http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/ en-us Copyright 2009 Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:07:11 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss and band, so it's important to know that..." I often tune out after the word "teaching" in a sentence because that is not and will not be my focus as a professional. I know there are good things to learn from all of my classes, but the information is presented in a way that sounds as though it only applies to certain individuals. Another kind of frustration is with time. I am not talking about free time (though I could use more of that!). I want time to go faster so I can learn more about things I'm interested in and start doing the things that I truly love to do! I have a year and a half left in college, then a year to do my internship and work before going back to school to dive into my passion (or at least get closer to doing it). I'm incredibly thankful for Dr. Jackson. I have told her about this frustration I have, which is actually how I got started on this extra research project. Managing frustration is a constant battle for me. I often just tell myself to be patient. Even when I am frustrated with a class, I know it will be over in no more than a year and I will simply move on. I have found that venting helps get out some of my negative thoughts and feelings but I try not to dwell on them because I know they will keep me from doing what I want to do with my life. I just need to keep my chin up! I hope you all have a wonderful day and are getting things squared away for Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks! ]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/11/frustration.html http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/11/frustration.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:07:11 -0500 I really needed this past weekend. Friday night, Craig and I drove down to Indy to meet my parents at the hotel. The drive was extremely stressful. The combination of rain and wind was so bad that we had to go about 15mph under the speed limit for quite a while; but we made it! We decided to take our time Saturday morning getting to the Lucas Oil Stadium (to watch the marching bands) and thought we would simply sacrifice "better" seats so we could avoid some of the rush to get in. Surprisingly, we actually got better seats than we did last year! After the competition, my mom, Craig, and I drove to Carmel to meet up with my dad and the band (my dad spent all day taking picture of the band). The four of us ate lunch in Carmel, and then Craig and I killed some time around Wal-mart before heading to his aunt's house for the annual Halloween party. The party was a blast! We ate and socialized (of course), and then played some fun games. Some of the games were Halloween-oriented, while the last one was charades and had us on the ground laughing. Almost six hours after we arrived, we decided we needed to make the trip back to Fort Wayne. On the way back, at about 11pm, we almost got hit by a car. There weren't many cars out but were in the right-hand lane of the highway and another car began to pass us on the left. When the back door of the passenger's side was basically right next to us, the other car begin moving into our lane! We had to move almost completely onto the shoulder to avoid being hit. The car zoomed ahead and tailed another car until they both got off on the next exit. Needless to say, I was a bit paranoid the rest of the trip home. Thankfully there were no other issues! The next morning, I was supposed to work at the school for Campus Visit Day. Unfortunately, when I woke up that morning, my eyes were both red and hurting. I couldn't keep my eyes open for any amount of time because of the pain, so I called in...again. I did wear contacts the day before so I am hoping that is really the only reason my eyes started hurting again. I haven't worn contacts since then and I haven't had problems again so we'll see. Despite the downers, this past weekend was awesome and really helped me remember what it's like to have a life not full of tests and homework! Unfortunately, things are starting to stress me out again. I had a test today (Wednesday) that had me worried for a while. Our professor gave us study guides which I had answered on a separate sheet--well, sheets. By the time I finished answering questions of the 5 chapters, I had filled out 11 sides of notebook paper! That's a ton of information to memorize. I did my best to leave out some information that I didn't think would be on the test so I could focus on the more important things. This paid off. Our test amounted to a puny 3 sides of printed paper. There were certainly questions that I didn't not know but our professor likes giving out extra credit if you add more information (pertaining to what we learned in class of course), in the margins or on the back. I took advantage of this :). We'll see how it turns out! There is so much more going on right now but I absolutely have to get back to studying! http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/11/a_much_needed_escape.html http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/11/a_much_needed_escape.