As we are getting closer to spring break here at UP (13 days to be exact), I have been extremely busy with tests, projects, and papers. Being sick makes getting things done harder because I don't have a lot of energy. On Thursday, I FINALLY found out what's wrong with my stomach: yeast infection. I took a pill on Friday and I'm supposed to see improvement in 3 days. I'm also supposed to avoid sugar for a while because it feeds on yeast. ): Not easy for this sweet tooth gal, but smoothies and sugar free popsicles have made this doable. (: However, I've also been fighting a sore throat since Thursday. Fortunately, I haven't lost my voice yet, which was great since my concert was last night.
What concert, you may be wondering? I am a member of the Choral Union, a women's choir that brings together both students and community members. Last night we had our first concert which was great. We sang a medley of Irving Berlin classics ("Putting on the Ritz," "Let's Face the Music and Dance," and "Steppin' Out with My Baby"), Portrait in Blue ("Birth of the Blues," "Am I Blue?" and "Blues in the Night"), and a medley of songs from Hairspray ("Good Morning Baltimore," "I Can Hear the Bells," and "Welcome to the 60's"). We had soloists for "Good Morning Baltimore" and "I Can Hear the Bells." I have a lot of fun in choir, and it is one of the highlights of my week.
My friend Kaelyn's family have been here in Portland for the past few days. On Friday night, they came here and we played Apples to Apples, which was a lot of fun. After we hung out with Kaelyn and her family, we decided to call it a night. I went to bed hoping I could get some much needed hours of sleep. Unfortunately, at 4 AM I heard a noise. I woke up to see if it was an alarm or a fire drill. I stepped outside of my room and saw people running down the hall so my roommate and I followed the suit, freezing cold and unhappy to be woken up from sleep. My friends and I were mad at whoever pulled the fire alarm, but I later found out that someone left a burner upstairs on the 5th floor. Still, I would have prefered to sleep at that hour instead of standing outside in the freezing cold quad. Luckily, I was able to get 6 more hours of sleep.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Valentines Day!
An update on my two week stomach bug: On Wednesday, I got my blood drawn. Fortunately, the results came back normal. Unfortunately, the symptoms aren't going away so I'm getting tested for parasites. Even though I was glad my blood test was normal, it's frustrating not knowing what's going on. Hopefully, I'll know next week.
A little piece of good news to share: Arielle, my best girl back home, got into UP! She's hoping to visit in April when she comes here with her choir. In addition to UP, she also got into ASU (AZ State), CSU SF and East Bay.
Despite being a single gal, my friends and I still celebrated Valentines day by watching movies and eating yummy desserts. On Friday night, three of my friends and I made cookies in the microwave. They stuck together, but turned out to be yummy. Twilight was playing on campus this weekend, and since I missed it in theaters at home, my friends and I went to see it. The movie wasn't quite as good as the book, but I'm glad to say that I saw the movie.
Yesterday my friends and I went downtown where we saw a movie and had dessert afterwards. We saw He's Just Not that into You, which was not my favorite movie, but the ending was sweet and my friends liked it. After the movie, we trekked to Rose's, a delicious bakery behind the Llyod Center. I had a latte and an excellent chocolate croissant that made me feel like I was in Paris again.
Roommate picture!
My parents also thought of me in honor of Valentines Day. My dad sent me cards (one was from Lily, my beloved kitty), a heart paperweight, and a pen he made in his wood turning class. I love how the pen feels, and homemade gifts rock! My mom sent me heart magnets and sticky notes, in addition to lots of goodies, which I've been sharing with my friends.
Pictures of downtown Portland
A little piece of good news to share: Arielle, my best girl back home, got into UP! She's hoping to visit in April when she comes here with her choir. In addition to UP, she also got into ASU (AZ State), CSU SF and East Bay.
Despite being a single gal, my friends and I still celebrated Valentines day by watching movies and eating yummy desserts. On Friday night, three of my friends and I made cookies in the microwave. They stuck together, but turned out to be yummy. Twilight was playing on campus this weekend, and since I missed it in theaters at home, my friends and I went to see it. The movie wasn't quite as good as the book, but I'm glad to say that I saw the movie.
Yesterday my friends and I went downtown where we saw a movie and had dessert afterwards. We saw He's Just Not that into You, which was not my favorite movie, but the ending was sweet and my friends liked it. After the movie, we trekked to Rose's, a delicious bakery behind the Llyod Center. I had a latte and an excellent chocolate croissant that made me feel like I was in Paris again.
Roommate picture!
