December 2nd, 2011

Classes went well today. I had my French Oral Final at noon and that was easy. I also got most of my Christmas shopping done between classes. After classes though, I was in my room wrapping presents when I heard a knock on my door. Kevin was there and.. so was Brynn!!! His girlfriend had come down for the evening to go to his concert. They are sooooo cute!!!!! She is a sweet girl. Apparently she's heard as much about me as I have of her (and apparently nothing too bad) and she even gave me a hug before she left. We've made plans to go to West Edmonton Mall during Christmas break. Kevin was spending the night with her and his parents so we said that we'd see him tomorrow (hehe). That was a lie. After they left for the concert, Casey, Kurt, Alicia and I got on the bus and went to surprise him at his concert. We sat in the 2nd row. When he came out to play he was so surprised to see us! I think this was one of his best nights ever in University. Not only did the Wind Orchestra perform amazingly, but he got to spend the night with Brynn and his best friends from the floor went to his concert!
After the concert, it turns out we missed the next bus back. We had an hour to wait for the next one and we didn't want to do Whoop-Up Challenge (which is walking up & down Whoop-Up Drive back to the University from down town) so we walked to the McDonalds, and thus begins my downfall. While we were walking, I rolled my ankle in my heels and had to hobble the rest of the way with a heavy limp. When we got to McDonalds, my Debit Card didn't want to work, even though I knew I had $100 on it. Luckily, Jocelyn was manager tonight (she's a sorority member with me) and she said that my meal was on her today, I felt to bad but very grateful at the same time. Then we walked back up to the bus stop. Kurt got so upset at me that I wouldn't let him give me a piggy back ride. I was afraid he'd drop me, after all most people do. But we managed back to the bus stop. When we got there it was about 10:30 and we still had a half hour until the bus so we sat down and had a picnic! Then this car pulls up behind us and asks if we want to buy drugs! It was so random! Then they said "Aww come on! We have something that'll blow your mind!". When we said no, they swore at us and drove away. Luckily the bus got here and we got home, safe and sound. We watched movies until the early hours. All in all, it was a good night.

November 29th, 2011

So classes were normal today. During the lunch break I worked for one of the sorority's charity projects. We're doing t-shirt cutting. Where we cut strips, weave, etc. these T-shirts into cool designs, sell them for $5 and donate the proceeds to the Canadian Cancer Society. Today was also the distribution of the care packages for U of L students. Now I didn't know what that meant so I went up to the Atrium at 2:30 p.m. to check it out. Turns out, all U of L students are eligible to receive specially made care packages. They are reusable Safeway bags filled with non-perishable groceries made up by the different churches and community groups from as far away as Milk River and Taber. Some even had Christmas cards in them! The one I got had spaghetti & spaghetti sauce, tortilla chips & salsa, fruit snacks, beans, juice boxes, etc. The whole idea behind them is that, since exams are coming up, the community wanted us students to have one less thing to worry about. They also wanted us to feel loved. I know I am very grateful to not have to eat at the Cafeteria. If any of you reading donated food to the U of L care parcels or to any university I thank you.

November 27th, 2011

So today is a day I won't soon forget that's for sure! Today was the day that I was initiated into the Delta Eta Iota sorority, but my day was memorable for very different and somewhat terrifying reasons. Throughout the morning and early afternoon, we were getting reports of the awful wind in Calgary and here in Lethbridge. Windows in office buildings in downtown Calgary were being blown in, they even shut down the downtown core at one point. Semi trucks were being blown over like they were made of paper, siding and roofs were being ripped off; it was truly terrifying. The wind here wasn't as bad. Only a little bit stronger than normal but there were tops of trees blowing about.

Later on, while Meagan and I were getting ready for our initiation, my friend Alicia walked in and said there was a funny colored cloud outside. So I'm not particularly concerned, more nervous about my initiation than anything but then we find out there's a wildfire just west of Lethbridge. Meagan and I then get a text from Jade, the President of the sorority telling us to get out of the city and go to her house in Coalhurst, so we jumped into the car and went straight to Coalhurst. We had to stop at Safeway on the west side before going because we were running out of gas. It took three of us to push open the car door so Meagan could get out an fill up. And everything was orange and hazy. It looked like something out of a natural disaster movie where everything is grossly exaggerated.

