me in the right place. My roommate and I are RIDICULOUSLY compatible. My floor is AMAZING. I've met some truly amazing people. I didn't end up with the BEST group of kids in a lot of my classes... but you can't have everything, right? :) I can't wait to be home!!

I'll see everyone soon!!

't done this in a while. Sorry guys!! It's late and I SHOULD be asleep, but of course as always I was tired all day... but now can't sleep. Go me.

What have I been up to? A lot! I'm so busy!!

It's the 9th week. Which means one more week... and then finals! I can't believe it! I really can't. I'm VERY excited to go home and see everyone for thanksgiving! I can't even wait! I get giddy just thinking about it! It's weird though, I can't WAIT to go home and see everyone... but I'm really going to miss everyone here a lot. I have almost no good friends outside of my hall. I see everyone in my hall pretty much EVERY DAY. It's going to be weird not seeing them, we're all so different and amazing. I love it. But it's weird because I'm excited to come home, but I think by the end of two weeks... I'll be ready to come back and see everyone here again.

I absolutely adore my roommate. I can't even believe how amazingly we get along. Her name is Lianna and she's from Vermont. She's a fine art photography major. I swear it was some sort of magical celestial happening that we got put together. PERFECT fit. :D She makes me laugh a LOT and we just fit together REALLY well as roommates. I do have a few other ppl I'm really close with here too. They're all guys of course. [I swear I'm not going to know to to act around girls anymore when I leave this place...]

Ian & Corey are roommates. They're two of the first ppl I made friends with on the floor and I've become really close to both of them. Ian and I have a very brother-sister bond. He's from California and has never seen snow. It's going to be a VERY long winter for him... He saw frost on a car for the first time last night and got all excited. He's going to be having a lot of firsts now that its [FINALLY!] cooling down around here. Corey and I just laughed at him the whole time the talked about it. As for Corey and I, we just hit it off like crazy and pretty much became best friends really quickly after getting here. By our second or third week here we knew each others entire life stories. It was almost crazy, but there just some people you bond with like that.

There's more to it, but I'm sure you'll all hear about that in person. ;) I'll let you wonder for now.


What else? I got my nose pierced a while ago! [I'll attach pictures to this] I thought my dad was going to be FURIOUS but he just laughed and said he told me so. I'm planning on getting made fun of a LOT when I come home, though. But i'm okay with that. I absolutely LOVE it. :D I'll just be happy to have REAL food and be able to shower without two dollar neon yellow flip flops on!!

We registered for classes recently, last week I think? Yeah. Last week. I decided to go over the allowed limit of 18 credits. [I had to get get special permission and stuff... woo fun] The reason behind this wonderful decision is because I have 6 credits from taking AP Photo in high school, it got me opted out of taking Studio art here. So since I already had 6 credits if I took more than 17 credits this next quarter I can be a "second year" by third quarter. By being a second year I can register earlier and also change from a meal plan to all debit. [Which would save me a lot of wasted money on meals I don't use] Also, if I get to pick my classes sooner I'll be more likely to get into the classes I want which will be handy because we get to pick our professors for Photo Arts 3 & i'll be able to get into Intro. to Psychology. The class fills up really quickly and I'm pretty sure I want to double minor in Psychology and Business, so... it'll just really give me the edge up. Plus, i wont lie. It'll make me feel smart to be a second year early. lol.

My schedule for next quarter looks like this:

Monday:
Material and Process of Photography [M&P, it's an all year combined Math/Science class for photo students...killer] 8am-10am lecture
Survey: Western Art & Architecture [Art history] noon-1:20pm
Photo Arts 2: 4pm-6pm

Tuesday:
Modern American History: 10am-noon. [I get to sleep in this quarter!! YAY!!]
Shakespeare: Tragedies: [Sooooo excited!!] noon-2pm.
Photo Arts 2: 4pm-6pm

Wednesday:
Photo Arts 2 Lab: 8am-noon
Survey: Western Art & Architecture: noon-1:20pm
Material and Process of Photography Lab: [death] 4pm-6pm

Thursday:
Modern American History: 10am-noon
Shakespeare: Tragedies: noon-2pm
First Year Enrichment: [Pointless freshmen class we're forced to take for two quarters, the only reason people go is because 90% of our grade is attendance] 2-2:50

Friday: No classes! Again! YAY!

