Bright Eyes and Green Castles

Near a sea of pianos, there were waves of chords
that crashed against the shore in one huge and useless roar.
And there were girls bringing water,
like a dream they came to cure the fever of my brain,
and soothe my burning throat.
And they made me a necklace, hanging beads of sweat on a string of my regrets,
and placed it round my neck


It's almost scary.  It appears to me that almost every person I encounter has an illness of some sort.  Ranging from colds to the swine, everyone is coughing and sneezing. I think this is an important blog for me to write. As illness runs like wildfire in any of the top 50 liberal arts colleges because of the close proximity, it's great to know that we have somewhere to turn.  I've talked to some of my friends recently about the illness at their schools (most of them at huge state schools in Illinois), and the answers for the most part seem to be the same.  There are a lot of people ill, and the waiting list to see a university doctor is seemingly endless. 

At DePauw University we are in luck! Here we are blessed to have the Wellness Center (just a mere 5 minute walk (or less) from basically every point on campus) where it is easy as pie to make an appointment (or counselor if needed) and be able to see a doctor either the day of the phone call, or the next day!  Here's a picture of our M.D....Dr. Scott Ripple.  He is a certified M.D, and got his medical degree from IU.  Very nice.





The wellness center constantly has vaccinations available as well... recently there was a limited supply of H1N1 vaccines, which is awesome! It's great that some people on campus are protected! I was not lucky enough to receive one of these vaccinations, so I'm constantly carrying germ-x in my purse, and forcing all of my friends to "de-germ" before touching me or my things.
 It's awesome how many different types of Germ-X there are.. I have the normal one, but there are actually different scents!! All around campus one is able to find germ-x bottles for student use.  This Small liberal arts college is staying protected and healthy!!

That's gone and I know that it won't ever come back
  I accept I won't cling to what I had in the past
but life's a slippery slope, regrets the steepest hill
hope for the best, plan for the worst and maybe wind up somewhere
in the middle

So this weekend, as i mentioned in an earlier post, was Monon Bell weekend! It was a lot of fun, to say the least. 
Friday night started with the annual rugby match against Wabash college... It was at wabash, but there was a fan bus that took a group of us to watch t no charge! (another plus of small liberal arts colleges).   We lost, but it was still fun.
Only more fun followed once back at DePauw University! I went over to Phi Delta Theta and hung out for a little bit, before making my way over to see the Asher ROth/ Fabolous concert!  I only stayed for Asher Roth, that type of music really isn't my favorite.  But some of my friends reallllllyyy liked it.
Friday night, three of my friends and myself decided not to go to sleep in honor of monon! 



At 6 AM Phi Delt had a "wakie wakie eggs and bakie" gathering. It was a lot of fun, and having not slept, the eggs were a great treat! Here's a fellow Kappa hangin out at the eggs and bakie.


















Something else that's fun about monon is that the alumni come back! Here are 4 guys that I met Saturday morning! Reliving their
time as a DePauw student, and revisiting their past home in phi Delt. How great!




So, bottom line, we lost the game on Saturday, but it was a great time.  Also great to see that there was a lot of hand sanitizer out... gotta keep that H1N1 under control...  No matter the loss, Monon proved to once again be an epic holiday that could only occur between two Liberal Arts Colleges in the small of Indiana.  Enjoy your bell for the year wabash,  next year we'll be gettin' it back.

Well morning came
And it dressed the sky
In a lovely yellow gown
And the shops they are
All opening
In that narrow hallway of downtown
Filled with people who
Are shopping for
Their lovers and their friends
So they won't ever be lonely again

Martin's is found on the Greencastle square.  It's an awesome little boutique and a favorite shopping place of students who attend the Best Liberal Arts College, DePauw University! Here's a picture of Martins (it's the shop to the furthest left in this picture =D  )

Tonight is going to be wild!!






Oh yes, I mentioned the Kappa Formal that went down last weekend, here are a couple pictures from there.  Obviously I am no great photographer! Haha..





