These last few weeks have been absolutely crazy for me.  As of yesterday, my summer will include: Me being a full time student, and working about 40 hours a week with three separate jobs.  I can just feel the excitement radiating from me already.  Can’t you? 

Nah, I am excited, but stressed out too.  I’m so excited that there is just one week left of this school year and I can’t wait to get all of these last minute projects, essays, and tests done before finals.  Can you believe it?  It’s already been a year here!

I remember back at the beginning of the year when I used to blog about actual adventures I went on, rather than rambling on about random stuff.  I guess that’s because I had time to go on adventures back then.  As of late, my adventures include Easter Egg hunting with Karl (put on by RHPB – oh, and we found one and won candy! :D), Attending the Holocaust memorial trip on Sunday (which I am very thrilled to go on.  I love learning about that event and time period), and applying for multiple random jobs that I really probably don’t need.

Also, I did make some artwork for the Student Congress’s Social Issues Art Show.  (Which will be held in Vandy’s lounge, Tuesday night.)  So I am happy that I made the time to do that because I love painting and drawing.  And as of next week, I’m taking finals and moving out. 

It’s been a very fun year to say the least and it definitely had its ups and downs but, nonetheless, has been a wonderful experience. 

Happy Studying, everyone! 

I got out of class early this morning, class canceled this afternoon, and two classes canceled next week.  With all of this, I’m very excited. So I’ve scheduled my classes.  Fall and winter, and I’m fairly optimistic about them all and as to how they’re going to go.  I get to take my IST and SED next year, so I’m starting to prepare for the actual “secondary education” part of my degree. 

I also recently discovered that I’m going to be a full time student this summer, while also working seven days a week at two jobs.  It’s a lot to handle, but I’ve always been that type of person.  Biting off more than I can chew, kind of choking on it, managing to swallow, and then start at it again.  Sure, it’s a little ‘tough,’ (get it?  :P ) but I always manage.  I’ve always got to be busy, and sometimes that’s a bad thing.  Most of the times it’s good.

I recently just picked up a second job, of which I start working this Saturday.  It’s only at a local ice cream shop, nothing fancy, but regardless I’m very excited for it.  It’s something new. I’ve also started painting a little bit again, the department I was sort of lacking in as of late due to my busy schedule, and will be providing some art work for an art show type thing on the topic of “Social Issues” by the Fireside lounge.  The tentative date is April 9^th. 

I’ve been doing a lot of stressing out lately because of so many crazy things going on, but I’m back on track and I’m back to being myself which is always great.  The sun has been out which has definitely been a super plus, and I love spring.  I was very excited for Summer, however now that I have come to realize my summer is just the same as any other semester, I don’t know if I am so much although I am ready for this semester to come to an end so that I can start new things.

Since I’ve had no real exciting adventures going on (although 3 South is having a rave tonight!) and because as I have proved as of lately, we all need a little “de-stressing,” I will leave you with an absolutely adorable picture of my favorite animal.  (Just because I’ve been looking some stuff up about them.)

Make it a wonderful day!

                                                                 

I’m all for social experiments, without a doubt.  There’s just something about putting yourself on the line; something that you wouldn’t normally do, just to see how people react.  There’s something that you gain from that, a little bit more information about yourself, a little bit more information about others around you.  There’s just something about it and yeah, I’m all for it. 

However, there are some social experiments that are unplanned.  Unlike the group hugs in the elevator, or the beat boxing, or the strange accents, there are social experiments like waiting in line and wondering what all of the people around you think about you because of it when really, they know nothing as to why you’re there.

On Tuesday, Hamlin Hall had free HIV testing…  I thought about it for a little bit.  I mean, I have no reason, whatsoever to even think that I have the HIV virus; however, it says that 25% of people that have it don’t even know.  They don’t even think that they have it, but they do.  Well, I have never been placed in risk of getting it, but still – it’s always nice to have that proof that says, “No.  You really don’t.”  So that when I say, “I don’t have it,” I’m not just basing it off of assumptions, that I’m basing it off of reality.

So Karl and I walked up to the fourth floor and stood in the hour-long line.  We stood against the wall and watched as strangers walked by, we watched as friends walked by, and we wondered…  What are they thinking of us?  Are they assuming things?  Do they see us differently?

No, this wasn’t a planned social experiment, but it puts you on the spot.  You realize how many judgments you make of other people every day, based off of nothing that you know.  By us standing in line, so many people could have come to so many conclusions that would have been completely inaccurate; but it happens.  So because I did what I thought was right by making sure that I don’t carry a deadly disease around, who knows what my peers think of me.  Even the nurse that took the test was confused as to why I was there, but that’s okay.  I really don’t mind.