So it's really not that bad even though I have more classes.

I'm going to Canada next weekend with my roommate, Ian & Corey, and another 2nd year from our hall named Dylan. It's going to be so much fun, just to get away from campus and bond and have fun! I'm really excited! It'll be my first time out of the country. EXCITED!!!!

I don't know what else to say right now except it's two am and I need to force myself into some sleep.

I love you all and I'll be seeing/talking to most of you soon enough!


Here's a pic:

[for some reason I can't get it to upload more than one, or figure out how to remove that one to load a diff. one, but if you copy and paste these into your web browser they SHOULD take you to a few more pics]

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a258/hiddenimortality/IMGP7770.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a258/hiddenimortality/IMGP7584.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a258/hiddenimortality/IMGP7583_2.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a258/hiddenimortality/Photo2102.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a258/hiddenimortality/IMGP7778.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a258/hiddenimortality/DSC06842.jpg

Moving in, orientation and the start of classes have all been quite a whirlwind. I've met so many people and done so much!! I'm very excited for my Photo Arts class, the professor is sort of rusty on teaching I guess, but he is a very knowledgeable and nice guy. I'm slightly less excited for most of the rest of my classes. But, oh well, they are almost all somewhat photography related, so that hold some motivation to get through them. Material and Process of Photography is going to be very hard, it's sort of a math & science replacement class for photo students . Western Art and Architecture should be cool, though. Western Art and Architecture is just a fancy name for art history. It's western Europe, though. Which wasn't really clarified. ;] The worst part of everything is just having to buy all of the equipment! Hopefully for at least the rest of the semester I wont have to buy TOO much more stuff other than film and paper, once I have my basic needs met for shooting and the darkroom.

My roommate, Lianna, and I have been getting along really well. Our living habits are very similar as are our tastes in food and social life, so living together hasn't been to difficult. She's a bit more quite than I am, [not hard to do] but our personalities are close enough that we're compatible. When we're just alone in our room we talk and joke a lot. So it has been fun. She is also a photo major, fine art, so we can talk about photo things a lot. And we can empathize with each other over being excessively broke, already. haha. As for my whole floor, I LOVE the people on it. I'm learning a ton of sign language and have finally gotten to the point where I can have general conversations with many of the deaf students through sign, hand spelling and some creative charades. I CANNOT wait to learn more, I LOVE the deaf culture. As for the hearing kids in my hall, we've all formed sort of a little family and have become pretty close. We all get along and hang out. It's really great.

I miss everyone from home a LOT, but it's nice that everyone here has fit together so well. So FAR there hasn't been too much drama, so that's good. I have become pretty close with a few guys that are just really nice, decent guys. I've made almost no female friends except for the girls in my hall. I suppose that's sort of normal because of the fact that the school population is 70% male, but still. It's just odd, I guess. :] It's more about personality than gender. I have not yet met a single girl [other than those in my hall] that I have just started talking to and our personalities clicked. It has been happening a lot more with guys, which I guess is sort of a good thing considering how [apparently] talking is a big problem on campus. I have lots of guy friends to walk with me at night and stuff. :]

Let's see... what else? I've finally started really decorating my dorm room. Despite the fact that part of our ceiling leaks... :[ Some piping is leaking and we're having a really hard time trying to find someone to fix it! But, we're working on that. Everything is starting to fall into a routine now, so it's not TOO strange, anymore. The photo store upstairs in the campus store is pretty much my savior, and everything really rather moderately priced. The campus store is a very good store in general, Barnes and Nobels [or maybe Borders?] owns part of it, but there is both a computer store and a camera store up stairs that they have fought to keep school control of so prices are cheaper. There are also text books, and clothes and all sort of school and art supplies. I'm learning to find my way around the tunnels under the dorms, so that's nice. Not being lost all the time. And I can even usually find my way back to my dorm when I leave other dorms! Except I still get turned around at night sometimes. Haha. Also they fixed our Air Conditioner, so we have cool air finally! Yay! All in all, I'm starting to get more pictures and posters up and I'm slowly getting organized and making friends!

