April Showers...

April is the LONGEST month everrr when you are in college. So close to finals and summer time, but so freaking long. I have been SUPER busy in the past month. Lots of tests, homework, and school work has kept me busy. My sister came to visit me which was fantastic because I hadn't seen her since Christmas break (I think). We hung out, had a movie night, had a game night, went to the creamery, and just had a good time. The next weekend, I had to go home to go to Emily's bridal shower. It was kind of at an inconvenient time as far as school goes, I had SO much due the next week, but I had to be there cause I am a bridesmaid. I am SO glad that I went, I had a FANTASTIC time seeing Emily and just hanging out.

Then this past weekend (Blue and White), Martie came to visit me! It was absolutely great because I got a nice break from school - even though I had an exam today and a paper to write for today. We went to the ShandyGaff on Friday night because the line for Indigo was OUTRAGEOUS and we got to hang out with my friend Alyssa, which was really nice. Then Saturday, we went to Waffle Shop EARLY before the line started, and instead of going tailgating and whatnot, we went shopping and found some SWEEEEEEEEEET glasses.

Theeeen on Saturday night, we were gonna go to Indigo, but when we stepped outside, it was raining. We tried to get a cab, buuuuut they were all full. Soooo we decided to stay in, take

pictures, make homemade tortillas and hummus, drink, and play card games. Then we went to waffle shop again and we TRIED to upload the pictures from the previous night, buuuuuut my camera deleted the pictures.

Sooooo we decided

to retake the photos! We had SO much fun doing it! I am so sad the weekend is over and its back to reality. I had to wake up at 7 to finish up a paper before my 9 am class, then I had to take a test at 1, which... hopefully went well. But I have pretty much decided that I will NEVER be an SLP in the south! Their accents are too crazy for me! :P

Next week is finals week. AHHHHH. I see the light at the end of the semester. Only one more year until I graduate. The next few months are going to be crucial for me. I have to get my GRE skills up to par, research more schools, and apply to grad school. O M G. I am freaking out a little... but I am concentrating on finals and current grades before I can seriously commit time to research. Also, I have to find places to volunteer for the summer, and get myself another job :-\

hmmm.

Well, a lot has happened since I have last written. I did well in my first semester of CSD, I have not broken any MORE bones, I went to the OBX with Dad, Steph, Moni, and Dad's friends and had a BLAST, acquired a snuggie (thanks mom!), was asked to be in a friend's wedding in June (which I said yes to, and acquired a beautiful bridesmaid's/sun dress), got a job serving food to freshmen - not all in that order.

That brings us to 2010, which began at the OBX. I started the year off with 2 ear infections and strep throat. Awesome, right? Well, at least things can pretty much only go up from there.. right? Well, kinda. I get back to school after spending time with the fam, and things are going well. We celebrated 21st birthdays, celebrated weekends, celebrated friendships.... until a whole group of my friends decided I wasn't gonna be their friend anymore - with no legitimate reason... well at least that I know of. It's all good though, cause I am legit better off without them.
Sooo, a few months pass and its time for SPRING BREAK!

Well, Martie and I decide that we are going on a cruise. We booked a cruise on the Carnival Destiny for 5 nights for only $430!!! AMAZING! We decide to drive to Miami to save money instead of flying. So we met in VA, then drove to Charleston, SC to stay at her friend Matt's apartment. We had fun; we went out for mexican dinner and a margarita (or two, or three). The next day we drove to Miami (overnight) and got on the ship. We had a BLAST. The cruise started Monday, Tuesday was FREEZING at sea, Wednesday was spent in Grand Turk, Thursday was supposed to be spent at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas but it was too windy/wavy for the tender boats to get us to land, so it was a beautiful day at sea, Friday was spent at Nassau, and we came back Saturday. I tried a LOT of new things on the cruise. I ate salmon sushi, lobster, escargot, conch in the Bahamas, grouper.... I feel like there were more, but I cant recall.

So that pretty much brings us up to speed with my life over the past few months. I am thinking about moving to Queens for the summer, but there are some things that need worked out before that can happen. It would be a fantastic summer filled with Martie time, game nights, but also lots of money making. It will be oh so exciting for quite a few reasonnnnnssssss.

Oh life.