It’s just a reminder that sometimes we don’t always evaluate our own thoughts, judgments, or actions and you know, we could all use a little reminder. 

On another note, as of lately I’ve just been so busy.  I’ve had so much work due for all of my classes, so many programs that I’ve been attending, and so many programs and stuff that I’ve been helping come up with for House Council and whatnot.  It’s been stressful but fun. 

I’ve also been looking into volunteering.  I really want to do so; however, I’m not finding a very good place to do it at, or to be doing something that I’m interested in.  I’d love to find a program that I could incorporate my artwork with… or hopefully this summer I plan to volunteer at a crisis hotline.  I’ve just got to look into that and call them up because I know they require a ton of training hours.  But whatever the case may be, that’s what I’ve been up to lately.  Just keepin’ myself busy!  (:   Hope that everyone’s doing well with this semester partway over!

“You’re a cute couple,” he said to us as we sat down.  Karl and I laughed and played around like usual.

You see, we went to the Meadow Brook Ball last night, dressed up in basically the same outfits we were in for the wedding (converse and all), ready to go.  We first went out to eat with a group of friends, Lisa and her date Jake, Missy and Kyle, Andrew and Lia, and Nick and Tawny.  The food was great and we were pumped for the dance.

Obviously after arrival we needed pictures, so we did that.  The self guided tour was taking place so Karl and I managed to dispatch from the group and explore the rest of the mansion before we met up again.

We’d signed ourselves up for a caricature, and when we sat down the guy looked at us and said, “You’re a cute couple.”  We smiled and talked to him a little bit as he drew.  We were pretty excited to see what turned out. He laughed a few times and we weren’t really sure what to think.  “Uh-oh.  Why are you laughing?”  And he would just laugh again in response.  Eventually he added, “it’s really hard when I get the pretty girl because then I’ve got to do her justice.” 

We don’t really think that that’s what he was actually laughing about, but, ya know, whatever.  He soon finished and we looked at the drawing, very pleased.  He asked if he could take a picture of it with us and we willingly obliged. 

We then did some dancing and some more exploring, just having fun with the rest of our friends all night.  The ball was definitely an exciting event and I had a great time. Karl and I then left around midnight and made it back to Hamlin shortly after, where we decided that we just wanted to sleep because we were so exhausted.

I know that this blog isn’t very long, but the ball itself was more an experience rather than a tale.  I definitely approve of it, and had a great time! 

Who got married at Meijer on Martin Luther King Jr. Day?  That’s right; I got married at Meijer on Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

All right.  Not technically, but for pretend.  I guess I should explain this crazy story, huh?  (And I guess you wouldn’t ever expect anything less than a crazy story from me either.)

It all started with the viewing of a website called People of Wal-Mart, where Karl and I happened to view a couple being wed at Wal-Mart.  As a joke, we decided that we would get married at Meijer instead.  However, Karl and I being as ridiculous as we are, actually had to go through with this joke.  So yes, we planned a wedding ceremony at Meijer.

Unfortunately, my bridesmaid, Katie, happened to fall off her lofted bed two nights before, was in the process of having her fractured ankle casted, and couldn’t make it.  However, we did manage to round up enough people for the wedding party and the ceremony. 

The group drove to Meijer, arrived in the toy aisle and commenced with the unconventional wedding.  My sister, instead of being the flower girl, was the football girl and threw footballs down the aisle as she marched forward.  Then went my maid of honor, Krystal, and Karl’s best man, Matt, and I followed them with Patrick who was giving me away.  Once at the “alter”, Patrick turned into the man to wed us and we began the speech.

Karl and I then exchanged vows, waiting impatiently for “the kiss” (because Patrick forgot that part) and then took the after ceremony wedding pictures.  Unfortunately, it was hard to contain the boys in the toy aisle as they raced around on bikes, drooled over Legos, and fell off skateboards. 

I then threw the cat.  You see, instead of throwing flowers, I threw a toy cat.  The plan was, whichever lady caught the cat, she was to become the future “cat lady”.  All the girls ran away though instead, so for now, the cat lady has been undecided.

Reception was in Vandy where Katie gladly joined us for the toasting and then the after party reception began in the cave of Nine South, where we had a wonderful time dancing.

Yes, this was all a joke, however, the best part is that Karl and I actually went through with it.  We got a many looks, because we were dressed up in strange, ‘fancy’ outfits, and doing ridiculous things, but that’s completely okay with us because that’s just how we are.

Besides, it was a pretty interesting social experiment too.  You learn a lot about people as they react to your strange doings.

So, if you happened to be wondering as to why Karl and I were dressed up and running around, that’s the reason.   We’ve come such a long way from the popcorn incident and fifty dollar date auction, yeah?