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:40:20 -0500 The past three days have been wonderful. I've gotten things done, enjoyed most of my classes, and attended a Halloween party with the music therapy club. On Tuesday, in my research methods class, Dr. Jackson was talking about all kinds of qualitative research studies that have been done with the dozens of designs there are and it really got me excited again. Then I got frustrated because I just want to know more about everything but I don't have time right now and I don't even know where to start! So, as usual, I stopped by Dr. Jackson's office to have a chat. To make a long story short, I will be doing another research project: a hermeneutic self-study on how my classes influence my feelings and thoughts on who I am/want to be as a music therapist and my learning process. This will be extremely good for me because it will help me iron out some thoughts and learn more about myself. That in itself made my week. Then, I had my voice lesson on Wednesday. I had been dreading it because I felt a little unprepared. When I walked in, my professor was in a very good, yet crazy, mood. He said he actually considered calling me to tell me not to come in because I'm so far ahead (and he didn't want to hear those songs again :) )! But since I was there, we looked at two more pieces I could sing. Then, when my accompanist came in, my professor said, "How about we just chat and have coffee and donuts next week?" He was serious. So, my lesson next week will consist of having breakfast with my voice instructor and accompanist :). That night was the Halloween party with the club. It was a lot of fun! A ton of people came and it was great to just get to know each other better. I brought Killer Bunnies which is an AWESOME card game. Craig and Bethany and I taught it to some people and we played it for a while. The next morning I woke up with a familiar pain in my left eye. I looked at my eyes in the mirror and they were completely bloodshot. Not pink, but red. Then the pain intensified and I had to keep my eyes closed. It seems like my corneas are still weak and I may have issues with my eyes again. I did wear my contacts a lot longer than usual yesterday so I am just going to wait a few days and see if they get better before I make an appointment with my doctor. I really hope I don't have to do away with my contacts forever! This Saturday is State Finals for marching bands and I am really excited to be going again. My parents got a complimentary room at the hotel my high school band stays at because my dad volunteers to take pictures of the band. Naturally, I will be staying with them Friday night. I wish all of the bands going the best of luck and want to give a special shout-out to my old high school band, the Concord Marching Minutemen! I hope the rest of you have a great week/end as well! http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/10/great_three_days_and_an_unfort.html http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/10/great_three_days_and_an_unfort.html Thu, 29 Oct 2009 09:42:31 -0500 This week has been pretty crazy again. My Monday was actually pretty good but after about 4:00, things just started getting crazy and hectic again. Monday afternoon I went to my therapy session with two fellow student music therapists. There were only four kids there but three of them were pretty difficult. I didn't really get as frustrated as the other two, but it certainly stressed me out. The kids were simply messing around and not answering questions the way they were supposed to. Not a big deal though :). Today (Thursday), I had a great session! I wish I would've done some things differently, but I'm generally happy with the way things went. Also, I had a meeting with Dr. Jackson about my research project that definitely made my week. She said I am on the right track and there are really great possibilities for my project in the future (beyond the class)! It makes me really happy to know that I'm doing things just fine. She's told me quite a few times now that I'm "on the right path; a very long one, but the right one!" Let's hope she's right :) I've got so much to do this weekend! I have four 300+pg books to read for my research project, an arranging project, my arranging midterm (which is online, thankfully!), a conducting midterm to study for, a history test and listening exam to study for, a concert to go to and report to right on it, and the usual planning of my session, cleaning, and laundry. Despite the work waiting for me, I'm ready to have time out of the classroom and just be at home. I realize I talk about my work load quite a bit but that's really what my life basically consists of. Sorry :) I hope your week is going just wonderful and you have less work than me! http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/10/waiting_for_the_weekend.html http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/10/waiting_for_the_weekend.html Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:50:34 -0500 My break was wonderful! I had pretty busy days on Friday and Saturday. We had a meeting for STARs, went to a concert, and did homework Friday night. Saturday morning I worked at Homestead. The wind ensemble had the opportunity to have a booth set up, advertising the music program. Because most of the wind ensemble members were either working with bands or going home for break, I volunteered to work a six hour shift. I wasn't too excited about it because it was part of my weekend off, but it really ended up being fun. I spent the rest of that night doing more homework. On Sunday, I went home and attempted to finish up my homework. On Monday, I made myself take the day off. I ran a few errands, practiced a little bit, and just sat on the couch for most of the day...it was awesome! That evening, my dad and I went to a choir concert at my old high school. It was so weird to only know a handful of the people performing! Then came Tuesday. I headed back to Fort Wayne and did a little more homework. I felt pretty good about my weekend :). Then came Wednesday... I took a few days off over the weekend, and after just one class, I already felt behind. We had a listening exam in Music History which, I admit, I wasn't totally prepared for (apparently most of the class wasn't either). I