A Friday for the books....

Last night was the "Wooster's Last Hoorah Swing Ball". It was AWESOME! I could not have asked for anything better (well, maybe I should have ordered more water). The band was Hepcat Revival, and they were phenomenal. We had so many people come. Our friends from Baldwin-Wallace, kids from Oberlin, Case, Dayton, and just Cleveland swingers in general. Our lindy hop teachers also came, which we were really excited about. The event was an all around win, and I'm just so proud of it. The only real problems were that we ran out of water, and they turned off the air conditioning (duh, we're having a dance people...). I don't really have any pictures yet, but once some get put up, I'll post one.

At the late night blues party afterwards, Gordon, Nick, and I were talking about how our groups need more opportunities to go dancing. Nick said he'd like it if colleges hosted a dance every month, which prompted me to think that maybe the hosting could rotate between colleges, like BW host, then Wooster, then Case, etc. I'm really excited about the idea and I hope to be able to pull it off next year.

Rita is leaving us after this year to go to Nursing school :( She's our event coordinator, and we need someone to take over. I told Gordon that I could possibly take over since I'm pretty much in contact with a lot of the people and I feel like I did pretty well planning this dance.

Bron might also be resigning as VP since she's always really busy and doesn't really have time for planning. She's still going to be very involved with the group, but it's understandable for her to step down. We're hoping Carrie could possibly pick up the job.

We made a lot of new contacts at the dance, many teachers giving us info/offering to teach us blues and stuff. We made a lot of new friends and overall the experience was great. I'm kind of hoping that we can take a huge trip to another state to go dancing or something. I'd be really excited. It probably would not be funded by Campus Council which gives us our allocated money for the year. But hey, if it's not too expensive, I think people would be willing to go.

Alright, finals are coming up, and I need to study. I've been sleeping all day because I went to bed at 3 and I'm so achy. But it was SO WORTH IT!!!

I love the Let's Dance! Society with all of my heart <3

TV trouble

It's almost the end of the semester....weird.

I'm getting all excited for the house next year. It's going to rock. I got my parking pass today, South Lot!!

So my dad has this idea that I NEED a new/bigger TV since I'm going to have a living room next year. That's all fine and dandy, and if it does happen, everyone in the house will be happy because all we have are little TV's. The only problem is that Katie and I want it on our floor, sans video games so that we can watch TV and movies. The boys want it upstairs with video games so they can, well, play video games. The minute I heard that they thought the nicer screen should be used for video games, my heart kind of exploded. I really want to share the TV with everyone, but if it's going to be taken over by video games and mess, then not so much. I don't want to be stingy, I don't want everyone who has lived in the house for two years to hate me, so I came up with my own answer to the problem. Since Katie and I are moving in first, minus Gordon, we will put the TV on our floor. When everyone else moves in, they can put their video game stuff there, but they can't leave messes. That would be the one thing that bugs me the most. I think it would work, and also maybe keep the boys from playing them all the time since they're living upstairs and won't be walking by them all of the time. My other problem with it being upstairs was that upstairs could potentially be the party floor. I don't really trust my new TV around a bunch of drunk people.

That's the second thing that's bugging me. It's a duplex, so I feel like we are segregated in a bad way. I keep saying "My floor, our floor" but it's not supposed to be like that. It's one house, and I really want it to feel that way. I really want this house to work, but if a TV is going to be that big of a problem, then ugh. I just want to have a huge house meeting to talk about stuff.

I don't really want to leave, but I kind of do. This semester just needs to end. I'm not really looking forward to 8 am classes, but whatever. Okay. Byee

Human rights....HUMAN!!!

I've been thinking about religion a lot lately.

I've been getting a bit more active with it, not just because it makes Gordon happy, but because it makes us stronger, and it makes me feel good. Yes, I believe in God.