I'm not sure what else to say. I'll up date again later! Thanks for reading!

So much has gone on! But first I'ld lay to say:

ORBITZ is a shady. Un professional. And completely unreliable company.

Today we went to the Colo Sprngs Airport to fly out to Rochester and not only did they, for NO reason, void my parents tickets from the Springs to Chicago, [Which took TWO HOURS plus to find replacement tickets or seats] but they took absolutely no responsibility for their very obvious mistake.

Thankfully, a very nice lady from the airport fixed our tickets to get us on a flight to chicago. However, once we ALREADY had received our boarding passes, gone through security, and were waiting at our gate, my father decided to go check what would was going to happen once we arrived in Chicago. The attendant at our gate, who was also very helpful and had already talked to my father about what had happened and looked up our tickets for Chicago to Rochester, noticed that Orbitz had gone into the system and canceled our flight from colorado to rochester. They CANCELED our tickets RIGHT OUT from under us. She overrode the system to get our tickets back, but this move from Orbitz was either incredibly and purposefully vindictive, or entirely unaware of their customers needs.

Do not EVER take a risk with your plans. MANY of the airport employees mentioned that they have numerous and OFTEN problems with them. Additionally, my mother just called to double check that they didn't cancel their flight home, and the agent from the airline said that she too has had MANY MANY problems with them.

Just don't take the risk with your plans!!! At any rate, the weather in Chicago was so bad the ended up canceling our flight anyways. So I'm home for a second last night. Haha.

It's so strange around here now... EVERYONE is just GONE. Well, everyone but my PPCC friends. But generally this place used to be bustling with activity. Or, at least as "active" as monument gets, but it has just been very odd to feel everyone's absence. Kyle left pretty early, so that was hard, but it was sort of nice that it gave both myself and him some time to figure out how we were both going to handle it before I left. We both sort of managed to figure out a bit of a basic understanding of how this might all go down before we both got too busy to really think anything through. I am going to welcome the distractions, though. He has had a much easier time with all of this than I have. For many reasons; one of which being the fact that he's male and has admitted to being able to think of one thing, and ONLY one thing at time. [When he wants to anyways.] I don't have that ability WHAT so ever. haha. But also because he went straight into school and had a lot to do and new people to meet [and also some old and very good friends going with him.] While I was only at home... saying GOODBYE to everyone as they gradually left. It was just hard. Luckily one of my best friends is sticking around for another year and others are either still in high school or left closer to the same time I did. I guess it really just came down to the fact that Kyle and I both just in really different places working out the same thing. =/ We've actually been working it out really well though. I go through phases of REALLY missing him, and being okay with the distance and with friends. I guess that's natural though. I thought about a lot of what has been going on and have really started being okay with how thins are. Make your lemons into lemonade and all that. There's nothing we can DO about the situation, so we might as well make the best out of it until we DO have more of a choice over it. Whatever that means.

I feel badly for my friends sometimes, though. I will miss them all. I will miss them all more than ANYTHING. However, I feel like some of them might be feeling a bit neglected because of my personal trauma of Kyle leaving. But it's more of a build up. I'm going to miss them ALL. Not just kyle. So I would hate if any of them saw me leaving without knowing how much they all mean to me, and have been a part of me over the past few years. I guess I just feel like the friends I have now, are really the ones I'm going to stay in touch with, so it's less worrisome. Everyone else faded out pretty quickly near the end of high school. Not to mention with the internet and everything, it's never been EASIER to stay close with your friends. :] I'm not as upset, because I KNOW we'll be able to stay in touch. :] And that's a nice feeling.

Everything has been so emotional lately. I have never cried in front of people so much in my entire life! Well, that's a lie. But I most definitely have NOT cried this much in front of people since I stopped throwing temper tantrums in the middle of stores. [Although I did have one of those with my dad the other day. Yay college shopping. I couldn't help but laugh after words, because it was so ridiculous that I did that. Poor Sears. I didn't cry though, so I 'spose this doesn't really count.] I guess you could call me a closet crier. Haha. I HATE crying in front of people. But... I don't think anyone would really think me weak or silly for crying at this juncture in life. Not to mention that I'm more confident than I've been in my whole life. So part of it is just me thinking that if I cry. Then I cry.