tried not to let it get my down because I knew I wasn't ready for it, but I hate not feeling good about tests. Then I had my voice lesson. I did practice over the weekend but I was so tired and cold that I felt as though I hadn't even said a word for a week, let alone worked on my pieces. Thankfully my teacher helped me push through it and put a smile on my face as always. The rest of my classes that day weren't too bad thankfully. That evening, one phone call made my day. I was sitting in my car and flipping through my contacts when I came across the Eye Clinic's number. I haven't worn contacts for just over 8 months now and have had little to no pain for at least 5 of those months...I want to wear contacts again. On a whim, I called the number and explained the situation. The woman who answered the phone said I can try my contacts again! She said as long as the pain and/or extreme dryness isn't there, I don't need to wear my glasses! It was an early birthday present. :) I'm glad this is only a three-day week but I hope I can be content with where I'm at with my school work and general feelings on life. We'll see! http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/10/back_at_it.html http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/10/back_at_it.html Wed, 14 Oct 2009 19:45:22 -0500 I am so happy that fall break is this weekend--I need it! Thankfully, most of my teachers got the tests out of the way so I won't have as much homework to do compared to a normal weekend. Despite that, I can't really afford to take four days off. I'm technically not behind in any of my classes but I feel like I've been working hard to keep up. I would like to use some of this time off to tie up some loose ends and finish up some projects and assignments that aren't due until the end of next week. I'm hoping to get a lot of it done on Saturday but I will be working six hours at Homestead (the IPFW Wind Ensemble will have a booth set up during the marching band competition). No matter what, I am going to make myself take a day and either do something fun or do absolutely nothing...hopefully to reset myself. I am starting to look ahead at my class schedule for next semester and even next year. I want my senior year to be pretty light with classes because I will have other big things to worry about: I will have my senior recital in the fall, I will need to be applying for internships, and I will need to start making some big decisions on where I need to be/go after my internship. It's scary but exciting! I feel as though this semester has really flown by and I can't imagine how fast my next three semesters will go by as well. I was joking with my friends the other day about how I feel as though I should have an assistant that tells me what I need to know, exactly when I need to know it so I won't forget to do anything important (like study for these midterms!). My sessions are going pretty well. I am certainly learning more about myself and this practicum is stretching me. I had a chat with Dr. Jackson about some issues I have been having and she said something I hadn't thought about in a while: "Don't let yourself get in the way of what you're doing. Sometimes we can be our biggest enemy in helping people." That's important for me to remember, especially during this practicum. Speaking of which, I should head on out to my session! http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/10/checkpoint.html http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/10/checkpoint.html Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:44:37 -0500 In my Music Therapy Research class on Tuesday, Dr. Jackson handed out a mid-term study guide. My classmate said, "The mid-term's next week, right?" I thought that was an odd question considering I thought that we had at least another month before mid-terms. We don't. I wasn't particularly worried about not being prepared for mid-terms, I just couldn't figure out what happened with my time. This semester is just flying by! If you would have asked me how my semester was going about a week ago, I probably would've said it's not going fast enough. My days all seem to run together and I can honestly say that I study or do school-related activities for most of my day seven days a week. On top of that, my classes have never really given me a break. In fact, I had a "quiz" on Monday in music history, and a unit test this coming Friday (I say "quiz" because the "quiz" before this one was worth 150 points). As overwhelmed as I can feel some times, I'm glad I am in this situation. It is certainly teaching me some incredible time-management skills and I am much more efficient. Some other good reasons are that this semester has flown by so far, and this heavy work load will make everything seem much easier and my senior year much lighter as far as classes are concerned. There's always a bright side :) . As far as classes go this past week, I've really decided I need to step it up a notch. My grades aren't horrible but I know I can do better! Also, Dr. Jackson helped me work out some personal issues I have with working with my clients and I have a much better perspective on where I need to take things. Hopefully this new motivation will not be short-lived and I will be able to be happy with where I stand at the end of the semester! Speaking of which, time to study for my test! http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/09/what_happened.html http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/09/what_happened.html Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:19:13 -0500 I have two huge bits of excitement relating to music therapy: 1. I finally met my clients for the first time last week! I am working in the Alzheimer's unit at the Waters (which is a nursing