While we were driving to Coalhurst, we could see the fire from the highway. It was one of the scariest moments of my life, the wind was also so strong we almost blew off the road! I had never heard an Alberta warning before, its scarier than being beside the fire! It starts with a super annoying, obnoxious and anxiety-inducing buzzard then an automated woman's voice announces whatever's going on. I wasn't really scared until I heard that. Once we were at Jade's, she was running around trying to make sure everyone got here safe, then we spent a good hour watching the news, trying to get information about what was going on but the news was more concerned about elderly women in Quebec. At one point we got reports that the University had been evacuated, but my friend on DE4 texted me and told me that that was untrue. Jade was ready to grab sleeping bags from the garage for us and have us spend the night there. At about 8 p.m. we all got really hungry and since we hadn't started initiations yet we carpooled over to Coyotes, a gas station restaurant in Coalhurst. It was really nice to go out to supper as a sorority. Apparently that's going to be a new tradition. After we had supper it was about time to start initiations (which I can't really tell you anything about), after initiations, (which ended at 11 p.m.) it was time to go home. The threat for Lethbridge had passed and Jade was comfortable with letting us leave. Meagan, Kelsey and I went and picked up Meagan's friend Brandon before we came back to UHall, he was on the west side so it wasn't too far out of the way. All of Rez now smells like smoke, and I have a massive headache from it but we're all okay, everyone's home safe, ready for classes in the morning.

November 19th 2011

First of all, happy belated birthday to my sister Ashley, I don't think you got my text so now you can't say I didn't say it! You'll get your present at Christmas as well.

So for the past few mornings, Tiersa Reid (one of my best friends on the floor) and I have been going swimming to get some exercise. I love swimming! I find it so much nicer and less painful to swim laps for an hour than go to the gym. During weekdays we go at 7:30 - 8:30 and, depending on what time our classes start, we might do some gym exercises before hand. Today though we slept in for an hour and went at 8:30 instead. We went to the gym for an hour then swam for 45 minutes. I have been feeling so good the past few days. Plus I've been sleeping better! After the gym, we went grocery shopping with some others on our floor (Keltey, Haileigh and Kurt). Thank goodness because Sunday's are the hardest to get food here. Tim's isn't open and CJ's has a stupid buffet on, it's $15 a meal and the foods always cold and rubbery. Its kinda funny actually, most of the kids on my floor have made "emergency calls" home to ask for food! Kurt actually gets a care package every week! Boy I feel sorry for his parents who have to pay postage on all that.

Then it was time to get ready for the Cabaret. It's the last one of the semester and it was the formal Christmas Cab. I had bought a blue dress a few weeks back from a thrift store and it was really pretty. I had a ton of fun with everyone! Tickets were $30 but that included buses there and back, supper, prizes and the dance. The food was alright but the dance was fun. It was nice to see everyone dressed up in their best.

After the cab, Alicia, Veronica, Kurt, Nicki and I hung out in the common room watching Toy Story and Stardust. Kurtis spilt a whole box of Kraft dinner on the floor. Pretty much everyone but Veronica and I were drunk. It was very entertaining!

November 11th - 14th 2011

So this weekend wasn't as boring as I thought it would be. Everyone except like 5 of us went home for the long-weekend but we managed to have fun anyways.

It started off easy. Alicia and I got up early to watch the Remembrance Day Ceremonies in Ottawa, Edmonton and Lethbridge. We wen't to the one in Lethbridge but it was at noon so we actually caught 3 ceremonies in one day! It wasn't the nicest outside but in Lethbridge, wind is nothing. While waiting for the bus back to the University, Alicia and I went to the Bargain store and bought some Christmas decorations for our rooms. That night, Kurt, Alicia, Casey and I went to the Void (kinda like a game room for rezzors) and played a few games of pool and watched "The Pagemaster" and "Ella Enchanted". At 1 a.m. the R.A. on duty came and closed the void so we had to go back to the common room where I showed Kurt Labyrinth for the first time! We now have a new convert Shannon! At 3 a.m. we decided to go to bed.
Saturday, I decided to start decorating my room and my door.

Alicia and I spent hours cutting out paper snowflakes. My room looks really cool now, including some plastic Christmas balls suspended from my roof. 

Sunday was left to studying and we got a surprising amount done. But Alicia wanted to go out and take photo's before the snowstorm was to hit Monday so I put on my formal dress that I bought and we went out and took artistic photo's. I'll put some up on my blog once she's finished editing them.

Monday was back to classes as usual. My Psychology midterm was today and I got 80% on it! All this week there's a poster sale going on in the Atrium and you can get posters as big as the wall for $20. I bought a few for really cheap and I'm super excited about them!

This one was called solitude

Van Gogh's "Peach Blossoms"

This one is "Apple Blossoms"

I also got a few more as Christmas presents so I won't show them here.

Now I'm back to studying for my Geography midterm tomorrow and my Economics midterm on Thursday. 

