Dakota

I have a friend! I called my brother for approval, and after spending an hour at the pet store with Nate, here she is!! Her name is Dakota. Ben named her and it means "friendship" which is perfect because that is the reason I got her!! She is such a little sweetheart and I love her already! If you don't approve, I don't care. I needed her! :P

I Need a Puppy

I am so lonely here in my apartment, all by myself while everyone has gone home for winter break. I need a friend or someone to cuddle with! The perfect solution...a puppy! I keep looking at pictures and thinking about how badly I want one. I know I can't have one now, but it makes me so sad! I think I'll go to the pet store tomorrow and see what kind of new friend I can come up with....

More on ABC 7

O yeah, I forgot to mention the part where the green room we waited in (where the anchor men and women get their hair and makeup done) used to be Oprah's green room! Her studio is now about 8 blocks down the street. But...on the back of the door and on the walls were signatures of tons of performers that have appeared on ABC 7, including Bill Cosby, Stone Cold Steve Austin, a number of musical artists, Barney...and now, "ISU Magrials 12/07, Molly Martin, Jillian Ganschow, Mike Brown, Jay Fischl, Dr. Karyl Carlson"!! It will be there for every person who now goes on the show to see... that's pretty awesome.

ABC 7 News

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=resources&id=5832848

Today was the most amazing experience. Jay, Molly, Mike, and I left Bloomington at 6:30am this morning to travel to Chicago. Why, you may ask? To be featured singing on a segment of the ABC 7 Chicago 11:00am news!!! That's right. We met the anchors, and more importantly met/got our picture with Curtis Stone, The TAKE HOME CHEF (pictured on the left)!!! He is beyond gorgeous, Australian, and soooo nice! He loved us as much as we loved him. They played some clips of the PBS recording of the Madrigal dinner at the Chicago Cultural Center 2 years ago, had us sing a teaser, and then did this clip. Enjoy!! :)

Call Me Grace

You know that kid in the movies that is always falling down and making a fool of him/herself and you think to yourself as you're watching how hilarious yet sadly unrealistic it is? Don't be fooled. Those scenes are based on some reality and I personally have the gracefulness, or lack there of, to prove it. My roommates are constantly making fun of me for falling up the stairs, tripping over things, and wiping out in the living room. And I'm sure you all remember the story of me crashing my bike this summer in the middle of the quad in front of about a hundred preview students. Well, now I can add yet another story. Enjoy...

On Thursdays I have meetings at work at 8am and I just walk to class after the meeting. So this past Thursday, I was walking back to my car after class, just looking around at all the construction, people eating outside, etc. All of a sudden I apparently tripped over something and was soon flailing like a chicken with its leg caught in a barbed wire fence and *SPLAT!* I face planted into the concrete. I didn't even know what happened but I immediately rolled over to see if anyone had witnessed my embarassing incident, jumped up as fast as I could, and quickly walked back to my car, laughing hysterically to myself. I then proceeded to call Molly and surprise her with a little birthday story. If only she could have been there...

In My Life

We did it! So here's the story. The Beatles' classic, "In My Life" was sung at Molly's parents' wedding. So being the maid of honor, Molly decided to get an a capella group together to sing an arrangement of it at her sister, Hannah's wedding this weekend, in place of her toast. After about 4 rehearsals, we got it all put together and Mike, Jenna, Nate and I drove up to Barrington on Saturday for the big surprise. Even though Molly may have skipped the entire last page of the song, no one really noticed and everyone loved us! Her parents and Hannah were so happy and everyone stood up and cheered for us! It was both cool and awkward at the same time... We then got to eat an amazingly delicious dinner in the restaurant downstairs followed by some incredible strawberry and banana cake. I wish we could have stayed longer than we did, but Mike wanted to get back to his dance party and we had quite a long drive home. Plus, we all had a concert yesterday afternoon. Singing at the wedding was pretty cool and molly and her family couldn't have been more appreciative of us! :)

