The Things I've Done [list]

Disclaimer: normally I loathe blogging lists, but I saw this on a friend's blog and thought "why not?" so here it is.

Here's the rules: bold the things you've done and post it on your blog!

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii and danced on a lava cliff with the roar of the Pacific below.
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child [through Compassion International - does that count?]
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person [I've seen the Frozen Niagra Falls!]
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50.Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80.Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Where is the snow?

I love snow. A lot.
It is so wierd to look outside right now because there isn't any snow and it is the 2nd of December already! I feel like we get snow right after Halloween usually. It is just late this year.
The sky looked like it could snow today. But it hasn't. Yet.

I was thinking that Christmas without snow is so different and un-winter like. I am not sure that I would like that. Then I remembered that millions of people don't have snow on Christmas. Like my friends in Australia. It's usually 100 degrees on Christmas in Aussie and people are grilling out in their flip flops and shorts. The beach is a hot spot to be too. Now that just seems foreign to me. I like to sip my hot chocolate by the fireside and watch the snow fall outside. To see the neighbors making snow people and having snowball fights. Ah, the little joys of Christmas and winter.

I didn't get to spend much time in the snow last year because of my little trip to Australia. I miss it and want it to come now!

Well, I must get back to homework and holiday dress shopping. Or looking is really more like it.

La paz.

Aussie Love

I miss Australia so much.

I miss:
- my friends that I made while I was living there
- Andrea & Nicky
- LCC & my amazing coworkers
- the dry heat
- the lifestyle
- Adelaide
- the beach
- the amazing fruit & food
- seeing kangaroos & koalas all the time
- wineries
- EVERYTHING!

I haven't missed Australia this much since I first arrived back home. I don't know if I miss it more now because the one year anniversary of leaving the States is coming up soon or because I just honestly miss my life that I had while I was there. I feel that it is a toss up of both.

School is a drag, a bore and it seems so useless at times. Half of my classes are things that I have already learned and the other half is stuff I can honestly say that I know I will never use or need to recall.

When I was in Adelaide, I felt like I was actually doing something worthwhile with my time. I was helping other people and making a difference in someone else's life. That's what matters to me - making sure people have food, clothing, counseling, prayers and a place to stay at night among many other things. Writing papers and learning about pharmacology or data analysis just do not matter to me. Point blank. In Australia, I felt like I could do anything and that I was prepared for what I was doing. I was independent and living on my own in another country.

Now back in the States, I feel that I don't have the chance to make a difference or do something that can impact someone else's life while sitting in a classroom. Studying and homework take up so much of my life that I don't even have the time to volunteer unless it is during my breaks. How sad is that? Really sad, I know.

Adelaide -
I miss you. And the life I had with you. You taught me many amazing and wonderful things that I will carry with me throughout my life. You introduced me to phenomenal people who changed my life and its course. You have a part of my heart. We will meet again soon.
Love -
Hilary

Lessons Learned (or Rediscovered) While Being Sick

I've been sick for the past week and I am so ready to kick this thing in the butt!

So I decided to blog about a few of my thoughts on being sick and what I've learned during this week in which I have not done a thing.

Things I've rediscovered about being sick:
- doctors always think you are sick with something other than what you really are sick with
- one must be sick (and getting quite worse) for a few days before medication will be given
- some professors are extremely helpful when one is down and out
- other professors completely ignore one's emails and other attempts to contact them which causes heaps more stress than is needed to add to the already growing amount of stress
- being quarantined to my room gets old after the first day
- there is NOTHING good on TV during the day unless it is Ellen (in the morning) and Oprah (in the afternoon)
- I have been missing out on some amazing blogs that I used to read a lot and never do anymore. That'll be changing because they are inspirational and just so well written: http://katemcdonald.wordpress.com/
- some people are willing to brave getting sick to visit me while others avoid me like the bubonic plague even though I DO NOT have H1N1. It is those brave souls who I consider good friends because they stop by for no reason - only to say hi and to see how I am feeling.