I hope you’re all having wonderful adventures too!

“Hey, Karl.  I’m here.  I need help bringing my stuff in.”

I don’t understand why it seems that I grew more stuff to bring back to OU.  Granted, Christmas did come and provide me with more things such as clothes and towels, but really?  I feel like I was completely moving in for the first time again or something.

Karl comes out.  It is snowing.  He bangs on my car window and smiles. 

“Hey, sunshine.  Help me grab my stuff.”  So we grab what we can and when I go to grab my room key, I realize that I don’t have it.  I don’t have it, or my wallet, or anything else of great importance.  Just a bunch of baggage. 

“I don’t have it.  I can’t get into my room.”

Karl tells me not to worry.  You see, he’s pretty good at that when I start stressing out over things like packing, which I do a lot.  However, as good as Karl is at telling me not to worry, actually quitting is a whole other story.  We carry my stuff in and throw it in his room because my sister is coming up to visit later, meaning she can bring my keys and whatnot. 

So yes, first day back and I’m already getting myself into all sort of trouble.  You can always count on me to do that but that’s okay, because I wouldn’t trade my adventures at OU for anything in the world.
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It’s been a long month; 1/12 of a year passed by and it wasn’t at Oakland.

This month stirred some thoughts.  I realized that I really have made some great friends here, because I missed them all a lot while we were away.  But instead I kept my self busy with visiting family for the Holidays, seeing a few friends, and going to a family wedding with Karl.  To say the least it was a pretty fun break.

Now I’m back at Oakland and the transition from home to college is very different and very distinct.  It’s almost as if I feel like two completely different people when I’m away, and I’m perfectly fine with that.  In fact, I love it. 

I returned to OU to find out that I have fairly good classes and I think that I’m going to enjoy them all for the most part.  I’ve got a wonderful feeling about the upcoming months and I can’t wait for the snow to melt, the ice to thaw, and the sun to start frequenting the sky a little more.  You’ll be sure to see me around campus then, creating all kinds of raucous.  But it’s alright; it’s all just for fun.

Happy New Year, everyone!

And finally, the finals are over.

I write this blog from my living room at home and it’s a strange feeling of the old and the new; the past and the present.  It’s so easy to fall back into my old life style when I used to live at home, while I still recognize that my life is very different now.  It’s not the same. 

In retrospect of this first semester, so much has changed and it’s crazy looking back at it now.  To think that my first half of the year is over and that after a few more months, I’m no longer a college freshman but one more year older in my life.  I guess I think that’s it’s kind of scary and exciting at the same time. 

Thinking about it, I’m still the same person I was when I moved into Oakland but also have changed so much.  For the better, I like to think.  I’ve had the opportunity to meet some inspirational people who make my days brighter and that’s a wonderful feeling.

(Awe, I’m getting all sappy now.  I know, I know, I’m ridiculous.)

I think of how I first moved in and burnt the popcorn.  That was back when I didn’t really know anyone and spent many days sitting in my room.  Now I’m always out, always visiting, always laughing and it’s great.  There isn’t ever a day that I regret moving into OU and I’m so glad that I’ve found myself in such a wonderful place surrounded by wonderful people.

Periods that come and go, for example, semesters, really get me thinking about the progress people make in life.  About whether or not fate exists, or destiny, or who you were and where you’ve been, and where you’re going to go along with what you’re going to do.  It’s such a large and existentialist thought but season changes and semester endings and going home really makes me think about such things.  So now I’m home, and it’s so different but still the same and I’m going to be falling back into my old niche for a month before I return to OU.

My finals went alright.  There’s a few that I feel good about and a couple that are iffy.  Oh well, you win some and you lose some I guess – right?  But I’m excited for my next classes. 

On a happier note that takes less thinking, the cave of 9 South (and the honorary cave members) had a wonderful Holiday party before finals.  We set up a tree in the foyer, painted bulbs, traded gifts, and played games such as scene it and twister.  I was really excited for that because I love giving people gifts and as expected I pretty much pegged everyone perfectly and gave them stuff that they enjoyed.

I’m excited for the snow and the holidays and the visiting I get to do now and surprisingly enough I already can’t wait to get back to OU after break! 

Happy Holidays!

“Got diversity?!” Katie and I take the whipped cream off of our smoothies and plaster it above our lip, imitating those old “got milk?” commercials.  We start laughing and making funny faces.  It’s never a boring time when Katie and I are around.  We compliment each other’s ridiculousness.  Good times.

We’re returning from lunch and I get a text.  “Do you have class the rest of the afternoon?”  So I reply to Krystal, “Yes.  At 2:40.”  Then I hear Katie say, “No, Krystal, I don’t have class and I don’t want to help you with your project,” as she’s replying. 

