Shannon

In the Courtyard...

Hey everyone!

    I hope you all had a terrific Saturday! It was such a nice day here in Duluth and I'm guessing it was nice almost everywhere in Minnesota, too. It was above 60 degrees, sunny, and not a single cloud was in sight. It actually felt like the fall that we sort of skipped over for a couple weeks. :) Hopefully it stays nice for at least a little while, otherwise winter is going to feel too long....

    My roommates, Nikki and Britteny, and I went and studied in the courtyard for a little while. We have a lovely courtyard surrounded by tower hall. It's secluded and peaceful and I've never seen anyone in there when I've been there. I don't think people know about it and if they do, I don't think they know they can go inside. What a shame, because it's a nice place to go and study...if it's nice outside!

    I've mostly been reading and studying all day. I have way too many quizzes next week and one test. Luckily I have all weekend to study. :) I've been studying the muscles of the upper half of the body and the arteries and nerves in the arm. I've also been studying mechanisms for o. chem. I still need to read for women's lit, which I think I'll do tonight. I will study for philosophy tomorrow...ugh. I should try and think positively about that class, but it's so hard to do so. I just need to remember that by studying philosophy, I'm fulfilling my needs for intellectual ideas/discussion/advancement...or whatever it claims to do. :)

    Well, no one has answered my last question that I posted. So, I must assume no one reads this blog of mine. Hopefully it will get answered soon...hint, hint. :) Have a great rest of your weekend!

Out for now...

Shannon :)

Over Halfway Done!

Hello!

    I can't believe it's already Thursday tomorrow...this week is flying by! I feel like I have so much time now that cross country is over. It was weird not rushing to practice after band today. It was almost dark when band got done, so I was glad I didn't have to go run. It's pretty cold tonight, too. According to my computer, it's 31 degrees. Brrrr!!

    I had my usual Wednesday classes today, which went well. I was pretty tired during philosophy, though, but I blame being up late registering for classes for that. I got registered for all of the classes I wanted to, so that's good! I've never had any trouble getting into the classes I need/want...just one of the many benefits of going to a small college! :) I'm taking organic chemistry 2, anatomy and physiology 2, abnormal psychology, history of the U.S., band, and o. chem and anat/phys labs. This semester is over half-done now! I'm excited for next semester because my schedule is a little more spread out, instead of having the majority of my classes MWF. I hope it's better, anyway.

    Well, I think I'm going to go study some anat/phys. We have our 3rd exam on Friday. I need to get to bed earlier tonight, too, because I have my 8:00 o. chem lab in the morning. Sometimes I wonder if it's a good idea for me to be mixing hazadorous chemicals that early in the morning...haha!

Out for now...

Shannon :)

    

Long Weekend Ends...

Hello everyone!

    I hope you're all of to a great start to your week. My week doesn't really start until tomorrow morning because I just got back to Duluth this afternoon. I was at home from Saturday until today. It was a great weekend!! :) We didn't have class on Monday due to mid-semester break and I didn't have class today because anatomy/physiology labs were cancelled this week. So I didn't have class today because that's all I have on Tuesdays. I really enjoyed my time at home. Our family had a little Halloween party Saturday night, which was a blast. We mostly relaxed the rest of the weekend, which was much needed after last week...it was a stressful one.

    Two of my roommates are sick and slowly recovering. I really hope I don't catch it. I'm doing my best to keep everything clean. I'm basically a germaphobe, so I wash my hands contantly, but it's really hard to keep germs from spreading when people are coughing non-stop. I just hope they get better soon.

    I'm officially done with my second season of college cross country. Wow, it went fast! It will be nice to have the extra time again. I plan on running all winter, so hopefully I can keep myself motivated to run on a regular basis. Becca said she'd run with me, so maybe we can keep each other motivated.  

    Tonight is registration for spring semester for sophomores. So I'll be frantically typing in my CRN's (class registration numbers) at 12:01am. I'm only worried about getting into the labs I want, but they shouldn't fill up too fast...I hope. :)

Well, I suppose I should go study. I didn't get a whole lot of that done this weekend...I guess I was having too much fun!

Out for now...

Shannon :)

    

Going Bonkers!

Hey!

    This week has been very stressful!! It's been full of tests and quizzes...and they're not done yet! My organic chemistry test is next and last. I'm so terribly nervous, though! It will feel great to be done with it on Friday. Our team leaves for St. Bonifacious Friday afternoon. We have our conference cross country meet Saturday morning at Crown College. It should be fun! My parents are coming! Then I'm going home with them for the weekend. I'm so EXCITED to go HOME! I haven't been home for about two months! I think that's definitely the longest I've ever been away. I can't wait!!!

    I have so much studying to do. There isn't enough time between now and when I take my test... I'm sorry this isn't interesting, but I don't have anything interesting to say. My brain is overwhelmed with stereochemistry and the million reaction mechanisms that I need to have mastered. I'm also very tired right now because I ran my tempo run at 8:00 this morning before my first class. So yeah, I'm a little out of it.