My parents also thought of me in honor of Valentines Day. My dad sent me cards (one was from Lily, my beloved kitty), a heart paperweight, and a pen he made in his wood turning class. I love how the pen feels, and homemade gifts rock! My mom sent me heart magnets and sticky notes, in addition to lots of goodies, which I've been sharing with my friends.
Pictures of downtown Portland
Sunday, February 8, 2009
A Few Highlights That Balanced out Winter Sickness
Unfortunately, I still have this nasty stomach bug I had last. ): I started eating regular food Monday night, and have had various responses to eating (eat little, can't finish everything, don't have problems). I went to the Health Center on Friday and the nurse thinks I have stomach infection and gave me some meds that I have to take twice a day before meals. If I'm still feeling sick next week, I'll have to get blood work done. Sadly, I'm starting to feel sick again like I did last weekend. I also had a bit of a sore throat yesterday, but it's pretty much gone. Fortunately, I was not contagious so I was able to go to classes. (:
Despite being sick and busy, I was able to have some fun. On Wednesday night, I went to a reading by Anna Keesey, a local fiction writer, with my friends MacKenzie and Dana. She read us excerpts from Little Century, her current novel in progress, and was very passionate about her work. After she was done reading, my friends and I met her and enjoyed talking with her. We're required to attend one reading or lecture for our English classes, but we had so much fun that we're going to attend more.
Friday night was essentially a night of pure fun. My friends and I decided to switch things up and go to the Cove (cafe in the student center) instead of the Commons (cafeteria) for dinner. Our RA hosted a make your own "Where am I?" board event. She brought magazines, magazines, scrapbook and colored construction paper and we made boards telling others where we were. We also had cupcakes, which of course, were yummy. Later that night, we watched Armageddon, an action movie with a little bit of romance.
Yesterday, my sore throat was bothering me so I relaxed and did a little homework. Last night I went to Nicola's, a delicious Italian restaurant with my friends and some friends of my friend Traci. Since there were ten of us, we got to eat in the private room. I had a veggie calzone and it was to die for!
That's all for now. Until next week!
Despite being sick and busy, I was able to have some fun. On Wednesday night, I went to a reading by Anna Keesey, a local fiction writer, with my friends MacKenzie and Dana. She read us excerpts from Little Century, her current novel in progress, and was very passionate about her work. After she was done reading, my friends and I met her and enjoyed talking with her. We're required to attend one reading or lecture for our English classes, but we had so much fun that we're going to attend more.
Friday night was essentially a night of pure fun. My friends and I decided to switch things up and go to the Cove (cafe in the student center) instead of the Commons (cafeteria) for dinner. Our RA hosted a make your own "Where am I?" board event. She brought magazines, magazines, scrapbook and colored construction paper and we made boards telling others where we were. We also had cupcakes, which of course, were yummy. Later that night, we watched Armageddon, an action movie with a little bit of romance.
Yesterday, my sore throat was bothering me so I relaxed and did a little homework. Last night I went to Nicola's, a delicious Italian restaurant with my friends and some friends of my friend Traci. Since there were ten of us, we got to eat in the private room. I had a veggie calzone and it was to die for!
That's all for now. Until next week!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
My Birthday from Good to Bad
As most of you know, Thursday was my birthday. I am 19, and as far as I'm concerned, it does not feel much different that being 18. I know it's my last year as a teenager, but I don't think this will hit me until next year when I turn 20.
My day started out well. Thursday morning my friend MacKenzie woke up early (she doesn't have class until 2:30) just to give me my birthday crown, sash, and earrings that she bought at Claire's when we were there last week. I wore it for most of the day and tons of people wished me happy birthday. I also got lots of texts, cards, and calls from friends and relatives alike.
In addition to the cards and calls, I got some nice presents. My first present came last Friday, and was the book Marley and Me, from my dear family friend Lynnie. The book is about a dog, and Lynnie is a dog lover with two wonderful dogs of her own. I enjoy going for walks with her and her dogs when I am home, and her dogs have become my adopted dogs. On Thursday I got roses from my parents (which is quite fitting since Rose is my middle name), and a cute box and 2 dark chocolate bars from my friend Hayley. My friend Bryce got me a Border's giftcard, which I'm excited to put to good use. Both my grandparents sent me checks that I plan to put in my savings account or spend in some way.
