Do you know how much it stinks to finally grow up and deal with things in the "real world"? I definetly figured this out quickly last week. As I have discussed before, I am signing my lease for my apartment on Friday. This is all exciting news and such, however along with an apartment meant I have to set up arrangements to get TV/Cable, internet, and energy. Naturally, I assumed this would be a fairly simple process, much like signing up for a new email account, or something of the sort. WOW WAS I EVER WRONG...

 

First of all, I logged onto the websites of the local cable and internet providers, hoping to compare prices and get some basic information on their packages. No. That's asking too much, apparently. I found it ironic that their websites did not list any clear prices for me to compare, but rather I had to CALL the companies individually and begin setting things up (whether or not I wanted the service) in order to understand a price. I found the sales representatitves to be pushy and confusing, and I was quickly overwhelmed into agreeing to mystery packages of services for my new place. After wasting THREE HOURS (this is not an exaggeration) on the phone, giving out my credit card and social security number to these companies (which was required, mind you. I am not normally one to give out either information very easily), I had two dates set up for service men to come out nd set up my cable. I found that there was no other way to get the information I needed to make a decision about my services without actually making the decision...if that makes sense.

 

i think/hope I finally got this sticky situation figured out It took a lot of research, talking to friends who have been through cable/internet/new home setup, and a few firm responses to the pushy sales representatives. This situation taught me how harsh and confusing the real world is going to be, and that not everything is simple and cookie-cutter. Preparing for this new apartment has definetly helped me realize how nice it has been to live in the dorms for two years, because you don't have to worry about cable, heat, water, internet, etc...bills. However, we all have to grow up sometime, and perhaps this is my time?

Ahh...well hello. That's the sound of contentment, as I warm my toes on my laptop charger. Yes, I have seemed to become quite crafty as a college student. Learned to live on less, and get creative!

I suppose I could share a few of these "craft-tastic" tips with my readers, as long as you don't sell them for money. Ready?

 

• Ramen spaghetti. I'm not sure why I didn't think of this one myself...but you can buy the jars of spaghetti sauce at the store, and instead of pouring the disgusting (I mean, er, delicious and nutritious) "seasoning packet" from the ramen over, use spaghetti sauce. Badabing-Badaboom: INSTANT SPAGHETTI.

• The MSJ refrigerator. Now, this doesn't really exist. And unfortunately it only is available to some. Being in a center suite this year (*outstretches arms, gets up to use my PRIVATE restroom, goes to mess with my PERSONAL thermostat*), I opened my window one day and noticed a small ledge. It's not too wide, but just wide enough that during the winter time, I realized I could set my water bottles or sodas (of course) out there and they would be nice and chilly within less than an hour. Obviously, this won't work during the warmer months. But November-February, it's pretty awesome. Especially because my fridge is small enough that I have to wonder what will fall out next when I open it.

• Broomsticks. Ah, now this one I did not discover until recently. I figured brooms were for sweeping, right? WRONG. Brooms can double as great friendly notices to your neighbor that it is 7:45 AM on a Saturday, so why can I hear your Power Rangers tv show? Now this must be done gently and swiftly, because you would not want to leave a mark on the wall or else you can expect to be charged upon move-out. In that case, attach a towel of some sort, or even a stack of tissues to the end before firmly and quickly banging, er, tapping lightly on the wall.

 

Hey everyone!

 

After my recent trip to Australia, I’m really still just now getting on my feet! Before I left, I pretty much took all my clothes and most of my stuff home from my dorm. So I’m still slowly bringing back the stuff I need here at school from home. I’ve got most of my clothes back here, and I’m starting to get most of my other stuff back too!

 

Living in dorm life is a delicate balance of what you need to have in your room and what you want. I love my room, and no mistake, but I live in one of the East Single Dorms. I think it’s about a 14 foot square, and it has a sink, desk, and wardrobe on one side, and a bed on the other side. So the name of the game is space. You want to have everything you need, and hopefully some of what you want.

 

I have a big art table at the foot of my bed. I don’t really need it, but with my being an art major, it certainly has it’s uses! Having a nice big table to spread out with all my sketches I think allows me to be more productive during the time I have to work on my homework. However, it is big, and my room isn’t! I have to work around it. I think it’s worth it, but I know a lot of my friends think my room is too cramped for comfort.

