It's October! And as I said in my last post, the cold is here! We went from summer to winter so fast that I think I missed fall. The trees haven't even all changed colors yet and the weatherman is forecasting snow for this weekend. Yuck is about the only word I can say to that.

So, on to more positive matters. We only have seven soccer games left in this season! It's going by so fast this year! We haven't won any more games, unfortunately, BUT we do always put up a fight. It's too bad that we let some of those goals get in because we don't ever play like the scores say we do. On Tuesday we played a night game in the freezing cold against Morningside. The final score was 5-2, but if you take away the two goals that were scored during the first minutes of both halves, thats only 3-2! Such a close match and I really wish we could have won our first conference game.

School is going alright. I hate it when I have to miss class for soccer games. We learn so much in my 3-hour motion graphics class and I have had to miss it a few times, which puts me WAY behind everyone else. Our next project is a 15-second tv channel bump/identification. I can't decide what channel to do! There are so many options... Food Network, Comedy Central, TV Land, Disney Channel... hopefully I can think of something unique!

My next project in sound is a 30-second radio ad. I think I am going to do mine on the Dairy Dock. It's a cute little ice cream shop/restaurant in town and they are closing for the season THIS WEEKEND. I will have to go to get my last Dairy Dock fix until spring and also get some ideas for my ad ;)

In choir I have been working hard on learning and memorizing my music. We are being quizzed on it in two weeks and I am getting nervous. There are so many songs to know and so many high notes to hit! I am going to have to practice outside of class to make sure I am prepared.

This weekend is a three-day weekend because it is Native American Day on Monday. I am so ready for this long weekend. Although I will have homework to do, I think I will try hard to get it all done in one day so I can relax the rest of the weekend.

It's so cold now! The weather changed from summer to fall way too fast. Yesterday while watching the men's soccer game I was not only wearing a sweatshirt, but TWO long sleeves under it. However, the cooler weather is much welcomed at practice, because now I'm not sweating buckets all over the place.

As for school, nothing exciting has really happened. Our next sound project is called "Sound Story" and we have to use many sounds to make a story of an everyday activity. I'm going to do a soccer game. Our next motion graphics project is a poem project. I'm going to use the song "Ode to Serotonin" by Nightmare of You. We have to animate the text to emphasize the poem.

I had my first exam of the semester on Monday and it was in Intro to Christianity. I was so worried about it because there was so much to know and I was afraid of forgetting something, but I got a 93%!

Other than that, all that's been going on is soccer. Our record is now 1-6, and I am getting sick of losing. I really wish we could play better offensively and score some goals. I know I am going to work harder to get it done, even WITH my toe injury. Which, by the way, doesn't seem to be getting better.

On the agenda for the rest of the week is pretty much nothing. There is Salsa dancing on Friday and I am definitely going with Isaac to that. And this weekend I am playing flute at mass again.

I've been contemplating what to blog about for the past ten minutes. And its not because I don't have anything to talk about.. its because I have so much that I don't know where to start.

Now, I don't want to bore you by telling about all my homework that I have had to do this past week. But seriously, it was outrageous. And just this weekend alone I think I did as much homework as I did all week combined.

But, I guess it wasn't just homework. I had to write three articles for the school newspaper, The Moderator, and I worked on some advertisements for it as well. One of the articles was on the band Ziv that came and performed on campus last week. I interviewed them and they had quite the sense of humor. Not to mention a ton of musical talent. I bought one of their cds because they reminded me of the Fray and Five for Fighting. They were very good.

I'm sure this week will be just as busy as last.. we have a game on Wednesday, so once again I will be missing class. BUT its our first conference game, so that is pretty exciting. My mom has come to three of our five games already this season. Its always nice to see her and my brothers.

Well, in the past week and a half (while I wasn't blogging) a lot happened.

School started. I had my first paper due.. my first quiz.. my first missed class. My first graphic's project is due tomorrow, in sound. Its a "Dance Party USA" themed song. Instead of using the cliched synth and moog and beat box sounds, I went with some worldly tribal beats.. it sounds amazing.

I injured myself in soccer and sat out for nearly a week while I healed. But then I was back just in time for our first game... we won! And I scored!! It was the most glorious goal the world has ever seen. Lauren passed it to me and I was open for the shot. I bet the goalie was stunned, because I sure was. I fell to the ground from the impact, only to jump up and down as my ENTIRE team came running towards me to hug and congratulate me.. it was my first career goal! We ended up winning 3-1, and my goal put us ahead 2-1, so I claim it as the game-winning goal ;)

We have our second game of the season tomorrow and another on Saturday. Its gonna be tiring, but I know we can pull it together. I am so extremely excited for this season, now that I know we can work so well together on the field during a game. We get Sunday off from practice and a bunch of people are going home, since Monday is Labor Day aka no school. I'm not going home, but I am excited for the day off because I finally get to spend some quality time with my boyfriend. We haven't seen much of each other lately, except for lunch and supper, because of crazy school and practice schedules. He made the school's a capella choir again, which this year is named "Smooth Benediction." Also, on another choir-related note, I tried out for chamber choir and made it!

