Welcome to Room 427

Oh ya, I forgot to post pictures of our room! Here it is...

kitchen area, my desk, our futon, my bed

our hang out area and window

Angie's bed and desk and our chests of drawers

our tiny closet...yes, we each get only one side!

our kitchen sink, our bathroom sink, our cleaning supplies, our pink fridge :)

  

There's No Place Like Home..

Day nine at college and I'm not going to lie...I'm beginning to miss a few things about home. I have been keeping very busy with school, homework, utilizing tutoring sessions, and meeting new people, but I do miss the summer!!! I miss my DVR! I miss being able to cook my own food on a stove, not just on a microwave!! haha! I miss my toaster!! I miss being in a city where I know where everything is!! ...although there wasn't much to do in San Antonio... I miss not being able to get hugs from my family and friends!! But there is definitely one thing I do NOT miss...that Texas weather! I did under estimate how quickly it gets cool up here, so I did not bring any sweatshirts or heavy sweaters..oops. Luckily for me though, I got a package today from my mom, with just what I needed in it....a Parks College sweatshirt :)  Thanks mom!

(the mac takes a mirror picture..hence the backwards lettering)

TGIF!

oops! did I wait too long to do laundry??

First week of college: DONE! So far I am really enjoying my professors and am getting to know the kids in my classes. Although, Tuesday and Thursdays I have an 8:00 am chemistry lecture with a russian professor with a very strong accent, I learned by the second morning that the drowsiness and sleepy funk I attended class in on Tuesday is nothing that a cup of coffee from the cafe on campus couldn't cure. In fact, after my cup of coffee Tuesday before chemistry, I could not slow down for the rest of the day! I came back to my dorm after class with every intention to fall right back to sleep for at least another hour, but could not sit still! So, I finally decided to do laundry (for the first time since I've moved up here) which ended up taking me well into the afternoon...I learned my lesson on procrastinating when it comes to laundry.

Parks College

I was so excited for my last class of the day on Thursday, Intro to engineering, my first and only class so far that is held in McDonnell Douglas Hall, aka The Parks College, aka the engineering school on SLU's campus. I was so giddy as I sat down at a desk with a glass table top and a PC monitor under the desk's surface. I was looking forward to meeting Professor Malik, who came very highly recommended by the upperclassmen, however he only came in to introduce himself to our class then introduced the teaching assistant that would be teaching us..DARN!

Ready for the club!

Later that evening I sat down and knocked out some serious calculus homework then got ready with my room mate and other girls from our floor to go out on the town!  We ended up dancing until the wee hours of the morning (2:30am to be exact) at a club downtown. Needless to say, it was quite difficult to get out of bed this morning but I made it through my morning classes and plan on just kicking back tonight.

First Day of College

So this morning I was awoken by a terrible dream that I had missed my alarm and first class! After that I couldn't really fall back asleep so I got up around 7:45, and good thing I did!! Of course, the first day of school I did not correctly set my alarm clock, so it did not end up buzzing at 8 like I had planned!! I went to my 9am english class first, and panicked a little on the way because I thought I was lost.  I am not looking forward to english because it is geared towards engineering which means a lot of technical writing...not exactly what I'm used to. however, I really like my professor so far. She reminds me of my wonderfully weird junior english teacher, Mrs. Dunne-Rister. Immediately after english I went to my theology class where I also enjoyed my professor, but got a small stack of reading assignments. During my hour break between theology and calculus I took a cat nap during which I dreamt I started eating a slice of american cheese and woke up frantically looking for the uneaten half of it in my hair/on my futon/in my blanket....and then realized it was only a dream.  After I collected myself, I went to calculus and felt very good workin' out functions and finding the slope, mostly review stuff. I then went with my room mate to a bar/eatery right across from campus for lunch and caught each other up on our first classes. Then we got a big group of guys and a few girls to play a pickup game of soccer. I'm not too good, but had a blast playing, running around, working up a good sweat and having a nice work out.  After dinner and a little bit of studying, I went with a guy and girl to the student center to see the comedian Rob Riggle (The Hangover, Step Brothers, The Other Guys, SNL) perform.  We had a blast! He was so funny!! Now, I am getting ready for bed and dreading my 8am chemistry lecture tomorrow morning :(

hope all is well in Texas!

Man, it feels like Texas weather today!!

Angie at our floor dinner, paying her bill in change...because she's a "poor college student"

Turns out, the block party was not all that fantastic...the band was pretty good, but it was just too humid to moshing in the front row.  However, Lo (Angie's room mate over the summer and basketball player), Angie, and I found a little ole balloon lady and had her make us some ridiculously cool balloon hats!

Also, I ran into Alex Rae, the only other girl from Incarnate Word that came to SLU with me.  We caught up for a while then the girls and guys from my floor headed back to the dining hall underneath our dorm building. There we enjoyed the Midnight Breakfast, eggs, tater tots, quiche, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, cereal, juice, mmmm :)! For the rest of the night a small group of us went to a friends apartment and hung out.  I met four other aerospace engineers who were sophomores so they gave me useful tips on my professors!

This morning I slept in till 11 :) and "attended" CBC by watching Pastor Robert Emmet through a podcast online. I just got back from checking my mail...or lack there of...and am glad to be back in the cool air conditioned dorms! PHEW, it feels like Texas heat today!!

