Not an Honest Attempt

Hello blog readers. As in the previous post I mentioned that it might be sometime before I posted again due to exams, holidays, and travel but to be honest I did not think it would be this long. Honestly, I haven't tried to get on my computer because the internet here is unreliable and the desktop is too slow so perhaps, in all honestly, I've been lazy in the posting attempt but here it comes an attempt.

I've not much to say. Happy holidays . . . all holidays . . . and happy soon to be new year. I might as well wish you all a happy new year because chances are I won't be posting until next year because of the conundrum mentioned previously. I spelled conundrum right on the first try. I am amazing.

I really like the word conundrum. It is a forehead wrinkling word. Even typing it my forehead is wrinkled in a deep thought position. Conundrum, gives you thinking chills doesn't it.

As I said, there is not much to update on. I'm home, away from school, not doing anything school related except for blogging which is not class related so its not really school related except that it is. I'm reading. Not now because I'm updating but I'm reading when I'm not on my computer which due to the previously mention conundrum is a lot. I finished Card's yesterday Songmaster and started Vinge's Psion. So far so amazing and even more so because it came from out of the country because getting a copy in the states is a tough thing to do. It's been out of print for a bit but seeing as how I've been working on the series for nearly three years now I feel that I should get closing.

Book rant; way to be.

Yay last post of the 2007 year.

Have a good one.

Paint: the best way to finish off a year. The picture are a little obvious but if ya'll need clarification drop me a line.

Run the Gauntlet . . . on Tuesday

So today is the Calm and for all you Final Fantasy fans tomorrow, Sin arrives. For those of you better with food, today I eat normal sized meals and tomorrow I overindulge until I can't move. For those of you who are better with sports, today I rest and tomorrow I enter into the game of my career with people double my size and weight. For those of you better with literature, today it my rising action and tomorrow is my climax. For those of you better with math, today I get to use a calculator and tomorrow the batteries die on problem one of a two hundred question exam.

Tomorrow is my exam day from (edits self). I wouldn't want to offend anyone after a year of posting now would I? (do you hear the sarcasm?)

Tomorrow I have two exams, one take home exam due, and two projects due. All tomorrow. Tomorrow being Tuesday. Tomorrow being the day after Monday and before Wednesday. I always have trouble spelling Wednesday. Like just there, I messed up day. But then I fixed it so ya'll would never know unless I told you like I just told you.

I feel good about tomorrow though. I feel ready. Just a simple review tonight and I should be 100% a-ok. Projects are done. Take home exam is done. They just need a little organization for the big turn and I'll be set. No big.

Then after Tuesday all I have is one Thursday morning and then I'll be home. Home is exciting. when I get home I get to spend time with family and finish Christmas shopping and get lunch with Liv and see Jonathan and Mike too and Katie and Rosemarie. I will eat not campus food. I will play with my kitties. Ah home.

Until after exams unless something blog-amazing happens.

Have a great one.

Pictures: The top three are from our Friday's before exam adventure that really did turn into an adventure and it was amazing. First: Mery, Adele, me, and Zoe. Second: Justin, John, and Dwight. Third: Justin, John, and Dwight and might I just add that it took them three tries to toast their burgers. Unacceptable but enjoyable to watch. Fourth: me.

Gift for Readers

Hello loyal readers of blog de me. For all of you who have been reading and for those have just joined us I have a Happy Holidays gift for you all. At the end of this post you will get to see Gustav naked.

So today is reading day number one. At OWU a reading day is a day where classes are canceled and students should study or work on papers or projects that are due in place of or with an exam. As I write Mery and Selby are both hard a work on doing what they should be doing on reading day. I am using this reading day as a break day before I go hard core into my work. My parents were on campus this morning and we went to lunch. Seeing them will make these next few days bearable. I am here until the last day of exams because I have an exam Thursday morning. Boo late exam.

Last night was fun though. It was OMT Christmas Party night where we traded White Elephant gifts and dressed up in ugly Christmas sweaters. For those that don't know what a White Elephant gift is, as I had no clue, I will enlighten.

