I'm Going to College

This is my last day at home. Tomorrow, I will be moving in to a new school. Bye-bye community college, hello four-year school. So many scary and cool changes at once.

This is insane.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

May Be Time to Go Soon....

Hi readers,

Well, once again, despite all the crazy stuff that has happened lately, I have failed to update this blog. This is getting ridiculous.

I'm starting to think that soon it may be time to semi-retire this blog. Not completely retire it, just give it a partial retirement. I may update this one on occasion, but I just can't focus on it like I used to. I'm actually working on a new blog right now. I'll link you to it at some point.

That's all for now.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Maybe I should update this more often....

WOW. It's the end of May and so much has happened.

First, final exams. I hate bragging, but I kicked butt on them. I managed to pull an A in ALL OF MY CLASSES THIS SEMESTER!!!!! At the time, it was stressful, but thankfully I did well. I think ultimately, the biggest victory was Calculus. Two years ago, I was TERRIBLE at algebra. Awful. As in, I could barely solve for "x". And I hated math because of how confusing it was and how it made me feel frustrated and stupid. Today, I not only passed Calculus (which I VOLUNTARILY signed up for), I ended up being one of the top students!!!!!!!!!!! Many don't consider this a miracle, but to me, this is a miracle. It's also a miracle that once Calc was done, I did NOT have a huge bonfire for my notebooks! I actually enjoyed my Calc class (despite some stress, of course). Amazing what God can do. He really brought a couple of amazing math teachers into my life and I will be forever grateful to them.

Second, I graduated. I graduated from my community college with highest honors. It was a nice ceremony and it feels good (but weird!) to be done. I hope to have my actual diploma soon, then it will be official (yes, I earned my degree and all, but at the ceremony they just give you a cover-the actual diploma they mail to you). Looking forward to transferring.

Third, Colorado family vacation. It was very nice. The mountains were gorgeous. We went up to Pike's Peak (took the Cog train up, highly recommend it), Garden of the Gods, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (complete with 1,700 schoolchildren *shudder*), and other stuff. It was pretty fun and it was nice to get away. The drives were long, though. I swear Iowa and Nebraska are the same state! I dubbed them Pancake Land, and not because they have good breakfast.

And now.... It's summer for me and I just can't believe tomorrow is June. I'm sure I have more stories, but I can't remember them.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Mother's Day and Other Randomness

Happy Mother's Day to any moms out there reading this! I hope you all had a wonderful day. I had a nice day with my mom. :)

Now, this past week has been one of the most eventful weeks I've had in a while.

First of all, unless you've been living under a rock, you know by now that Osama Bin Laden is dead. People are saying how this day "will be a day where we say 'I was at this place when I heard the news'" (my response: I was in my room doing homework when I found out). People everywhere in America celebrated.

And yet....

Am I the only one who thinks that this seems wrong?

Yes, he was a terrible person who did vile things. Yes, the Navy Seals probably had no choice but to kill him. I understand that. But it just seems sick to be *rejoicing* over a person's death, no matter how horrible a person was. It just doesn't seem right. I mean, as a Christian, how do I respond to this? On the one hand, we can't counter hate with hate, and reveling in the death of someone seems like a hateful thing to do. On the other hand, God is a just God and it was just what happened to Osama. But it still feels sick to celebrate the death of someone. I don't know. I felt so confused on that day and I'm still feeling a little confused now. Yes, cheery subject. I'll probably be criticized for this. Oh well.

Also, this was my LAST WEEK of classes at a community college. I've had rough times at that school, didn't like some of the things at the school, but at the same time it almost felt like home. I've had good experiences in addition to the tough ones, had some AMAZING professors whom I will never forget, and it feels scary to move on to something new. Well, I still have finals to get through before I truly say good-bye.

There have also been some funny holidays! May 2 was Harry Potter Day: The day that Voldemort was defeated. Only TRUE Potter nerds celebrate on that day. May 4th was May the Forth Be With You Day (A.K.A. Star Wars Day). Funny. Then May 5th fue Cinco de Mayo! ¡Que bueno! It was also the National Day of Prayer.

Wow, a lot has happened. Let's see what crazy things this week has in store for me....

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Last Day of April-Really?!?!

Hold on, tomorrow's May? Really? Didn't it just start??? There's no way that tomorrow is May. I also can't believe that Monday starts the last week of classes. Didn't my classes start yesterday??? It feels that way, at least. My graduation from community college is in EXACTLY two weeks. That is crazy. Must be a sign that I'm getting old-time is flying by WAY too quickly.