home). It was quite the experience. We had about 8 individuals with all levels of Alzheimer's. Some could carry on a coherent conversation with you while others, well, simply couldn't. I am pretty sure I do not want to be working with older adults as my main population but I certainly don't mind it. My supervisor, Jackie, did the session which meant I simply observed but I thought about what I would do the entire time. It was a little overwhelming because I felt as though I was too inexperienced to be incredibly effective. That's when I remembered that it's called a Practicum--I'm not supposed to be able to get things going during the first or even second session. Now that I've had some time to debrief and think a little more, I am feeling much more prepared for this next session, and I'm surprisingly not anxious about singing a Hello and Goodbye song with them. I hope it goes well! 2. The other bit of exciting stuff in music therapy is my research class. Instead of a final test at the end of the semester, we will have to turn in the literature review part of a research study we design ourselves. There are a few different types of research out there, and I just happened to be most interested in a topic in the Historical Research category (this is not a very popular type of research). The topic I am interested has actually never been done before (as far as Dr. Jackson and I have been able to find), so, long story short, I will be working on an actual research project this semester! I know, this may sound a little nerdy, but I'm hoping to continue this study as Dr. Jackson suggested, and possibly get it published in one of the music therapy journals! In case you're curious, here's my research question: How do the ancient Greeks’ ideas on music and health compare to modern thought on cognitive neuroscience? I read that now and I simply have to smile because those words make me sound smart :). I can't wait to see how things unfold both at the Waters and with my project! -Kim P.S. Please don't get me sick! http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/09/music_therapy_excitement.html http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/09/music_therapy_excitement.html Wed, 23 Sep 2009 22:00:51 -0500 This week is running together but at the same time, this past Monday seems like a distant memory. Monday evening, Bethany, Emily, and I went to the Charis House to have our first session with the kids before we met with the rest of the music therapy club (Bethany is the parliamentarian, I'm the treasurer, and Emily is the president). We expected to be working with kids ranging from 3rd to 6th grade, based on what our contact had said. Well, when we got there, our contact wasn't available. Someone took us to the room we had asked for, and then proceeded to make an announcement that, "All mothers and school-aged children were to come to the third floor to hear some music. Actually, anyone interested in hearing music can go to the third floor." In case you don't know, music therapists don't just play music for people, so we were a little surprised to hear that part of the announcement. Anyway, as people started coming in the room, we all got a little scared. We didn't have mostly 3rd to 6th graders...we had 4 kids under the age of 2 yrs, one 12yr old, and the other five kids between 4 and 7. We quickly made the decision to go ahead with the activities we had planned since the mothers were there to help with the younger kids. It ended up working out just fine. We debriefed for a while afterward and brainstormed ways to make the following sessions less terrifying for our fellow therapists-to-be. We're pretty excited about it :). I honestly don't remember much about Tuesday and Wednesday other than my back and shoulder hurt, I studied for tests, and did my best to focus. Today (Thursday), on the other hand, was quite wonderful for three main reasons: 1. I met my clients for the first time! They're a group of 8-10 Alzheimer's patients and will certainly keep me on my toes. I just observed this first session and I must say, I'm a little anxious to see how I will do in this setting. 2. I talked to Dr. Jackson about my project in her Research Methods class. I won't go into great detail but I am going to be working on drawing a line between how the ancient Greeks' connected music and health, to modern thoughts about cognitive neuroscience. I'm sure some of you are groaning and rolling your eyes but I love it :). 3. The Office Season 6 starts tonight!! The Office is by far my favorite show ever. I have every season, have watched each season straight through more times than I can count, and I am basically addicted to it. If you haven't watched it, you need to. I feel as though I have so much going on right now that I forget to breathe. I am sure that my schedule will soon feel "normal" to me so I won't be as exhausted by the end of the day. Wouldn't things be so much easier if we just didn't need sleep? Well, time to get back to work. I hope everything is going well for you! http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/09/breathe.html http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/09/breathe.html Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:39:47 -0500 I had an awesome Labor Day weekend! On Saturday, I studied/did school-related stuff for 8-10hrs which was exhausting but I got a lot done. On Sunday, I went with Craig to his family's annual Labor-Day-Weekend cookout in Kokomo. I normally have fun but it can be a little long because all of Craig's cousins are older with little kids; this time, his sister and brother-in-law came as well as his sister's best friend. With all of them there, we were able to play games and simply have an even better time. Then, on Monday, my