Despite all the fabulous gifts, cards, calls, texts, and birthday love, my night did not end favorably. I got sick late Thursday night with a stomach bug. I'm not sure what caused it because I had a Mongolian grill (veggie, tofu, and shrimp stir fry) in the Commons. I've had this plenty of times and never gotten sick from it. That night, I was studying with my friend Amy for a stats quiz. Her roommate Christina had this Xanga drink (exotic juice which she said includes pomegrante). Although I'm not 100% sure, I think the juice is what caused me to be sick.
I woke up with a low fever (100.5 to be exact) Friday morning so I had to miss classes. ): Thanks to my understanding professors, I am able to take my stats quiz and turn my English assignments in Monday. Although my fever was gone by Friday night, my stomach is not better. I'm well enough to go to classes, but I still have to be careful of what I eat. My diet this weekend has been fluids (tea, water, cranberry juice), dried cranberries, cereal, pasta, crackers, and soup. I've also been living off Pepto. Not exactly how I want to be eating on my birthday weekend
My family was supposed to come in this weekend and take my friends and I out for dinner. Since my stomach is not better, I did not want to go out and not enjoy my birthday meal or worry about getting sick from something. I spent this weekend resting and catching up on homework. I'm really bummed that I got sick this weekend because my family was excited to visit and I was so excited for my friends to meet my family (and they were excited to meet my family). Fortunately, my mom's going to look at her calendar and find some dates when they can come and visit. So now you know why I don't have a lot of pictures. Hopefully, I'll have some when my parents visit!
My day started out well. Thursday morning my friend MacKenzie woke up early (she doesn't have class until 2:30) just to give me my birthday crown, sash, and earrings that she bought at Claire's when we were there last week. I wore it for most of the day and tons of people wished me happy birthday. I also got lots of texts, cards, and calls from friends and relatives alike.
In addition to the cards and calls, I got some nice presents. My first present came last Friday, and was the book Marley and Me, from my dear family friend Lynnie. The book is about a dog, and Lynnie is a dog lover with two wonderful dogs of her own. I enjoy going for walks with her and her dogs when I am home, and her dogs have become my adopted dogs. On Thursday I got roses from my parents (which is quite fitting since Rose is my middle name), and a cute box and 2 dark chocolate bars from my friend Hayley. My friend Bryce got me a Border's giftcard, which I'm excited to put to good use. Both my grandparents sent me checks that I plan to put in my savings account or spend in some way.
Despite all the fabulous gifts, cards, calls, texts, and birthday love, my night did not end favorably. I got sick late Thursday night with a stomach bug. I'm not sure what caused it because I had a Mongolian grill (veggie, tofu, and shrimp stir fry) in the Commons. I've had this plenty of times and never gotten sick from it. That night, I was studying with my friend Amy for a stats quiz. Her roommate Christina had this Xanga drink (exotic juice which she said includes pomegrante). Although I'm not 100% sure, I think the juice is what caused me to be sick.
I woke up with a low fever (100.5 to be exact) Friday morning so I had to miss classes. ): Thanks to my understanding professors, I am able to take my stats quiz and turn my English assignments in Monday. Although my fever was gone by Friday night, my stomach is not better. I'm well enough to go to classes, but I still have to be careful of what I eat. My diet this weekend has been fluids (tea, water, cranberry juice), dried cranberries, cereal, pasta, crackers, and soup. I've also been living off Pepto. Not exactly how I want to be eating on my birthday weekend
My family was supposed to come in this weekend and take my friends and I out for dinner. Since my stomach is not better, I did not want to go out and not enjoy my birthday meal or worry about getting sick from something. I spent this weekend resting and catching up on homework. I'm really bummed that I got sick this weekend because my family was excited to visit and I was so excited for my friends to meet my family (and they were excited to meet my family). Fortunately, my mom's going to look at her calendar and find some dates when they can come and visit. So now you know why I don't have a lot of pictures. Hopefully, I'll have some when my parents visit!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
A Busy but Fun Second Week
I have had an eventful second week. Not surprisingly, I've been pretty busy with homework, especially at the beginning of the week. I had to make graphs in Excel for stats, and took me FOREVER! This resulted in my getting behind with reading for other classes, particularly English. My professor was back Monday, so now I have to stay on top of my short stories. Fortunately, I got all my assignments done when I needed to get them done (:
On Thursday, I submitted my Workshop Leader Application. If you don't go to UP, you are probably wondering what a Workshop Leader is. For the first 10 weeks of the year, the freshman take a no-credit class where they learn things like studying for tests, transportation, campus life, registration, and other information that is important in being a college student. These workshops are taught by upper class students, and the students in the workshop share a class (the people in my workshop were in my communications class). I just had to answer a lot of questions and get three recommendations (RA, com. professor, workshop leader). I'll have my interview next month, but I won't find out if I got the position until March. Wish me luck!