In other news, it seems EVERYONE has some obscure relative or friend of a friend in Rochester. It makes me laugh because I have a handful of numbers and e-mails of people I have never met that I am supposed to look up when I get there. Kyle even called me on the way to the airport today and told me that his professor/advisor for his academic community at CSU has a sister that lives really close to the campus. It was really sweet. He seemed so excited to be helping out. So I'll make sure to get together with her. In a direct quote I believe that I am "pretty much already invited over to dinner." :]

Another big thing was packing. I am actually a bit proud that I could fit most of all important things to me in four bags and a trunk. It is quite weird to see all of the belongings you deem important enough to move with you reduced to a bunch of bags. I have NEVER moved. I moved from the hospital i was born in, into my home. And from a tiny room downstairs. To a room upstairs. But that's it. So I have NEVER experienced something like this. I had everything pretty much organized except for one bin of random things I still needed to pack last night. But I also had to make sure everything was under fifty pounds each, since we were flying. I got home at three thirty from spending a last night with the girls. [Molly, Kelsie & Joy, Oh how I love them.] I was up until five thirty packing. I wasn't all that tired, if I had ventured into bed, I'm sure I could have managed to drift off, but it is easier to be busy than to lay and think. Not to mention that those are the hours I really get the most done, anyways. I will "spend all day cleaning" but in reality give me an hour at three am. And I can get it done IN that hour. I don't sleep all that much anyways except maybe once or twice a week. I get the bulk of my sleep those days, and the rest of the week 4 or 5 hours is fine, otherwise I feel sort of scatterbrained and strange. I enjoy the feeling of being a little bit tired. I think maybe I function better when I'm a little bit tired because I have to force my brain to really focus on one thing. Instead of trying to do six things at once. It's not that I have ADD, really. I can concentrate. It's just that I try to do all the things i can concentrate on at once. Thus, they take longer. <--- for instance, right as I type this I have COMPLETE awareness and concentration on what I'm typing. But I'm also thinking about Kyle, my bags, Joy, and the music. Perhaps that's why I enjoy such silly patterns going together on my clothing. One for each part of my thought. XP

Wow. Random tangent. =/ Sorry.

Despite everything I'm just very excited to get to school. I can't wait to meet my roommate, she seems really cool. I'm not expecting us to be best friends or anything, but I think we'll get along well enough. So that'll be nice! :] Also, my mom is crocheting me a big blanket to take with me. I made my parents go and pick out the yarn, so it really was something of them i could take with me. I love stuff like that.

Lastly, I said goodbye to joy today. We had a small goodbye last night, because we didn't know if we would get to see each other today or not. However, she made her way over, so it was nice to see her again before I left. Just her, for a bit. Even if I WAS running around trying to make sure everything was together. We had a REAL hug both last night and today. It's odd because were VERY very close, but we really just don't hug that often. I hug most of my other friends, it just never ended up being one of our things. We hug from time to time randomly, but when we do it's usually sort of awkward and silly. But these were nice true hugs. I think we usually only hug when we really need it and mean it. It makes them better and more special that way. :]

She made me this KILLER photo album of us that I guess she's been working on for almost a year, for my birthday. :] Along with some other equally awesome things. But I'm SOOOOOO grateful to have that with me at school. It was very very sweet of her. :]

Alright. I have a flight to catch tomorrow, hopefully, so I will let you all go.

Sweet dreams or have a good day. Depending on when you check this!

Wow! Soooo much has been going on since the last time I updated this! I can't even BELIEVE it!! I'm sorry it took me so long, I'll try to do it semi-regularly as studying permits. All I can say is... Where in the WORLD did July go???


General update: Katie & Mike had their baby! She's just about the most gorgeous & Precious baby I have ever seen! So beautiful! Also, Sam got married. I took the pictures. She looked absolutely stunning. Wedding photography takes a lot of work. And a LOT of late nights to get everything edited [I haven't really SLEPT in FOREVER.] That's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of events, but those are the most important ones. Life just really seems to be changing a lot for everyone these days...


