Shannon

Only Tuesday?

Hello!

    Is it really only Tuesday? The last few weeks have flown by, but this week is dragging. I think it's because I'm so excited for girls weekend! I'm so so so so excited to see my Mom, Sister, and Grandma Mary!!! I have to get through a tough week of studying o. chem and then the test on Friday. Then everything will be happy. :)

    Today was quite busy. I slept in until 9:30, got up and ready, then went to physiology lab at 11:00. It was fun, I guess. I like anatomy and physiology labs. I worked for an hour and a half after lab. Then I came back to the apartment, ate lunch, and took a nap before cross country practice. I don't know why I was tired....I slept late enough. Then I went to practice, where we ran intervals. I moved up to group A for intervals, so I ran 5.5 miles fast, just not continuous. It was a really great workout! I ran with my teammate, Emily. I call her "hill charger" because she speeds right up the hills. So that was fun....as far as workouts go.

    I've been reading for my women's lit. class all night it feels like. I waited until the last minute to do the reading, so I guess that's my fault. I didn't think there was that much to read, though. I was wrong. I'm going to look over my o. chem stuff for a little while and then I'm going to bed. Have a happy Wednesday!

Out for now....

Shannon :)

Blustery, Gusty Day

Hello everyone!

    I hope you all had a great weekend and an even better start to the new week. :) My weekend was decent, I guess. We had our cross country meet on Saturday, wich was alright. Our team did well as a whole, but I don't think I did very well individually. That's okay, though, because there are always bad races here and there. Hopefully I will make up for it at the next meet, which is in two weeks because we have this weekend off.

    When I got back to campus on Saturday, Becca and I went and saw the movie "Fame". I love musicals so I enjoyed the movie. After that, I was extremely tired from racing and such earlier that day, so I ended up going to bed early. Sunday was boring. I got up and did three loads of laundry, did homework, studied, went to mass, did more homework, and went to bed. Yeah, it was really boring. I'm terribly excited for this weekend because my Mom, Sister, and Grandma are coming up!!! :)

    I had my Monday classes today. Women's lit was just like every other day in that class. O. chem was interesting. I think that's my favorite class this semester. I'm surprised that it is because I thought it was going to be my least favorite. I guess it's just been the most interesting so far. Anatomy was actually more interesting today than it has been all semester. We're learning about the nervous system, which is really fascinating to a nerd like me! Philosophy was more interesting today, as well. We're learning about free will, reason, and stuff like that.

    Band was cancelled today, so I get to go to cross country practice instead. It's so blustery out today! It's going to be hard to run today because it's so windy. I almost blew over when I was backing forth to classes. I'm not exaggerating either. I was walking up the main stairs to Tower and a big gust came along and pushed me sideways. Luckily I caught my balance, otherwise that could have been a nasty fall. How embarassing would that have been? Haha! I better get ready for practice now. Have a great rest of your day!

Out for now....

Shannon :)

Perfect Weather in Duluth!

Hey!

    Is it really Friday tomorrow?! I can't believe how fast these first few weeks of school have gone! It must be a sign that I'm getting older....how sad. Haha!

    So, today has been a good day! It's really nice outside. It's sunny and about 75 degrees, which I think is perfect. :) I'm always happier when it's sunny out. I started my day off with organic chemistry lab, which was actually better than it sounds. We practiced naming molecular compounds. Although it's a little frustrating with all of the rules, I really enjoy it. Okay, "a little frustrating" is somewhat of an understatement. We have a quiz tomorrow, so I really hope I can keep the rules straight and be able to figure everything out....

    I worked for two hours after lab. Then I had lunch with Ellie, Jess, and Melissa from the cross country team and Haley, a recruit thinking about coming to St. Scholastica and joining the team next year. We had free lunch in Storm's, which is a plus, especially now that I don't have a meal plan. Haley seems nice and I think she'd fit in well with our team. :)

    Then I worked for another hour after lunch. I had to get the rest of my hours in for the week, since we're leaving tomrrow afternoon for cross country. I'm not too excited about this meet, because I'm not a fan of the course we'll be running on. Oh well, what do you do? I'm excited to get back her on Saturday, though, because it's homecoming weekend. My roommates and I are thinking about going to the football game. I don't really like football, but I figure I should go to at least one college homecoming game. We're planning on going to see the movie Fame afterward! That's sounds like more fun in my opinion. :)

    Well, I better start getting ready to head to practice. Today is a base-builing recovery day, aka 8-mile run. :)

Out for now....