On Friday, my friend Megan left for the Netherlands. She's going to be an au pair there for a year. She is one of my closest friends and I'm sad that I won't get to see her when I come home for breaks. ): She has been trying to get an au pair job for over a year, so I'm really happy that she finally found a job. She's not going to have a phone, but we'll keep in touch via Facebook and email.
Yesterday I went downtown to Llyod Center with some friends. The Llyod Center is a huge mall in downtown Portland with many fabulous stores, plus a food court, movie theater, and an ice skating rink. Our first stop was Claire's, where my friend Dana got her ears pierced. My friend MacKenzie also bought me a crown and sash that I'm going to wear on my birthday (I'll have pictures for my birthday next week).
When I woke up this morning, I looked outside my window to see SNOW! It was just an inch, but it was so pretty and an unusual sight for this Cali girl. Here's what it looks like from my room.
Anyways, my birthday is on Thursday and my family is coming here on Saturday. I'll have more to say about these events then. Until next time!
On Thursday, I submitted my Workshop Leader Application. If you don't go to UP, you are probably wondering what a Workshop Leader is. For the first 10 weeks of the year, the freshman take a no-credit class where they learn things like studying for tests, transportation, campus life, registration, and other information that is important in being a college student. These workshops are taught by upper class students, and the students in the workshop share a class (the people in my workshop were in my communications class). I just had to answer a lot of questions and get three recommendations (RA, com. professor, workshop leader). I'll have my interview next month, but I won't find out if I got the position until March. Wish me luck!
On Friday, my friend Megan left for the Netherlands. She's going to be an au pair there for a year. She is one of my closest friends and I'm sad that I won't get to see her when I come home for breaks. ): She has been trying to get an au pair job for over a year, so I'm really happy that she finally found a job. She's not going to have a phone, but we'll keep in touch via Facebook and email.
Yesterday I went downtown to Llyod Center with some friends. The Llyod Center is a huge mall in downtown Portland with many fabulous stores, plus a food court, movie theater, and an ice skating rink. Our first stop was Claire's, where my friend Dana got her ears pierced. My friend MacKenzie also bought me a crown and sash that I'm going to wear on my birthday (I'll have pictures for my birthday next week).
When I woke up this morning, I looked outside my window to see SNOW! It was just an inch, but it was so pretty and an unusual sight for this Cali girl. Here's what it looks like from my room.
Anyways, my birthday is on Thursday and my family is coming here on Saturday. I'll have more to say about these events then. Until next time!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
First Week Back!
I've been back a week, and it's been an exciting but busy week. I can't believe I'm back on the Bluff after a month off. I am thrilled that I get to see my friends every day, but I could do without homework. So far, I really like my classes and professors. I'm taking Theology, Stats, English, Human Bio, and Cross Cultural Psych. I'm also in Choral Union, which is one credit but all you have to do is show up and you get an A! Plus, I have it with two of my friends and we're singing Broadway songs (including Hairspray!), which I'm psyched about.
My friends (this week MacKenzie, Megan, and Cady) are getting into going to the gym with me. I try to exercise 5-6 days a week, and I'm much more motivated when I have friends with whom I can excercise. My friends are excited to work out, which of course, gets me excited too!
This week the Freshman Resource Center had applications for Workshop leaders, so I picked one up am currently working on it. Hopefully, I'll have the wonderful opportunity of helping freshman get adjusted to college. :D
Anyways, here are the highs and lows of my classes.
Theology: The first of my three theology classes covers world religions. Since I went to Catholic school, this class is basically what I did in the spring of my junior year. It shouldn't be too hard. My professor is a priest (and a Bay Area native!), but he told us the first day that he is interested in other religions and is not a biblical literalist. Right now we're just discussing the basics of religion.
Stats: Stats is my first and last math course here at UP. I'm NOT a math person, so this is good news for me. However, as a psychology major, it is essential that I can understand statistics (even though I'm not going to do research). Right now we're just learning about studies and how to conduct surveys. We have to do a group project (3 people per group) where we do a survey and collect data. This class seems hard, but so far, Dr. Niederhausen (my prof) seems really nice and knows what she is talking about. I haven't had good math teachers since middle school, so I'm happy to finally have a good teacher for a difficult subject. Also, I've met some people in my class who I hope to have study parties with :D
English: I took AP Lit in high school, so the class I'm taking now is the equivalent to my high school class. Unfortunately, I did not score high enough to place out, so I was bummed when I found out I had to take it again. Although it would have been nice to have one less class, I love English so I don't mind that I have to take it now. Also, two aspects make this class great: my friend Dana and I have it together and our professor is AWESOME! He spent about half of our class telling us stories about himself. Unfortunately, I only had this class Monday because our prof has been sick. ): I'll tell you more about it once I have more classes.
