What a weekend

What a good weekend.

Thursday: Applebee's with Cassie, Heather and Jaime.
Friends make college what it is. I'm love these three girls. They're fun. We spent most of the evening trying to figure out where we knew our waiter from but never really figured it out. We also tried to figure out what this decade will be called once it's over. The '80s and '90s were easy but the '00s? Nothing sounds right. We also stayed up and watched Good Luck Chuck at my place. It was good times.

Friday: TNFN show, running ing to chrysalis girls, sleepover at Faith's in Pickerington, good car and falling asleep conversations with Molly.
I was sorry for Jami that not more people showed up to the Charity Gig she set up. I think most of it was probably due to timing, but she did a phenomenal job putting it together. And the bands were fun, although I will probably never be a big fan of loud concerts. I was excited to see some of the girls from the Chrysalis Flight I helped with back in January there. I love Chrysalis, but it's true that you don't really see the people from the weekend again very often, so it was fun to see them and catch up.
Of course spending time at Faith's was fun. How could it not be? We watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, and I don't care what the other two tell you, it's still funny to me. There's just something inherently fun about staying up way past your bedtime with close friends, eating junk food and watching movies. Sharing secrets or whispered conversations in the dark while drifting off to sleep will always be one of my favorite things to do. It's comforting to know that no matter what ups and downs my friendships go through there's always going to be times when you can just talk, chill, do whatever and have fun.

Correction from above: Friends don't just make college what it is, they make life what it is. Or at least for me they do.

Saturday: more good car conversations with Molly, African Children's Choir concert in A-town with Joel and Wendy, impromptu overnight at my other home.
I love good conversations :)
The African Children's Choir was fun. Their faith and their joy astound me, especially after hearing some of their stories. I'm a so incredibly blessed to live the life I do. Yet I feel as though they feel the same way.... sort of. I really want to strive to know joy and hope like that. What a show it was.
Since I was feeling too tired to drive I ended up car pooling with my fellow show-goers as well as spending the night at their place. I love having a home away from home, and it being an actual home, not just a house with other college students but a home with a family. It's nice. I like it.

Sunday: still goin'!
So we'll see where it goes. Then it's paper writing and take-home-final-finishing so I can really be officially done with this quarter and get on to chillin', relaxin' and hangin' out before leaving town next weekend.

If you wanna hang before the end, hit me up!

Winton (ah ah) Woods!!

So if you've been here a time or two before you may notice that I've changed the heading of my blog. I tried the "Please Explain" thing which was fun for a while but sometimes there were days where I just wanted to write something and didn't feel that anything needed explaining. I'll try this new theme, of "Today's Praise...... or Concern" and see how it works for a while. Who knows, I'm bad at coming up with these kinds of things. I'm just trying to be clever.

Anyway, today's post is really both a praise and a concern and perhaps the reason I chose the new title. Yesterday I drove home to Cincinnati both to pick up my new license plates from mi padre and to hear my lil bro's "Tune Up" choir concert. All of the choirs at my high school are headed for contest this coming weekend and they always hold a concert right before in order to prepare.

Now, let me brag for just a second.... my brother is in Varsity Ensemble at Winton Woods. In case you don't know our V.E. is kind of a big deal. They went and sang in China for the Olympics last summer. They sing with the Cincinnati Pops almost every year. They've recieved compliments from some of the best choir directors in the country. Last night they performed a rather difficult a cappella piece that they learned just last week. (Link to Video Below) Oh, and my brother's a sophomore.... there are something like 4 sophomores in that entire 40+ person choir. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czQTvKTTMmo

Last night was FUN. The choirs were great, as usual and both Counterpoint and Harmony sang. Counterpoint is the new a cappella women's small ensemble and Harmony is a long standing student run men's a cappella group. When Harmony sang I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard, they sang 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' and had so much fun with it. One of my brother's friends was the "lion" and.... maybe you just had to be there, but it was a good time. Finally Gospel Keys (another long standing student run group) finished out the night with high energy and enthusiasm.