Shannon :)

I need more time!!!

Hi!

    My second busy day of the week is almost over! I had women's lit, o. chem, anat. & phys, and philosophy. Now I have a little break until band. Then I have to do my tempo run for cross country practice. So, I guess I still have a lot to do, but at least the class part is done.

    I'm sort of flustered right now because I feel like I have a ton of homework/studying to do!! I really need to study for anatomy because we have a test on Friday. Although we haven't covered a whole lot of material and it's not very difficult stuff, I just need to sit down and make sure I know it. Organic chem. was really interesting yet nerve-racking because we went through the rules for naming a bunch of functional groups in what seemed to be a short amount of time. I really need to study all of the rules we've learned so far and make sure I can keep them straight. I think the best way for me to do that is to make notecards, so that's what I'll do! We have another quiz on Friday so I need to make them soon....like tonight.

    I really hope I'm not too worn out after practice. I have a bunch of reading to do for philosophy and women's lit....but unfortunately they're at the bottom of my study list. I can get that done sometime tomorrow. I'm sorry I keep talking about what I have to do and when I'm going to do it, but that's just all that's on my mind right now....

    I'm really disappointed that I don't get to run the Swanny this year. It's the annual 2-mile race held in honor of a sister that "blazed the trails of St. Scholastica". I have band at the time that the race starts. If I didn't have band, I would have cross country practice, so I guess it doesn't matter either way. There's always next year....

    This week is already flying by! I can't believe it's Thursday tomorrow! Hopefully I can get a lot of work done tonight....otherwise I'm doomed! Well, not quite, but close....haha!

Out for now....

Shannon :)

Ice Cream Social

Hello!

    I'm extremely tired and I have a lot to do tonight, so I think I'll make this quick. Not a lot happened today. It was rainy, foggy, and dreary....pretty much weather that makes you want to sleep all day....at least me, anyway. It's finally starting to clear off, though.

    My roommate, Nikki, and I went grocery shopping this morning after her 8:00 class. We went to SuperOne mostly because we needed milk, but we needed food as well. It only took us 20 minutes to drive there, shop, and drive back here. I thought that was pretty good! Then I had my first anatomy lab of the year. We have to learn/memorize all of the bones of the skull as well as the spinal column. I love this kind of stuff so hopefully it won't be too hard for me to learn. :)

    I went to work in admissions after that for an hour and a half. Our bosses encouraged us to go and have ice cream in the monastery with the sisters because they were having an ice cream social for everyone. A girl that I work with and I went there for a little while, chatted with a sister, and had ice cream. I had the best strawberry ice cream that I've ever had! It was really nice of the sisters to put that on. :)

    Then I had cross country practice. We ran to Enger Tower and back, which was about 8 miles. It was a good run, but now I'm super tired.... I better get going because I have a lot of studying to do. Have a good Wednesday!

Out for now....

Shannon :)

Running, Cliff Diving, & Naming Molecules

Hello everybody,

    I hope you all had a terrific weekend! Mine was pretty eventful, I guess. We left Friday afternoon for the cities. We stayed at a hotel in Faribault and had a cross country meet on Saturday at St. Olaf. It was a really good race for me and a lot of people on the team. We, the girls that is, placed 10th out of 16 teams, which is good considering the number of division II schools that were there. The guys placed 12th, I think, out of 17 teams. So we both did about the same. Many people got season bests, so that's good. :) I got my season best by quite a bit, so that made me happy. We'll be racing at the annual University of MN Roy Griak invitational this Saturday in St. Paul. I'm not a fan of that course but hopefully I can shave a few more seconds off my PB (personal best).

    My roommates and I went cliff diving at Lester Park yesterday. It was a really safe place to do it, trust me. It was pretty fun but I didn't think it was as fun as it was cracked up to be. I guess I didn't think it was a whole lot different than jumping into a lake....but that's just me. The water was freezing, too!!! I think it took me about 3 hours after we were done before I warmed up again. It was fun to do something with my roomies, though, because we always have a lot of fun no matter what we do.