“Oh, Krystal texted you too?” “Yeah.” “Well.  Let’s just go,” I reply.  Krystal needed help with her group project apparently, so I tell Krystal that we’ll meet her at the library A.S.A.P. and, well, she seemed happy enough.  Shortly after, Katie and I arrive.

We have arrived on the premises and will be entering the facility, I text Krystal.

Katie and I walk around the corner and find Krystal and her group sitting at a table.  We introduce ourselves, you know, then get to the point.  Apparently, the project is to create a five minute video on what diversity means to them.  The other two girls had their pieces written, however Krystal was struggling.  Katie and I try to ease her along but it wasn’t goin’ so well so the decision was made to venture off and get some smoothies.  Hopefully, Krystal would be done by the time we returned.

Yeah, yeah, our hopes were shot down.  Krystal was not completed, although did accomplish a lot more so Katie and I helped refined it.  So now what?  Apparently they just wanted to shoot each other reading off their idea of diversity, then tape us and get our opinions on the subject as well.  Hmm.  Not very creative, eh?

That’s alright.  Leave it up to Katie and me to invent some crazy scene.  Without a doubt, we had some intense ideas within minutes and in the end, it was decided to choose the news anchor scene.  We set up at a nearby desk and went to work.  Krystal and her partner, Emma, were the co-hosts and talked about weather or something, when Katie ran up and handed them some paper. 

“Breaking News!” Emma exclaims.  “Apparently, students on campus have been asking, “What is Diversity?”  Let’s go to Alexis in the field and find out more!”  Cut scene.

We race outside.  Katie and I, again, being absolutely crazy, are coming up with silly things to do and are laughing hysterically.  In result, when Alexis asks us our opinions on diversity, we’re running around making faces and saying stupid things.  To say the least, we spiced up the project a bit.

Unfortunately though, Katie did find a lunch tray that we played Frisbee with that didn’t end up making it into the frame.  Quite upsetting, but it’s alright.  Katie falling over, and us skipping, and me running around made up for it I guess.

We parted ways because I had to get to class and the rest of the team had to edit the video in the Oakland Center, and reunited later when Krystal showed me the final product. Basically, Katie and I’s job was to be ridiculous.  It worked.

This week I found myself wondering what to write about.  I really had absolutely no idea.  I sort of decided to be lazy and boring this portion of the month and no crazy adventures or run-ins with authorities has really happened.  I mean, the extent of my weekend was getting to “read for pleasure” for the first time in months, resulting in me finishing two books, starting and getting half way through a third, and taking a good chunk out of another book that I’ve borrowed.  Oh, and I slept.  That was my weekend.

So when it came to writing this week’s blog, I sort of put it off a day, hoping that some inspiration memory would come to mind; however, no memories were needed for this blog because last night resulted in creating a new adventure to write about. 

The Leonid Meteor Shower. This meteor shower provided for one of the best nights ever and gets my utmost applause.  The idea behind this particular meteor shower is that it’s caused by Earth’s atmosphere running into remnants of the comment Tempel-Tuttle, which results in the tiny pieces of rock and ice creating a light show. 

As ridiculous as it sounds, my friends and I heard about this meteor shower through Facebook Invites.  Lame, yeah?  I know.  But it’s alright, either way, we heard about it.  So Patrick decides that we’re stayin’ up until two – the optimal time to watch it, supposedly, to go out and see this event.  So we’re all sitting around in Krystal and Tory’s room waiting and finally the clock turns to one thirty.  We all start to get moving and get bundled up.  Hoodies?  Check.  Hats?  Check.  Double hats and hoods?  Check.  Half mittens – half gloves?  Yup, got those too.  Tennis shoes and not flats?  Yeah, yeah.  I changed my shoes.  So we all look like we’re about to take a trip to the snow storm of the century or something and wander on down to seven south where we pick up Devon and Patrick.  On our way out, we find Robby who was more than eager to join us on our middle of the night adventure. We wait for Robby to dress himself up and then we head out. 

“Where should we go to see the ‘shooting stars’?” We ask.  And, well, obviously, somewhere in the middle of nowhere is preferred because you don’t want to be staring up into a big cloud of smog in the sky, however, we weren’t driving for three hours to get this experience so instead we’re looking for somewhere on campus that’s as dark as it can get.

“What about that open field by the OC?”  We get there.  No way.  There are way too many street lamps lit up.  “I think I see one star,” someone says.  Yeah.  That wasn’t going to work. “What about the baseball field?  You know?  Over, the lower fields?”  So we all start marching off in that direction and we’re right.  It is pretty dark down there.  So dark, that Devon who rarely leaves his room says, “is that water down there?”  No, Devon.  It’s not.  It’s a field. 