I wasn't able to attend Seth Meyers who did a comedy show on campus as ETK's Large Event this year. I was not disappointed that I couldn't go because I didn't plan on going in the first place. Now if Tina Fey was coming, it would have been a different story entirely. Instead, I watched "Enchanted" and sang along in my very out-of-tune, scratchy and sickly voice. Haha. I love Amy Adams in that movie. Patrick Dempsey isn't too bad in the movie either.

I also watched a movied called "Ozzie" that my mother gave me for my birthday. By the end of the movie, I thought everyone was talking in Australian accents and it made me even more determined to go back to Australia. I want to see all the places I wasn't able to go to and I want to see all my friends from there. Plus that koala was so damn cute in the movie.

It is 8:15pm on a Friday night and I could go to bed right now. But I am going to hold out and maybe watch another movie, read a novel or paint. Painting is something I love to do and I just don't have time for it anymore. I wish I did. Reading on the other hand... I do for class all the time. This summer I went on a reading craze because I never get to free-read during the school year. It was a glorious time - laying out in the sunshine, sipping on some iced sun tea and just relaxing while enjoying a good book. I might pick up a book tonight too. Who knows?

Until the next time I write, la paz.

Reminiscing

I was just rereading some of my previous blog posts on here and at http://hilary-in-aus.blogspot.com/ and they make me laugh. And wonder why I posted that entry or "what was I thinking when I wrote that?!" Emotions are such a funny thing and they affect so much of our daily routines, thoughts and just life in general. My writing is definitely influenced by my emotions and it was fun to go back over and reread it and then interpret my feelings of the situation now.

And I never did do the Lent thing I had said I was going to do. I was so busy in Aussie that I didn't have time! Maybe this coming lent I will do it. I think I am going to give up the E! channel for Lent this year. Then again, I haven't watched it in 6 days (which is a record for me, if you know me) so I might have to think of something else to do.

In 3 months, it will be a year since I boarded a jet plane (or two) and headed to Adelaide, Australia. I had some of the best times of my life while I was there. I met some of the coolest, most hospitable and just amazing people I will ever know in Australia. I wouldn't trade any of the time there for anything else in this world. Those memories will last a lifetime and maybe beyond. Who knows?

I also can't believe how time has just flown and that I'm a senior in college now. Where did all of that time go? I can remember moving all of my stuff into the hallways of Clinton 3 South on freshman moving day, meeting EmilyRA and wondering who my friends were going to be. I remember not wanting to live in Clinton, but rather Centennial or Vollmer. By the end of that year, I was so glad I lived in Clinton rather than anywhere else. I met some of my best friends in that building. And crazy times were always to be had at all hours of the day and night. And now I'm going to graduate in less than a year and have to start the process all over again. Albeit no dorm rooms. All of this reminiscing makes me wish time would slow down sometimes, but then again at times it does feel slow when I'd rather it be fast. It's just a constant ebb and flow that I've learned to live with.

Well, now that I've procrastinated some more, I better get back to my paper and the other endless homework that is waiting for me.

La Paz.

Movie review: Fireproof

So a few weeks back my mom asked if I wanted to watch the movie "Fireproof" with her. I didn't really want to, but I did anyway. I didn't think it was going to be very good, but boy was I wrong!


It's seriously one of the best Christian movies I've ever seen. One of the best movies I've seen hands down. And it has changed millions of viewers lives in the short time it's been out.