    I had all of my Monday classes today, which makes for a really busy day. We finished learning all of the rules for naming alkanes and cycloalkanes in organic chemistry. Call me nerdy, but I think naming molecules is really fun! It's kind of like a puzzle because you have to follow a bunch of specific rules, then you end up with a cool-sounding name. Yeah, I'm a nerd. :) The rest of my classes weren't too interesting; at least I can't recall anything interesting right now. Band was fun, though, because we played through all of our new pieces. There are some really challenging ones, which is good because it keeps things interesting. Then, after band, we ran intervals at cross country practice. They felt good, too!

    I made penne pasta with alfredo sauce and steamed broccoli for supper. No, it wasn't one of those lean cuisines, either. Haha! It was easy to make. I just boiled the noodles, added the alfredo sauce (the kind that comes in a jar), and added steamed broccoli to it (the kind that comes in a bag and you put the entire thing in the microwave to steam). I made texas toast to go with it. It was very good!

    Now I think I'll study some anat. and phys. since we have a test on Friday. I'll probably practice naming some molecules, too. :) Talk to you later. 

Out for now....

Shannon :) 

8:00 Lab, Why?

Hey!

    I hope you're all having a terrific day! I decided to blog a little earlier than I usually do because I have some down time before cross country practice. It sure is a nice day out, but it seems to be getting hotter as the day goes on. It was pretty cool this morning and now it's up to 76 degrees.

    I had my first organic chemistry lab this morning at 8:00. My first thought when my alarm clock went off and woke me up was, "What's wrong with me?" I always regret taking 8:00 classes when it comes to actually waking up for them, but once I'm up and in class I really don't mind it. I like getting done early so I have the rest of the day to do other things. It's just so hard to crawl out of bed. My second thought was, "I'm taking a nap today". However, I didn't take one.

    After lab, I worked in admissions for 3 hours! That's the longest I've ever worked in there at one time. It's really not that long, but when you're sitting in one place typing for that long, it's horrible! At least it is for me. I have a hard time sitting still for longer than an hour and a half. I have all of my hours in for the week now, so I don't have to worry about working tomorrow. :) I don't think I would have time anyway, because we're leaving for the cities at 3:45 for our cross country meet on Saturday. We will be staying the night on Friday, running our race on Saturday, and then heading back up here after that. We were supposed to be going to Grinell, IA but apparently they held their meet last weekend. So we missed it, haha. We're going to run at St. Olaf instead. I'm excited!

    So, when I got done working I came back to the apartment, made a grilled cheese (which was really delicious!), and studied for my o. chem quiz that's tomorrow. Now I'm just killing time before practice, but look at the time! I better go an get ready! Have a great rest of your day!

Out for now....

Shannon :)

Lab, Work, Run

Hi everyone!

    Monday and Tuesday are already over....this week is flying by! :) I like it when things move along at a good pace, because then you don't have time to get sick of things. Well, I guess that's not always the case. I'm not sure if that statement even makes sense to anyone but myself....haha.

    I started my day off right by sleeping in until 9:40. I really needed it, too. So then I got up and got ready for the day. I had my first anatomy and physiology lab at 11:00. It was actually my first physiology lab because we switch between anatomy and physiology every other week. I'll have anatomy lab next week. So far so good. I like all of my classes so far. :)

    After lab, I worked for two hours. For about the first hour we had mailing to do. There were a lot of people there working, so it went very fast. We had to stick address lables onto postcard-like brochures. So if you get one of those in the mail soon, I just might have put your sticker on.

    Then, after work, I came back to the apartment and got ready for cross country practice. It was a perfect day for running! It was warm (not hot) with a cool breeze. I could feel and smell the crispness of fall in the wind. I love that crispness when I'm running! I ran 8 miles today, which seemed like a perfect length. I can't wait until it starts getting even cooler out....that's when I run my best.

    I made lasagna (frozen-from the store) and garlic toast for supper after practice. The lasagna was actually pretty good, too, but not as good as my Madre's. It was definitely something I would buy and make again. Other than that, I've been working on practice problems for organic chemistry and now I'm going to read for women's lit. So I better get going so I can finish reading and go to bed. :)

Out for now....

Shannon :)

Uff-dah!

Hey everyone!

    Today was another long one. I had my full load of classes with cross country practice following right behind. I'm so tired now....

    We discussed two "lays" or "lais" (either one) in women's lit. A lay is a sort of ballad or poem written by a woman from the Middle Ages or Renaissance.  Well, I suppose they wouldn't have to be from that time period, but that's what they called them during that time anyway. That was interesting because I enjoyed reading both of them, "Bisclavret" and "Yonnec".

