Blog. Blog.

Three more weeks of school. I can't believe it. It's completely incomprehensible that I'm almost done with my freshmen year of college. Seriously. Part of me is sort of excited to start packing... it's one of those things where I get excited for a big chore or event, and then once I actually start doing it it gets much less exciting and more daunting. Like scheduling. But for now I'm still excited. It's definitely going to be weird.

Lianna is going to come visit me this summer. =) So that will be fun! Originally I was going to visit Ben and we was going to visit me as well... but I don't think that's going to happen. ='( He'll (hopefully) come visit me, however, I don't think I'm going to be able to get out there this summer. My mom only wants me to visit back out east if I can just leave early for school instead of coming back and fourth. To save money, and theoretically; time. Which really makes sense... but it wont work because Ben has some crazy scheme with our friend Carter to fly out to California (where Carter is doing a co-op) and drive back with him climbing along the way. So obviously I can't drive out early to visit him if he's going to be driving across the country. It all sorta sucks because it also means his visit to Colorado will be shorter too. *sigh* Oh well. I don't think we'd break up even if we didn't see each other at all over the summer. But it just sucks that we sort of have the OPPORTUNITY to see each other and can't really use it. Such is life?

I also think I'm going to have a REALLY hard time finding a job this summer. I get home so late most of the places hiring will already have hired. This ends up being quite the bummer because I need money for a climbing membership at a gym in the springs. (Because as of right now I doubt I'll be able to find people who want to climb outside consistently enough to stay strong and a decent climber over the summer, at least for a while. I could bolder outside alone, but there's no way I can do sport climbing or even top rope or anything alone.) And that's going to be about $120 bucks. Also I sorta want a new sleeping back for camping. But my biggest priority at the moment is a NEW DSLR!!! I want. I'm wanting to get a Nikon D300. For those of you who know of the glory that is a Nikon D3 (pretty much the best camera on the market right now... which my boyfriend happens to own) this camera is pretty much the less-pro version of it. Give or take a few features/thousand dollars. =) I wish I could afford a D3 though. Dear lord. =) It would be amazing. But who needs to buy one when they have a boyfriend who lets them use it! He really is such a nice boy... ; )
-i'm really not into him just for his camera... i swear hehe <3-





ANYWAYS.
It'll be really weird to get home and suddenly have NOTHING to do. Usually when I'm just sitting around I always am thinking "Oh i shouldn't be sitting... i should be doing this and this and this..." But... now I'm really going to have nothing to do. It's very strange. They put these posters up in our bathroom about things to ask ourselves/family when we come home to "readjust" to being at home after being "independent" for so long. It was stuff like rules, having friends over, do we still have our own room... all that sorta stuff. It kinda makes me feel like I've been in prison and have to readjust to the outside world or something.

Also, on a little side note. I've realized gradually that I really dislike change. Once I get used to one thing: living at home, living at school, a certain schedule.... I don't like it to change. I'm okay with temporary change like spontaneity. But when it comes to permanent change the "this will NEVER be the same again" things... I just don't like it. That might just be a human thing but even things like people getting new jobs that screw with the normal schedule I have permanently makes me uneasy. And I always have to talk myself out of it... because that's stupid.

I've also finally found a group of people I really enjoy being around here so it's a bummer having to leave them all summer. But I do miss my friends at home a LOT so it's going to be great to see them. And that's why god made facebook and video-chat anyways. Plus, I'm sure i'll be back here before I know it. Now I just need to figure out HOW i'm getting back. I definitely want to drive because life as a photo major without a car is completely miserable. I was sort of able to work around it this year... but there's no way to do it as I get more serious. I'm pretty sure neither of my parents will be able to drive back with me. I do NOT want to do it alone. There's a SMALL possibility that my friend Molly might be able to drive with me? (she's going to school at SUNY Purchase which is a little ways outside NYC) If all else fails my friend Ian is driving back from Cali with his dad so I could meet up with them somewhere. I could also possibly drive along with Ben and Carter... but a) I haven't actually been invited, and b) I'd probably just slow them down 'cause i'm sure they'll want to climb stuff WAY outside my skill level. =( Why must everything be so complicated?!


Oh well.
I spose I have some time.

I cannot believe it's already almost half way through the quarter! I CANNOT believe it's already April!! How did this happen?! I'm not ready to leave school and my new friends yet... and I'm REALLY not ready to not see Ben for months at a time. =( =( I wish I could be in two places at once. I'm going to miss my friends here a lot. And also... i'm not gonna lie... i'm a little bit TERRIFIED that something will happen between Ben and I over the summer. Even though I'm pretty sure it wont =) ... it's just one of those things, you know? He's kind of amazing, so I'd hate to lose him because of distance. I've already given myself an ulcer worrying about this type of thing before though... so I'm just going to trust that it will be okay. =)

I'm both excited to go home and see everyone, and also really excited to come back. I wanted this quarter to go slowly so I could get a good fill of the people here before I go home. It doesn't seem to be working that way at all.

I am really excited to climb in Colorado this summer though. It should be really great. =) That is if I can get back on track at getting better, I was improving really steadily for a while... and then I had a big break from going regularly... and now my re-start has been pretty rocky. I'm a little bummed about it. But hopefully I'll be able to get back up on that progression soon. I also need to set aside some money so I can get a harness for top rope/sport climbing. I have a whole new money management thing where I'm going to only allow myself to make bigger purchases within two or three days of my next paycheck. And all the other crap I'll probably just mooch off of Ben for now. =)

I probably have more to say, but I need to shower. So I will post again soon!

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 =]