Brief synopsis: There is a married couple - Caleb and Catherine who are about to call it quits on their marriage. Caleb is the captain of the local fire department and Catherine works at the hospital. Caleb's dad instructs his son to hold off on the divorce for 40 days and in the same time read and apply the book - Love Dare - to Catherine. I'm going to leave it at this and let you watch the movie to determine the rest of what happens. :)

IE: Somewhat of a spoiler alert - so don't read this if you wanna semi-know what happens! :)

This movie took me on an emotional rollercoaster - up and down and back up again then down again. I will say that I think the wife's role could have been done or portrayed differently. She never once "tried" in making the marriage work (or so it seemed from my point of view) - she was always accusing her husband of doing things, but never taking responsibility for her own actions. And while Caleb was trying to make it work (though he didn't want to at first) she was off doing her own sinning with the local doctor at the hospital. I guess I wish that would have been addressed in the movie and I think it should have been. I know that we are supposed to forgive and forget, but it still should have been addressed. I also just want to note that most people don't make a quick change to Christianity like Catherine did in this movie. It's more of a process for people to search their questions and seek their answers. Others it's more of a feeling thing than logic. For some its both. But it takes typically takes time.

Anyway, off of my ranting and raving - see the movie!!! :)


Three and three-fourths stars out of four!

Stressful Summer...

May term is finally over. I came out on top so that's good. I was really proud of myself due to the fact that I hadn't sat in a class room let alone done a crap load of papers, etc. since the middle of December. Now I just have to finish all of the study abroad stuff: papers, portfolios, journals and presentations. I have until September, but I want to get it done now before I start to forget things.

I decided to push back my summer class to July. I could feel the stress mounting with annual conference this week, school, work and doing stuff for Australia. Summer is supposed to be a stress-free time, but that's not what it is shaping up to be. Which stinks, but what can one do?

Well back to organizing my culture portfolio. I have a lot of thoughts I want to put down in my blog, but I don't exactly have the time to sit and write to my heart's content.

On another note: Miley Cyrus's new song "The Climb" is catchy and I'll admit that I like it.

SOLD OUT shows and the word 'across'

I was sitting in the Vogel library Tuesday night when I heard this:

Girl: "I didn't know how to spell 'across' until I saw the movie 'Across the Universe' and now I can spell it!! *laughs* It is just such a difficult word to spell."
Her four group members: silence and stares.

How did she get into college? And didn't anyone teach her not to say things like that outloud? Oh, well. I found it amusing and just laughed to myself for a while. However, I felt bad for her and for her group members though, because if she can't spell 'across' what else can't she spell? And she was the one writing their paper. Yikes.

And just now:

The boy sitting next to me was getting screamed at by his girlfriend on the phone. I could hear every word. "Poor guy" was my first thought. Then when he said that he wants to see her wear something other than sweats today, I retracted my first thought. Don't tell a woman what to wear. Seriously. Hopefully he learns sooner rather than later.

On another note: one week and I'm done with class at Wartburg until September! Yay!

On a downer: Two weeks until I start at Hawkeye. Bummer. Thank you Wartburg for messing up my schedule.

Double downer: ALL the tickets to the Keith Urban/Taylor Swift concert are sold out! In IL and IA. Minnesota doesn't go on sale for a few days, but damn it I want to go to a show!

Okay back go my persuasive paper. Catch ya later.

Being Back and All That

I'm back on campus. Joy. (That's sarcasm just dripping off that.) I have to say - I didn't miss it. I missed the people, but not the place. At all. Since I'm commuting ($700 for three and a half weeks of living on campus is outrageous so I'm living at home and saving money), I'm in the library and I forgot how much I don't like this library. I can hear some annoying girl talking about her phone and "how it's like really loud on her desk!" Well turn it off and shut up. I didn't miss this. And I forgot how much they charge just to print. I know I have $5 worth of money of printing for May Term, but I only have $0.06 left because they charge SIX CENTS for each side of the paper now. Since when did I have to start paying for both sides instead of just the piece of paper?! Honestly - Wartburg don't you take enough of my money already? I sure as hell think you do. Now stop it. I still have a week of class left with plenty of printing left to go. Ugh.

On the flip side, I wish I was back in Aussie. I love my family and being home, but I miss the culture, weather and the life. I left a part of me there and I may never get it back.