November 9th, 2011

So life's been extremely hectic lately with 6 midterms in the next two weeks! Plus this morning was pretty eventful. I awoke at 6 am to a faint but obnoxious, high-pitched beeping. I thought I was going crazy for a minute or two. I knew it couldn't be the buildings fire alarm because I have one in my room and it wasn't going off. Then I heard people walking up and down the hallway and I peeked out. Turns out, the fire alarm in one of the rooms on the far end of the girls hall was going off for no reason. Security was called and, when they couldn't figure out how to turn it off, ripped it out of the wall! I was so happy when it turned off. I had been up until 3 a.m. previous to that studying for the two midterms I had today. They went pretty well. French was easy and I'm expecting a fairly high mark on that. Religious Studies however I'm not so sure. The test was on Hinduism and its the first test we've had with our new teacher. Our last teacher specialized in Western Religions and we've now completed them. Hopefully all went well though, fingers-crossed! Considering how much studying I've been doing, I figured I earned a night off tonight so I went to the gym for a few hours with Kurt and Tiersa, watched a movie with some other people on the floor. Then Kevin came home and we rehearsed our set for open mic night. At 11 p.m. it's quiet hours in Rez  (Kurt had joined us by this point) so we went up to one of the music practice rooms that Kevin has a key to and jammed out, rehearsed some Christmas Carols, until 12:15 when Kevin made us come home because he needed sleep. My next midterm starts on Saturday so I'll knuckle down after classes tomorrow!

October 28-31, 2011

Hi everyone!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, mid-terms are horrible and I've been really busy.

Over the past few weeks I've gradually been doing more and more with the sorority such as going to Sister Sundays, going out for drinks and handing out flyers for the various volunteer activities we've been doing. I'm really glad I joined the sorority.

This weekend was Halloween and I had a ton of fun! There was a Halloween Cabaret in the Zoo, and it was ok. Nothing super exciting unfortunately but I still had a blast that night. My costume was a "Victorian Masquarade" theme that I thought I did pretty well. 

Here's Alicia and I dressed in our masks. We hung out and dance at the Cab for a bit then came home and had a floor party of our own before the majority of people went out to Studio 54.

Saturday night, Chelsea, Tiersa and I went to a showing of the movie Rocky Horror Picture Show and if you want to watch it, let me warn you it’s not for the feint hearted. During the movie there’s a whole bunch of actions, activities and things you’re supposed to yell out at certain parts. It was so cool! I can’t even describe it to you, I’m sorry. I didn’t get home until midnight though after stopping at McDonalds for a late night supper.

Sunday I had another Sister Sunday with Delta Eta Iota. We did pizza making and T-Shirt making. I’m happy about that because it means I’ll have my own Delta Eta Iota shirt with the logo on it to wear around so I can actually prove I’m in a sorority! The pizzas were fantastic! We used pita breads, covered them in pizza sauce and various other toppings of our choosing then baked them until the cheese was melted, yum they were tasty! I love hanging out with the sisters, they’re all just so cool. And it really helps to know others who are in the same major that you are, they give you little tidbits and tricks for succeeding in that field.

Monday night (Halloween) was the Sororities “Trick or Eat” event where we went around door to door collecting non-perishable food items to donate to the Salvation Army. Kaylee and I collected two full garbage bags of canned goods and macaroni from only 30 houses! I was so impressed with the people in Lethbridge, there were only a few houses who said they had nothing to spare, some houses even gave us several Safeway bags full of stuff! It really makes you feel like your making a difference when doing stuff like that. Plus, I got to see a bunch of cute little kids in costumes, some pretty inventive too, like a little girl who was a dice. There was also a little boy, maybe 4 years old, dressed as Mickey Mouse while his mother walked him around, she was dressed as Minnie Mouse and the dog she had with them was Pluto!

After the Trick or Eat, there was another Rez Wars event, Halloween Decorating Contest! Our floor was dressed to the nine’s! Plus everyone on the floor dressed up and participate, which was nice to see as a lot of people stay hidden in their rooms most of the time. We had Zombies and “Giant rats” banging on doors when people walked by. We even had original music playing, created by Steph on our floor. We came in 3^rd unfortunately, but we beat DE3 which is our biggest competition! 

All in all, this Halloween has been a ton of fun!

I’ll try and write again soon, but I really can’t make any promises as Mid-terms are here again, boo!

October 14 - 16, 2011

Hi everybody! I apologize for not blogging for the past few weeks but I've been super busy since getting back from Thanksgiving that I haven't had the time. Thanksgiving was awesome, it was so nice to see my family and all my friends again. Although I know now that I should've brought one of my dresses back to Leth. Apparently there's a formal Cabaret in November and I have absolutely nothing to wear! So Kevin, Allie, Alicia, Kurt and I are planning on going to the mall next Saturday to try and find something for the Cab.

There hasn't really been much going in the past week aside from classes but there has been a few events. On Friday, while everyone was out at the bar, Kevin, Megan (who looks EXACTLY like Jenna Boje!), Kurtis, Veronica, Nicki and I all went to one of the music practice rooms at 11 p.m. Megan and Kevin are both music students and have 24 hour access to those rooms, yay! We jammed and played random music until 2 in the morning, it was so much fun! I love playing music with them. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but Kevin and I are planning on performing a duet (him playing guitar as well) for one of the Open Mic Nights at the Zoo (campus bar). We still haven't chosen a song but apparently he's up for anything so it will be interesting.

