It's Great, to be, a Michigan Wolverine!

I'm a college graduate!

Apparently I know Enough Things Now?

I'm done.  Graduation on Saturday.  Five years of college and its all over.  I don't think I'm old enough to be set free in the real world yet.  Ann Arbor is home and I'm scared of moving away from here in a few months!  So, for now:

For Today, Good Bye

For Tomorrow, Good Luck

Forever, GO BLUE

In Limbo

I know what I'll be doing on April 30...graduating from college after 5 years of extremely hard work (ok, that one year at Spring Arbor was a piece of cake but the other 4 at the University of Michigan make up for it...).  I'll be the first person on my mom's side of the family to graduate from college!  And I know what I'll be doing on August 5...marrying the love of my life.  But in between those two dates?  Limbo.  I'm not sure if I should be looking for a full time job just to tell them that I need 2 weeks off in August?  I'm not sure if I should stay in Ann Arbor for the summer or move home to save $?  Should I work a few part time jobs so I can relax for once in my life and spend time going on family vacations because this would be my last chance?  What to do...what to do?  I wish someone would just tell me what the right thing would be.

Feeling a Bit Fallish...

I missed a Wednesday List for last week!  Don't worry, I'll get one ready to go this week :)  Life has been so crazy and busy with school and football and family and B!  I had the opportunity to go home this past weekend and spend time with my family and B...we had family pictures and then spent all afternoon at Fridays to watch the Michigan football game...(we barely pulled off the W, thanks to Denard :)).  Yesterday, we went downtown Grand Rapids to wander around Artprize.  It was fun to see all the art and also to see GRap so busy in the downtown districts.  In all, it was an incredibly relaxing weekend!  However, now I'm back in AA and its time to get after the homework...this coming weekend is the UM vs. MSU football game and B and I have sooo many friends coming back for the game so everyone is trying to get tons of work done so that this weekend can just be focused on hanging out with friends!  However, I'm really hoping to get some crafting done this week too.  I finished a new set of ornaments that need to be photographed and posted.  I also am planning a new line of ornaments for the upcoming holiday season!  More news and photos to come soon!  Check back with me on Wednesday when I promise a new list will be posted :)

Wednesday List!

Sigh, with school really getting into full swing, I don't have as much time as I would like to blog.  So, here it is, one week later, another list.  While school is on my mind, here are my top 5 favorite University of Michigan classes that I've taken:
1. Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (Anthro101)
2. AIDS and other Diseases (Biology118)
3. Criminology (Sociology368E)
4. Introduction to Literary Studies (English298)
5. Children's Literature (Education490)

As you can see by this list, I have a very wide array of interests :)

Michigan Love

I'm back from vacation!! More about that later but right now I have to gush about the new stadium additions!!!  B and I went to the open house at the Michigan football stadium today and it was incredible.  Beautiful.  Amazing.  Hail to the Victors.  Leaders and Best.  All that.  Seriously, I can't say enough things about the beautiful box seats and suites.  I guess the best way is to show you.  Enjoy the little sneak peak!!!!

Springtime in Michigan

Means that its raining.  And freezing.  Ugh.  This weather does not motivate me to get things done and I have a to-do list a mile and a half long...beginning with unpacking my life.  Most of my worldly possessions are in boxes and bags piled all over my new house.  Unpacking is such a daunting task that its taking me a while to get to it.  In fact, I showered at B's house last night because setting up my bathroom seemed like too much work...haha, so pathetic. 
On a work related note, I'm loving only subbing at Campus Info because its given me so much freedom to plan my days and weeks!  Also, getting into the Clements stuff has been really fun so far...I've been using the Wayback Machine to find out if old links on the old culinary archive site are still active.  When I find an inactive or broken link, I try to track down where it moved to.  Its been fun in a 'wow, I'm amazed at my internet searching skills!' kind of way :) 
On a not so fun note, wisdom teeth out on Friday morning.  Not. Looking. Forward. To. That.  Ugh, I hate teeth related things...I'm totally freaked out by the thought of holes in my gums where my teeth used to be.  Ickyyyy....