A White Elephant gift is something that's price usually exceeds its usability. They are also called gag gifts. The term white elephant gift comes from the practice of when monarchs used to give monks white elephants. A white elephant was a valuable thing because it was rare and almost priceless and because of its rarity it was protected from doing work. So, it was both a blessing and a curse because the white elephant was valuable but it was overall useless.

I made a pair of binoculars out of two Styrofoam cups, duct tape, and green ribbon.

So anyway, if you are looking for an entertaining and relatively cheap way to spend times with friends this holiday season, have a White Elephant party.

Pictures: First is of Mery hiding behind our Christmas tree. Second is of the three of us before we left for OMT. Note, around my neck are the amazing binoculars. Third is a picture of Gustav, fully clothed and picture four is of Gustav naked.

Have a great one.

Inventions that Make my Every Day Life Better

In typical me fashion some odd events have led to this post. To recap-- following the ever exciting birthday of my blog I was hit by a bout of voicelessness for three days. It was a rather wonderful time as I compared myself to a rusty door, a bull frog, and an old man. These three days lead to the discovery of two inventions that make my every day life better.

1) French Onion Soup: It's warm, it's yummy, it soothes the vocal cords like nothing else can. Please note that I don't like onions. I don't eat them. I even have the audacity to ask them to be removed from things I order in restaurants unless they are in French Onion Soup. When I get a bowl, I just eat the broth, the cheese, and the bread. I smoosh the onions into the bottom of the bowl because they make the soup taste good but the onions as onions taste icky.

2) Tour Guides in Training: The fact that I had one of these people with me as I attempted to give visit day tours on Monday (the middle day in my voicelessness) made my every day life better. When my voice decided to completely give out he was there with his knowledge and skill to make the tour happen. I send my thanks to Lucas.

The rest of the week went alone reasonably well. My voice returned on Wednesday and I celebrated by talking all day. Zoe and I went shopping Thursday and then on Saturday, Zoe took Adele and me out to dinner as her Christmas present to the both of us. It was a good time. But out experience at the restaurant has led me to believe in another invention.

3) Silverware: When my salad arrived I was excited because it was a salad and I was hungry. But I had no silverware. I proceeded to eat without it. Silverware is definitely helpful when eating a salad. Thank goodness out waiter brought us some before Zoe's pasta arrived. Face down in a bowl of noodles would have been very uncomfortable.

Those are three inventions that make my every day life better. Try them out sometime and see they don't make your every day life even better.
P.S How many times do you think I can use the title, inventions that make my every day life even better, in this post?

Have a good one.

Pictures: One- is at our zoo adventure. If had one of those it would totally make my everyday life even better. Two- It is a bridge. Those make my everyday life even better. Three- Zoe and Adele, they make my everyday life even better. Four- Me, eating a salad.

Happy First Birthday Blog!

Everybody get excited because today is my blog's first birthday! Yes indeed the blog is one year old and aren't we just kicking.

On December 3rd, 2006 my blog was born. It opened with the title, "A Good Place to Start" and boy howdy was it. From the wet day in December the blog an I have matured from using stolen picture, to Paint pictures, to finally coming into our own camera and using our own pictures. We have had content from stream of consciousness to deep discussion on comments made by my readers. We have expanded our verbal horizons by including sounds. And, we have made friends with prospectives, alumni, and anonymous readers.

Blog's first sentence: "I zip my jacket and pull out my 'muppet' gloves- the muppet gloves are simply a pair of lovely yellow gloves that go everywhere with me."

Over the year readers have followed us as we journeyed from class, to the zoo, to Cincinnati, across campus and back. They listened to us complain about work (class and job, alike) and about not having a camera (which has been remedied), rave about projects, breaks, holidays, and puddles. Readers have soldiered through our rants on seemly meaningless matters and hopefully they have chuckled at the informality of it all.

Blog's first use of Paint pictures: June 28, 2007 featured in an article about exploding computers and a rant about cat bites (which, if any of you dedicated readers remember I was bitten by one and I am not dead. Point proved).

So, Happy Birthday to you Blog. Hopefully we can continue to entertain readers and readers, hopefully you can still inspire us with your comments.

Thanks and as always, have a great one.