I have also been thinking about what religion, or Christianity for that fact, really is and means; what I agree with, what I don't. For instance, I agree that everyone is loved by God and I disagree that this excludes homosexuals. Why are they not part of "everyone"? They're people, humans, living breathing beings. I just watched a movie on Youtube called "The Bible Told Me So". It's about people's concept of Homosexuality being a sin. I was already all for gay rights, but this cleared everything up about what the bible says, and the common misconceptions that conservative religious people have about it. Here's a link if anyone cares to watch it. It's got 9 parts and a finale:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04AVRslVRbY&playnext_from=TL&videos=H70ut4LUROU

That movie almost made me cry. Gay rights is something that I feel strongly about. I'm not an all out activist, but if I need to speak out, or do something, I will.



So, this is what I'm leading into. I always thought to be a Christian, you had to believe in God and Jesus, and just be a good, accepting, and loving person. That is my definition. I don't feel that as a Christian, you should take the bible literally for what it says. It needs to be interpreted and looked at for it's deeper meaning and taken into consideration the time period in which it was written. I mean, a couple stanzas away from the "no man shall lay with another" one, it states that every time a woman menstruates, she has to sacrifice two turtle doves. I mean, really? I'm sorry, but I just can't do that.

Another thing that bothers me is that many Christians believe that their beliefs are the only way. I went to a large group meeting a few weeks ago, and the speaker said that she prayed for her friend who was Muslim, that she would find Jesus. I shook my head when she said that. I don't think it is our right or responsibility to change someone's beliefs. If they are happy with where they are, leave them alone. No one really knows what is right. Missions are okay...if the people you are going to work with don't already have beliefs!

I really liked the pastor who came to my first large group meeting. He said he was leaving his church because the people there didn't really care about doing God's work and what not. They just went to church because it was the social norm. I agreed with everything he said. It's not about judging people, it's about being a good person and doing the right thing, while keeping God's work in mind.

I feel like I have more to say, but I think it's all written out for now. As I said before, I believe in God and in Jesus, and I consider myself a Christian. I just have my own definition and beliefs when it comes to "Christianity" as a whole. I'm going to keep exploring and working at this, and hopefully find exactly what I want to.

On a different note, Gordon is in a mini play. It's the Buffy musical, and he has to kiss another girl. That girl being Bron. I was initially not very excited since they almost had a thing way way back, but I've realized that Bron is one of my best friends and I'm dumb to even get uncomfortable about it. It's theater for God's sake. But it's normal to feel uncomfortable. I hope I get over it, I really want to go see it so I can support them.

I'm really excited for the house next year. It's going to be so cool.

I register next week for classes.

Gordon's sister Lauren got me a bracelet from Mexico. I feel loved :)

Spanish prueba to study for!

SPEEEEEED!!!

I'VE BEEN SO HYPER FOR THE PAST TWO DAAAAAAYS!!!!!!
I'VE BEEN SO HYPER FOR THE PAST TWO DAAAAAAYS!!!!!!
I'VE BEEN SO HYPER FOR THE PAST TWO DAAAAAAYS!!!!!!
I'VE BEEN SO HYPER FOR THE PAST TWO DAAAAAAYS!!!!!!
I'VE BEEN SO HYPER FOR THE PAST TWO DAAAAAAYS!!!!!!

*This is me the past two days*

...so I've been listening to N*Sync and other things that make me hyper and nostalgic. I've serenaded Gordon "This I promise you" and he just made faces and laughed....

I really need to work on re-writing my survey for Quant since it's not really good for getting information. I think these fonts keep changing sizes.....

I don't think I really have anything to talk about. Oh, we got the house! It's going to be Gordon, me, Katie, Joe, Mallory, Eowyn, Austin, and Jake. It's going to be completely awesome. I'm so excited. I can't wait till we find out which house we're living in.

I got an iHome alarm clock! I love it!!!

I like watching funny youtube videos about kitties!!!

I am just too hyper. I'll never get this survey done.