Patrick and Robby run down the hill.  The rest of us however are not so daring.  I twisted my ankle in some crazy crater twice on our awful trip down this steep slope.  Eventually we made it and were then looking for a nice place to set up camp.  After crossing swampy, mushy, grounds and sandy, rocky terrain, we found a solid area to call our own.  Patrick laid down his blanket and we all started to find our spots. 

Last night, was just one of those nights where everything seemed perfect.  We were all invincible and infinite.  Nothing was wrong, we weren’t stressed about any of our daily routines, it was just a group of friends watching the stars and having a great evening. 

At first it was slow to see the shooting stars, or meteors, or whatever.  Only one person or two people would see it at a time but by the end of the night we had really big stars that left a trail in the sky racing through the clouds and we all would see them.  Robby got so excited at one point that he did a few cartwheels and back flips.  None of knew that Robby was capable of doing this so we were all pretty amazed. 

Then, unexpectedly, Robbie says, “You guys, you make my college experience better,” and we all just understood.  After a quick, “awe”, we all decided to share something about ourselves so we went around the group and told everyone a ‘dirty pleasure’ and something they didn’t know about us. 

That night was just really peaceful.  Watching the stars is always a very humbling experience and getting to share it with a ton of people you have so much fun with is worth it.  We laughed so hard so many times. 

After sharing our stories, we decided that hypothermia wasn’t really an option and that after being outside in the cold for two hours watching shooting stars, we should probably head back. 

We bumbled along because we couldn’t really feel our legs anymore.  We walked up through this wooded area where we were surprised by two deer.  After laughing some more we arrived back into the residence halls where we all just sat and warmed up, talking about more ridiculous things.  Finally, at five, we decided it was best to go to bed.  Patrick and Devon left, and Robby and I just crashed on the futon in Krystal and Tory’s room until the morning when I woke up to everybody passed out cold.  Leaping over Robby, who was next to me on the futon, I returned to my room, got ready and went to class.

I guess this blog is sort of not meant to be funny or informative, but rather it’s just a really nice experience to share with people; and yeah, it’s sort of a ‘you had to be there thing’ but I guess everybody has those, right?  So everybody sort of understands what I’m talking about.

And yeah, the meteor shower wasn’t anything amazing because we live in a polluted and light filled area, but we still saw a ton of meteors.  Ten, at least, so that was nice.  Unfortunately, however, to our dismay, we were not abducted by aliens which was a goal of Patrick and Robby’s that went undone.  I think the rest of the night made up for it though.

So for the sake of this blog, let’s hope I start going on my adventures this week or something so I can quit ‘updating’ and writing sappy notes, yeah? 

But a little bit of homework for you guys that is something enjoyable rather than that five page history paper or that research project for comp to do:  Try to go out and feel ‘infinite’ with some fun people. 

I swear. It’s worth it. 

Is it bad that as an eighteen-year-old adult, in college, I still celebrate such a childish holiday?
Regardless of what my Advanced Placement Literature and Composition high school teacher would say, I think not.  (You see he was traumatized as a child into hating Halloween and now displaces his wrath further onto his students.)

Disregarding my high school teacher, I had a great time celebrating Halloween.

Thursday night was spent dressing up and decorating for the Hamlin Hall’s Haunted House competition.  Each floor was instructed to decorate their lounge as some form of Haunted House.  The ladies on Nine South chose to do a Haunted Theatre, including broken marionettes and dead ventriloquists. 

The lounge was set up so that it was completely black.  You walked in through the curtains and emerged into a setting with eerie music in addition to a blinking strobe light.  A row of seats were set up to sit down in and a table sat in the front, with a large black curtain hanging in front of it.  Emily, who was dressed as a mime, ran out and started doing her show, and then pulled down the curtains.  The curtains revealed Krystal as a dummy, sitting on Paige the ventriloquist’s lap, and I, the broken marionette.  Krystal started singing, “I’m a little teapot” along to the creepy music, in an awkward little kid voice, and as she finished she fell off Paige’s lap, I woke up, and screamed at everyone to get out.

Regardless of whether or not we won, (we find out at the next building meeting,) I feel that we did a very good job putting the whole show together.  It was pretty fun. 

To further the Halloween celebration, a large group of us went Trick or Treating.  Surprisingly enough, no one asked us our age although one group of adults who were nonchalantly having a bonfire in the middle of the street did ask us what high school we went to.  Karl dropped some quick-thinking answers with “Adams.”  After we were awkwardly invited to stay at the bonfire, we politely declined and finished trick or treating. 