So here's myself and my date Jon gettin our groove on out on the dance floor.  Look how nicely his blue and silver tie matches my silver dress, and blue necklace. Excellent planning.














Here we have my good friend Kelly and myself, once again boogying down.
As you can see, I am even peaceful when bustin a move.















Here's a picture from the bus ride to the formal location. The theme was masquerade... so everyone got sweet masks!  Ours are rasta colors! How fun =)
Sadly, I appear to have missed one of my eyes. One would think that a student of one of the top private universities in the country would be able to properly hold a mask, but alas, we are merely human.

  Cause everything it must belong somewhere
Sound stage in California, televisions in Times Square
Yeah, everything it must belong somewhere
I know that now, that's why I'm staying here
Well I know that now, that's why I'm staying here


I can't believe that it is almost November here at DePauw University!  The time is just flying by, and the leaves are changing colors like mad.  Yesterday I was hangin out on the lovely swings in the front of Kappa with my good friend T-Love, and we were bedazzled by the amazing scene that we were able to see.  There was seriously a square that had like every color imaginable in it. I wish I would have had a camera, because honestly it would have blown your mind.  I am a strong believer that 4/5 of the students who visit DePauw during this week will end up coming here just because of the beauty of the campus.

I've been pretty bogged down with work this week.  One test after another... actually I found out what a BlueBook is this week.  Basically it's a book of lined paper that you use on essay tests.  I didn't know they existed, but in just this week I have had two essay tests and have used the BlueBook TWICE in one week.  Insane.   I can't believe how quickly the week off went, and I'm even more baffled at how quickly professors start assigning mad amounts of work following the break! However, that is the norm in the life of  student attending one of the Top 50 Liberal Arts Colleges in the United States!

Another exciting thing that happened this week was that tickets to the Monon Bell game went on sale!  There are already less than 100 tickets left! Basically this is the biggest football game of the year... so exciting.  We play against Wabash College (one of the oldest rivalries in the entire united states).  The winner gets to take home an actual 200 lb. Bell.  Right now we have it, it is sure to be a good game.  This will be the 119th Monon Bell game, and the scores are tied 53-53 with 9 ties.  So this will be an intense year.

Here you can see our DePauw cheerleaders practicing hard in order to cheer the Tigers on to victory! Woo!  Tryouts for cheerleading are held in the Spring, so they have been doing a lot of practicing since!












This is kinda random, but I think it's pretty sweet.  It was actually before FallBreak, but each year there is a "Trash our Runway" fashion show.  Students are able to design their own clothing using only trash.  Magazines, chicken wire, newspapers, etc.. all of these things used to make clothing!!   

Here's an awesome picture, courtesy of  my Kappa sister, Stacie.  Bri, another Kappa (second from the right) was the winner of the fashion show with the amazing dress that she's wearing!

Random note: the neon bikini was actually made completely from USED tape.. I'm honestly not sure how I feel about that.






Well, Kappa formal is Friday, and Halloween in on Saturday so hopefully there will be some high times this weekend that I will write about next time!!  I will charge my camera tonight so that I have no reason not to give sweet pictures of this amazing Liberal Arts College in action.  

Take the fruit from the tree, break the skin with your teeth
Is it bitter or sweet? All depends on your timing
Like a meeting of chance with the train station glance

From: Cassadaga (2007)

 

 

(This song was really only chosen because it has the word "Break" in it. Which is happening. Literally. )




Fall.. it is in the air right now! Well, besides the rain I guess..but thats just today! Okay, so I'm home this week. Seeing as it's fall break at DePauw University, most of the students are home!

Some will take their "Spring Break in fall" during Fall Break, but with lower prices because its not the high demand time! I am spending my fall break here in good ole' Cary, IL hangin out with the family, and reasearching for my future here at DePauw University.  By that I mean the amazing study abroad experience that I am going to have during my junior year.  The deadline is coming up for my application, but DePauw really pushes for every DePauw student to have an off campus experience (even if within the United States)! This is another one of the benefits of a Small Liberal Arts College.  There are even scholarships that I can apply for for some financial help finding the experience!