Well, back to studying!

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Resurrection Day 2011

Happy Easter, everyone! Christ is risen.... He is risen indeed! :) Not much today except a couple of cool church services. A song that I've been listening to over and over and over today is "Christ is Risen" by Matt Maher. Here's the chorus:

"Christ is risen from the dead,

Trampling over death by death,

Come awake, come awake,

Come and rise up from the grave,

Christ is risen from the dead,

We are one with him again,

Come awake, come awake,

Come and rise up from the grave."

The bridge is also fantastic:

"Oh death, where is your sting?

Oh hell, where is your victory?

Oh church, come stand in the light,

The glory of God has defeated the night,

Sing it, Oh death, where is your sting?

Oh hell, where is your victory?

Oh church, come stand in the light,

Our God is not dead, he's alive, he's alive!"

Wonderful reminder of what today is a celebration of. Yes, I ended a sentence with a preposition, oh well. Great reminder of what Christ did for us.

Anyway, tomorrow is a busy day of homework. 18 days until my last final of community college. That went by quickly.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Update-April 7

I know I have been slacking in updating this. Guess the life of a college student truly is busy.

Anyway:

• Enjoyed National Grammar Day (and my birthday) immensely.
• Kind of enjoyed Pi Day, too.
• Had Spring break last week. I wish it was still break. :( It wasn't a very exciting break, but it was a break, and it went by too quickly!!!
• Officially bombed a math test today. I failed on so many levels....
• I am officially going to a four-year school, and therefore GRADUATING from community college!!!
• I can't believe it's already April
• I'm going to Colorado in May.
• Life in general has been busy.

That is the past few weeks in a nutshell.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Pre-Birthday!

Wow. Tomorrow's my birthday. I'm hitting a milestone. So weird. I feel OLD. But tomorrow should be a good day! :D

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

School Exhaustion

I have now reached the level of total exhaustion and extreme stress for this semester.

Actually, it's better than previous semesters. Some semesters I got to this level around Week 2 or 3!!! But right now I have way too much to do and no time or energy to do any of it. Sad. Hopefully I'll get everything done.

Also, I am SICK of snow!!! I'd say it's time to bring out the hairdryers and extension cords.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Blizzard 2011. Groundhog Day CANCELLED!

Well, I think it's impossible to cancel a whole holiday. But any and all groundhog day festivities were cancelled today due to weather. They probably needed to shovel the groundhog out of the snow.

Anyway, in case you don't know, the Chicagoland area has been dealing with a CRAZY blizzard. Started around Monday night(ish) and ended sometime today. I think we got 20 inches of snow. Some places got more. It's been insane. Every school in the area (including mine) has been closed since Tuesday afternoon. I did NOT have to go to work yesterday or today. YAY!!! I enjoyed my day off today (and my partial day off yesterday), but I have no idea what I'll do tomorrow. Other than sleep. Maybe.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

It's a Little More Damaging, but I Like it

I will explain the title in time.

Well.... Today was interesting. I'd like to say that it was a good day, and in many ways it was, but I don't feel too happy right now or like it was a good way. So weird, maybe homework got me down. I'll just have to remember that the first day is always the worst day, it should get better after that.

To go over my day:

Woke up at 6am. I oddly wasn't too tired, considering I didn't sleep well last night. I left for school at 8am-ish, scraping snow/ice off of my car beforehand (I hate snow). Went off to Shakespeare.

Had my Shakespeare class. I know it's too early to tell, but right now I pretty much love my teacher. I could definitely tell that she loved Shakespeare, which is wonderful, and the class should be good, too. I actually contributed a few times. Sure, it was for minor questions and I didn't say much, but if you know me, you know that I NEVER, EVER talk in class unless I'm directly called on, so that says about how good my teacher is. Looks like the plays that we will be discussing are A Midsummer's Night's Dream, As You Like It, Hamlet, King Lear, Henry V and the Tempest. Looking forward to it.

Then I went to Intercultural Communication. We only did introductions, syllabus stuff, policies, etc., but the teacher seems good and the subject seems interesting. It will definitely become my most challenging class as far as personal stuff, because it looks like being shy may be a MAJOR problem for me. But hopefully it will turn out okay. The classroom was HOT, though. Seriously, if I was wearing a sweater with a T-shirt underneath, I would have taken the sweater off!!!