Halloween fun has not been limited by that.  We also went to Vandenberg’s Halloween party which we made necklaces at, enjoyed the costume competition, and danced for a very brief while.  We then started our own party by playing chess in some unknown room.

Now that Halloween’s over, I’m pretty much not even thinking about Thanksgiving.  I’m definitely more concerned for Christmas, and can’t wait.  I love giving gifts, so watch out for my intense rants about those. 

I feel like this blog is sort of short and random, but it’s just a nice little update about what has been going on with the Holidays. 

Happy Hauntings!

So among all of the fun and exciting things to do on campus, there are plenty of fun things to do nearby, off campus. 

Personally, I really find Rochester (and Rochester Hills) to be a beautiful city.  It has a small town feel, without actually being remotely small.  It’s sort of a happy medium, which is the type of thing I like.  The city has sort of charm about it, but still, it has everything you could want to do to entertain yourself which is what leads me to the adventures at Yates Cider Mill. 

One Saturday a few weeks ago, my friends and I needed something to do.  Alex, who was visiting from Eastern, Matt, Katie, and I decided while we were eating breakfast that later in the day we wanted to venture to a cider mill - and so the adventure began.  We got directions, crammed into Katie’s little Slug Bug, and drove off down to Yates.

This is the Cider Mill that I’ve always gone to with my family, and it was still just as nice.  We bought our donuts and cider, sat down and ate, and then unknowingly of what was to come, decided to walk down the nature trail type of thing that they have.  Not long before we started our walk, did we notice that there was a large congregation of clustered people on the trail. Yeah, we were kind of confused. 

“What is going on?”

And then we saw it.  The hand painted sign, hanging on the trail’s railing the read: “Will you marry me Ajeenah?” 

Awe.  It was too cute.  That’s why everyone was standing around; they were waiting to watch a man propose.  So, of course, we decided that we needed to stand around too. 

Apparently, a man, a friend of the proposer, had hung up the sign, was holding roses, and was waiting for the man and his bride-to-be, to arrive.  He’d been standing there all day. Now, that’s a loyal friend.  Anyways, apparently the guy who proposing to Ajeenah, (We don’t really know his name, so my friends and I just decided to name him Rochad.  It sort of fit him, I guess.)  Well, Rochad, was on his way, his friend employed some random little boy to bring the bouquet of roses down to Ajeenah as her, and Rochad made their way to our cluster of people.  It was basically precious. 

Everyone tried to look like they were doing something more important and not waiting for the couple to arrive, so of course, my group took pictures of each other.

The boy walked down the beaten path and arrived upon the unknowing Ajeenah and handed her roses.  Cute, right?  Then Ajeenah, Rochad, and two other women, (friends, family, of Ajeenah?) arrived.  Ajeenah saw the sign and Rochad knelt down onto one knee and pulled out a ring.  With a look of surprise, Ajeenah covered her mouth.  The friends flipped out, full out jumped up and down screaming with delight, textin’ everyone already, and Ajeenah said yes.

We all clapped and smiled, then left.  It was a good time!  Unexpected too.

As we emerged from the scene we just witnessed, we decided we wanted to take photos in one of those pictures with the cut out faces thing.  It was of farm animals.  So we’re waiting for these two little girls to finish up, and then we notice that their parents are not around nor are their pictures being taken.  They’re just sticking their heads in and out of this setup.  So Katie asks, “Hey, can we take a picture?” And the girls say, “yeah!”

Apparently, they thought that we meant a picture with them, because they both found a spot, stuck their heads in, and waited.  So we now have a lovely picture with two little girls. 

Both of these events obviously were really funny to us and probably a “you had to be there” type of thing, but nonetheless we had a great time. 

Moral of the story this time?  Funny things happen in the most unexpected places, I guess.  Although campus has a ton of great things going on, take advantage of the fun things that happen off campus too!

“Keep it going!  Keep It going!  Go higher!”

They’re chanting for me. My eyes are big and round, like a deer in the headlights and I’m sort of confused.

“Alright, forty seven!”  I shout across the waves of people in front of me.  I hear, “forty seven’s already done.  Forty eight?” And that’s when I realized that I was goin’ for it.  I was goin’ all the way and I’m not the type of person to back down.

--
All week I saw the posters for the Hamlin Hall Date Auction and I figured that I’d go, but just for the laughs.  My RA, Danielle, and friend Karl, (3 South’s RA), had been talking about it all week, too. 

Karl says, “we have to answer these questions about ourselves.  ‘what member of housing would you like to be, what Disney character would you’d be, and what song would represent your life?’”  He tells me his answers and all I could do is laugh because, well, they’re so Karl.