I suppose we'll timeline it a bit. I don't want to get overly sentimental with the pictures because that is not Blog and mine's style. So simply organized; Picture one is summer before OWU (that is Liv, Rose, Katie, and me spelling out Mike . . . just incase you couldn't read our shirts.) Picture two is starting OWU; it is a picture of the Fresh X cook group (Mery, Julia, Carolyn, Helen, and myself). Picture three is summer in Cincinnati between freshman and sophomore year at the favorite hang out, the ice place. Picture Four is the most recent one I got. It's me looking like a box at Columbus Zoo Lights.

Procrastination Because . . .

I'm being a bad English major. I should be writing my paper. Moll Flanders sits to my left and underneath it is the prompt. It's a paper about narration and such. I've got some ideas and I talked them out as I walked back from the admissions office this morning (note to readers: talking about narrative dialogue while walking alone with draw some very interesting looks). Anyway, it's just the actual linage of them that is the issue. I could write down my ideas but I've got a feeling that my professor would not be able to understand them because, without sharing the paper topics, this is how it would look:

Monkey, basketball, red, yellow, aooogaaa.

I shouldn't be worried though. I've got two days to perfect it and a page or so written. I'm being to hard on myself. I'm only a kinda-bad English major. I am not a fan of procrastination but I think it would be entertaining to list the ways that I, Samantha, procrastinate.

Top 5, get yaselves ready because this are definitely list-addition-worthy. *Note, these are in no particular order. I don't prefer one over the other, but for the purpose to organization I decided to list them.

1) Look up videos on YouTube. YouTube is a great and horrible invention. It is so accessible I can find almost anything I need for entertainment. The bad part, I can do this at anytime.
2) Surf the web for Anime pictures. I am a closet Anime guru.
3) Write blogs. Imagine that.
4) Distract my roommates with questions and conversation. Don't misunderstand, I love to chat with my roommates when I'm not procrastinating but I just find more interesting things to say when I'm trying not to do something.
5) Clean. Back home I used to vacuum or do the dishes. Here, I reorganize my desk, my bookshelf, my closet . . . just something to get me away from the computer.

Now that we've procrastinated together, it's back to the writing. Good luck in what you're doing. Hope you enjoyed and have yaselves a great week.

All these pictures come from Adventures at Red Bench. Basically, Ryan and I were bored and decided to play with the webcam on his computer. My favorite style is from the first picture. We got some really cool pictures and the color distortion of the Ginko tree was beautiful.

After Break Blues

It has been a while hasn't it? So sorry to keep ya'll waiting. I have a very unreliable internet connection at home and it is just frustrating to work so hard and then loose it all. It's much like doing laundry and then dropping your clean clothes into a pile of ick on the basement floor. It is not a practice I recommend.

I was home over Thanksgiving. I baked forty loaves of bread, two boxes of cookies, three pans of bar cookies, and two pans of brownies for the family's annual holiday food give away. It's our tradition to give a basket of baked goods to friends and neighbors around the holiday time. Thanksgiving is mega bake time where I take over the kitchen and throw flour and sugar and eggs into a bowl and make magic out of them. I love baking. It is my stress release.

The thing I probably miss the most about being at school is not having a convenient oven. Each dorm does have a kitchen facility but its just not the same as having your own kitchen.

Then Thanksgiving was spent with just the immediate family. We went out to dinner and boy was it a great one. My favorite were the sweet potatoes. I love sweet potatoes. If ya'll've never had sweet potato pie get one and eat it. It was better, I am using better because I believe it, than pumpkin pie (and trust me, I'm a huge pumpkin fan).

Hope ya'll had a great Thanksgiving and Happy December wishes as we start off the end of 2007.

Pictures: The first three are my steps to baking. Put all the ingredients into a bowl. Put those ingredients into the oven and like magic you get bread! Yay bread. I believe those are loaves of Gingerbread. It is excellent with cream cheese, whipped cream, or just by itself. Picture the last is of the kid and me at dinner. I love my sibling! And Gretchen is responsible for these pictures. Thanks Gretchen!

Wavy Hair

Hey all you readers of my lovely, inspirational, exciting, and overall fun to be around blog. I come to you at a reasonable hour this Tuesday morning to remind that it is in fact a Tuesday (which I though yesterday was but yesterday was a Monday) and to say that I has an amazing weekend.