Next week is opening mass and I will be playing flute during the Presentation of Gifts and I am very excited for that. I love playing at church.

Well, now is that dreaded time for homework. I don't have much tonight, which is a nice break from the crazy amount I had last week and earlier this week. Hopefully all the studying pays off :)

Two-a-days are over! Time to relax? Of course not.. classes start tomorrow!

Practice this week wasn't that bad actually. We did fitness training in the mornings (aka lots and lots of running) and soccer training in the afternoon (aka lots of possession). I'm glad I ran so much this summer because it helped me to do the workouts without dying. One day we ran a timed mile and I got 7:44.. not my best, but at least it was under 8. Another day we had to run a timed 300 meter shuttle run. Also, yesterday we ran the Yankton Riverboat Days 5K road race and I came in first for the soccer girls and even beat some of the soccer guys! My time was 25:44 and I placed 116 out of 269.

During our practices at the fields, I discovered that already I am playing better than last year. One day we practiced moves and I was able to do all of them with ease. Also, when we played world cup I was pulling moves left and right and taking lots of shots. I think its because I feel much more comfortable doing all that, now that I have more experience under my belt. It all comes more naturally to me than before.

Besides soccer, I haven't done much else this week. My roommate April and I got our room all decorated and put together. The team went out to eat for lunch one day at the Fryn Pan.. it was good team bonding. We only have two freshman to get to know, but its been fun.

Class tomorrow.. I got all my books so I hope I'm ready!

Last full day at home. Only 13 hours until I am back on campus. I got the cars packed up tonight, even vacuumed mine out in anticipation.

Last night my friend Allie suggested that we bike the trails in Jackson, but I had no way of transporting my bike there so I drove over and ran the trails while she biked. We ended up doing about three miles and it was really fun. All summer I ran by myself so it was nice to have a companion this time. After that we rounded up Audrey and Brynn and played soccer at the high school football field. I think it was the most intense soccer I played all summer! And a plus: it was great fun!

My cousin Kristen came to visit my family this week. She is from Pennsylvania and lives and works in Arizona now and has only been to Minnesota once and hadn't seen us in 8 years, so she figured now was a good time to visit! She had never been to South Dakota or Iowa before so she got to see Sioux Falls and Okoboji. We took her to Arnold's Park and she went on all the rides with my little brother. We also went to the beach, out to dinner, and shopping. I think she had a good time here, and I know my family had fun with her!

Next time I blog it will be coming from Yankton! I am extremely excited to be back on campus, playing soccer, and getting to see all my friends!

Warped Tour was on Sunday, and I can describe it in one word... amazing! It was the third time I went and it was still just as exciting as the first..

It started at 11am but we didn't get there until after noon because we made a pit stop at a candy store... but it wasn't just a candy store... they had apples and pickled everything and beef jerky and 36 kinds of root beer! PLUS about ten aisles of candy. It was a good way to start our day :)

Once we got to Shakopee (Warped was at Canterbury Park) we had to buy our tickets since we didn't ahead of time, and there were no lines cuz we got there an hour after the gate opened.

I ended up seeing ten bands: Meg and Dia, Senses Fail, Streetlight Manifesto, Chiodos, Sing It Loud, The Maine, Saosin, Less Than Jake, 3OH!3, and Bayside. Saosin was my favorite of the day... and they were actually the number one band on my list to see... also, to top it off, all the members signed my shirt (I was wearing my Saosin shirt, exclusively for the occasion) AND I got my picture taken with the lead singer. (In years past, I have met members of The Matches, Ludo, Family Force 5, and From First to Last.)

During Senses Fail, my friend Audrey and I got caught on the edge of a mosh pit and rushed across it to get to safety.. I thought I was going to see my life flash before my eyes, but we made it out okay. Less than Jake was really good... the lead singer's banter in-between songs was priceless. And he suggested that the crowd make a human runway with their arms... and they did... and people walked across it... it was ridiculously awesome.

I also really enjoyed 3OH!3... they had such great stage presence and the crowd had great energy... it was one big dance party!

All in all, I had a great day.. I saw nine new bands live (I had already seen Sing It Loud at a concert last summer)... and I got to see a bunch of people I knew roaming around.