Now, fast forward: It’s the night of the auction.  I swear, I wasn’t planning on buying anyone.  Specifically Karl.  (So then why did I take out $80 in cash, earlier in the day?) But I was going to go to support my RA’s.  So my friend, Anca, and I made our way to the lounge where the rules are read off.

The money that is raised goes to charity, Grace Center of Hope.  The person you won would be your date to the box social.  There was a capped price of fifty dollars, and if you reached the capped price, bidding against someone, then you played rock, paper, scissors to determine the winner. 

We watched intently as one by one, the RA’s were auctioned off. Everyone was going for five dollars, ten dollars, nothing too high at all.  And then, Karl came on. I laughed at his antics as a couple people started to bid on him and then all of a sudden I found myself bidding on him too. Shannon, what are you getting yourself into?  (I think I find that I ask myself this question a lot.)

And after I start bidding, another girl challenges me and it was sort of like, if I could make chat faces in real life, I totally would, and it would like something like: -______-

Since when did Karl become so popular?  So I went for it.  I bid more.  Twelve dollars or so isn’t that bad, right?  I mean, I do have a job.  And then, she bid higher.  At this point, my eyebrows are raised. “So we’re gonna play this game, eh?” 

The girls from 9 South were sitting in front of me, cheering me on, so I bid higher and soon enough this girl and I were in the cross fire of an undeclared war; that’s when I realize, the price I’m willing to pay for Karl is quickly creeping up.  It’s going from twenty to thirty to forty and at some point you realize now that you’re just doing this to win.  You can’t back down now, right?  I mean, it’s just one of those things because then you look lame if you do.  So I keep going.  I keep going and the girls keep cheering and here we are, face to face at the capped price of fifty dollars. 

“It looks like we’ve gotta play rock, paper, scissors.” And I’m thinking, fantastic.  Pushing through the people, I make my way to the front and awkwardly smile at Karl.  It’s like, “Hey, yeah. I’m doing this.” So we start and the first two plays are a tie so I know what she’s going to do now.  I’m just into reading people, and I know what she’s going to do, so I do the opposite.  I win once.  We go again, and I win twice.  Best two out of three gets Karl.

I’m probably grinning by now, I don’t even know.  It’s just one of those big rushes and it all happened so quickly.  (Anyone reading this, make sure you never take me gambling.  I don’t think I’d last long before I started sawing off an arm and a leg to donate to my own cause.) The crowd cheers, everyone’s excited, and Karl raises my arm in victory. I give an awkward face and after handing over fifty dollars, (Gotta remind myself it is for a great cause and is going to charity.) I walk back to my seat. 

A few minutes later, Karl walks over to me and says, “I can’t believe you just dropped fifty dollars on me,” and I look at him and go, “Ah. You’re worth it.” 

And to be honest, that’s how Karl and I’s lives as epic students at Oakland University began.  For a good week or so after the auction, Karl was stopped by a many people to mention, “So, Karl, I heard you went for fifty bucks.”  And I was asked to relay the epic tale of how I came to think Karl was worth fifty dollars.  (Who knows the price it would have been if there wasn’t a cap.  My goodness.)

And that’s how Karl and I’s relationship started too.  After some serious signs that went down, we decided we were good for each other and we were gonna try it out.  ;D

So let’s recap; If you were wondering who caused all the intense commotion that required emergency vehicles here one Saturday, yes, it was me and my popcorn.  So we cleared that one up. If you happened to hear about the crazy date auction that went down in Hamlin Hall, and how that one RA, Karl, was bid on in a war of fifty dollars, well, I was that girl.  So we’ve got that rumor taken care of too. 

What other epic adventures do I have in store?  Who knows.  Ahh, the life of living on campus. (: 

On September 19, OUPD responded to a smoke alarm in a South Hamlin Hall room.  A resident said she burned popcorn in her microwave.  Auburn Hills Fire Department came and reported no damage. It's just one of those things that could only happen to me. Or that's how it seems, anyways, and all that I could think was, "only me.  Only I could manage to do something like this.  Yeah, only me."

I couldn't ignore the smoke detector that was beeping above my head.

"What do I do know?"

So if anyone was wondering why we had the ambulance, the fire department, the police department, Army, National Guard, NASA, PETA and every other important facility and organization here outside of Oakland University last Saturday, it was because of me. Me and my popcorn. 

Saturday started out as nothing special.  Really. I opened at work and ended my shift at four.  I drove for an hour to visit my dad so I could steal some of his music - and then accept all responsibilities for his finances in case anything was to happen to him. (Yes, this day was nothing special.) I arrived back home, in my room, around ten.  I studied for an hour before I realized that I wanted some food, but to be honest, all that I own is popcorn and the thing is I only own popcorn for a reason.  It’s supposed to be a strategy for myself.  That was the plan, anyways. 