One of my good friends is studying abroad in Italy right now!! He took a trip to Rome for the weekend and took some awesome pictures.. this is one of my favorites =)















Another one of my friends is abroad right now in Spain! Here's an awesome picture she took of Barcelona! 
Being a Spanish speaker and possible  Spanish major, Spain is definitely the place that I want to study.  There are awesome programs offered by only some of the Top 50 Liberal Arts Colleges in the country! So, Madrid is where I am, as of right now, planning to study abroad!  On DePauw's website there are so many links that can help you find exactly the right program for you to attend, and for these programs you pay the same tuition and  scholarships are applied! It's awesome!! I'm also looking at a another program in Chile that's pretty cool too.. so I have some decisions to make before the applications are due! haha.
Well, only three more days of break, and I can't wait to get back to DePauw, but this is a busy week full of tests and papers, so hopefully I'll have something awesome to talk about next time!

εγώ τσιμπολόγησα you out
Of έναs crowd και μίλησα στον you.
Said εγώ άρεσα δικό σου shoes,
You είπα , " ευχαριστώ , μπορώ εγώ ακολουθώ you? "

TRANSLATION:
I picked you out
Of a crowd and talked to you.
Said I liked your shoes,
You said, "Thanks, Can I follow you?"

Lover I don't have to Love

From: Lifted or The Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground (2002)

WELCOME TO GREEK WEEK! I'm sure everyone who reads this is wondering why I put this post's Bright Eyes lyrics in Greek..well, there really is no reason besides the fact that it's Greek Week.
This is a week long event that takes place every year at DePauw University. Each day of the week has a different (somewhat bizarre) activity where the fraternities and sororities try to win and accumulate points in order to have their team win, thus having their representative given the title of Greek God (for fraternities) and Greek Goddess (for sororities).

MONDAY: Monday started out with a GCB eating
competition.. a GCB is pretty much a delicacy loved by almost all that attend our Top Private University. Marvin's is a restaurant located on campus, and the Garlic Cheese Burger (GCB) is a favorite item.  I personally have never tried one since Meat-eatin ain't my thanggggg... but anyywayyysss, each Greek house had a team that had to eat GCBs in a relay. Kappa Kappa Gamma (my sorority) did not win. I think the winner was Alpha Phi.. those girls must really like meat.
Here is a picture of Marv's.---->>>>

TUESDAY: The uber-exciting event today was a Spelling BEE.  My friend Kerstin and I went over to the competition (which was moved inside due to rain) It was a little cramped, and I had to sit on the floor which was really lame. Dang that rain...
well, my friend Jon was the Male Winner.  A Pi Phi girl won for the girls.  I personally think that the words being spelled were just way too easy. The fact that we attend one of the Top 50 Liberal Arts Colleges in the United States makes me this that words such as "fraud" and "chief" are just a little "Not Top 50 Liberal Arts College"   Had I been in charge the first word would have been "hieroglyphic" (I actually spelled that wrong just now, thank goodness for spell check) That word definitely would have eliminated some of the pansy-spellers who shouldn't have  made it to the 4th round.

WEDNESDAY:  This day I was one of the Representatives for Kappa in the "CANstruction" Competition.  We were supposed to collect canned goods prior in order to make something during the competition time. Although we were lacking in cans compared to some houses, we were pleased to see that there were in fact others with less cans.  We ended up making a "CAN of GREEN BEANS" it was awesome. HOWEVER the judges didn't find it to be as awesome as we did, and alas we were not the winners...or second place...or third. 
<----Beans.










THURSDAY: I believe that this day was some sort of Olympics?  Kappa was teamed up with Sigma Chi and apparently they were being lame and refused to pass to our Kappa ladies while playing Ultimate Frisbee.. hmm... hopefully no feminists were watching because they could be in some trouuubblleeeee. If i recall correctly there was also a cornhole (bean bag) Tournament. Oh, and a relay too. Not sure who won....Lo siento.  However, the plethora of activities is an exceptional representation of the liberal arts college environment in which we live.



