This week has been a long week, but at the same time, its gone quite fast.

Isaac surprised me with roses this week.. I had kept "hinting" at him to get me flowers for Valentine's day, which in reality was me flat-out telling him I wanted flowers. They were orange roses, with a note that read "Orange flowers for my orange head." How romantic. And also, while we are talking about Isaac, he got a job today! After a month and a half of searching and applying he finally found work.. at Bomgaars. My johnmate Kelly works there so I think she worked her magic and helped him get the job.. either way, I'm happy. The poor little guy has been trying so hard.. he must have applied 20 places!

But enough about him. I finished "A Thousand Splendid Suns" and it was amazing. I have never been a big book reader, but this book was amazing and makes me wonder why I haven't.

In motion graphics we are making websites for our next project. We learned code in Flash all last week, which was frustrating and confusing. However, I managed to pull together a pretty cool website called "baubles and beads." If you couldn't guess, its a jewelry website. Later in the semester we have to make another website and I think I will make my online portfolio.

This weekend I am playing in an indoor soccer tournament in Sioux City. I haven'y played any indoor soccer yet this year so it should be interesting. And speaking of the weekend, I never mentioned last weekend. I went to Tonic Sol Fa in Sioux Falls on Saturday.. if you don't know, they are an amazing a cappella group. MMC's Smooth Benediction a cappella choir opened for them and they did great. Tonic Sol Fa was super entertaining and I was so glad I got to go. On Sunday I went to another concert.. but this time it was Remedy Drive! They are so good live and present such a good message. We even got to meet them after the show, but for me it was like the third time meeting them :P

This week was homecoming.. and it was super busy.. but super fun!

The festivities started on Sunday with free bowling.. for Gina, April, Isaac and I it was quite an adventure because the lane we were using kept have trouble. First, it kept resetting itself and giving us spares and strikes (which none of us complained about), but then the thing that drops the pins down broke the light on the lane and it shattered everywhere so that had to be cleaned up and then we had to finish the game without a light. But, we finished it.

On Monday we went ice skating. It was only my second time ice skating ever, and at first I struggled.. but then I tightened my laces and it helped so much! Tuesday I had class so I didn't join the fun (laser tag, human bowling, caricatures). On Wednesday I had pep band and watched the basketball games. Thursday was the dodgeball tournament which was super intense because the hardcore teams threw the balls so hard they bounced of people in the audience. So even if you weren't playing, you still had to dodge the balls! After the tournament was a free movie, "The Book of Eli." It was definitely a different movie.. not what I thought it would be..

Friday was coronation. I had to ambassador for that, and afterwards there was a magician/comedian. He was super funny and really interacted with the audience. I loved it when he would show a trick, show how it was done, and then totally blow our minds by taking it to another level. For one trick, he shoved a hankerchief into his fist and it "turned into" an egg. When he showed us how he did it, he had a plastic egg in his hand the whole time and it had a hole in one side that he shoved the hankerchief into. But then right after showing that he cracked the very same egg into a glass and it was real! I don't know how he did it...

On Saturday there was a "tailgate party" and roommate survivor. April went home this weekend so Gina and I did the roommate survivor. The first challenge was a scavenger hunt.. we failed at that to say the least. The second challenge was an egg drop contest and, again, we failed. But the last challenge was trivia and we totally won! However, winning that one challenge didn't help much because we came in 4th place.

The dance was that night and I had alot of fun at that. I wore a pink dress and Isaac wore a red dress shirt in honor of Valentine's day ;) Speaking of, we didn't do a whole lot for the occassion.. we stayed in cuz it was nasty out and made supper together and watched a movie. Most of the day, however, I did homework. Since it was a three-day weekend my teachers thought it was a good idea to load me up with it. I begged to differ.

Today Gina and I went shopping for dresses to wear in Mexico. We were very successful. Only 20 days left until we leave for our cruise! I'm so excited!