Spring Classes

Spring time in Ann Arbor is really a beautiful and relaxing time of year but this year is a bit different than my past two summers in A2...I'm taking spring term classes.  This morning, I had my English class, which will hopefully be interesting.  I think the most stressful part will be the short amount of time that I have to do large amounts of reading.  For example, I have to read 14 chapters of Uncle Tom's Cabin by Wednesday.  Ugh. 
Oh! Speaking of reading, I just found out that I get to be an Early Reviewer of a book from LibraryThing!  I'm so excited to get an advanced copy of a book and review it!!  As soon as I get my review done, I'll post it here as well as on LibraryThing. 
I'm headed to another class in about 20 minutes, Amcult311 Topics in Ethics Studies: Museums and Tourism.  I'm. So. Pumped.  I really hope this class is interesting!  I'll keep this updated on all my classroom adventures.  In the meantime, I leave you with this happy springtime quote:

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"  ~Robin Williams

Longing for Sunday

Ugh. This weekend is commencement and I should be graduating.  But I'm not.  Sigh.  I'm just getting tired of people asking me if I'm excited to be done and I have to explain, again, that I'm doing a fifth year next year.  However, B is graduating so my weekend is still going to be filled with graduation stuff.  I'm probably one of only a few who aren't that excited for the graduation speaker...none other than President Obama.  It simply means we have to get to the stadium at the butt crack of dawn to get through security and there is rain in the forecast too....yuck.  Needless to say, I'm looking forward to Sunday when all the guests leave and B and I can just go for a walk, eat a quiet dinner and curl up to watch a movie together at night.  Basically, I can't wait for life to get back to normal. 

Thoughts on the Gym

Sigh.  Why is that I only get motivated to get my butt up and go out, (in the rain, no less!) and head over to the IM Building?  However, I'm back, showered and in comfy clothes, sitting on B's couch and feeling positively delightful.  I feel clean and skinny and just plain wonderful...and I'm craving strawberries instead of ice cream.  Maybe this is the start of something wonderful and amazing :)  Welcome to my summer of self-improvement and just general amounts of loving myself and taking care of myself...I can't wait to start...Tuesday at 12:30, this semester will be officially history!!!

DONE!

Today was the last day of classes!!! Just a take-home final due on Monday and an actual final on Tuesday!  Today was bittersweet because I said goodbye to my fifth graders :(  However, I'm already planning what things I'm going to go back for to see them!  On a brighter note, tomorrow I visit the Clements Library for the first time!  I'm really looking forward to that and am excited to find out more about what I'm going to be doing during spring term.  I also attempted to start packing last night...attempted.  Giant pile of fail in that regards.  Oh well, Friday I have nothing better to do than load my sad amount of belongings into boxes and drag them over to B's house...yea for being homeless for a week!!!

Busy, busy, busy

Ugh, I hate this time of year.  Stupid finals and other end of the year stuff...ughhh.  Its all about checking things off the list right now.  I'm just looking forward to being done and having a few days to just work and chill and then begin my spring classes.  I'm really looking forward to my classes...I'm taking Women and Literature (English315), Geology of Michigan (Geosci311), Ethnic Studies of Museums and Tourism (Amcult311).  I cannot wait for classes that aren't education classes and I'm super excited for the Amcult class because its finally a class in the direction I want to eventually go in for grad school and career wise.  I also cannot wait to start working on my summer reading list, working on my painting and photography, do my homework at Dominiks and Ashleys (local bars with fun outdoor seating) and I'm also taking a pilates class once a week!  Oh, and I'm starting a job at the Clements library!!  You should check it out!  I'm so excited about starting this job; it is probably going to be kinda boring but its a foot in the door and a step in the right direction...also, yea for grad school apps/resume whatnot :)  I'm a little worried I'm going to be bored if I'm only working like 15 hours a week but I'm working a my list of things you can do, as you can see.  I'm also really looking forward to going to the local Ann Arbor Farmer's Market to get fresh fruits and veggies and cooking for B.  But, before all this delightful stuff can start, must. get. through. finals. 

Getting Ready for Summer

Perhaps because it's nearly 70 degrees today, here in Ann Arbor, I'm feeling very summery!  I spent a significant portion of my morning class working on my 'to-do' list before the end of school.  It's mostly a list of assignments that I need to get checked off the list but there are also a few 'spring cleaning' type of tasks.  I've also begun to plan my vacations, work schedule and leisure activities.  I register for classes tomorrow so I don't want to jinx that by listing what I'm hoping on taking.  But it's looking good so far :)  I also just posted my summer reading list on the bottom of the page.  I'm hoping to continue to add to the the list and write a review for each one just to continue doing some cognitively challenging activities over the summer.  I'm also looking forward to lots of painting and photography in order to get my Etsy shop set up because it looks very sad and bare over there right now :(  Only a few more weeks...counting down to April 20!!

Looking Ahead

I'm finally feeling better and looking forward to the end of the semester.  B and I spent the Holy weekend at home with my parents for part of the weekend and my grandparents for the other part.  It was so wonderfully relaxing :)  Grandma took me shopping and we spent Easter as a family.  It was such a blessing to be able to go home.  Now, we're back and catching up on homework.  Due to the public schools' spring break, I don't have field this week and am looking forward to a less hectic week.  I also got my placement for next year and I'm trying to get excited about it...I've never worked with third graders before so it will be an adventure!  All in all, I'm trying to be at peace with my educational situation and looking forward to planning my grad school adventures. 