It was great to see that the spirit is still there at Winton Woods. It's just as much fun to be a part of the choral program as it was when I was there. The student groups that either my friends or my friends' older sibilings started are still alive and kickin'. I went over and thanked Mr. Bell and Mr. Spaulding the directors after the performance and told them that it was well worth the 3 hour drive to get there for it and told them to wish all the groups good luck for me for this weekend.

I love my high school. I know I didn't always realize or admit that when I was there, but Winton Woods is truly a unique place with an incredible amount of spirit and..... I don't know.... dedication? determination? Diversity for sure. I'm not sure what other word I'm looking for, but it's a special place and I'm so greatful to have been able to spend 4 years of my life there.

The concern, however, is that there's another levy coming up in May. The last levy for the district failed back in November. I know that times are hard, but education is something that MUST be invested in. I can't wait until Ohio comes up with a new way to fund its public schools. Until then I guess I just have to pray and help in the fight to get the next levy passed. I'm glad I'll be home in April.... you'll definitely be seeing me going door to door or volunteering in any way I can in order to assure the levy passes. It needs to. "There's too much at stake if it doesn't."

Today Was a Beautiful Day

Today was a beautiful day. I spent a majority of today on my back porch and outside in general. I actually got too hot at one point and had to come in because it was so warm out. Therefore I had the audacity to hope that for once I wouldn't seen any Uggs. Alas, I attend Ohio University and without fail, I saw a pair.

I hate Uggs.

Chacos, on the other hand = LOVE

And it makes me happy that I can wear mine again.

NOLS moment

Tonight as I was walking home I looked up at the sky and was amazed. I love the sky. I love cloud gazing, star gazing, and even just looking up into the giant expanse of blue. The sky is awesome.

Anyway, when I looked up there were clouds, but the moon was shining through them and it was just pretty neat. Of course I was walking so I couldn't look up for more than a few seconds at a time, but I loved it anyhow. Because I always do.

What I didn't expect, however, was to be hit with what I shall now call a "NOLS moment." You know, a brief second when you just wish you were back somewhere where you had been before. And you know that the only people who will understand are those who were with you there in the first place. Yeah, one of those. I definitely had a NOLS moment when I looked into the sky. Because no matter how cool the sky is to look at nothing, nothing, NOTHING will ever beat star-gazing from inside a sleeping bag while lying on a slab of slick rock in Grand Gulch. And if something ever does beat that, I will be amazed.

So of course I sent a quick text to my friend Felicia who was there with me, knowing she would understand and then went on enjoying the sky here and now. It did make me happy, however, to realize that there are definitely some great memories from the three months I spent at NOLS, and now that my knee is feeling better and that the experience is a bit further out I'm really beginning to remember the great parts. Of all the places I went and saw Grand Gulch was most assuredly my favorite and I kind of can't wait to go back sometime. Really. And realizing that is the best part of all.

No More PT!!

I just got done with my very last Physical Therapy session for my knee. This is fairly exciting seeing as how it means that my knee has regained almost all of it's strength back. The therapist I've been working with encouraged me to continue doing my home exercises but said that I won't have to go back in. I suppose that's both great and kind of sad because I really enjoyed talking to the people who work there. But now I feel as though one big hurdle has been surpassed and that makes me even more ready to tackle the next.

The common cold

Why does the common cold always decide to hit at the most opportune time? Like during the last two weeks of the quarter when everything is due. It's really not enjoyable :( Someone please explain this to me.

Besides waking up with a cold this morning I also found out that my email is on the fritz and I can't open up any new messages. So if you email me and don't hear back soon that's probably why. Feel free to give me a call or hit me up on Facebook.

Singing Men

I went to the Singing Men of Ohio concert on Friday night and it was fantastic. I don't know what it is but there is just something inherently amazing about the male singing voice, and even more so about an entire choir full of them. The only thing to beat those two things out are men's a cappella groups and fortunately there was one of those there too. It was quite an enjoyable two hours of my Friday night and I have decided that wherever I end up after graduation I need to look into the area's performing arts groups. I love concerts and shows and live performances and am glad I was reminded of that this weekend.

On a completely unrealted note the wind outside my house is ridiculous.

Have a good night!!