College update: As of today: 20 days. [although it's past midnight, so I guess 19 days... Oh dear lord. We're in the teens now. How did THIS of all things manage to sneak up on me?!] 20/19 until orientation starts, anyways. We fly out on the 23rd, orientation starts the 26th, so we have a few days to go sight seeing and buy the things I couldn't fly out to Rochester with. I still have SO MUCH to do! I haven't even started packing really... All in all though, I'm not too worried about it. As long as I get everything done about a week before I leave, I'll be fine. This will give me time to double check everything, since I don't have the liberty of just driving down to get whatever I've forgotten. I've finally bought most of the things I need. So that's a HUGE load off. There are little things, but most of the major stuff is, at last, take care of. I purchased both my new tripod and a light meter yesterday. Kyle had said he wanted to buy me something functional for my birthday. Something that would help me with school. Take off some of the stress of getting ready. Something that would last a while, and that when I used it, I'd be able to think of him. Thus, he wanted to help me buy the tripod! We were aimlessly driving down in Colorado Springs yesterday and saw Wolfs Camera Shop so we decided to go in. I had heard of it, but I had never actually been inside. I instantly just connected with the tripod that I ended up getting. I just got the perfect vibe off of it, as silly as that sounds. The woman who helped us out was also really helpful, and the tripod ended up being perfect as she showed us all the features. [I talked to her for a really long time just about college and stuff, it was neat.] We also got a head for the tripod, obviously. It's all metal and really well made, I'm excited to get to use it. The price was just over 200 with tax and a UV filter added. I found out later that it was the exact brand, and the head was the same style as what i had originally picked out to get online with a student discount. [The price was also about the same as it would have been online because we didn't have to pay shipping this way.] I'm pretty much in love with it. Kyle put in half, as my birthday gift. He's quite the special boy. :] :]


Backtracking a bit, now that I've mentioned Kyle, other reason I'm not too concerned with packing is because I plan to distract myself with said college packing during the 10 days between when Kyle leaves for CSU and when I leave for RIT. I'm not looking forward to this at all, this is his last week at home and we're pretty much spending the ENTIRE thing together. I feel sort of badly about it. I'm kind of hogging him from his parents. Although, he can't wait to get out on his own, so I doubt he really minds, but I do feel sort of awkward about them missing their last week with him. [Although they WILL be able to see him more often than I will ;) ] We've been having such a great time so far [I even finally got him to color with me! :)] I think we're just trying to fit everything in. I've been doing okay lately with the whole emotional level of this. When the realization first struck of how soon we really were going to have to end our relationship, I cried a lot. We both wanted the exact same things, though, which was such a relief to myself and to Kyle. We both agreed it wouldn't be healthy to try to carry on a long distance relationship AND try to really get a feel for college and be able to experience everything. We both really feel it's important to stay in each others lives, even if it's just as friends. As hard as that may be. [And it's true, it's going to be SO hard when he finally likes someone else, or even when I find someone. But I think we're both mature enough to work around and with these emotions and really work to keep the friendship that we've had since before we started dating.] I had been really emotional about it, but lately I feel like I've been taking more of a "Well, you can either laugh or CRY" approach to it, and it's been working well. There are moments where I just want to burst out in tears because I realize that this AMAZING person that I've seen pretty much every single day since December, suddenly ISN'T going to be there. He will ALWAYS be there for me, and I know that. Friend or more. But there is something about the physical touch of someone who cares about you that you can't duplicate over a phone. It has also been more difficult lately though, because I can finally see it in his eyes and face sometimes how he's really feeling about leaving. He'd been pretty quite about it because he knew how hard all of this was for me, and didn't want to make it worse by talking about what he would and wouldn't be feeling. Tonight when I left his house, we were saying goodbye and I stepped out of the doorway and just started to cry as I walked down the driveway to my car. I didn't stop until I got home. And then of course my mom noticed and wanted to "talk about it." So then I cried more. And even a little now.