On Saturday night it was the Tight'n Bright Cabaret at the Zoo and it was exactly how it sounds! Tight and Bright EVERYTHING! It was only $5 to get in, which is super cheap compared to all the other Cabs. It was pretty fun too, some of the costumes were absolutely hilarious. I have no idea where these people got their ideas. There were several guys dressed in little kids costumes like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Superman. I didn't drink because it seemed utterly pointless, plus Kevin is not allowed to drink yet until soccer season's over so we were "Captain Sobers" together (its a random title that the floor designates to the non-drinkers of the night who still intend to have fun). After an hour we  went back to Rez and watched How to Train Your Dragon. Kevin's become pretty much my best guy friend over here, Alicia being my best girl friend.

Sunday, Kevin and I made plans to go to Shoppers Drug Mart because we needed some groceries and I needed to pick up something for the Sorority Sisterly Sunday potluck that night and Kurt tagged along. After Shoppers, we went to the soccer game. Kevin, being a first-year, didn't play. In fact, he didn't even get to sit on the bench, he had to be in the stands, which absolutely sucks! Either way, we were beaten by the University of Alberta 3-0. It was freezing out! I had on a jacket, mits and a scarf and I was cold so I don't know how the boys (both of whom were in sweaters) could stand it. Then it was off to Sisterly Sunday and pumpkin carving! Which was so much fun. Then home for studying and homework.

September 30th, 2011

So I went to the gym with the guys yesterday (one being on the soccer team) and now my abs are killing me... joy! After the gym though, we came back to the floor and since I love singing and Kevin (soccer player) loves playing guitar, we and our other gym buddy Kurt had a mini jam session in the common room. Well more people start to join in, then Allie brings in her keyboard and we start playing Don't Stop Believing. Before we even start singing it, everyone on the floor is jamming along and they're filming it and it was just an all around great time.
After the jam session, Kevin told me that he'd teach me to play the guitar so we sat on my bed with Alicia and Max as an audience as Kevin showed me some chords. I am proud to say I can play E minor, D, C and G chords on the guitar!
Our RA Amy was on duty last night and she promised us that after she did her rounds she'd make us "Late-night Pancakes" which is something special on our floor. Some of us decided we didn't want to sit around and wait for her to get back to we went with her to the other floors while she checked to make sure everyone was obeying quiet hours. It was so much fun, we freaked a lot of people out. When we were walking across the breezeway, we hear this guy say "are there any RA's here?" Like hello! Stupidest thing EVER to ask, if he hadn't have said anything, we wouldn't have seen him. Anyways, turns out he was smoking an illegal substance and Amy, being the RA had to write him up, needless to say she didn't have time to make pancakes for those of us who didn't go clubbing (by the way, Thursdays in Lethbridge are cheap drinks night at all the clubs so the majority of our floor goes out). So I made pancakes for everyone instead. It was funny because they all were like little puppies after you've introduced them to their first dog treats!

So today classes were pretty boring. At 4 though I had my Musical Theater Society meeting. Last night I attempted to convince Kurt and Kevin to join it with me because they both love music. Kevin went home today but Kurt actually showed up. I was pretty stunned. We worked on "This is Halloween" from "A Nightmare Before Christmas" and a little bit of "The Things you can Think" from a "Seussical". When we got back to the common room, we all decide to watch A Nightmare Before Christmas. I also finalized plans for Thanksgiving. I'm not taking the bus, thank goodness, but there's a girl here, Riley, who went the Memorial Composite High School with me and we're going to carpool home! Yayy! And tomorrow I'm going out with Kurt and Alicia to shop for Halloween costumes! It should be fun!

September 25th, 2011

So I forgot to mention but a few days ago, my floor did a tie dye event and the shirts came out really cool. We now wear them whenever we go out as a floor.

Anyways, yesterday Casey, Kevin and I went to the men's soccer game. Kevin actually plays on the team but he wasn't on the starting line up today so he had to watch from the stands, much to his aggravation. The girls played at 12 noon and the boys played at 2 p.m. They played decently well but lost 3-0. Oh well its just one game. After the game I went up and did laundry. It took like 3 hours so I had a lot of time to sit and study while I waited for them. Overall it wasn't a bad night.

So today I woke up and could barely breath because my sinuses were so clogged, being sick is no fun. I was supposed to go downtown with Kevin and Casey, good thing I cancelled because everything was closed. Sundays really are a bother sometimes. I walked to Subway on campus for lunch because I wanted a change from CJ's. I had a nice chat about customer horror stories with the girl. Other than that I pretty much spent the day studying. At 5 I had to get ready for the Bid Ceremony for the Delta Eta Iota sorority. I was really cool, I got to meet my "Big Sister", her name is Shanna and she's really nice. My first pledge class starts on Tuesday at 7 p.m. so I'm excited for that. Now its back to more studying, oh joy!