FRIDAY: TONIGHT is not only the start of parents weekend, but also the GREEK GOD AND GODDESS competition.  All of the houses make up a dance and there's a performance tonight in Kresge Auditorium.. It shall be quite exciting to see how it plays out.

And then they splashed into the deep blue sea.
(Oh,)It was a wonderful splash.

We must blend into the choir, sing as static with the whole,
We must memorize nine numbers and deny we have a soul,
And to this endless race for property and privilege to be won

So DePauw University is buzzing once again, and the classes have begun. I must admit, I'm pretty excited about my schedule this semester. Somehow it worked out that none of my classes are on Fridays, thus I have a three-day weekend EVERY weekend. Pretty Legit.

Exactly a week's worth of classes are over as of right now, and I think I'm going to enjoy all of them!  Today I had Developmental Psychology.  Psychology is probably going to be one of my majors here at DePauw, so I'm very interested in the topic! After that I had Law and Economics.  I've never taken an Econ class of any type, so this is something new to me. I don't plan on doing anything in the future with either law or economics, however the beauty of a Liberal arts college is that you are able to try out all of these sweet classes. This class is an Honor Scholar Course.  DePauw has 5 programs of distinction and Honor Scholar is one of them.  During senior year of high school, DePauw applicants have the option of applying for one of the programs by  filling out some sort of application and then having an interview process.  I joined the Honor Scholar program, and it's definitely a challange at times.   The Programs of distinction are just one way to make the personalized experience of attending a Top Private University even more personalized. Very Cool.


AFter lunch I am in a Lifeguarding class! At DePauw, as a Liberal Arts COllege, all students are requiered to take at least .50 credits in PE classes.  Last year I took "Hap Kido" which was a Martial Arts class.  This year it is lifeguarding.  I'm pretty excited since I'm going to get certified. HOpefully I'll get to put my training to use and possibly be a lifeguard as a work/study job here at DePauw during my next couple years here!

  l always thought our pool was nice, but I really didn't have enough of an appreciation for it before today (which was actually my first day swimming in it).  It's 25 meters, and 10 lanes!



Outside of the classroom, most students have been catching up with each other an just hangin out.  Living in the Kappa Kappa Gamma house this year will definitely be an adventure, what with having over 60 other girls here. That's quite a lot of female in one house... Here's a picture of me and my kappa sister Lucy with out friend Chris hanging out at the Beta house on one of the first nights back! 

Even though We're a small liberal arts college in the middle of Indiana it doesn't mean we don't have fun, and there is such a good sense of community and such great people that sometimes you take for granted that not all Indiana Colleges and Universities are as awesome as DePauw.

So take my hand, this barren land is alive tonight.
The corn has grown stalks that form a wall too high.
But the wind carries sounds that I can't see from beyond that line.
Then the stalks begin to sway
Oh stay with me Arienette until the wolves are away.


People are beginning to come back to the Private Liberal Arts College of DePauw University. Slowly but surely the life and excitement is returning, and taking us back to the days of hanging out late, waking up early, and learning how to balance the excitement of the social atmosphere with classes, studying, and getting everything else done.  But luckily we still have a little over a week before actual classes start.  This is my last week working in the office of admission, and it's somewhat bizarre to think that I'll actually be able to sleep in LATER during the school year than I did all summer long working admissions.



So, this weekend was pretty eventful actually. Friday night I had my first visit to The Cavern Club restaurant. I went with Jon and the newspaper staff. I had a taco salad and I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that the salsa was too intense for me to handle. (And that's saying something since salsa is probably one of my favorite foods!) 
Then we headed back to Jon's fraternity and hung there for a few hours watchin some TV.



Saturday I woke up late and began preparing for what was in store later that evening. Jon and I made the journey all the way to Noblesville, IN to attend the Nickelback/Papa Roach/ Hinder/ Saving Abel  concert.   Sounds lame, yes, however is was quite eventful!  INSANE is one of the ways I would choose to describe it. I meant to take pictures, however that wasn't really my top priority once at the concert. Thus, here is a picture of the Concert T Shirt...