    I better get going, though, because my o. chem notes are staring at me. They're telling me to study them. Alright, I'm officially going nuts!

Out for now...

Shannon :)

Good Night, Bad Nuggets

Hey everyone!

    It's Friday once again and it feels great! If only weekends didn't go by so fast... Like I mentioned before, my weekend is going to be spent studying, studying, and studying. It's cold and snowing right now. It isn't really staying on the ground, though. If the weather keeps this up, it will be a good weekend for studying! I'm mostly relaxing tonight, though, because it's needed in order to stay sane after a busy week. Our roommate, Britteny, went home for the weekend. Becca, Nikki, and I went to the mall this afternoon-ish (after I got done working). Becca got her cartilage of her ear pierced at Claire's in the mall. She tried convincing me and Nikki to get ours done, too, but we resisted. Nikki's afraid of needles and I just don't want my cartilage pierced. I'm very conservative in that aspect. I have my ears pierced, but getting cartilage pierced is too wild for me. Haha! :)

    We ate supper at Wendy's because those two really like it. It was the most disgusting fast food I've ever had in my life! Becca recommended the chicken nuggets and fries, so I got that. Big mistake! The chicken nuggets I have in our freezer are 100 times better than those! The fries were gross, too. I couldn't believe how terrible it was. The best thing was the Sprite I had to drink. It tasted good because I haven't had pop in a long time. So that was too bad...good thing it was cheap. That's probably why it was bad.

    I'm trying to figure out my schedule for spring semester. I know that I'm taking organic chemistry 2, anatomy and physiology 2, abnormal psychology, and band. My dilemma is finding my fourth class. The general education requirements that I have left are history, religion, and upper-division writing. I found a class that covers all of those and sounds interesting, but I'm not supposed to take my upper-division writing class until I'm a junior or senior. I'm only a sophomore... It would be really nice if I could take it somehow, but I just don't think that's going to happen. So I need to continue my search for either a history or religion class, or maybe one that covers both? That would be nice! I meet with my advisor next Thursday and hopefully he'll have some good advice.

    My last trivia question has been answered! In case you are wondering, Duluth was named after Daniel Greysolon (Sieur du Lhut). :)

***NEW QUESTION: What are the four Benedictine values that the College of St. Scholastica community strives to live by?***

Have a great weekend everyone!

Out for now...

Shannon :)

Muscle Cells!!

Hello!

    I hope you're all having a great week! If you're not, be happy because it's almost Friday! This week went way too fast, like most of the others so far... This week has been pretty busy for me. Between classes, studying, and cross country practice, I have little time for anything else. My weekend is going to be dominated by studying, too. Next week consists of a women's lit. midterm, philosophy quiz, physiology quiz, and an organic chemistry test. I'm stressed thinking about it!

    Did you know that you're born with the most muscle cells that you'll ever have throughout your lifetime? Isn't that interesting!! So, when you lift weights and you think you're building muscle, you really aren't. You're just building actin and myosin fibers, which wrap around the muscle cells. We're learning about muscle cells in anatomy and I had to share that fun fact! Another thing we learned is this: when you run a lot and think you're getting stronger, you're really not because in order to get stronger you have to continue to lift heavier and heavier weights. And since you're just carrying your body around, you're not getting stronger because the weight stays the same. And if you lose weight due to the running, you're carrying around less weight and, therefore, you're really not getting stronger. Isn't that something?! That was a very brief explanation but I hope you enjoyed it. :)

    I have to finish reading "The Awakening" now for my women's lit. class. So I better get going. I've been putting off reading the last 10 or so pages because I've been studying organic chemistry all night...I have a quiz tomorrow and I'm really nervous! Wish me luck!!!

Have a happy Friday!

Out for now...

Shannon :)

Baking and Possibly the "Sophomore 15"

Hey!

    Wow, it's been a while...oops! Last week was a very busy one for me and last weekend was pretty busy, too. This week will be a lot less stressful, at least I think so. :)

    I had a philosophy essay due Monday, a physiology quiz Tuesday, an o. chem quiz Thursday (I had to take it early), and an anatomy test Friday (which I also took early). I took my o. chem quiz and anatomy test early because we left at 9:00am on Friday for a cross country meet in Moorhead. The meet was at 4:30pm but we had to leave so early because it took four or so hours to get there! After the meet, we drove the four or so hours back to Duluth and arrived at CSS around 12:30am! It was a long day to say the least...

    My weekend was mostly spent studying and baking!! My roommate, Nikki, and I have a lot of fun trying out new recipes and then eating our delicious masterpieces! So, I bought a bundle of bananas about a week ago and they went from green to brown. I don't think they were ever yellow! So we made banana bread out of them so they didn't go to waste. Aren't we thrifty?! We put chocolate chips in the mix and then sprinkled brown sugar on top of the loaf. It turned out really well and was gone in less than 24 hours! Don't worry, we shared some with our neighbors across the hall and our other roommate Britteny. Haha! Then Nikki had to make peanut butter balls for a project for one of her classes...I think marketing. So we made those and they turned out delcious as well. I had never had them before, but wow, they are very rich and good! I will put the recipe below!