SO much has happened to me this year. I have learned a lot about who I am and who I want to be. I think that I finally have my head in the right place, finally, in my senior year (even though I will have whole other year before I graduate in May 2011...weird to think about). I have been working in my classes for my new major. I love it. I have met some great new people and have become VERY close with the people currently in my life. I think I have begun to straighten things out with family, but, still have more work to do there. Between breaking 3 bones within 4 months, boys, friends, family, I have had a bit of a wake-up call... and like I said, I think I am on a better track.

I finally got cleared last Wednesday to resume normal activity with my ankle, which is GREAT news! I have been going to the gym and my limp is minimal, so I couldn't be any happier. (Although I should be at the gym now.. I just have NO energy, so I am gonna finish this up and clean... and MAYBE get to the gym before 9..).

I have realized what great friends I have in my life. Jen (my roommate) and I have cleared up things that went sour last year, and living with her has been great. I think that we have become pretty good friends and it makes me truely happy that I don't dread coming back to my apartment. Jer and I have also made up, and I love him like a brother. Mark... well, he has a new girlfriend, so he is mostly MIA, but still makes some time to come over and goof off. I really am happy for him that he has found a good girl, I just hope he can stay focused on school and graduate on time! Mr. Kreshnik, I just found out last night, is graduating in December! WHAAAT!? That is so scary to think about. He is the first of my better friends to graduate and leave!! I guess I have to get used to it, since most (and when I say most, I mean a good 85-90%) of my friends will be graduating and moving on with their lives. I think that Lauren has become my best friend here. We have helped each other through the bad and celebrated the good. Hopefully, we can stay great friends after she leaves in the fall, but I don't want to think about that. Also, Adrian has become a really great friend (even if I am unsure about her boy situation, I still try to support her, because it is a really hard situation for her). The Polish boys (& Craig too!) across the hall are so great to me. They make me laugh and I just love going over there and hanging out with them. I am glad to have Ana and Deb back at UT (even if I don't see them as much anymore since they moved to the T building...).

In the past.. year or so, Marcella (my fcubeddd W2T) and I have become REALLY close. This really makes me happy. I have known her literally all my life and cannot wait to move up to New York to live with her. She has been coming to visit me at school and I am pretty sure she loves it, and I love going to the city to visit her, even if it doesn't happen as often as I would like... its just hard with school.

So Halloween is this weekend, and I am pretty pumped. Marcella is coming! Kyle and Nicole are also coming and I cannot wait to see them as well! I miss them being in State College, so I really appreciate when they come up and visit (even if it's not solely to visit me). I have two costumes planned out, but they are a secret. I'll let you know how it goes sometime later.. :P

I miss my sister. I haven't seen her in a long while. I feel like things are slowly getting better between us, even though we still fight a little too much (but its mostly when we are together). I know she is having a rough time at school and I wish I could go visit her, but I am legit out of money. :( I need a job.

Anyway, I think that is all for right now.
Peace, Love, and Bobby Sherman lol

Reflections..

So here I am. One year ago, this very moment, I was on a boat (yes, I know. I'm on a boat) en route to Bergen, Norway. I honestly cannot believe it has been a whole year. I was so nervous and so very excited to experience everything that was about to happen for the next 2 and a half months. The first person I really met was my roommate, Amber. She was a great roommate. Yes, we had our differences and got on each others nerves from time to time (which is bound to happen when your room is 2x2, haha), but overall she was a good roommate. Then I met Marissa, and we obviously became best friends on the trip and I miss her so much, and then her roommate Aimee and many more people from there.

As I sit here, looking at pictures and reminiscing, I feel like I learned SO SO much about myself through friends, the staff on the ship, the countries we visited, and the people I met in these countries. I certainly caught a BAD case of the travel bug after this trip, and can't wait for my next journey -- whether it be in the US or somewhere else. (Although, I AM looking to try and go again next summer......)

Anyway, enough sappy reminiscing. In 5 days, I am about to have a milestone birthday. Yes, the big 2-1. I am pretty excited about this, despite my lack of money to support being able to go out and drink with friends. I am just really excited that my good friends are coming out to see me (if they aren't already here) and celebrate my birthday! I am excited for everyone to come, but in particular, my SAShole -- Marissa and also my Fcubed -- Marcella! I miss them so much!

So. That's about all I have to say right now as I am EXHAUSTED and have 4 papers to write in the next 2 weeks... so back to that. I will write again sometime after muh birthday and let you (whoever you may be) know how it goes.

Until then...

Quite frankly, this seems like a more fun idea than studying lifespan development right now...