September 22nd, 2011

So today was a meeting for VESA which is a volunteering opportunity in third world countries. There are three trips to choose from, Ecuador, South Africa or Figi. You spend a week volunteering, so building schools and teaching English to students, etc. And the 2nd week is touring around. Its only $2000 for the two weeks (not including airfare) and it sounds like and amazing experience. Plus, there are a ton of fundraising opportunities that can cover or exceed the cost of the trip, which is excellent for a student on a budget. Me and my friend Alisha are looking into it because we both love to travel. They have several trip times throughout the summer and it sounds like a lot of fun. Essentially, if I could possibly fund-raise enough, I could go on all 3 trips as the money is due 45 days before you go, although Alisha and I are planning on doing 1 trip per summer. I'm super excited! They should be mailing me an information package (not sure if it's coming to me or to home, if it comes home I can pay for postage if it's expensive) and I shall let you all know what's happening. Also, since I have to buy my own ticket, I could go a few days early and get to see the sights on my own for a while (all on my own dime of course). The trip is not just for students either, so long as you are 18 years old before day of departure. If anyone reading this is interested (and its not only this year, they've been running this for several years now and probably will for several years to come) their website is www.vesabroad.com .
Aside from that, I'm just doing a lot of studying. Welcome to University right!

September 21st, 2011

Hello everybody!

It has been a while since I last posted because things have fallen into a routine and I doubt my ramblings about nothing are very interesting. Today, however, was unusual. Usually on Wednesdays I have no time for lunch. Classes start at 11 and run straight through until 3 but today my French teacher let us out of class early so I got an actual lunch!

Throughout the month there has been different evening information sessions for the residents of University Hall which offer free pizza if you attend (the greatest word to a university student is free). There was one tonight, I stayed for a while but it got pretty boring.

Also, my friend Kelsey and I have finalized our gym plans and we went tonight. I did 1/2 hour of cardio on the treadmill then an hour of weight training. Needless to say I'm pretty sore right now.

So I get back from the gym, hang out with some of the people on my floor and I get bored so I start sketching, and if you know me I'm not very good at drawing faces, well the face I drew kind of looks like Angelina Jolie with the big lips and protruding cheek bones. Its pretty cool actually. Well, just as I was finishing it off, a loud beeping goes off. And guess what! Its the fire alarm, and we're having a drill at 10:15 at night. Fun! I had to explain what was happening to Daniella, whose from Ecuador and doesn't understand English very much, that it was only a drill and that her passport would be safe in the building. So that has been enough excitement for one night, some of the residents are watching a movie (Country Strong) but I am definitely going to bed!

September 17th, 2011

So first thing this morning I went to Shoppers and got my percription, plus stoped at the bank machines to get some cash. The first Rex cabaret party is tonight at the Zoo (the campus bar) and its Kummoniwannalaya, a tiki themed event. Once I got back from Shoppers, Kelsey Graham and I went to the gym for a couple hours. Its very satisfying going to the gym and actually being able to work-out without feeling self-concious! Kelsey and I have decided that we're going modivate each other to go to the gym more often because we can both stand to get in shape. Life is so much easier when your healthy! Then it was just chilling, putting up some more pictures around my room, Kummoniwannalaya was good, it was pretty much a big dance party!

September 16th, 2011

Classes today were nothing special, until I got to Religious Studies. It turns out, my professor has and "accident" or something happen to his and now the right half of his face is paralyzed. The doctors don't know how long it will last, it's nothing serious the only difference is he now speaks with a slur, p's and f's are especially difficult for him. After classes though was my doctors appointment to see what's up with the rash or reaction or whatever that was under my arms. It has pretty much cleared up since then but I showed him pictures and he said with 98% certainty that it was a bacterial infection and some people are more prone to them than others. He gave me a perscription and said that the next time it happened I was to rub the medication on it, cover it in a thin layer of gauze then put my heated wheat bag over it and it should clear up in no time! After the appointment was the first meeting of the Musical Theatre Society! It is officially my favortie club!!!! Its like multi except with more guys! We start actual rehearsals next week. Todays meeting was getting to know everyone (and there's a lot of us) plus some theatre games. Our first performance is for charity event in mid-october and we're performing for kids so its Disney songs! Woot! I'm super excited!

September 15th, 2011

So today I woke up at 6 am and applied for residence housing next year (ya it's early but if you don't apply early you wont get a room). Classes were good, Telus is still being stupid so hopefully we can get it figured out soon! Tonight however, was the "Spa Night" with the sorority. I'm an official pledge and, according to them, we have a pretty good chance of becoming members. They'll be taking in 46 girls into their family so as long as we attend the events and are respectful, show that we'd be an asset to their sorority, then we should be okay. They have a BBQ tomorrow that I can't attend because of my doctor's appointment but they're going to the campus bar on monday for wings. Next week will the the official bidding ceremony where those "chosen" are presented to their "older sister" in the sorority. After a 30 day period of that, we become official members! I'm super excited! They all seem every nice and welcoming! I also made a new friend, a girl who I didn't know lived on my floor. Her name is Meagan and she's super sweet!