Peanut Butter Balls (Nikki's recipe)

2 cups peanut butter            1 pound powdered sugar

1 stick butter or margarine     2 bags chocolate chips

3 cups rice crispies cereal

Mix peanut butter, butter, and powdered sugar. Stir in rice crispies. Then roll mixture into 1 tbsp sized balls. Melt chocolate chips (add 1-2 tbsp vegetable oil so it gets smooth) and then dip the peanut butter balls into it so they are covered in chocolate. Put in fridge to chill until chocolate hardens and enjoy!

When you're in college, the most enjoyable thing is food! I hope you enjoy the recipe if you decide to make them. I will add more fun recipes if we make some more good stuff! Hopefully I don't gain the "sophomore 15" this year...haha! I didn't gain the "freshman 15", but that's because I didn't bake goodies with my roommates every weekend. :)

Well, have a great night!

Out for now...

Shannon :)

 

Run, Run as Fast as You Can...

Hello!

    Are you all having a good week so far? I hope so. :) It's going too fast for me! I have so much to do and not enough time to do it all. Yikes! I'm actually going to have to make this somewhat short, because I have a lot more studying that I want and need to do tonight.

    I see no one has answered question #2 yet. Don't be afraid to give it a try. So far my trivia questions are a flop, but hopefully that will change soon. :) I thought it was a good idea at the time...

    Well, today was a really nice day! I had my physiology lab at 11. Then I worked for a little while, came back and had a grilled-cheese sandwich for lunch, researched dental schools and their requirements, and went to cross country practice. It was a perfect day for a long run! A bunch of us ran to Chester Bowl and ran the trails, which is always fun. The temperature was just perfect and it was nice and sunny, too. We ended our run by climbing up some rocks. It was more like a wall of rocks or, I guess, kind of like a rock-climbing wall. Whatever it was, it was fun to climb up! I just really enjoyed running today. I finally feel like I'm getting my energy back. :)

    I've just been trying to study tonight. I better get going so I can study some more. I'm feeling a little panicky about my upcoming quiz and test! Ahhh! It will be okay...I hope.

Out for now...

Shannon :)

Racing in Snow!

Hello everybody!

    I hope you're all having an enjoyable weekend. We had our first snowfall of the year up here Friday night/Saturday morning. I don't know exactly when it started, but there was snow covering the ground and cars when I woke up bright and early yesterday morning. We had a cross country race in the snow! Our meet was in Carleton, just 25 minutes or so south of here. I think there was more snow there, too. Out of all of the years I've been running cross country, I think that was my first race in the snow. That's crazy! I ended up running my season best time of 25:38. Our team took 3rd out of 7 teams. It was extremely cold (in the lower 30's, but fun for a change of scenery. 

    When I got back from the meet, my roommates (Becca and Nikki) were listening to Christmas music. It's way too early for that... They claim that the snow got them into the Christmas spirit. I didn't do a whole lot the rest of the day. I worked on homework and relaxed. I need to finish my philosophy paper and study for my upcoming anatomy test and o. chem quiz today. I got all of my laundry done yesterday, so it's nice to have that out of the way. I did 5 loads of laundry!! All of the washers were open, too, so I was able to get all of them done at the same time. Nice, huh? :)

    I'm pleased to announce that I have received feedback on my blog. I was "proven wrong" because I now know that I do have readers. So keep it coming!

***So, my next question for you guys is this: After whom is Duluth named?***

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend!

Out for now...

Shannon :)

     

 

Prove Me Wrong

Hey everyone!

    This week went so fast! I think it's because it was an easy week, so it was nice and relaxing for the most part. I didn't have any tests or quizzes to study for and that was nice as well. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. I have my four classes, then I need to work for two hours, then I'm going to tea (haha, that sounds funny) for the Sister Monica music scholarship recipients. After that, the cross country team is having a spaghetti feed at Grandma's restaurant in Canal Park. I'm excited for that! It should be delicious! Then I'm going to hang out with my roommates. It will be my busiest day this week, I think.

    So...no one has answered my first question yet. I'm going to assume that it was just too hard, so no one wanted to give it a try. (haha) Anyway, the answer to question #1 is: Business/Management. 31% of students here have this major. I was surprised by this because I thought most people came here for science-related majors. And since 32% of the students are health science-related majors, the two are very close!

    I think I'll have my next question tomorrow. So go ahead! Prove me wrong...because I think the only one who reads this is my mom! Don't get me wrong, though, I'm really glad she reads it! She's my #1 fan! I better get going now. I'm going to have a snack, read for fun, then go to bed. Have a happy Friday!

Out for now...

Shannon :)