Soooo, it has been entirely too long since I have written in this blog. It is coming up on a year since I left for my Semester at Sea (June 15, 2008). I feel so blessed to have been able to participated in that adventure. I made tons and tons of memories - many of you probably read along as I went - and even more so, I made some really great friends that I will NEVER forget.

So this past school year was my first year at the main Penn State campus (thank GOD I am done with Altoona). I absolutely loved it! I have learned so much about myself, including that I do not EVER EVER EVER want to be in the hospitality business. (Ooops, expensive life decision...) I have finally figured out what I want to do with my life - be a speech therapist. Now I am not 100% sure where I want to go with this. I have a few options, all of which have good job placement and good pay. I am leaning toward working in an elementary school with children that have autism or just children with speech impediments, but after having a conversation with Marcella about her brother and people who were in the ICU, I am also leaning toward working in a hospital with victims of accidents and so on. I am so glad that I figured out what I want to do. I always knew I wanted to do SOME sort of teaching but found out that being an actual teacher was not in the cards for me (i.e. I decided against standardized tests, being moved around between grades, bad pay).

I have met some really great people here in State College. Most of my friends I met at my apartment complex, which I love. They have been pretty good to me and help me when I need them and vice versa. I have also made some great friends in the major I now call the "oopsie major". I am really glad to have met them. I really do believe that everything happens for a reason, and I did get something good out of a year of torture.

So now, it is summer break, and guess how I am spending it. Yes, thats right, SUMMER CLASSES. Ugh! But thats what happens when you change your major at the very end of your 3rd year of school. I am taking 2 classes and I am SUPPOSED to be working at Dunkin Donuts, but clearly they are overstaffed, so the new girl gets no hours. Great.

But, my favorite month is coming up! Yes, June. Why? Oh.. maybe just cause its my birthday month! Oh.. and 24 days till my 21st! Yayaya! But, honestly who is counting? I do have an exciting few months coming up a head of me, though. Firstly, my birthday is the 20th. A week after, on the 27th, I am going to the Kenny Chesney concert, courtesy of my friend Jordan! I am SOSOSOSOSOSO pumped for that. I have been wanting to see Kenny Chesney for soo long! Then I have finals and all that jazz.

July is going to be an exciting month! Two big things are happening for me. 1) Marcella and I are going to go on a trip for her graduation present from her mom. I think things are looking toward San Diego! I have NEVER been to California, so I am really pumped about it! We are gonna go to the zoo, shopping, beach, go out.. all the fun stuff!! 2) I am going BACK to CA a week and a half later to go see my SASHOLES! I will be flying into LAX to see Heather and Emily! Also, I will be really close to Christian, so I am gonna head there for a day or two or whatever and see her and her fam! I cannot waiiit!

So after all that craziness, I will be heading to the OBX with my faja and sistah the second week of August. Then all the fun is over and school starts again like a week or two after that. Sad Party. Buuuut I will be jumping right into my new major (provided I can get into my classes...but thats a different story).

Welp, that is all for now. I have to get to studying for my first summer exam that is happening at 6pm tomorrow!! :)

Peace out Boy/Girl Scouts

I've had the time of my life.... and I owe it all to you

On our 12-day journey home from Croatia to Norfolk, Va, These are some exciting things that have happened:

Monday 8/11/08
Today was a class day and a day of paper writing! I did work all day and took naps, I was still tired from all the exploring on land. I stayed up all night writing papers because at 2:30 we were supposed to be able to see a meteor shower and my biology professor told us that it was going on and he’d meet us all on the front of the ship to watch. We stayed out for about 45 minutes laying on the deck and watching the stars. It was absolutely beautiful and we saw quite a few falling meteors!!

8/12/08
Even though I only got a few hours of sleep, I was able to stay awake all day, get some sun between classes, and get a little bit more paper writing done! I was going to stay up all night again to watch the meteor shower tonight as well – our professor told us that it was going to be better tonight – but I fell asleep around 1. I woke up at 2:30 to go out and watch – the crew turned the lights out on the front of the ship -- but it was soo windy and cold, I only stayed out for a bit. I saw a few meteors, but it was better the night before.

8/13/08
Today was a study day, so naturally, we had out last life boat drill at 10am. At 11, I got a hot stone massage (it was a birthday present a la dad – but I decided to get it when I was stressed about finals and papers and really needed it..). It was really wonderful! I wrote papers all day, so I didn’t get to lay out. Around 4pm, we stopped in Gibraltar, Spain to refuel and whatnot, and we were there until about 11. I had a SAS family dinner with my family – minus Joyce (our ‘aunt’) and her daughter Bridget. There was also an auction in the union – I went, but didn’t buy anything. They were auctioning things off like unlimited Internet for the rest of the trip, seats at the captain’s table, a weekend of photography with Photo Mike who does Nikon workshops (which I really wanted, but don’t have $1000 to drop…).