I updated ya'll from Adele's bed last post and this week the posting comes from my desk chair. It's not as comfy as a bed. Sad, I know.

We had a lovely weekend with her family which included dinner (for her sister's b-day), playing Wii (I'm a Playstation gal, myself but Wii was wee), and making pumpkin cupcakes (mmm cupcakes). All in all it was a fun filled weekend with lots of doing.

As previously mentioned this is the last week before Thanksgiving break. OWU gives us the entire week off and I thank them for that. I need a couple day around this time of the year to just regroup and tell myself that I can make it to the holidays. Thanksgiving week is a good. I am not going anywhere except back to Cincy. That's got me happy to because once I get home, I want to stay home for a bit. I plan on reconnecting with Cincy people. I miss them.

And kitties! I get to sleep with my kitties! Plus it will be nice to get away from running campus. Between class, visit programs, and clubs, I feel like I haven't stopped running is weeks. But I am a need be busy person so this lifestyle works for me. OWU is nice for all types because there is no pressure to be involved. There are people who do everything and people who do nothing and still find there college experience great at OWU. I want to shout out to my tour groups yesterday and panel attenders. OWU visit days, check 'em out.

Have a great one.

This pictures come from the Michigan adventure because I've been too busy to get the ones from the weekend off my camera. Enjoy.

Traveling November

Hey all,

So sorry for my lack of updating. College life has finally caught up with me and the busyness is overwhelming. But do not fret. Coming now is a wonderful little update and what makes it even more wonderful than just the regular wonderfulness of my writing is the fact that it comes from the edge of Adele's bed. Yes, lovlies, I am home with Adele this weekend.

November has been a tripping month in a few different ways. Not drug ways . . . as I know some of you will think when you see tripping but in the journey and falling kind of way. Last weekend was Michigan with Zoe. Zoe lives in Ann Arbor and last Friday night we went to her house and then went to a comedy club in downtown Ann Arbor. Booyah funny. We had a wonderful laugh. The next day we met up with Ryan and Adele (Ryan is from Michigan too) and we adventured the state. Then, that evening, Ryan, Adele and I drove back to OWU because I was having dinner with Mike and Liv from Cincy.

And then this weekend I followed Adele home to Columbus. Not exactly the Michigan drive but it is a lovely little place and we are having a relaxing day.

This coming week is week the last before Thanksgiving break and I am not gonna lie, I want to go home. I miss home. I miss relaxing. Granted I'll have a bit to accomplish over break but just the ability to lay on a couch and not have to worry about roommates or anything . . . that is relaxing. You learn to appreciate relax time.

Have a great one.

Pictures: Picture number one is the view of Zoe's deck. The water is a lack section of the Heron river. Absolutely gorgeous. Ryan and Adele were just taking it all in. Second is of me fighting the camera during a traffic jam. We were visiting the weekend of the Michigan-Michigan State game. And the next two picture are from when the big kids found a playground to invade and invaded successfully. In picture number one of the playground is Adele, me, and Ryan on the slide. In the second picture is Adele, me and Zoe, again on the slide.

Halloween My Style

Hey all and very lovely Halloween to all. I'm here, in my room, hanging out. This is going to sound so wimp like but this is probably where my Halloween is going to be spent. There might be a dinner jig soon or something of the sort but eh, I don't know. The room is decorated with the stuff Selby's mom sent up. It looks great. And Zoe got herself all dressed up today and she looked great. Adele and I wore hats.

I look forward to the relaxing evening though. An opportunity to sit and relax. I plan on watching Pushing Daisies later. It's a new show and kinda of new obsession. Very enjoy because its a little different than anything thats on right now. If you haven't, check it out.

Hope ya'll have a safe and happy Halloween.

Haunted Hayride

This past weekend was haunted hayride weekend. I went home and took Zoe and Adele with me, and Ryan met us back home and with my family, we went hayriding. I'm talking hayride people. A wagon, pulled by a tractor, packed full of hay and people. Sometimes when hayrides are attended they are a half effort where it's a wagon with a sprinkle of hay but not this one. This hard core hay and wagon and ride.