No, I did not purchase one. However there were quite a few people sportin' the threads.


SOOOO, Sunday I woke up and packed and began the move over to Kappa Kappa Gamma (where I will be living for the rest of the year!) It of course was one of the hottest days of summer thus far, so it was not the most enjoyable move. But, living in the house is definitely worth it!!  Kappa is one of the only (if not only?) Greek House on campus with Air Conditioning.  Unfortunately the Frozen Yogurt (Fro Yo) machine is not working yet. Sleeping in the cold dorm last night was actually heavenly. I get to sleep next to my Kappa Sister, Liz so that should be fun. Kelly and I went over to Phi Delta Theta last night to hang with Jon and some others.  We watched "I Love You, Man"   and I think it has become one of my top movies.  I could not stop talking about how I felt it was the funniest movie I'd ever seen.  I'm going to have to watch it again before it is able to make "Alyssa Pillayyy's Top 10 Movies" list.  Anyhow, we hung out with some guys and even ate some salsa!!!  YUM. Then the guys tried to be all hardcore and eat these little peppers that were way too spicy, yet they were trying to seem really cool so they did it anyways. It was definitely comical to see them start sweating due to the extreme heat brought on by those Peps.


P.s. There are a  lot of people moving in today! Athletes, some first-years, and a bunch of International students!!   exciting.

I never thought I'd hear myself saying this, but I can't wait for classes to start!!  Bring on the intellectual stimulation that I have been craving all summer long,  oh Top Private University.
Of all the Indiana Colleges and Universities, DePauw is the way to go for Intellect =)

Nobody’s around except the basement, and the trap sets and the feeling that you’re leaving.
That it’s not much worth believing.
Nobody is here, so I guessed it- that you left me.
And to stay here just gets harder, and the pain makes you try farther.
It's nothing left of what was sacred.
If there was I’m sure we’d break it 'cause that’s just the way we are man.
~Do You Feel at Home
-From: Album Unknown


I'm somewhat exhausted right about now...  I was home in Cary for the weekend due to the fact that only about 10 people were going to be on DePauw's campus for the weekend. 
Saturday was my best friend from home's birthday, and my brother's birthday was yesterday (Monday) so I didn't have to work yesterday and stayed home for a long weekend of family and friends. I drove back to our little Private University last night and got in at about midnight, so that wasn't too bad.

So, Saturday I went bead shopping so that I could make some sweet jewelery.  Saturday night I went to dinner with the parents... we ate at "Diced" this place by my house that's basically the ColdStone Creamery of Salads. Delicious.  After that I went to a friends house and watched the movie Memento (I wrote about it in a past blog). It was somewhat insane, and definitely a movie that has a lot to it... However, not going to lie, I'm not sure if I reallly liked it enough to recommend it.

I went home hoping to go to sleep, however couldn't for the life of me fall asleep...  I then went downstairs for a bowl of cereal hoping that the carbs would knock me out, which is when I realized that the cream soda that I had been drinking straight from the 2-liter for the past 4 hours had "WITH CAFFEINE" written in bold-faced letters. I was not pleased.  So, at 5 am (a bowl of cereal and about 100 games of Internet dominoes later) I was able to sleep.

Sunday morning I woke up and went to church with my family.  I love my church at home, but when I am at DePauw I started going to Greencastle Christian Church.

Here's a picture of one of the entrances.  If you're looking for a Christian church around our Small Liberal Arts College, this is a great place to go.

Everyone here is very friendly and welcoming, and I highly recommend giving it a go.

Along with that, if you are interested in becoming a part of a church family here (but aren't interested in this specific one), like other Top Private Universities DePauw University has an Office of Spiritual Life that can help you find the place that you feel you belong.
Sunday night I had a bunch of friends over for some hardcore hanging out. A lotta fun!


Monday was a day of relaxation.  My mom and my best friend went along with me to see G-Force at the theater! I know, sounds super-lame. And, to be quite honest, it kind of was lame. Obviously a movie for 5 year olds... but the guineas were pretty cute.