8/16/08
Today was another class day of papers and work. There was a partial moon eclipse that was absolutely GORGEOUS! I didn’t get pictures because I forgot my camera, but I am hoping to snag some from someone!

8/18/08
Yesterday was the global studies final, which totally sucked, but two of the students did a comedy routine at night, so that was some good comic relief. Today was a study day, but I woke up at 7, so I did a little bible study while I watched the sunrise on the 7th deck, it was really pretty. I got breakfast at 8, laid out from 9-12, got some lunch, and studied throughout the day. It was wonderful!!

8/19/08
Today was the last day of finals – I had my Biology final at 8 and my circus final at 1. I woke up at 6 to get outside and study while the sun was rising as well as get a good healthy breakfast for brain food. I took my final and felt really good about it! I went back into the cave (my room) and studied for my circus final, with a lunch break. I took the final and felt really good about it, so I was happy!! I worked out and showered and took my good old time getting ready for the ball since it was only 4 when I was done working out and we didn’t need to be ready until 6. We had pictures with Captain Jeremy at 7 then took pictures out on the deck, but it was soo windy, it was hard to get a good one with my dress and my hair flying everywhere. We got in line for our 8pm dinner and got champaign on the way in. We sat down and ate bread and then we were served bruschetta, French onion sup (my favorite!!!), Caesar salad, and steak and twice baked potatoes as our main course. The dance was going on in the union from 10 – 1 and dessert was being served throughout the ship for a while. We ate our dessert in the fac/staff and Aimee and I were able to get a picture with our biology professor, Iain Cambell, who is from Scotland and the most awesome professor ever (even though he is from Pitt and doesn’t like Penn State). We went back to dance and then got some more dessert and I got a picture with my favorite waiter – Henry. We did more dancing and then when the dance was over at 1, I went to Paul’s room to watch a movie with him, Aimee, Marissa, Emily, and Jackie. I came back and got a shower around 2 and was SO thankful to turn the clock back an hour and get that extra hour of sleep!!!

8/20/08
Only 2 days left. I got up at 8 and got some breakfast. I came back to my room, put my bathing suit on, and hit the deck to get some sun. I fell asleep lying on my stomach for about an hour, so my back got nice and tan! Around 11, a huge gust of wind came along and brought a storm about, so I came inside and got some lunch. At lunch, I got really sad and started crying and then laughing hysterically to cover it up. After lunch, I packed up my stuff, and then went to a reflection meeting of the voyage, picked up my paper from my TA for global studies (I got a B/B- -- points were taken off because I cited Wikipedia), and then went to a meeting held by the psychologists about coping with leaving. Again, I started crying a lot and Marissa joined in with me this time. After, we hit up the pub night and had a drink with friends for the last time!

I have had the MOST amazing summer ever!! I am soo sad to leave it behind, but I have made so many friends and had a wonderful time with them! I cant wait to get home and see you all!!

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog! Stay tuned for the follow up blog to my voyage!

Love,
Kate

Croatia!!

8/8/08
We are in Croatia!! I woke up early this morning to watch us pull into our last foreign port; it was very pretty!! We didn’t have a morning meeting this morning; we had the meeting last night because we had to use our tender boats for this port. There is not a whole lot of room to dock, so we didn’t get priority and had to be out in the middle of the water and take the tender boats in. We left on the 9:30 tender and got ashore right before 10. There was a large group of us – Heather, Emily, Marissa, Aimee, and Paul – and we walked around, got some money, and hopped the bus to the beach! It was really cool and very downhill, which sucked coming back up after the beach. Anyway, it was a pebble beach with beautiful clear water, which sounded cool in theory, but since we didn’t bring water shoes, it KILLED our feet getting in and out of the water. It was hot, so we managed to get in and out a few times. Around lunchtime, we headed up the hill to get some lunch, and we ended up getting pizza. After sitting there for a long time, we went up the hill a little more to make plans to go snorkeling. The only time they had open was 5:30, so we took it. We had some time since it was only 3, so we did a little souvenir shopping and got a pitcher of sangria to split between us all. It was tasty! We had to walk across that part of the land to get to the other beach at a hotel for the snorkeling. We waited for an hour and the boat finally got there at 6:30, but people who went snorkeling said they didn’t see a whole lot, so we decided to do a banana boat ride instead! It was SO much fun! All six of us fit on the banana and it was attached to a speedboat that pulled us along and occasionally flipped us off! It was sooo hard for Heather and I to get back on the banana because we are taller and have long legs. When we were done, we changed at the hotel and hopped on the bus to go to the Old Town to go to this supposedly cool bar called Buza. We got into the Old Town, which is surrounded completely by walls and had to walk up some hefty stairs to the top right of the inside of the wall to get to this bar. When we got there, it was literally a little hole on the outside of the wall overlooking the water, an island called Lokrum, and the sunset. It was absolutely gorgeous. I got a dessert wine and we just sat and sipped for a long time. When we were done there, we walked back down to the middle of the town and got some pizza for dinner. It was fantabulous! Probably the best pizza I’ve ever eaten! We also got some wine with dinner. We hopped back on the bus, went to the post and had to wait for the tender boat back to the ship, took a shower and went to bed! It was a long day in the sun! Can’t wait for another one tomorrow!!