And Welcome Week Continues..

Last night was another event filled, late night!  It started with the mens soccer game at 7:30 where there was a major spirit competition between all the freshmen floors.  GREEN MAN made another appearance as well as gallons and gallons of blue and white body paint!! Although it was nice watching the boys soccer team run up and down the field (; Angie and I could not wait for the "C U @ the Rec" event that was to start after the game.  So, at half time we headed to the recreation center for free bar b q, music, basketball, volleyball, and bean bag toss. I think there was supposed to be swimming but a heavy rain storm blew in! The violent lightening and sheets of pouring rain was such a nice change of pace compared to the Texas like weather we have been experiencing.  Right before bed I got to skype with my best friend, Marissa and then slept like a rock until 9 this morning.

Today I heard from two very interesting speakers.  Katie Koestner talked to us about sexual harassment and abuse on college campuses through her heart breaking story of her freshman year.  The other speaker was Kip Fulbeck who talked to us about what it meant to be multiethnic in today's world and the challenges we may face in discovering and defining who we are as a person and/or race.  He has three books out and a art exhibit in L.A. his presentation was excellent and humorous at times.

Tonight we are going to have dinner in the Fox Theater as a floor!  Then Later tonight the university is shutting down a section of Grand Ave. to have a huge block party! with concerts, food, and other festivities.  And to end the evening there is a "Midnight Breakfast" till 1am, which also happens around midterm and finals time.

Home sweet Dorm!

My Roomie, Angie and I with our brand new futon!

Thursday was the beginning of welcome week and what a day it was!! After my mom and I ran some last minute errands we went to the Billiken family picnic which was a whole block of numerous food stands (hotdogs, chicken wings, falafels, toasted cannoli!) and a whole lot of freshmen and parents!!! I met a lot of my room mates friends she had made over the summer! Later that evening I said bye to my mom and headed to the Welcome Week Kick Off event held at the soccer fields. It was awesome!!! a few students were chosen at random to go down on the field and participate in an obstacle course...one of the guys chosen was dressed as GREEN MAN! (an alter-ego of a character on the hilarious sitcom, It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia) We were then entertained by high jumpin', lightening fast, dancin', frisbee playin', dogs. One of whom was a contestant on America's Got Talent. The rest of the evenings events included a square dance on the rooftop of a parking garage, which was neat! SLU hired a professional square dancer to teach us to dance and it was an excellent way to meet new people especially when the jig required a partner :), an ice cream social, and my first shower in community bathrooms. That was....an experience to say the least.  (hint: EWWY!).

Farmers market on "the loop". A bunch of fresh, healthy produce: $4.

Move in day!

last look of my room <3

So today was the day, move out, move in, move far far away, THE day.  When I arrived at the airport this morning I was pleasantly surprised by my best friend, Marissa, Randy, and co-workers from Jason's Deli, Adrian, Ish, and Rhiannon.  I felt so loved that the would wake up at the crack of dawn and see me off.  Saying good-bye was extremely hard and unfortunately filled with tears, but I finally made it to St. Louis about 10:30 this morning.  After picking up supplies at the container store and bed bath and beyond, I finally checked into my dorm.  Then came the fun part...lugging all my packages, suite cases, boxes, duffle bags, and furniture up 8 flights of stairs to the fourth floor!  ...apparently there is such thing as "over packing"

After four hours of arranging and rearranging furniture, my mom and I escaped the room and had a true authentic italian meal at Frank Papas Ristorante.  It was deeeelicious!  After we were absolutely stuffed, we went to Target to do a little grocery shopping and get shampoo, thumb tacks, and hangers...shampoo, thumb tacks, and hangers...shampoo, thumb ta....we had to keep repeating our list out loud because we were both so tired we weren't thinking straight!!!  When we got back to the dorm, I got to see my room mate Angie and she had filled our dorm with a group of girls she had made friends with during summer school. I felt so welcome!  Now my mom and I are settling in at the moonrise hotel, a fun modern SPACE THEMED hotel on "the loop" (the art district of St. Louis).  I am looking forward to the welcome week activities that begin tomorrow evening but am looking even more forward to sleeping in tomorrow morn!

Gettin' by with a little help from my friends...

Ms. Stephanie stopped by tonight for a wonderfully welcome surprise visit.  I got a sudden rush of adrenaline and was determined to clear that dining room table! While Marissa and Steph held open the massive army puke green duffle bag, I was successful in tightly packing all my clothes into it.  What a great sense of accomplishment I felt as I clipped the body bag-ish piece of luggage shut.

 We then had great fun trying to each carry it...

Packing: a process.

I have officially taken over the formal dining room! Who knew I had so many clothes?! I started folding and prioritizing my clothes last Thursday and am currently waiting for my last load of laundry to finish.  

Of course my best friend Marissa is close at hand, keeping my one track mind focused on the task at hand: getting all this into suite cases in a timely manner. I cannot believe that in a little over 24 hours, all this will be packed and waiting to be loaded into the car. I was able to talk to Angie, my room mate, today and she told me the room is swept and clean and ready for me to move in!  My mood about this move changes from minute to minute...scared, nervous, excited, excited, excited, terrified, sad, relieved, scared, excited, anxious, ready, scared......OH! My laundry's done!