It's just SUCH a hard situation. Having to leave someone you love. Knowing that such a perfect relationship, and such a wonderful time period is ending. And you're leaving knowing that it will never ever be the same. While we will hopefully remain close friends... even if we date again someday, it WILL be different. THIS era, will be gone. During this entire relationship I've learned to give up the idea that I had long held quite tight fisted withing myself; that I must be able to control the situations around me. If not CONTROL the situation, have a back up plan so if the situation should LOSE control, I could keep it in control this plan. I have learned to really just have faith and leave SOME things up to fate. [with a little additional effort from yours truly] And that's just what I'm going to leave this relationship with, and really leave this whole SUMMER with. I'm going to work hard to stay close with him, but I'm just going to let fate have its way with me. Friends, Future Love, or Not. Leaving everyone is going to be hard. I'm going to be leaving the best friend I have EVER had. We met the day of our registration our freshmen year, and pretty much have NOT been apart since. We don't fight. We are the true friendship-style soul mates. But I'm not to worried about her, I know she's strong and I know we're gonna be able to stay close. Even if physically we're not. Parents. I'm going to LOVE being on my own. But I'm going to miss them SO much. I mean... they're my PARENTS!! I've never not seen them for more than a few weeks. It's going to be so hard. Haha, the more I write far away college is starting to sound like some sort of evil torture! But, to be honest, outside of all of this; the amazing amount of money I have recently spent, the TERRIFYING act of leaving absolutely EVERYTHING and EVERYONE I have ever loved or known.


I AM excited, though. Thanks to the wonders of the modern world I have met some really awesome people in my major from RIT. We've been talking fairly regularly and it's exciting to know that I will already have a few people up there to hang out with me on my birthday. [Since it's my third day on campus.] My roommate seems really cool and down to earth. I think we're gonna get along really well, which is exciting. I got onto a mainstreamed floor, which means that there are both Hard of Hearing [HOH] students and Deaf students mixed in with the Hearing students. I'm soooo excited for that. My entire life I have been interested in learning ASL and have taught myself bits and pieces, along with a few things I've picked up from having one of my best guy friends' parents both being deaf. Hmmm. I've gone on for a very long time. But I suddenly feel a little lighter. I think maybe from writing down the kyle stuff? Writing always helps me out. I can talk and talk and talk [as we all know! :)] but I really feel much more relaxed and freed when I write these things down.I hope everyone continues to have life move along wonderfully! Keep me in your thoughts over these next few weeks, because I'm am so utterly terrified of everything that's going to change in the next two weeks. I'm almost insane how much life can change in such a seemingly tiny amount of time, even if you HAVE been expecting it all summer!

My mom and I went shopping yesterday to hunt for sheets. We ended up only getting one fitted sheet for my bed. :[ It's really cute though! Bright colored stripes. Apparently, most of the stores are getting more of a variety in by the end of the month, so we're going to go back and see a little later. We did, however, buy towels! They're awsome. Very soft and I got them in all these AMAZING bright colors. It makes me happy to look at them. Yay Walmart! hehe. I also got a trunk that I can put some of my more pricey stuff in and lock up. But, that's about it from my end. Just thought I'd catch everrrrbody up at my preparations.

The day has come!! Fedex delivered my computer this morning! I was laying in bed, half awake, as always. [Kyle texts me from work starting at about eight thirty. So I'm pretty much half-sleep between 8:30 and when I actualy get up, sending texts out, whenever they come in. ha. Yay to the modern teenager.] Anyways, I heard the knock on the door and some guy talking to my dad. I just knew it was my computer. [But, I'd been up till three so I managed to stay in bed for another twenty minutes pretty easily.] I had been tracking it as it traveled across the world towards me. Starting in Shanghi, China, however they had stopped updating the tracker when it got to Indinapolis, so I only had the estimated arival date to go by. But, alas, I had faith! :]

It is such a nice computer, I can't even believe it's here! So far I've been entertaining myself with the built in video/camera thing that most, if not all, macs come with these days. It surprised me at first, I had gone through all the start up stuff and I got the point where I had to create an account so I can log in, and I look at the screen and suddenly see myself moving around. I was shocked, and... considering I was still really tired and had just woken up, it wasn't all that flattering of an image. It's a pretty fun feature, I'm sure I'm going to be using it WAY too much. I got some cute pictures of my parents and myself later on. My dad put up surprisingly little fight, however, he still wouldn't really smile, smile. He said his beard made it so he couldn't. Whatever, that liar. :]

RIT has wireless internet, and I didn't bother buying a modem to only use it for two months, so I wont really be able to use the internet on it until I get to school, but I'm sure i'll make a few trips to coffee shops before I go just so I can test it out! :] I'm just really excited about it! I was messing with the wallpapers for the desktop and there was one that just showed how amazing the resolution was and I just about wanted to cry. Which is pathetic, but... if i'm spending that much for something, I might as well be emotionally attached to it right? haha.