September 12th, 2011

So this week just isn't my week. My phone's being stupid, French screwed up my schedule, the Bookstore won't refund my French 1100 text, Rez Wars didn't go to well and now, the heat rash or whatever it is under my arms have flared up again so I just made an appointment for Friday to see the doctor. Hopefully things will get better. Overall though my classes have been fantastic which is a good sign. I've also signed up for the Musical Theater Club so I can get back to performing. Classes today went fine so nothing to report there. Although it is amazing what I'm learning in Religious Studies. I never knew that all three "Western Religions" i.e. Christianity, Judeism and Islam (Muslim) claim Abraham (Abram, Ibrahim) as the father of their religion. Christianity says he fathered them spiritually, Judeism was fathered through Isaac and Islam fathered through Ismail. I guess it is true, you learn something new everyday!

September 11th, 2011

I woke up this morning to raging cramps, oh joy. Plus the TV was blaring the football game on TSN (which tells you how late I woke up, like 11) once I got to the common room, TSN was having their moment of silence for those who lost their lives during the terrorist attacks ten years ago. Once football resumed it was pretty boring so Alicia and I went up to C4 and did our laundry. Thank goodness I brought my homework because it took like 2 hours. Once laundry was done I put them all away and started ironing my clothes. One of my room-mates friends, Anthony, came in, saw me ironing my shirts and asked, if he paid me a dollar, if I would iron his church shirt as well. So I've gotten my monies worth out of that iron already. Once my room was all tidy I vacuumed, and yes mom I dusted too. Then it was 5 p.m., time for the first Rez Wars event, the Tug-of-War!!! Everyone met in the common room and we dressed in orange and put orange face paint and hair gel and wrote on our arms! The whole nine yards. Our team unfortunately was eliminated in the first round, but we had a match with the white team and we beat them then. Then practically every on the floor went out to McDonalds for supper, those of us who couldn't afford it stayed here and scrounged for something to eat as all the places on our cards closed during the Rez Wars events. At 8:30 I went to Anderson Hall for the first Management Students Society meeting but by the time I got there it was finished already so the student in charge said she'd email me the details. For a Sunday I got everything pretty much done. Homework's all done until Wednesday at the earliest, laundry's done, room's clean. And it's only the first week!

September 10th, 2011

First Saturday of the new school year woot!!! So today I slept in until 11, well actually everyone on the entire floor slept in until 11 except like two people. Got up, had lunch, and proceeded to realize that my texting wasn't working. It turns out I'm out of minutes, how that happened I do not know as the lady at Telus before I left said the minutes would stay until September 31st. So I walked over to Shoppers and bought a new phone card. Now my phone is being stupid because it won't top up my unlimited texting option. Ugg, stupid Telus!!! Today was also the last day of Fresh Fest, the Fresh U Jamboree!!!!!!!! Featuring Ill Scarlet, USS and Small Town DJ's!!!!!! The music tonight was absolutely fantastic along with the showmanship of all the bands. Although my new favorite has got to be USS! Those two guys are absolutely amazing! I got stickers and other stuff from them. The crowd was typical concert drunkenness unfortunately, a lot of shoving but that's something that cannot be helped. I went back to the Dorm after USS because none of the other bands really interest me plus I'm super tired! When I got back though, I opened my door to find a USS sticker with my name signed on it. Now the mystery begins as no one else has also received one. Everyone on my floor knows I love USS so it stands to reason one of them picked up a sticker and slid it under my door (my room-mate's still at the concert), however, whose signature is it? I'm hoping it's USS but I sincerely doubt it as it would've been nearly impossible to find them, have them sign it, slide it under my door, and be gone before I got back. I'm betting its Alicia..... well I guess we'll see in the morning. I can fall asleep listening to the rest of the concert through my window...

September 9th, 2011

Today was my first actual day of classes, I mean, introductions were over and we got down to business. I managed a seat in French1500 for the day but the teacher, after class, upon asking if I understood every word she said, told me I probably wouldn't be staying in her class. BOO!!!!! Her's is the only class that fits into my schedule. So that class was easy. Then I went to Religious Studies and yes, it is officially my favorite class. Ten minutes after Religious Studies (in the First Choice Savings Center on the West end of campus) was my Advanced French Proficiency Test (on the East end of campus) on top of that, I forgot the room number, talk about a close call! Anyways the test was super easy!!!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully I can stay in the class I've registered in but if not oh well, at least I know I'm good in French! Last event of the day, and second event of Fresh Fest was the Lemon Party!!!!!! We dress in Yellow and head to the campus club "The Zoo"! It was so much fun!!! Me and my new girl friends like Kelsey, Alicia, Meagan and Veronica all partied it up. Now as I've said my room-mate is a party girl well she was home long before I was and out like a light in one of the other rooms on the floor, it was pretty funny! But I had so much fun at the Zoo, putting an end to the "belief" that you need to be drunk to have fun.