8/9/08
This morning, we were in no rush to get out, so we went out on the 10 am tender to the port – Paul, Aimee and I. We took the bus into the old city, got some ice cream, walked around, and made reservations for kayaking. We decided to walk around the city walls on the top. It was incredibly hot, but so cool to see the city from the top of the walls. After, we stopped at a little wine bar and got a glass of wine. We got hungry after sitting for a bit, so we went to a little seafood place… yes, I said seafood. I got shrimp and it was so good! After, we got more ice cream because it was soo hot. We walked around a little more and then around 2:45 decided to walk to the beach for the kayaking. They told us it would only be a 15-minute walk from the Old Town, boy did they lie. It took about 45 minutes to get there and we had to walk up and down hills and then down these massively steep steps. It was another pebble beach, and it was much prettier than the one from before. As soon as we got there, we jumped right into the water because it was so hot. Our kayaking started at 4 and there were 2 other girls from SAS and then a couple from Dublin, Ireland. Aimee and I were in the double kayak and Paul was by himself. We were supposed to go to the other side of the island that faced the open water, but our guide said that the water was too rough, and it was a little rough, so we went to the side the was closest to the main land, and walked across the island. We walked to a little lagoon and swam for a little big, and then the guide left crackers, bread, and wine. It was a fun little excursion. We had an hour and a half on the island before heading back to the beach. This time, Paul and I were in the double and we kicked butt getting back. We laid out on the beach even though it was 8ish at that time, but it was so pretty with the sun setting over the Old Town. When we were leaving, BOTH of my flip-flops broke, so it was a LOOONG walk back o the bus stop. When we got on the bus, we ran into Caitlin, Carly, and Amber. We sang songs on the way to the ship and when we made it back to the port, Photo Mike and his family were there, so we sang Disney songs to his litte girls – Riley and Rachel who are 3 and 4. When I got back to the ship, I went to the 7th deck to see if I could get a burger or something since I didn’t eat dinner, but they were done serving real food, so I went to my room to go to bed and watched The 40 Year Old Virgin since it was playing on the loop.

8/10/08
This morning, I had to get up early to go to an orphanage and children’s hospital with SAS. We took a charter to the top of a hill and took pictures before going to the orphanage. There were about 40 of us SASers and only 16 kids. The kids were so cute and excited for us to be there. They did not speak any English, but they had their caretakers there who were helping us talk to them. They loved all the gifts we brought them – puzzles, coloring books, temporary tattoos, play do. We were there for 2 hours and when we were done, we headed over to the hospital, but the doctor wasn’t ready when we got there, so we sat for a little bit. When the doctor was ready, we had a tour of the children’s department and then had a Q & A with the doctor. She gave us postcards and with that, we headed back to the port. I decided to go off on my own and explore the city by myself. I went back into the Old Town to shop around for souvenirs. As I was walking, I saw a friend Angela sitting by herself at a restaurant, so I decided to sit with her and get lunch. We sat and talked for a good two hours. And then I headed back toward the port. I stopped at the grocery store to get some snacks before getting on the boat. Since this was our last night in port, we had a BBQ and then a group picture on the back of the ship after the BBQ. We went to the community meeting after dinner and then went outside to watch the sunset and to watch us leave our last port. So, now we are on our way back home and I have a rough week of classes and finals ahead of me! Wish me luck!!