I'm pretty excited now, because we are in the last leg of summer so people are starting to come back to DePauw for the school year!! One of my best friends Jon,  just got back yesterday so I can't wait to go hang out with him today!! Here's a sweet picture of me, with Jon in the background acting gangsta as usual!


Of All Indiana Colleges and Universities, DePauw University is the Best Liberal Arts College.

"But I remember counting days down
Until the year could be done
So I could scatter all my notebooks on the prep school lawn
And disappear into a summer's bliss
Of staying out and sleeping in
So I left DePauw University pretty soon after work on Thursday to make the journey home for the weekend. It's about a 4 hour drive, but the construction on I65 slowed down the journey a tad.

Friday morning I woke up and went to Cardinal Fitness with my mom.  There I ran into my best friend  Kirsten [whom I hadn't seen since Fall break] and we did some bench pressing. I think I'm going to start lifting and whatnot at the fitness center at DePauw.  There are so many weight machines and free weights in the Lilly Center, and I think I need to put them to use and get buff. Well, Kirst picked me up on her way home. We went back to her house and cleaned a bit.  A bunch of our friends came over later that night and we had an extreme reunion since I hadn't seen most of them for almost a year.  (I might post some pics in the future.)

Saturday morning I went home, and we had our neighborhood July 4th party. It was kind of a downer that it was chilly and rainy.  Later on, it was definitely a high time in my day when I went with some friends to the fireworks! I love the fourth of July mostly because of the firework shows! We brought blankets and were laying on the grass watching the Barrington fireworks...usually they're really good, but this year they were reallllyyy lame. But we had fun anyways.


<<<Sweet Fireworks from the past.
















Super-lame fireworks from this year>>







Last year I was in Greencastle for 4th of July, and we went to the fireworks here.  They were honestly the best fireworks I've ever seen. [Yet another upside of attending DePauw University, the Small Liberal Arts College in Greencastle, IN]. 












Yesterday I went with my parents to a surprise birthday party where all of the adults were asking me about school.  I think every single one of them thought I was attending DePaul in Chicago. No, I DO NOT attend DePaul.  It's DePauw.  A Top Private University in INDIANA. One of the Top 50 Liberal Arts Colleges in the NATION.  Sometimes I even make the 'W' with my fingers for emphasis when I claim that it's "DePauw...with a W"



<<<YES YES YES                    NOOOOOOOO NO NO >>>




Then I headed home from there, packed up my car, and headed out to pick up Paul whom I had dropped off on the way home to visit some of his Chicago friends.  The drive went smoothly, and there were even fireworks along the way to watch, which made me pretty happy.

"All the peacock people left their plumes in a pile
They looked good to a fault
And the gulf water's warm like a bathtub
Full of lavender and epsom salt
Watch a bleach-blonde boy put his longboard down
Help his girl get her sunscreen on"
This past weekend was probably very close to being the best weekend of my summer thus far.

It started out hanging at the duplexes with some friends on Friday. The Duplexes are pretty sweet. DePauw University actually owns a bunch of duplexes on campus, and upperclassmen have the opportunity to live in them!   Right now there are a bunch of people doing research for the Science Research Fellows Program living in them.  Most larger schools don't usually give their students the option of living in a duplex or an apartment on campus, but DePauw, one of the Top Private Universities in the nation, offers many unique experiences like this.

I woke up early on Saturday morning to head out and meet up with some friends to go to the Indiana Dunes/ Beach!  Two of them were guys from my brother's fraternity, and then there were three other guys along for the trip.
For six people who attend Liberal Arts Colleges in Indiana  it is sad to say that we got lost/missed our exits/ took a wrong turn about 5 times. But I guess it's understandable since all of them attend our rival school Wabash College (a college near DePauw University), and they were in charge of directions, not me.  Haha. 
I took the liberty of taking photos to remember the experience.

Here we are at wrong exit #1.. note the "where are we" hand gestures going on..

















At one point we were worried that this was as close as we were going to get to the dunes...
We sent one of our team members into Dunes Mart to ask how to get to the Dunes...I thought it was pretty funny.