September 8th, 2011

So today was second day of classes and it wasn't quite as good as the first but it wasn't absolutely terrible. My first class was at 9:25 in the classroom farthest from me (ugg) but i made it there on time which was fantastic. It was geography which is a lot cooler than it sounds. One of the bigger units is weather which I'm super excited for. After Geography I go back to my room to charge my laptop only to find I have an email waiting for me from my French teacher. Professor Rosen emails me to tell me that she can't have me in her class because I'm too advanced for the materials. So I panic as all other seats in the higher levels are full. I even go to the Registrar's Office and not even they can help me. I reply to my prof about my predicament and she explains that the easiest way to prove I deserve to have them add a seat is to take the Advanced Placement Test, which takes two hours and I need to sign up for that with a different professor. So I email the next Professor and thank goodness because Professor Rosen already explained to her my predicament. So I start to calm down. The next email I read is from my dad telling me that one of my moms dearest friends past away last night from her cancer, my condolences if you knew Lil and are reading this, she will be greatly missed. This email making me feel bad about being so concerned over an extra test.
My second class of the day was Psychology. The teacher looks more like a Philosophy teacher than Psyc. He is tall with practically waist length dirty blonde hair and a big mustache and bristly beard. It was epic. He's super nice and really funny. I'm already starting to really enjoy Psyc. After Psyc was MicroEconomics and I could not for the life of me find the classroom. I walked up and down University Hall (which has the record for longest hall in North America) three times before I managed to find a sign point down this hall thing to the class. Needless to say I was slightly late, but I was not the last one so at least that's something. My Econ class is packed! There is not a single empty seat in the entire class, they even had to bring in extra seats to accommodate all the students. Econ is another class that seems good.
After all my classes were done, it was time for Fresh Fest!!!! Which is the biggest back to school bash at any University in Canada. Day One today was the Luau and Fresh Flix movie. The luau is a BBQ outside my dorms and there's free food and games, inflatable obstacle courses and a 100 ft. Slip & slide!!!! It was so much fun. Then at 8 p.m. was the Fresh Flix movie and they showed Bridesmaids, which wasn't too bad. I'm so pumped for Day Two of Fresh Fest tomorrow even though I'm going to be an hour late because of my Advanced Placement Test.

September 7th, 2011

Yesterday we had our last day of orientation. They had a booth fair up on the track in the gym where all the different clubs and people were set up and talking to us. Groups like Students Union, the Security Office, the Health Center, etc. That was neat, got a ton of free pens! After the booth fair, all new students went to their "Main Hall" (mine is Markham Hall) to have an orientation specific to their major. The Management Faculty got together and we had a guest speaker, then we did a scavenger hunt for information around the faculty. There was also a faculty/student soccer game. I also won a T-shirt and sweater, both with Faculty of Management on them. After that, Daryl (one of my fellow Rookie-campers and a student in the Faculty of Management) went to Safeway to pick up some fresh fruit and teas because my floor is planning a tea party in the coming weeks.
So today was first day of classes and it went really well. My first class was French 1100 and I had to take a placement test just to make sure I was in the right class (still don't have the results back but oh well) so I was in there for maybe 20 minutes. I was also supposed to have a French Lab class but since it was the first day all Labs were cancelled, which also cancelled out my Economics Lab, woohoo! Last class of the day was Religious Studies and so far that looks to be my favorite class, although it may be too early to tell. After supper, my room-mate, some friends and I all went to the gym to get in a work out. I jogged on the treadmill for an hour straight and it sounds lame but I'm pretty proud of myself. If my legs at least aren't in shape by the end of the year something is seriously wrong because there's something like 295 stairs from my rez to my religious studies and geography classes. And thats stairs alone, not steps. But that math is for another night!

September 5th, 2011

So yesterday I bought some groceries like cereal and milk which I had this morning. I'm on the meal plan here at the University but it's just easier and less expensive to eat breakfast here in the common area instead of buying breakfast at Timmies every day. So today was my first free day since getting here so I slept in and then bummed around Rez all day, looked for my classes, plus, for lunch, there was a $2 BBQ where we got a burger, a bag of chips and a pop. It was fantastic! Our floor now also has a new mascot! One of the girls found him at a garage sale. He's a penguin wearing orange glasses and an orange polka dot bow tie (Orange is the color of our floor) Now we're having a Big Bang-o-thon (watching all the Big Bang TV episodes). Everyone is supper cool and a ton of fun, we've known each other for a few days and are already acting like best friends. I love it!