Oh, Life

Well, its been a rough couple of weeks trying to figure out what to do about school and whatnot but life just keeps moving along even if I'm not ready for it.  I have a midterm on Monday and therefore, of course, I'm curled up on the couch, sick.  Ugh.  I feel so gross and nasty.  I spent most of the day on North campus, studying and grossing out the people around me with my box of Kleenex.  B took me home and made me a pizza and now we are watching the UM vs. NMU hockey game.  True love right there:)  I also decided tonight that I must pick knitting back up or risk losing my sanity.  So, my goal right now is to work my way through all the nasty acrylic stuff in my stash so I can get new, yummy, natural yarn for summer knitting.  B and I are going to plan our summer travels sometime this week and I need to make my summer reading list too.  All this nice weather has me excited and ready for summertime.  I also am in the process of finding a new job or internship for this summer.  And of course, in the midst of all of this, I''m sick.  Sigh.  Well, bed early tonight and more time in the library tomorrow and hopefully I'll be ok by Monday...fingers crossed!!

Alphabet Soup

From DC to AA and not as happy about it as I thought I would be.  I miss the city so much already and I can't imagine not going back at some point.  I desperately want to live there and work somewhere in the vast archives of the country.  This picture is of the Library of Congress; I was pretty sure that I had died and gone to heaven whilst I was in there.  The history really got to me there and I would hop back on a plane tonight to go back if I could.  How in the world am I going to concentrate in my education classes knowing that I no longer am trying to fool myself into being excited about teaching?  My dad even asked me today if I was going to change around my classes now!  Haha, unfortunately, I'm way too far to change majors again.  Its just time to finish up my undergrad and then make very careful decisions regarding grad school.  I can't wait!!!

More From the HIll

OMG.  I am absolutely and completely smitten with D.C.  I desperately want to move here and work in
A. The National Museum of American History
B. The Library of Congress or
C. The National Archives
(I would actually settle for ANY of the Smithsonian Museums).

I am absolutely in love with the history and artifacts found in this town.  I cannot believe how happy and comfortable I am here.  I've been researching grad schools and possible internships for this summer like a crazy person.  I have been on an incredible journey of self-discovery this week and have realized that I need to stop thinking about what I think I "should" do in order to be a good person and instead to follow my passions.  I'm passionate about history and books and museums and all of the incredible links to the past found in archives.  I really want to get home and start pulling together some way of cataloging our family history on the dad's side.  (We have an incredible book on the mom's side :) )  I actually started doing some research at the Holocaust museum and can't wait to start searching for other information and figuring out how to get it out of Grandpa and Grandma.  They rarely talk about the family history in the Netherlands and I'm absolutely fascinated with the mystery.  Ahh! I love it here so much!!!

On The Road Again...

It's spring break!!  Well, actually "winter break" because UM has no idea what 'spring' is, apparently.  However, I digress.  I landed in Ronald Reagan Airport on Saturday and am absolutely loving Washington, D.C.  I've already been to Arlington (watched the Changing of the Guards and cried), the National Museum of American History (saw the original Star Spangled Banner and cried), the Lincoln Memorial (read the quotes on the wall and cried) and the Korean Memorial (held it together for this one...no guarantees on Vietnam though).  Its been incredibly moving and meaningful so far.  You can't help but feeling an immense amount of pride in this country.  However, this trip is seriously complicating my educational future.  I know that if I could go back to the beginning of undergrad, I would do things completely differently.  But now I'm facing the options of graduate school.  I thought I had it all figured out but I've always been so fascinated by museums and archives and now being here is bringing that out again.  Stayed tuned for more updates on the trip and my stress over my educational plans.

Back to Ann Arbor

So, B is up to his fifth scheduled flight for this weekend.  He is incredibly frustrated and so am I.  It's just a little snow!  I ended up journeying back to the west side of the state on Saturday and got back an hour ago today.  I'm currently watching the Super Bowl alone in my room and working (and procrastinating) on my homework.  This isn't exactly how I envisioned tonight going.  Sigh.  Oh well, I also had envisioned the Vikings in the Super Bowl so I should have known something like this would happen.  At least I'll get the hw done and can go to bed early.  I have a twelve hour day tomorrow and an exam on Wednesday.  Ugh.  I hope this week improves when B finally gets home.  In the meantime, I hope to finally get some things up on Etsy this week!  Ekk!!  So exciting!!

ETA: He's driving home.  I'm so worried but I need him back and he couldn't get a flight until later this week.