parents came to Fort Wayne for a visit. Craig, my parents, and I went out for lunch, played some card games, and just had a great time. Unfortunately, the day ended way too soon and before I knew it, I had to go to school again. Tuesday was not so fun. I felt pretty overwhelmed with all of the studying that I had to do that night and I was extremely tired because of my 8am class. Yuck. Thankfully, I was able to hang out with Craig for a while which made my day much better. I felt like a whole new person on Wednesday. I got a decent about of sleep and found out one of my tests is moved to Friday! Well, it's Wii night with my roommate so I better get going. :) http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/09/labor_day_weekend_and_then_som.html http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/09/labor_day_weekend_and_then_som.html Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:39:44 -0500 finally going to start the volunteer work we have been trying to plan for at least two years. Last night, my friend and I went to the facility to see what kind of space we had to work with and who we would be with. If you don't know about the Charis House, it's basically a house for women and children to go when they have nowhere else to go (we will be focusing on the children). I won't go into details about it but Bethany and I walked away with a ton of excitement. There are a ton of ways we can help the kids out and the staff at Charis House is extremely thankful and excited we want to work with them (Melissa, our contact, is actually an IPFW student majoring in Social Sciences; she is taking Intro to Music Therapy this year!). Not only will we be able to help the kids, it will help us as music therapists, the therapy program, and us as individuals. We will have the opportunity to use music activities in a more relaxed atmosphere (without a therapy supervisor grading us), help the program make more connections in the community, and help us as individuals by giving us the experience of volunteering. It's really exciting! Well, I should get back to studying!]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/09/things_are_looking_up.html http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/09/things_are_looking_up.html Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:29:52 -0500 I have officially had all of my classes at least once this semester and I must say, I certainly have my work cut out for me. I will give you a basic run-down of my classes because those will probably be all I talk about this semester: Music History: It looks like this will require a ton of reading and listening (much like my music literature class did last year). We already have a listening test on Monday, a project due that Wednesday, and a written test a week after that (on three chapters of information). Practicum II: I will not meet my clients for a few more weeks but I have a TON of research to do before I meet them, so these next few weeks will be quite busy looking information up and calling people. After that I will spend the normal time planning, writing, and recording my sessions. Form and Analysis: I'm hoping it is not too demanding. So far it seems fairly easy but that could change quickly. Arranging: It sounds like it will be a practical class which will hopefully be enough motivation to get to class on time (at 8am). Music Therapy Research Methods: I love research so I am excited about the class but it is already a ton of work. We have/will have a LOT of reading and writing to do. Conducting: I am not too excited about conducting but I like the professor and it seems like it will be a fun class. Wind Ensemble, Performance Class, Choral Union, Voice Lessons, and Flute Lessons are all classes that merely require practicing (and lots of it). If I counted correctly, that's all 11 classes which total 20 credit hours. I thoroughly dislike math but I am going to use it to help me see what my life could potentially look like this semester. According to IPFW's helpful guidelines, I should be spending 60 hours a week studying. Just with school stuff, that's 80hrs worth of time each week. There are only 120 hours in a 5-day week, which gives me 40 hours to eat and sleep. On top of that, I have more responsibilities with STARs and the Music Therapy Club which add about 10 hours of work to each month. Hopefully I won't FEEL that busy and I can find some time to be a college student and have a life. I am incredibly grateful that I get to spend all of my time in the music building again, know most of my professors already, and will enjoy many of my classes. I know this will be my toughest semester so I just need to put my head to the grindstone and push through these next few months. I sincerely hope your first few days back haven't been too stressful and are excited about at least one or two classes. Good luck! http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/08/preparing_for_what_is_to_come.html http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/08/preparing_for_what_is_to_come.html Wed, 26 Aug 2009 15:16:53 -0500 I am glad I came to Fort Wayne a week ago because this time has flown by and I feel like it's crunch time. I knew about my flute audition but I wasn't expecting my voice audition for some reason. I basically have three days to get my voice and flute chops in shape again (technically I have more days but they are filled with meetings and music therapy gatherings). I already ordered my books and bought most of the stuff I think I will need (as far as binders and paper go) so that takes some stress off. I've been thinking a lot about my classes and schedule for this next semester and it's a little intimidating. I am taking 11 classes which makes for a pretty full week, not to mention