In other news: My ulcer [my mom keeps saying "pre-ulcer," but she couldn't FEEL it. I'm pretty sure it was an ulcer ulcer. But I can't remember what the doctor said now, so there's no reason to really argue over it.] has cleared up nicely, as the doctor said it would. I'm quite thrilled about this, I might add. However, now I have sort of of throat/cough thing. It sounds like bronchitis when I cough, but I feel COMPLETELY fine. It's very strange. I think I'm going to the doctor for a check up on the whole ulcer/neck realinement situation. My doctor will be just thrilled I have some new weird thing going on with me. Last time he told me I should be going to a nursing home instead of college! I thought it was funny. :]

That's about it, for now. I'm excited for the fourth of July because Kyle has work off and my familia is having their semi-annual BBQ. It should be a good day, if I don't get sunburnt. :] Also, Katie & Mike are having their baby soon and I couldn't be more excited!! She'll be a pretty little heart breaker for SURE! :] But in the best way possible.

Love. Love. Love. I'll write again as soon as something collegy and exciting happens.

I'm starting to get sort of excited about college. Not completely, but I have my moments. I stressed out about it so much I gave myself an ucler. So, I've decided to just slow down a bit. I'm mostly worried about leaving everyone! But, I've thought about it a lot, and I know the people I'm most concerned about leaving are all people that I love. And thus, they wont just vanish from my life because I don't get to see them everyday. I know I'm going to miss them, and I hope they're going to miss me and not forget about me, but... as horribly hard as this is going to be: It's something I just have to do. And I guess you really can't worry too much about things you can't avoid. Relationships and friendships my change, but I know if these people genuinely care for me as much as i do for them, they'll still find a way to stay in my life, and I will stay in theirs.

I have also realized the fact that I'm not TRAPPED at one school. If I get to RIT and just hate it. I can always leave and go to CSU or wherever for a semester as I figure out another school I want to go to. I'm not stuck.

As for buying things: I'm going to be so broke. Haha. A letter from the photography dept. said that my expenses will cost about $2500 for my first year. Just for supplies [paper, film, developing, ect.]. But I'm garunteed a job on campus, and I might look into some other job I can have that wont take up a lot of time. We'll see. My laptop is also going to be quite a punch in the pocket. MacBook Pro 17". But I really think it's what I'm going to need, and I can get a student discount from the website. Plus, it will for SURE last me all four years. There is a lot I need to get before I go, but I can buy a package from the school with all of the starter stuff I need for my Photographic Arts I class. So that will cut down on it a lot. I also already have a digital SLR camera, so I won't have to worry about buying one of those part way through the year, which will be just dandy.

That's about it for now. Except I'm sort of miffed about the schedual. I get two weeks for Thanksgiving & two weeks for X-mas. Intead of one week for Thanksgiving and 3+ Weeks for X-mas. And break starts the 24th of December. But I figure I can see all my friends over their Thanksgiving breaks and then go and spend a few days at CSU and a day or two at CU to visit everybody up there. The Christmas thing just sucks. But that's another thing I can't do anything about, so I'll just have to work around it.

:)

K. So, this is my blog! :)

I donno how often I'll update, but I decided this would be an easy way to keep everyone updated all at once about the happenings in my life. I'll still be e-mailing everyone individually about various things, however, this is just going to be an easy way to keep everyone updated on the general things going on.

This isn't going to be a myspacey thing, no pictures, no crazy blogs, just general thigns goin' on in my life, school, schedual, friends etc. Just to keep family and friends informed.

:) We'll see how this goes.