February already. And a week into it too. This weekend has gone by so fast. On Friday night, we had a choir party. It had a theme of "5" which was odd at first I'll admit, but the food choices were quite genious. Gina and I brough a trail mix that had five ingredients: M&Ms, gummy bears, pretzels, goldfish crackers, and popcorn. Other people brought multi-grain cheerios (that has five different grains), crackers and dip with five different kinds of crackers, a five-layer chip dip, etc. During the party we watched The Simpson's Movie because there are five family members in the Simpson's family.. clever, eh? After the choir get-together, Isaac, Gina and I watched the Hangover, and then Gina and I decided we wanted to learn Stu's Tiger Song on the piano. We YouTubed a tutorial for it and then went to the music hall to learn it. It was much easier than we thought, and it 0nly took us half an hour to learn! So, since we conquered one song, we moved onto another and learned "Us" by Regina Spektor. That song was even easier to learn and it sounded really cool when we both played it (one high octave and one low).

On Saturday I had my last track meet of the season before the conference meet. I ran the 1000 meter run and ran four seconds faster than the last time I ran it. I also did the 4x400 relay which is something I haven't done it nearly a year. I failed at that tho (ha!) and we got last in that event. Oh well.. I just hope enough people drop out of the 1000 so I can run it at conference! Otherwise, I will probably going as an alternate for the 4x8 and 4x4 relays, which will make for a super boring day.

Today is Super Bowl Sunday! April and I are hosting a party in the lounge and everyone is required to bring good food. April is making nachos, I am making lil smokies, Gina is making white grape/peach punch, and others are bringing muffins, fruit, and other good snacks. Since the Vikings aren't in the game, I really don't care who wins or loses.. April is all for the Colts, so I think I might root for the Saints! ;)

This weekend I ran the 1000 meter run at the track meet. It was the first time I ever ran that event and it was quite interesting. I thought it would be similar to running the 800, just with an extra lap, but no. There were two heats and they intermixed the runners, so fast and slow people were together instead of one heat of slow and one heat of fast. Because of this, I struggled with pacing myself. I ran my first lap WAY too fast.. 35 secs. By the fourth lap, I was done.. I ran that one in 49 secs.. it sounds so pathetic, BUT I managed to beat one person. And if I want to look at the bright side, I PR'ed in that event! (Because I had no time to beat since I hadn't run it before!)

I have been doing some winter conditioning workouts for soccer as well as my usual track workout. I lift with the soccer team on Tuesdays and then run my track distance workout afterwards, and on Wednesdays I do my track speed workout and then finish the soccer conditioning workout.

For my first project in Web-Based Motion Graphics, we have to create a character in a world using Flash. My character is a ballerina. Our second project is to animate a character, so I will have my ballerina dance on a stage. I'm getting more excited to learn how to use Flash animation, since most of the animations you see on the internet are made with Flash.

Right now, as I am blogging, I'm watching the Vikings/Saints football game. I am, of course, rooting for the Vikings but this game is very frustrating and intense. I think I need to focus my attention on the TV for now in hopes that my extra concentration helps them out.

First week of classes... and surprisingly enough, I don't have much homework. I already read my first book for World Lit, so I just have to skim the chapters before class. And I already don't have Motion Graphics tomorrow and Writing and Publishing on Friday.

In April I will be hosting a Lia Sophia party in Yankton. I'm super excited about it because I absolutely love their jewelry! A new collection for spring is coming out in February so that will be the catalog used at my party.. it has a bunch of new necklaces that I just love! There are a lot of perks to being a hostess of these parties too because based on how much you sell at your party, you can get a lot of free jewelry.