    In organic chemistry, we reviewed the different types of bonds and their shape and stuff. It's pretty interesting but some of the pictures are very complex. We also learned about hybridization of molecules, which is cool, I guess. In anat. and phys., we learned about body organization and some anatomical terms. We're finally getting into the real stuff. :)

    Philosophy was....I'm just going to say it....boring. I'm still trying to be open-minded about the subject but it was just a really boring day. We learned about three of the first philosophers; Thales, Heraclitus, and Parmenides. Aren't those some interesting names? Well, just because their names are interesting doesn't mean that they are. All they did was question every little thing. I know that's what philosophers do, but seriously, some things don't need to be analyzed. For instance, one of the three said that we don't actually move. This is because when we move, we're actually going to the half-way point between where we are and where we are moving to....and then once we're there, we're moving to the half-way point between where we just moved to and where we are moving to, and so on. And therefore, we're not actually moving; we're just infinitesimally moving to the half-way points. Isn't that ridiculous?

    My last class was band. It was only our second class time so far. We played our instruments, which was fun. I think the pieces that we got today sound like they're going to be fun! Now I just need to practice them. I need to practice in general, because I sounded a little bad today. I don't know if it's because I didn't play a whole lot this summer or if I need a new reed....probably both.

    I had cross country practice after that. We ran six 1,000-meter intervals and a 400-meter hammer (all-out sprint, pretty much) at the end. It was kind of hard for me because my legs were really tired and rubbery-like. I blame it being a Monday.

    I best be off to bed now, so have a great Tuesday!

Out for now....

Shannon :)

Fun Fun!

Hello!

    So, I don't usually blog on weekends, but I am today because I had a very fun weekend. :) Let's start with Friday. I had my load of classes, minus band, because we don't have band on Fridays. For having so many classes right in a row, I really don't mind it all that much. I think it's because all of my classes are so different.

    I start out with Women's Lit, which is pretty different than any other literature class I've ever taken. Right now we're reading stories by women from the Middle Ages and Renaissance. There are some odd stories from that time period!! After that class, I go to organic chemistry. I'm not sure how I feel about that class yet, since we're just reviewing stuff from general chemistry right now. I'll keep you updated... Anatomy and physiology is next. We haven't started learning about the cool stuff yet. We're just going over some of the basic info about the subject. Philosophy is last (except on band days) and it's interesting and strange at the same time. I've never taken a philosophy class, so it's all new to me. Here's a fun fact: Philosophy means "the love of wisdom".

    After class on Friday, my roomies and I hung out. We made supper together and enjoyed eating it, too. We made spaghetti, garlic bread, and brownies for dessert. It was delicious and reminded me of home! Then we just hung out. It was pretty fun.

    I had a cross country meet Saturday morning. It was the UMD meet that we go to every year; then afterward, there's a picnic for CSS family and friends. My madre and sister came up to watch the meet and go to the picnic with me. I was so happy they did! I knew that my mom was coming, but I was surprised to see Laura! She had just worked all night but came all the way up here anyway! Isn't she a nice sister? :)

    So we had a good time together. After the picnic, Laura conked out on my bed and slept for a couple hours. Meanwhile, my mom and I went to the movies and saw "Julie and Julia". It was really funny and made me want to cook French food. After that, we all went out for Arby's. Then they had to rush home, because Laura had to work that night, too. The whole day sort of felt like a rush, but it was so fun and well worth it! I spent the rest of the night with my roommates. We attempted to do homework, but you know how that goes...

    Today was pretty fun, as well. We all slept until 10, when we were awaken by our apartment phone ringing. Apparently it's been ringing at 10am the past couple of days and the caller has been asking for Jim Doyle...the governor of Wisconsin. Strange, huh? We think so, too. We actually think it's a prank caller because who calls the governor at 10am on a Sunday? We have a plan for the next time they call...hahaha. So, after we were all awake, we decided to go hiking on the trails of St. Scholastica. We packed some homework and food, hiked to the Valley of Silence, found some flat rocks, and sat and did homework on them. It was nice and sunny out so it was perfect. Then we came back. I did laundry and homework. I've just been doing homework off and on all day. There's a lot of reading for my classes this semester, especially in my lit. class and philosophy, so that's what most of my homework consists of.

    Well, that was my weekend! Tomorrow is the beginning of the second week of classes. That's all I have to say for now.

Out for now...

Shannon :)