Beyond the hay, there was lots of screaming. It's a great ride because people come out of the woods and jump up behind you on the wagon. They won't say anything, just lean in and stare at you. It's jump scary. I spent most of the ride on the floor or sitting on Ryan and Adele's laps. I crushed Zoe's hat which was very easy to bring back to shape. (Side note: the hat she had on was actually my dad's so it wasn't too big a deal).

Favorite part: either the diving on the floor or the nice looking guy who tried to remove my foot with a chainsaw.
Least favorite part: the price of the ride. Since gas prices have risen things like hayride have increased their prices. What used to be a reasonable family venture isn't quite the same and for the price I would also have hoped it was longer.
Overall: AMAZING.
The rest of the weekend that wasn't hayride was spent playing cornhole, watching football, and eating. Ryan got hit with a corn-bag and he fell down. We found it funny . . . he's fully recovered for those of you worried.

Sorry about the delay on this one all, we had some technical difficulties with pictures and such and now the difficulties are over and here they are.

Enjoy.

Pictures: During/after the cornhole game we got a little crazy with the beanbags and the following three pictures detail that excitement. Get ready for the madness. First is the lost of us relaxing in my side yard. Adele's hat kept blowing away so we were playing with it. Second is of me balancing the beanbags on my head. My posture was great but the walking would have been better if I'd just opened my eyes. Third is the the gals, beanbags on heads . . . great minds think alike. And lastly is after the madness we retired to the living room to join my dad in watching the Ohio State football game. Hi Dad!

Have a great one.

And The Winner Is . . .

So, yesterday I announced that mom and I were attending a Dallas Stars v. Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game. I believe I also made it clear that I was a huge Dallas fan and I expected them to drop kick the Blue Jackets a few years away. Well, it wasn't a drop kick victory but Dallas won! The game was amazing, for both teams. There were fights and there were goals and there was overtime and there was a shootout and boo yah Dallas won.

The score going into the overtime/shootout was 2-2. The final score was 2-3 in favor of Dallas. Magic in an ice rink.

This was my first attended NHL (national hockey league) game and who better to see first than your favorite team and what makes that first experience even better is when said favorite team wins. I'm sure my tour groups got tired of my bouncing as I told them about my amazing, hockey filled evening.

All of these are pictures of the rink and the Stars and the Blue Jackets and the game. I'm not going to bother narrating them because most are self-explanatory. One detail jig though if you see number 56, he is my favorite. Yay Zubov!

Have a great one.

Ah Distracted

Hey all

Life has been quite the distraction. So sorry for not updating in a bit. Last week was mid-term week and this past weekend was mid-semester break weekend, which basically means OWU gives us Monday off and calls it a break. No complaints here, I will take a day off anywhere I can get it, but I think instead of calling it a break it should be called mid-semester long weekend. It's more accurate that way.

Mid-terms: happy with them. Enough said.

Mid-semester long weekend: very happy with. OMT (Outdoor Ministry Team(that I believe I have mention before)) and that I am a member of journyed to Ohiopyle PA. We camped, rock climbed, canoed, and caved. It was amazing. Be prepared, most of the upcoming pictures will probably be of before mentioned trip. The views, the silliness, the everything. More details with more pictures.

This week I had a really neat opportunity. I spent some time chatting with and listening to the stories of Bill Morrissey. What an amazing person. He is a guitarist and novelist and combines those two talents into a folk style storytelling. That happened last night and it was just a great evening all the way around. Bill Morrissey was brought to OWU through the Poets and Writers series which brings poets and writers onto campus for students to listen to and learn about. Never hearing of his before and then to hear his work and getting to talk with him . . . wow.

Tonight I am going to a hockey game with my mom. That has also got me excited. The Dallas Stars and playing the Columbus Blue Jackets in Columbus.
GO DALLAS!

Have a great one.

Pictures: First is of me at the climbing site. I am not climbing but I am holding the rope for the person who is about to climb. Poses are fun. Second is Mery after she discovered we filled an empty box with acorns and gave it to her. It was funny. Third is of Jeremy bouldering in a cave. Jess is ready to catch him if he falls. Last is just a far view of our climbing site. It was a really pretty place.