the phone-a-thons, tours, and meetings which I will have every month with a concert or two thrown in the mix. I have a feeling this semester will fly by. Despite the pending stress, I am excited about the year. As I have mentioned plenty of times before, I enjoy being in Fort Wayne and think this year will be even better since my roommate and I have our own place. Also, I know that after this semester, I will be [mostly] done with my music core classes which means most of my classes will be ones I am really interested in, with a few gen. eds thrown in there. Another point of excitement is that I am a junior. I am halfway to getting my undergraduate degree! It feels weird being an "upperclassman" again. I hope you are all having smooth transitions back in to school and wish you the best of luck! http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/08/crunch_time.html http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/08/crunch_time.html Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:30:23 -0500 I just moved back to Fort Wayne for the summer. The trip down wasn't incredibly fun or fast because I moved our cats as well. Our girl, Lilly (we have decided to keep her name because she doesn't respond to anything else), absolutely hates the car. She cried for almost the entire hour and a half trip. Both her and Tobias tried to escape from their carriers which wore them out by the time we made it to my apartment. I took them to my room and opened their carriers and they both ran for the bed and hid. Thankfully they were both exploring the apartment within the hour. I still have only seen Tobias twice since he began hiding but Lilly has quickly adjusted to her new home. It feels really nice to be mostly moved in. I need to pick up a few more things from the store but overall I'm ready to live comfortably here. I do consider Fort Wayne to be my home now and it's nice. When I lived in student housing, I felt like a visitor even though it was my apartment simply because I knew I would be moving out at the end of the year. With the apartment I'm in now, it seems as though my experience will be much more personal and comfortable because this place is mine (and my roommate's). School doesn't start for two more weeks but I feel like I still need more time. There is a ton of stuff I want to get done before school starts but I also want to be able to relax a little. I'm hoping I can set aside some time to enjoy the pool! I would write more but I'm pretty tired. Hopefully I will get a chance to update later this week! http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/08/home_again.html http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/08/home_again.html Tue, 11 Aug 2009 20:57:40 -0500 I had an incredibly awesome weekend that I hope I remember for the rest of my life. It started out on Friday when they let us out of work after only 8 hours (which meant my friends and I got to go home at 6)! I was planning on going to Fort Wayne on Saturday with two of my best friends, Ashley and Genni, but since we got out of work a little earlier, we decided to head out that night. The three of us made it to my apartment around 11pm and spent the next few hours laughing at each other. Genni goes to Boston University, and Ashley attends Purdue but will be spending this next year in New York at FIT (which is a very competitive fashion program). The three of us have been close friends since junior high/high school and it is hard to be so far away from each other but it makes our get-togethers that much better. We've all had very different experiences in college dealing with everything from friends to classes, and home-life to non-school activities, which gives us plenty to talk about. Once we got our "what's new" talk out of the way, we got back to just being ourselves and laughing hysterically for stupid things. The next morning we went to Dunkin' Donuts and attempted to get some sun by the pool (unfortunately, the pool was way too cold to get in). At 1:00, we made some strong memories. We went to a tattoo parlor and got pierced. I got my cartilage done, Genni got her belly button, and Ashley simply got her ears double-pierced. It was quite intense because none of us had had anything pierced since we were much younger. After that, we went to Craig's new townhouse in Canterbury to check it out. Next on the list was the mall. None of us had gone to a store with no real purpose in ages so it was refreshing to simply browse the racks and try on ridiculous things just for the fun of it. Genni and I usually return to a t-shirt-and-jeans look; that made shopping with Ashley quite interesting because she is a fashion major. Before we knew it, it was time to rush back to Elkhart. It was tough to split up again but hopefully we can get together at least once more before we say goodbye for a few months. My Sunday was less eventful but no less fun. Craig's birthday was on Thursday and his family had his traditional birthday meal that Sunday at Olive Garden. After our delicious meal, we headed back to his house for some of his mom's ice cream pie (which is amazing!). We were all pretty beat after a few hours so I went home and took a welcomed nap. The rest of the day was basically wasted, as it should be, which allowed me to reset for another week of overtime at work. I'm in my last week at Carpenter and can't wait until I get to officially move back to Fort Wayne! Oh yeah...my roommate and I decided to rename Catalina "Mrs. Penny-Apple" from a "Family Guy" episode. I think that's finally it for this post :) http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/08/my_awesome_weekend.html http://blogs.targetx.com/ipfw/Kim/2009/08/my_awesome_weekend.html Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:26:06 -0500