You see, I'm somewhat of a goldfish.  Now, doctors have not proven it yet, but I think somewhere along evolution, my cells missed producing a stomach and gave me a black hole instead, resulting in the ability to consume infinite amounts of food.  Terrible, huh?  But it's pretty much true.  One day I'll be an anomaly or something, some scientific discovery, but until then, it's just a problem that I have to avoid, and so my way of fixing this problem of wanting absorbing crazy amounts of carbs, was me leaving snacks out of my room.  That is, except for the popcorn my dad gave me. And that popcorn was the problem.

Anyways, after I was studying for awhile, my black hole of a stomach started to growl, so I ventured out of the lounge and into my room only to find the popcorn.  And actually, that's fine.  Popcorn sounded sort of good, so I stuck it in my microwave, pressed the popcorn button and continued reading. Three and a half minutes later when the buzzer went off, I opened the door and took out the popcorn.  The bag was sort of flat and didn't look completely popped, but I wasn't too concerned.  I didn't want to eat all of it, anyways.  I sat up in my bed and went to rip open the bag and that's probably when I noticed the black burn mark bleeding through the side.

I think I sort of looked at it funny but decided it wasn't a big deal and went to take a piece of popcorn.  The popcorn, obviously, was burnt too but whatever.  I just wanted to shut my stomach up, right?  A few burnt pieces of popcorn mixed with a few pieces that weren't burnt would have been fine.  So I ate a piece.  It was okay.  I ate another piece and the three more after that when the beeping started going off. Yes, apparently the scolded bag decided to set off my smoke detector. 

"What do I do about this?!" I'm thinking unbelievably.  Only me.  Only could this ever happen to me, of course. So I trod down the hall to my RA's room and I say, "Uh, Danielle, my smoke alarm's going off." She laughed at me.  Her and the other two girls in the room laughed at me.  It's okay though because I was laughing at myself.  Yeah, we were all laughing, and so Danielle calls the RA on duty and tells me he'll be up. I felt the blush running down my cheek bones and the awkward smile plastered to my face.  Who knows what was going to happen now.

Suddenly, Karl, the RA on duty, comes down the hall followed by two police officers.  Great. I grin stupidly and say, "It was only popcorn.  I guess it smoked or something." So they follow me to my room, and both walk around my mess that littered the ground.  Reese's rappers, clothes, books, shoes, cd cases.  Yeah, the whole works.  I pretty much live off of my floor and they stepped over all of this and stared at my microwave, probably with disbelief. 

"Where's the popcorn?"

So I showed them, it was sitting on my bed.

"You should probably throw that out somewhere else."

So I blushed and sort of bowed my head in arrogance as I took the bag to the end of the hall garbage room.  That's when the rest of the Calvary arrived. A whole fleet of fire fighters were storming through the lounge and my face probably transformed from a stupid smile to a look of embarrassed horror.

"Oh my, all of this for popcorn.  You've got to be kidding me."

"Where is it?" They ask. 

At this point, a few of the girls who stayed in the halls for the weekend, had wandered out into the hallway to figure out what the bad smell and noise was about.

"It's only popcorn," I repeated.

So the fire fighters go in my room and I'm just in a state of utter awkwardness.  How do you respond to this?  I made all of this trouble over popcorn.  My goodness. They come out and ask me for my information. They turned the detector off.  They told me not to heat popcorn up for that long. Like I intentionally did this or something.  I mean, come on. I pressed the popcorn button. So then, the police officers take my information too. I've got my hand to my forehead ready to die of, I don't even know what. Laughter?  Crying?  Humiliation?  Silliness?  This was just too much. And it was over.  Karl looks at me and I just shake my head. 

"What?" He asks.

"It's just, totally something I would do," I laugh.  I mean, if you knew me, the irony is just reeking off of this situation.  Something so stupid for someone who hates stupidity. Karl just sort of brushed it off. And that's how I ended my night. The firemen left, the policemen left, and I think shortly after that, the United Nations got the hint that they weren't really needed either and that all was handled so they returned to wherever it is that they came from.

So if you were wondering why OU was ridden with all of these emergency vehicles, well it was because of me.  Me and my popcorn. And the best part?  It's not even like the popcorn was flaming! But just in case anyone asks, the real story is that I burnt my room down, saved a cat and three children from the fire, and the fire department had to come help me man down the fort, alright? That way it's not so embarrassing.  You know, since I caused so much ruckus over nothing, although I guess I like to think of it as an experience. I mean, no one else has had such an exciting experience in the rooms yet, right? Think of it as a challenge, and remember kids, don't burn your popcorn!