My first track meet of the season is this weekend. I honestly don't know how prepared I am for it or if I am even in good shape. Yesterday I ran four miles and it felt okay.. but I know I can do better. Today I will be doing a speed workout so we will see if I die during that or not ;) I think I will be running either the open 800 or the 4x800 at the meet. Either way, its half a mile so it doesn't matter to me what I run. I hope doing that can help me improve on my 400 time though because I would love to get back on the 4x400 relay team. Also, in addition to my track workouts, I will be doing some of the winter conditioning workouts with the soccer girls. I think it will help me a lot to get in better shape (and faster) and I will also get to hang out with those girls, since I don't get to see them much during the off season.

I have a three hour art class tonight, and I'm lucky I have no homework yet, because I would have to be using this time to get it done. I don't know how lucky I will be in the upcoming weeks though!

I can't believe it's been nearly a month since I last blogged! I guess I have a lot of explaining to do..

The beginning of my Christmas vacation was pretty uneventful. I basically spent my days sleeping, eating, working out and watching movies. Vacation is basically the only time I get to do that! We had Christmas at my house the Sunday before since we would be in Pennsylvania the day of. I got some pretty sweet gifts: a new blue and gold soccer ball from Teague, a mug and hot chocolate from Tyler, a pearl earring/bracelet/necklace set and earring tree from my mom, and earrings and The Hangover from Isaac.

The next day, we drove up to the cities and stayed in a hotel because our flight was early the next morning. We got to the hotel just in time to catch the shuttle bus to the Mall of America, so we went. I'm not the biggest fan of the MOA, basically because its just too big and takes forever to get through the stores. I did however go to Urban Outfitters since I made a commercial for it in class and wanted to see how close I was to capturing the right feel. I was way off on the clothes but pretty dead on with the atmosphere.

We had to get up at 5 am to get catch the 6 am shuttle to the airport. We flew out at 8 am and landed in Detroit by noon. Then we flew out and were in Scranton by 4. It was the first time I had flown anywhere in probably ten years.. and it was Isaac's first time flying! It was great getting to see my aunts and uncles.. I hadn't seen them in so long!

We did a bunch of fun stuff while in Pennsylvania... a Wilkes-Barre/Scranton hockey game, skiing at Sno Mountain, gambling at the Mohegan Sun casino, shopping in the Pocono Mountains. Plus, I think we went to the mall four or five times, I got to hang out with my cousin Kristen, and the whole family helped make Christmas dinner. I had such a blast.

Since we got home, I haven't done much. Isaac and I went to my friend Brynn's house for new years and we had a good time. Then on New Year's Day, we took Teague sledding and I wiped out more times than not. A couple days ago, Isaac's brother (who plays for USF) had a basketball game in Worthington so we went to watch him play, and then that night we went bowling in Fairmont with a bunch of my friends. After, we went to my friend Allie's house and played with her new puppy Emma.. she is a golden lab and is beyond adorable!

For the rest of the week, I probably won't be doing much. I need to be working out and running, but its below zero outside and my treadmill is broken, so that leaves me with two options: running stairs in my house or riding the stationary bike. Both are pretty lame and not hard workouts. I can definitely say that I won't be in the best of shape when I get back to school.

It's finals week! Hooray!

Yes, hooray.. I'm ready for this semester to be over. On Wednesday my sound final project is due, and on Thursday I have my short story final test (not comprehensive!), my intro to Christianity final test (also not comprehensive!), and my motion graphics final project. I am almost done with my sound project so that is a huge relief. And I am not too worried about the two tests. I am however worried about my motion graphics project. I just don't have the ambition to work on it for more than a couple hours a day because the work is so tedious. I am making a music video for the song "Fall to Pieces" by the band Ziv and I filmed my boyfriend Isaac singing. I am currently putting the lyrics to the song into the video, and to get them to move with Isaac I have to go frame-by-frame in the video and move them. And just so you know, there are 30 frames per second. That's a lot and that's why I don't want to work on it.

I have to stay on campus until Saturday because I am ambassadoring for graduation. I think I would have stayed no matter what though because my friend Theresa is graduating.

I can't wait to go home and be able to bake christmas cookies and wrap presents and decorate the house. I love all that stuff.