 

I have a confession to make… I’ve never posted pictures of my dorm room up here… because it’s always a mess!

 

But no more! This semester I’m trying to keep my room nice and clean! So! I’ve brought my last load of stuff over and over the next week or two I’m going to try to reorganize, in an effort to keep my room nice and clean! And hopefully I’ll even get it clean enough that I can snap a picture!

 

Anyway, I got class all day today so I better get back to it!

 

See you!

Well this weekend is the Mount's homecoming football game! We are playing the Franklin Grizzlies at 1:30 on Saturday. In celebration of the game, the school has several activities going on around the campus. The dorm wars began last night with a presentation of the flags. This past Monday I helped to decorate our floor's flag. We were given a dark green for our color so we decided our team's name would be the Ninja Frogs. A lot of creativity was put in to the flag and because of how much fabric we were given we were able to make headbands and wrist bands for every girl on the floor. I wasn't able to go to the flag presentation, but according to the pictures I'm pretty sure we had the best ! There were a couple other different activities last night to begin the dorm wars. They had a checker/chess tournement, talent show, puzzle making, and more!

There was another big activity on campus today, the Push-Cart Parade. Some of the clubs/organizations at the Mount were given an opportunity to decorate a push-cart to make it look like a float from a parade to represent their club with the Homecoming theme in mind - Monster Mash. As being on the Campus Ministry Leadership Team, I was able to help out with decorating our cart. We were able to find the perfect passage to use for our cart, Revelations 13:1-2: 

"Then I stood on the sand of the sea. I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads. On his horns were ten crowns, and on his heads, blasphemous names. The beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. "

How perfect is it that we the Mount Lions are playing the Franklin Grizzlies for our Monster Mash Homecoming? So our team ended up creating a seven headed lion with a MSJ jersey pouncing over a cowering grizzly bear. The parade today gave us the opportunity to see what kind of creatitivy the clubs have on campus. It was really exciting to see .

Tonight the games will include sand volleyball, knock-out, and cornhole. I unfortunatley won't be able to attend those activities due to my night class but I'm sure it will be a lot of fun! Everyone in the dorms seems to be really excited about the activities! I'm anxious for tomorrow's games because I will actually be able to participate. My roomie and I will be our floor's team for the 3-legged race so it will definitely be interesting! After the activities, we will be having our homecoming dance in which everyone is invited to dress up in Halloween costumes, and for anyone who doesn't already know me, I like pirates! And therefore I will be dressing up as a Pirate Wench !

Then the perfect way to end the week is with the game on Saturday. I'm more than anxious to see the Lions beat the Grizzlies in the best game yet! 

 

Katagiri Roshi, the Zen master of Natalie Goldberg (a prominent writer), once told her “Your little will can’t do anything. It takes Great Determination. Great Determination doesn’t mean just you making an effort. It means the whole universe is behind you, with you⎯the birds, trees, sky, moon, and ten directions.”

Today, I believe I have exerted and displayed Great Determination in hunting down all the things that go to my dorm room and replacing and replenishing and purchasing everything I need to live at the Mount. I don’t know if the universe is behind me or with me, but I certainly have gone ten directions or more to hunt down everything I need!

I am currently sitting in the desk chair of my brother, which I’ll add is enormously comfy, resting after a long day of dorm shopping. Today, I’ve been all around Cincinnati, hunting high and low for the best prices on all the things I need for my dorm. I’ve calculated and deliberated, scrimped and saved, and watched my lowering gas meter with great sadness. But it is now the end of the day, and I can say that I have found everything I need, quite a few things I don’t need but want very much, and even at some pretty cool deals!

I managed to get a carpet for my room in the Seton Center Suites, and quite a few other things that can add some color to my room, including some curtains. The curtains were only 10$ at Ikea, and the carpet was 25$ at Target. If you look at other 5’x8’ carpets, you’ll find out 25$ is a steal!

Anyway, I’ve spent this entire week trying to clear out all of the stuff that I’ve had stacked away in my art studio at home all summer. So I can say I’ve actually moved mountains! Like the creator of Mt. Rushmore, if I stare at my mountain of stuff long enough, I see faces, but they’re not necessarily pretty.