I think I'm going to see "Hot Tub Time Machine" (that's a mouth full) with John and Joe on Friday. Should be funny.

Bohemian on Saturday. Yay!

I might update later. Probably not.

Start spreadin' the news...

Wow, it's been almost a month since my last post! I need to update more often. I guess my life has just been hella boring.

This week, the Scot Symphonic Band traveled on band tour to New England, with a final stop in New York City! This was my first band tour, and it was actually pretty awesome. We stayed in home stays except for one night in a hotel, and we traveled to New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and New Jersey with six concerts in all. Katie and I were roommates the entire time, added on to a few other people at some stays. All of my host families were great. I don't really feel like explaining them all since I'm exhausted from being in NYC, but they were all really great.

Riding the bus was pretty good. I slept a lot, pretty much everyone did. They were short trips. Gordon and I picked up some PDA reputations on our trips to the churches...oops. It was a really fun time :) I also learned about a spot in which I am ticklish...let me just say, it was interesting to discover...

New York City was great. The weather for during the week was beautiful, including 8-ish hours altogether in Boston (beautiful city!) Go figure that the minute we pull into NYC on Friday, it rains, and doesn't stop until Sunday. The rain was pretty horrible, and made NYC a bit harder to take, but overall it was an exciting and nice experience. Overwhelming...but nice.

I did all kinds of stereotypical New York things, like took the subway and a taxi. I also ate a hot dog from a street vendor, and bought a scarf for $5 in Chinatown. I went to the Natural History Museum, as well as the Metropolitan Art Museum. We went shopping, and I hit up the American Eagle in Times Square! Katie and I stayed with her cousin Jill in Brooklyn for the weekend. We went swing dancing and it was awesome. Gordon stayed with Jake on Roosevelt Island, which was a pretty cool place.

For the rest of this week we're staying with Bron in Connecticut. This should be a fun week.

I could probably write a whole bunch more, but I am way too tired. I'll try to again another day. Oh, and I bought a fiction book in Spanish! Hopefully I'll be able to get it read!

Let's Dance! triumphs over all!

I'm at work,and I don't feel like eating my greasy food right now, so I felt like writing.

Many things have been a'changin' these past couple of days. I've been up and down and up and down with my mood, and it's really quite annoying. Valentine's Day was this weekend. Gordon got me beautiful roses, and took me out to the Old Jaol because he's so sweet. It was really yummy, and he drove Tommy! Haha. We watched Toy Story on Sunday too, which was awesome. Mardi Gras is today, and there's a dinner/dance in Kitt, which should be pretty good. I really feel like dancing.

Speaking of dancing, the Showcase has now been turned into a swing ball with several performances in the middle of it. Aaron had dropped out of the showcase, he had taken on too much for him to handle, a lot of which being showcase pieces, and there just wasn't enough time to put it all together or work it out correctly. This will be much better, and much less stressful for everyone. I'm very optimistic about it. I did have a hit to my confidence a couple times in the past couple of weeks. I won't mention names, but we were talking about Gordon needing to dance with other people, which I completely agree with, and then I was told that they know that I "get insecure when he dances with someone better than me", which is no longer the case. But the fact that they said "someone better than you (me)" really got me. When you want to be good at something, you want to hear that you're improving, you want to hear that you're doing well. Right now, I really admire Carrie's dancing. I find myself saying sometimes "I want to be able to dance like Carrie". I kind of hope to one day be that person, "I want to be able to dance like Katie", even though it's not a competition and everyone dances their own way. I'm pretty secure with myself though.

The second thing was that someone was helping Katie and Rita choreograph their dance. This person wanted it to be a blues song, which Gordon and my song is blues, and they said "I want it to be better than Katie and Gordon's" which is the second thing that got me down. Why does it have to be a competition? Do you think we're that bad of choreographers, or dancers for that matter that we can't put together an awesome dance? It just made me really distraught, because someone who is supposed to be your friend and support you is saying this. I don't want to be bitching about it, but I just had to put it down in words.