September 4th, 2011

So I just got back from Rookie Camp which was amazing!!!! For any of you who are prospective students to the U of L, apply for Rookie Camp, you will not be disappointed. Anyways, we met at Tim Hortons early in the morning and drove the 2 hours to camp Impeesa. The Rockies down there are absolutely gorgeous! We had beautiful weather.
We split into groups and did different activities throughout the day. In our groups we also had to pick group names and thing up cheers. Since our group leader's name was Charlie and he was leading all girls we were "Charlie's Angels". It was pretty funny, when we were trying to decide we were coming up with names like "Dragonflies" of "Flower Power", then he said "Whatever you do, don't be Charlie's Angels" well, of course since he said it that's what we had to be.
Anyways, we did zip-linning across the lake then an obstacle course, archery (which I can now check off by bucket list plus I hit a bulls eye!) and canoeing. During our free time, the 25 of us campers went to the volley-ball court and had a mass game of volley ball. It was so much fun, especially since the international students, Lindsey and Daniella, had never played volley ball before. After was supper which was a wonderful lasagna. Then it was campfire!!!!!!
Before the fun began though, we had a talk from Tracker, the camp man from Impeesa, come and talk to us about the bears, Yogi (a Spirit Bear) and Boo Boo(a particularly michievious young black bear), and what to do if we come across bears while we're here. It was kind of scary but at the same time reassuring to know the difference between what we should and shouldn't do for each particular species of bear. Then is was all fun stuff, we played games and talked.
The stars are beautiful out away from civilization. It was well after midnight and close to freezing when we all went to bed. It was like sleeping on a plywood board! It was so bad, my arms are so sore. But overall it was one of the best camping trips of my life!

September 2nd, 2011

So today was day 2 of NSO (New Student Orientation), and it was okay. We got a wake-up call at 8 a.m. telling us to be up, fed and dressed by 9 to attend the second session of the orientation. They were giving out prizes and I won a U of L hat, which was pretty cool. We had "Interest Sessions" throughout the day, which were different lecture type things on different subjects pertaining to our University experience here at UL. I went to three: one on how the library can help with papers and what my profs are expecting of them, the second on different techniques to writing papers and the third on Liberal Education and how it's integrated into the Universities courses. They were all pretty informative. Plus, if you attended you got free lunch which, to a student on a slim food budget, it a blessing. Everything pretty much wrapped up at 4 p.m. At 5, my RA's (Resident Adviser's) got everyone on the floor together for a group meeting in order to outline rules and expectations. We also tossed around some ideas of group activities we could do as a floor. The most obvious that came up (since we are certainly not the sober floor [under 18's]) was to go to the pub. Anyways, after the meeting we went up to CJ's which is pretty much the cafeteria as a group as our first "group activity". The RA's are really nice. There's Amy and Collin. After supper, we pretty much just bummed around campus. Most of the kids on the floor (our floor color is orange so if I start referring to the floor as the orange team that's why) went for a liquor run and started a party (what a shocker!) but me and a few new friends got the DVD player working and had a movie night. We watched V for Vendetta. I've finished packing for Rookie Camp, thank goodness, because now I don't have to do it in the morning. I'd also like to wish my mother a Happy Birthday tomorrow and to tell her, my dad, my sibs and my dog that I love you all very much.

September 1st, 2011

Hello All!
Well I moved into Rez today. Line-up took forever, even though we had already checked in online. Found out that my key is worth like $75 so I better not lose it. All my stuff is unpacked and boxes are all broken down and it already kinda fees like home. Lethbridge is beautiful and I've already started to make new friends. My biggest concern upon arrival was my room-mate. She hadn't arrived when I moved in so my mother and I went for a late lunch, when we got back, the other bed was made and some stuff was laid out. So I said goodbye to my mom and went to Orientation, which was awesome. We played games and won prizes, met our mentors and had supper plus tours and surveys. After that there was a bonfire for all us first year students. I went and grabed a sweater to find that my room-mates stuff was even more unpacked. I chated with some new people at the bonfire but in the end my tiredness won out and I returned to my room. Finally I've met my room-mate. Her name is Amy and she's wonderful. I think we'll get along just fine. That's all for now, talk to you later!

August 31st, 2011

Well today was the big move. Six hours from Stony Plain to Lethbridge. The trip was pretty much uneventful. It rained most of the way down so I didn't get to see the Rockies but hopefully it'll clear up a little for tomorrow. We're staying at the Days Inn and its really nice. We also had supper at Montana's on the East side because we had to buy some last minute stuff for me such as laundry detergent and windex. Overall a long trip down but worth it.

August 30th, 2011

Today is my last day at home before I move down to the University. Its also my first blog post ever :) So as I finish packing the boxes and folding the clothes I drive away from the only home I've ever known.
My house is a complete mess of things that I'm bringing and not. I'm actually really nervous. I've done a lot of travelling, to Ireland, England, Japan and the USA, so I'm used to living with random people other than my friends & fam, but I worried about being so far away for so long. Oh well, too late now:) Here's to a good year! To all my friends, best of luck whether your going to school or working, I hope you're doing what you want to do!