Next, I grabbed some free food, chatted with a couple of people and then... CALCULUS. It was... interesting. First of all, my Calculus teacher (who was my teacher for precalc) was still as good as ever, but there were some slight changes to grading policy that I need to adjust to. They're nothing major, just the fact that he may collect homework now (before he expected it, but didn't collect it), but it's just a little jarring when you expect one thing and get another. Second, man, I couldn't understand ANYTHING. Who cares about limits, anyway??? Okay, that's a bit harsh. I'm sure part of it was that I had a headache and was tired, but still, very overwhelming. Maybe once I start the homework, I'll be okay. At least I saw a few people that I knew and liked there. And now I will explain my title. Someone asked if we could have class outside in the spring, and our teacher said sure, but we'd need to find a chalkboard to take outside. So someone suggested drawing on the sidewalks/parking lots. Then someone else suggested spray-painting the grass with math, and that is where a classmate said "It's a little more damaging [than chalk], but I like it". Funny.

Anyway, I drove home to work, scarfed down dinner so fast that I burned my mouth, but it STILL wasn't fast enough-I was three minutes late to work. Grrrr. Work was fine, though I was more frustrated about little stuff than normal. Don't worry, hopefully none of my frustration showed.

So, it could have been a better day, could have been a worse day. I think my main issue is that it was an exhausting and rushed day. Not fun.

Well, time to attempt homework. Fun....

OH, I forgot (wow, I'm self-centered), today my brother had a birthday!!! I won't say anything else about that subject as he might get mad if he found out that he made it into my blog.... ;)

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

500th Post!

So, according to Blogger, this post is my 500th! Crazy. I feel like I should do something special. Sorry, I'm not going to give all of my followers free cars or anything. Too expensive. Oh well. :)

Unfortunately, this is my last day of real freedom. I had a good (if lazy) break, but tomorrow I go back to school. My LAST SEMESTER at a community college. WOOHOO!!! I'll try to keep you updated on how my first week goes. We will see. I'm cautiously optimistic for this semester....

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Happy Organize Your Home Day 2011!

Yep, it's that time. When you run out of creativity for a title, put down the name of a weird holiday!!! Tomorrow is Bald Eagle Appreciation Day.

Anyway, yesterday we went to Cheesecake Factory, which is delicious. Today I didn't do anything except work and read some of my textbooks. I start school in 4 days. Yikes. I'm cautiously optimistic, but who knows how things will be....

Also, I don't remember if I mentioned this or not, but I got another scholarship for next year!!! Woohoo!!! Thank you, Jesus!!! Guess joining Phi Theta Kappa (two year school honor society) WAS useful after all!!!

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

Harry Potter again!

I saw the first part of the seventh Harry Potter film for the second time. I don't believe I've mentioned this, but that movie is pretty freaking epic. One of my favorites in the movie series. I sat in the SECOND ROW. Heck yes. And I almost had the theatre to myself. Sweet.

I also got my textbooks. Why do they have to be so dang expensive??? Oh well. Found my classrooms and everything, so now I just need to reorganize everything in my backpack and I will be ready to rock and roll for this semester. It HAS be be better than last semester. Yikes.

Oh, by the way-I made the college honors list! Yippee!!! This is the sixth semester that this has happened. :)

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

I Despise Cold Winter Air

I am having difficulty typing this. Only my right hand can type well. The left hand can only use a couple of fingers, since this hand is wrapped with an Ace bandage. I did not sprain, strain, break or seriously injure my hand. The bandage is merely there to hold a piece of gauze in place. No, I did not cut myself on a knife or piece of glass. My skin is sensitive to the cold, dry, harsh winter air and tends to crack and bleed. Well, one crack on my skin kept reopening and bleeding, so it is getting a little TLC. It will be better in the morning, but it the meantime, it's so annoying. Once again, the idea of me moving to a warmer state sounds so nice. I hate winter.

Anyway, this is my last week of break! It has flown by! Hard to believe. Hopefully I will REALLY be able to enjoy it!!!

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley

First Post of 2011

Oops, I have slacked in my promise to update this more. Sorry.

But then, maybe that's a good thing. Other than getting together with friends, my brother's birthday yesterday and working, I really haven't done much. So you would have mostly heard riveting tales of me cleaning my room or sleeping or browsing the Web. I've been very lazy and also... bored. I know I shouldn't be bored, or at least, I should be happy that I'm bored, but it's so annoying! Argh! Well, I shouldn't worry about this too much. I have quite a bit to do next week. Some of the errands are fun, some are not very fun.

From the Realm of Randomness,

Ashley