All together, I'm going to work really hard, and start being more outgoing with my dancing and I'm going to kick ass. Nick came from BW and taught us the shim sham. I need to practice it so I don't forget it! We start Tango on Wednesday, I'll probably just do it since I need to collect the money anyway.

There's a swing dance at Southpark Mall this Sunday. I'm sooooooooo excited! I'm going to go shopping for a little bit too.

Katie is having problems with James again. She knows my opinion, and I don't know how to help her anymore. I just hope that it all turns out well for her. We're having BFF day soon, or need to at least.

I got an 80 on my Spanish test, which means I'm out of my streak of C's! Hooray! Maybe I'm finally getting it. IPA also came in handy when we were arguing about how to pronounce "Carnegie". Let's just say, everyone pronounces it differently, but I say it right ;) hehe.

Alyse, Kell, and Carrie are coming to visit this weekend. Yay!

I think that's all for now, I'm going to research swing alliances in Cleveland. I'm really psyched for Let's Dance! Like really psyched......bye!

The most hectic two weeks of my life!

These past two weeks have been so incredibly hectic...if you couldn't tell from the title of this post...Well, the showcase was a huge part of the stress. Planning it, casting it, scheduling it. I'm so glad that part is all over. Now all that we have are practices. I'm in 3 dances. Hopefully I'll be good at picking up choreography, and at balancing my time (I'm usually good with that second part). Gordon and I need to finish up our choreography. It's almost done. We're working on it tonight. We scheduled the tango lessons (finally), after waving money in the teachers face. I'm not too interested in tango, but I'm going to do it anyway. I also designed t-shirts for the Let's Dance Society. I'm excited for them!

So, we were planning on living in a house (Gordon's socialist house to be exact), next year, and it all seemed like it would work, in my mind at least, but then a few of the current residents seemed turned off to the idea. So, I talked to Katie and we decided that it would be best for everyone if we didn't live there. Then Jake talked me back into it. So hopefully, next year Katie, Joe, John, and I will be joining the socialist house :) It will be quite an adventure.

We went to the Bohemian last Saturday and it was AMAZING. I wore my new dance shoes and they couldn't have been better. I'm completely in love with them, and I only got one blister! Nick Pankuch was there which was awesome because we haven't seen him in forever. He's coming to Wooster supposedly next Friday to teach us the Shim Sham! Yay :)

Hm, what else. Gordon and I have been doing more couply things to get a stronger relationship methinks. I dont' remember if I talked about it, but a few weeks ago we hit a rough spot with his emotional openness. But we worked that out, we went on a dinner date Tuesday, and he finally learned some of the facts about my religion, Catholicism. We're going to have a Catholic party though, aka some of my friends who are Catholic, Gordon, and I will go to mass on Sunday, so he can see what we're all about. *sigh of relief*

There was a fierce creatures party at Aultz house last night. It was pretty cute lol. I was a kitty :) Bron and Paul came and we hung with them for a while. But yeah, nothing too exciting.

I've been doing okay in my classes. We'll see how my test turns out for Quant on Tuesday, as well as my Spanish prueba. I've also been looking into the deaths of young people around me that I kind of knew, like Dan Schnoor and Darren Perez. They were so young when they died, and I just became curious about them again. I don't know why. Reading all of the news things about them just makes me sad, it's the sadness I didn't really feel when they actually died...and I'm just feeling it now.

I can't really think of much more to write about. I keep thinking about shoes that I want to buy. It's just one pair of cowboy-ish boots. I'm really considering them.

Valentine's day is coming up! Hopefully it's awesome, but not over the top haha.

I got "House and Philosophy" from the library, I love House :)


We need to watch a movie this weekend, like actually, AND the Superbowl.

That's all for now, per usual, I'll update if needbe.