Enough whinging for me - I have to get back to my social psychology homework. At least Dr. Bane's class was worth the hassle of getting into and I am getting my money's worth of education. Makes me think about going into neuroscience somedays. Nah, I'll stick with law. :)

Lent

For Lent this year I decided to blog each day on someone who has changed my life. Well, since I don't have internet access like I thought I would it is a bit difficult to blog daily. So I am going to do two on the weekend now instead of daily.

Packing, Winter X Games, Princess Mia and Wikipedia

So I should be finishing up packing for my trip to Australia tomorrow, but instead I am busy updating my blog. LAME! haha.

Update: I went to Wartburg and saw the roomies last weekend. It was great - there were some ups and downs to the weekend, but that's to be expected I guess. I miss the girls already! And all the other friends that I was able to see - and those that I was unable to see.

I have been watching a lot of Winter X Games action lately. Mainly because I am leaving the snow behind for 90 degree weather and it's dumping in Aspen, Colorado. The extreme conditions and movements that those athletes attempt are insane! Like the superpipe tonight - it was blizzarding out! Ah, well. But Shaun White put it down in slopestyle and won. He also won in superpipe, but I am still debating on whether or not I thought he or Kevin Pearce deserved to win. I'll let you know when the verdict is in. And the snowmobiling!? Some guy (I think his name was Levi) did a DOUBLE flip on his snowmobile. Crazy. Anyway, enough about the X Games.

I reread six of the Princess Diaries books this past week. They are addicting and I told myself I just wanted to reread the first one. I then decided to Wikipedia the rest of the series to see how many books were left and (spoiler alert!) discovered that Michael and Mia end up... not together. Bummer. So I didn't even bother to finish the last couple of chapter (really journal entries) of the sixth book. I knew I shouldn't have Wikipedia'd it, but I wanted to know how many there were and then that led to reading about the plots and characters, etc. etc. You know how Wikipedia is. It knows everything!

So I'm off to finish packing, get some shut-eye and then up to say good-bye to some of the fam.

My "Suities"

So I have nothing profound to write today except that I am going back up to Wartburg tomorrow to see my "suities" and roomie. I am so excited because I haven't seen anyone since I left for break. So that means it has been over a month and I am well past due. It has been wierd not having to go to class or being able to walk down the hallway to say 'hey' to someone. These girls are the best friends anyone could ask for and they are super-stoked I am coming. YAY! Now off to pack for the weekend.

11 days until take-off! :)

American Idol

I have decided to try to blog every day (starting yesterday) so that when I get to Australia I will be used to sitting down and writing every day.

Today's blog is about the juggernaut that is American Idol. I haven't watched this show since the first year it came out and Kelly Clarkson won - and I was pulling for her! But last night it was on (and it's on again tonight for 2 hours for those that care) and it is so addicting. I really don't like the show, but for some reason I couldn't stop watching. I can't believe that so many people try out and most of them - let's be honest with ourselves here - are just God awful at singing. If you know you can't sing and people tell you that you are tone deaf then maybe you shouldn't try out and embarrass yourself even more on national television. Especially the girl who showed up in her bikini. Really? Honestly? Are you that much better than everyone else that you can't wear clothes? And they let her through to Hollywood even after insulting the new judge. Typical.

But then there were those few who actually can sing and it was worth it to have to sit through the bikini clad girl and others who chose to sing Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" song to hear the others.

This could shape up to be a good season - but I won't tune in for the rest of it.

Sudoku

Funny little story about sudoku that I thought I would share...

I have this book of sudoku puzzles that I bought at the airport when I headed back out to Southern California this past summer. I thought it would be a fun thing to try and I am addicted! Today my mom tried to borrow my sudoku book and do a puzzle. It was in the "hard" section so I told her I'd go buy her a book. She thought she could do it, but that didn't go as planned. So I printed her a puzzle off of a sudoku website and gave it to her. I was laughing earlier because she thought that you could just put the numbers where ever you wanted to. She didn't realize that there is a method and precision that goes into it. Needless to say, she got a puzzle done... with my help! :)

13 days until Australia! :)