Alas, we finally made it to the Dunes! [Somehow we were in Michigan though?]   We climbed the huge dunes like mad, and even got to trek through a clay stream.  Everyone was drawing on each other.  I was sporting a clay Peace Sign, while the guys in Greek houses were each reppin' their fraternity letters, and the independent guy reppin' USA both on his shorts and on his back. haha.

On the way back we stopped at a mall everyone thought it was crazy that I was the only girl AND the only one not to buy something... I guess they didn't read my last post about how much I internet shop.. hahaa
Then we also went to Cici's Pizza! Ooo baby how I love love love that mac 'n' cheese pizza. 

"This is the first day of my life
I swear I was born right in the doorway
I went out in the rain suddenly everything changed
They're spreading blankets on the beach

Yours is the first face that I saw
I think I was blind before I met you
Now I don’t know where I am
I don’t know where I’ve been

But I know where I want to go"

~First Day of my Life

From: ' I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning' (2005)

Then back to DePauw University for more workin.

"The rain, it started tapping on the window near my bed.
There was a loophole in my dreaming, so I got out of it.
And to my surprise my eyes were wide and already open."

-Bowl of Oranges

{Lifted or the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground; 2002}

 

 

So, I'd like to begin by saying that these lyrics do not apply to my morning yesterday for two reasons:  1.) It was not raining when I woke up and 2.) My eyes were not wide and already open..actually, quite the opposite, they did NOT want to open.

I had woken up at 6am on Wednesday in attempt to try working out BEFORE work instead of after like usual.. FAIL. I went directly back to sleep, and ended up not working out Wednesday at all.  This was NOT going to be the case again Thursday, thus, when my alarm went off at 6:06 I dragged myself out of bed, and ran over to the Lilly Center and mounted the stationary bike. 

"Get behind the wheel. Stay in front of the storm.
The clouds dream disorder. They make faces. They make mud
on some ancient order that is no longer enforced.ok, so this isn't really the sky...I actually got this picture off of google images.. but ya'll get the idea.
The rain was INSANE. Luckily, a couple minutes after it started those of us on campus all received emails warning us that there was a storm {taking place...}. good thing public safety is around to keep us safe and informed.

I took this opportunity to sign up for Jyngle.. (they send text messages about emergency events right to your cell phone!) that way if there's ever a storm and the power is out [not letting me get to my computer to receive the email from public safety warning us that there is a power outage] I can just get it thru my phone.

Then it got sunny.

"and i went to 'Jamaica'
the birthplace of the summer
and watched the ocean dance under the moon
with eyes that burn so bright, they make me pure"

Yes, I realize that rather than "Jamaica" the lyrics are supposed to read "San Diego" however, I was not in San Diego for the past week! I just made it back to Greencastle after 8 days of relaxing at the amazing Grand Palladium Resort in Jamaica. And let me tell you, it was AMAZING.  (this picture hardly shows the beauty of this resort..)


As great as DePauw is, I'm not sure that many can argue that it's better than a week's vacation in Jamaica. Even with SPF 70 I managed to burn to a crisp on the first day, which made for a little bit of a painful journey, but I guess that's what comes with the "ginger" territory (red hair, somewhat pale...). But, alas, I have returned to the Castle looking a little bit more tan than when I had left, so that makes me feel a little better about the burning.

So, I drove 3.5 hours from O'Hare Airport and got back to DePauw at about 3 AM on Friday only to wake up for work at 8. Although it seems outrageous, I'm pretty sure that these 4.5 hours of sleep were the best I've had since the last time I slept in the bed within my cozy room in College Street over a week earlier.  My bed in Jamaica was like laying on a rocky highway road that is in need of repair (possibly with loud fireworks going off overhead to amplify the awful sleep)  in comparison to my mattress here at DePauw.

But, honestly, I'm not complaining anymore..because, I mean, it WAS Jamaica mon.
Ja mon, put de lime in de coconut..rasta rasta rasta  <<--- Jamaican 'lingo'  =)