I have a story to tell. At the end of last year, I wrote a blog saying that you should go ahead and bring whatever you want to college. The dorm sometimes gets a little cluttered, but it’s nice to have everything you need right on hand. I know I brought a few things to college that I didn’t really need last year, but it was cool to have all this neat stuff that we had around (such as several board games, an original Nintendo and Super Nintendo, and a huge drawing table).

Well, since I wrote that blog, I have moved all of that ‘cool stuff’ down six flights of stairs into an old van, then moved it out of that van into my art studio at home, where I stacked it haphazardly and chaotically in a manner that was sort of manner-less for four months. Suffice it to say I have lived and learned.

Do bring everything you need to college. But before you pack it up, question whether or not you really need it. If you bring everything and anything that tickles your fancy over to the dorms, come moving time you’ll be up to your ears in boxes and funny colored Halloween decorations you really don’t have a place to store over the summer.

Only a few more days left until I move all my stuff once again back into the Seton Center dorms. I’m looking forward to it very much! Only a few days now, and then I’ll see you folks all at the Mount!

Hey all! Hello again from the Mount! I hope everyone survived our recent snow fiasco! A lot of the other dorm-folks and I had a fun day of it, throwing snow balls and making snow angels out in the quad. It was a good time!

 You know, that's one of the most important things about the Mount that I've never told you about! If you live an hour or more away from the Mount, I'd really reccomend you live on campus! Especially if you're a first year student. Living on campus, I've made far more friends than I ever would have if I had stayed at home. Not to mention if you're coming from the east side of town, you have to go through downtown Cincinnati traffic, which isn't very fun! Also if you live on campus, you're never more than five minutes away from class! I don't know about any of the rest of you, but I am a LATE LATE LATE sleeper! And I never have to get up more than 20 minutes before class to make it on time. It's pretty nice for morning classes!

 I love the dorms at the Mount! I've been to the dorms at UC, Xavier, and Thomas More College...trust me, the Mount's got waaaaay nicer dorms than the rest them!

 There are three types of rooms: Singles, Doubles, and Suites. The Doubles are what most people live in, and they're pretty awesome! They're what you expect when people say 'dorms', they're the one room with two beds, a sink, and a nice big wardrobe and drawers (all with locks! If your worried about your stuff for any reason, you can lock your stuff when you leave the dorm. :D  ). If you're worried about living with someone else, or you just like your space, you can get a single, which are pretty sweet too. My current roomate lived in a single before he moved in with me, and his room was pretty nifty! It's pretty much the same as a double, but not quite as big, and you get the whole thing to yourself. :D The big downside to these is that they have heat, but not air conditioning. So they can get pretty hot in august at the beginning of the school year. But it's only hot for a couple weeks at the beginning of the year, and I'm told if you keep a box fan in the window its not too bad. 

 Now, I live in one of the Seton Center Suites, which are the best of both worlds! My roomate, Jimmy, and I both have our own rooms. In our rooms is a bed (which you can loft if you need the extra space [and I do! ]), a desk, a wardrobe (for hanging clothes) and a dresser. Me and Jimmy both share a common room, where we keep our futon, TV, and fish tanks. :D We also have a large entry way and a pantry, with space for a minifridge. And the best part is we have a bathroom and shower all to ourselves! We also have heat and air conditioning, both of which we can control by ourselves. So you can set the exact temperature you want in your room. I love the suites, they're pretty awesome!

 Really, if anyone is coming here for college soon, I recommend living on campus! It takes away a lot of the hassels of Freshman year, and you get to meet a ton of new people. I've met so many good friends here that I'll keep with me for the rest of my life. 

 I hope you all still remember that the Mount's production of Oklahoma! is coming up really soon! It's April 3-6, right here on campus! If any of you stop by, I'd be glad to talk to you after the production!

 You can buy tickets to see me, as well as an amazing cast of Mount students, perform here on campus! If you wish to buy tickets online, you can do so through this link:

https://webreg.msj.edu/cgi-bin/public/ticketform.cgi

 

I hope to see all of you there!!! See you all!