Human Bio: I'm not a science person, but I have to take 2 science classes as part of the core requirements to graduate. Luckily, UP gets that not everyone is a science person, so they offer "SCI" classes, which are classes for nonscience people and don't have labs. I'm interested in the human body/health, and the topics we're going to cover seem interesting. However, it's going to be hard because the power points are really detailed and cover every little detail of the different systems (right now its the endocrine and reproductive systems). Also, the 2 power points were 25 and 40 pages each, and my prof emailed them to us at 7 pm the night before the class (which is at 8:10 ):). My prof's a cool guy; it's just that I don't understand everything he puts in his power points. Hopefully, a visit during office hours or questions in class while clear up my confusion. Luckily, I've found people who are just as confused as I am who would be great study buddies.
Cross Cultural Psych: This class essentially studies psychological and social differences between cultures. I took intro to psych and sociology last year, so there's some overlap. We don't have tests (except the final), just quizzes every week. We also have projects and presentations which should be interesting. My prof does not lecture the whole time (unlike my prof last semester), and she's super friendly and enthusiastic about the subject material.
Anyways, that's all for now. Until next time!
My friends (this week MacKenzie, Megan, and Cady) are getting into going to the gym with me. I try to exercise 5-6 days a week, and I'm much more motivated when I have friends with whom I can excercise. My friends are excited to work out, which of course, gets me excited too!
This week the Freshman Resource Center had applications for Workshop leaders, so I picked one up am currently working on it. Hopefully, I'll have the wonderful opportunity of helping freshman get adjusted to college. :D
Anyways, here are the highs and lows of my classes.
Theology: The first of my three theology classes covers world religions. Since I went to Catholic school, this class is basically what I did in the spring of my junior year. It shouldn't be too hard. My professor is a priest (and a Bay Area native!), but he told us the first day that he is interested in other religions and is not a biblical literalist. Right now we're just discussing the basics of religion.
Stats: Stats is my first and last math course here at UP. I'm NOT a math person, so this is good news for me. However, as a psychology major, it is essential that I can understand statistics (even though I'm not going to do research). Right now we're just learning about studies and how to conduct surveys. We have to do a group project (3 people per group) where we do a survey and collect data. This class seems hard, but so far, Dr. Niederhausen (my prof) seems really nice and knows what she is talking about. I haven't had good math teachers since middle school, so I'm happy to finally have a good teacher for a difficult subject. Also, I've met some people in my class who I hope to have study parties with :D
English: I took AP Lit in high school, so the class I'm taking now is the equivalent to my high school class. Unfortunately, I did not score high enough to place out, so I was bummed when I found out I had to take it again. Although it would have been nice to have one less class, I love English so I don't mind that I have to take it now. Also, two aspects make this class great: my friend Dana and I have it together and our professor is AWESOME! He spent about half of our class telling us stories about himself. Unfortunately, I only had this class Monday because our prof has been sick. ): I'll tell you more about it once I have more classes.
Human Bio: I'm not a science person, but I have to take 2 science classes as part of the core requirements to graduate. Luckily, UP gets that not everyone is a science person, so they offer "SCI" classes, which are classes for nonscience people and don't have labs. I'm interested in the human body/health, and the topics we're going to cover seem interesting. However, it's going to be hard because the power points are really detailed and cover every little detail of the different systems (right now its the endocrine and reproductive systems). Also, the 2 power points were 25 and 40 pages each, and my prof emailed them to us at 7 pm the night before the class (which is at 8:10 ):). My prof's a cool guy; it's just that I don't understand everything he puts in his power points. Hopefully, a visit during office hours or questions in class while clear up my confusion. Luckily, I've found people who are just as confused as I am who would be great study buddies.
Cross Cultural Psych: This class essentially studies psychological and social differences between cultures. I took intro to psych and sociology last year, so there's some overlap. We don't have tests (except the final), just quizzes every week. We also have projects and presentations which should be interesting. My prof does not lecture the whole time (unlike my prof last semester), and she's super friendly and enthusiastic about the subject material.
Anyways, that's all for now. Until next time!
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