Madrigal Mystery Tour

After being cancelled last year due to a supposed "lack of funds," mads tour was reinstated this year and couldn't have been more fun! Well...it probably could have been seeing as it didn't nearly compare to the pure absurness that occurred on tour freshman year, but still, we had fun. Our day began with performances at Normal UHigh and Normal Community West, followed by a very long drive to Frankfort where we performed at Lincolnway East and had a delcious feast at Jenna's house. Stomachs full and pants bursting at the seams, we all headed to the bowling alleys to show off our skills. We were all embarassed when we checked out and had to tell the bowling guy what name we played under. We had such characters as Lucy & Ethel, Betty and Wilma, KKizzle, Blue Pimp, etc... The best part was the 4 years old boy bowling next to us who beat Nate Coon's score! The kid later cried, ate something that looked disgusting, and threw up all over the floor. He then proceeded to bowl another game and beat Nate once again. Mike also pulled a Dad move and wiped out once. Our hotel was pretty deserted and under a lot of construction, but we still got good use out of one of the pools and hot tubs. We left early the next morning to perform at Conant B. High School and Hoffman Estates High School, both in Hoffman, had another feast at BWW's, and had our last performance at Crystal Lake.

Then the most incredible thing happened as we were leaving Crystal Lake. A girl was backing her car out of her parking spot at she was leaving the school. A guy was coming up behind her and instead of breaking while she shifted gears, the girl stepped on the gas and literally backed up on top of the guy's car. Molly and her parents got to see the whole thing. By the time we got out there, the girl had driven off of his car to reveal its smashed in hood and shattered windshield. Luckily no one was hurt, but the girl was pretty hysterical. There were tons of cops there within minutes which made our exit pretty interesting as our van was parked right next to the accident. Yikes. Imagine driving your car out of the school parking lot and all of a sudden another car is on top of you. Scary.

Basically, our hours and hours spent in the vans were full of hilarious, immature conversations, random trivia games played via walkie talkie with the other van, an abundance of priceless "that's what she said" jokes, conversations about muffins, and singing classic 80s songs at the tops of our lungs. We all passed out on the way home and were exhausted for days after... Now we just have to wait for our Madrigal Mystery Tour t-shirts...

Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes

Sorry, Jess, I know it's been a while. I have been extremely busy with everything lately. Work is finally starting to slow down a bit. Funny how I am scheduled to work 20 hours a week and my check that I got yesterday had 62.5 hours on it! Considering that plus commission, where else can you work part time as a college student and bank over $600 in 2 weeks? I guess I'll try to start complaining a little less about work... We have rented over 270 apartments and have just 100 left! That is insane....

In other news...I was voted vice president of AMDA which I am pretty excited about. I don't know how much I am really going to be able to help this semester with mads and night class but next semester should be a lot better. I am also going to help with the set for the spring fashion show and am considering actually designing for it this year. I think I need to invest in a sewing machine...maybe I'll start a fund for it...

Classes are still going ok, I have 3 tests on Wednesday which is not cool but I guess I'll get through it. I changed my research project from transvestites (which my teacher wanted me to do) to tattoos. I was going to get pictures of transvestites, conduct a survey, and compare the results between guys and girls. It would have been interesting, but I was having trouble finding pictures. So I changed it to tattooing and I am going to compare 5 episodes of either Miami Ink or LA Ink. I am also going to conduct interviews with people who have tattoos (such as Molly). She's pretty excited. I think it should be pretty interesting.

Last night I was going to catch up on some reading but had a slight change in plans. Ally was abandoned by her roommate for the weekend, Rachel went home as always, Ashley went to Southern, and Debbie was at work. So I made Ally go grocery shopping with me because I have been desperate for them for about a week and a half. Then I made a delicious strawberry banana yogurt/jello/whipped cream pie for Grandpa's birthday on Sunday and a yummy pumpkin pie to take to my sister's tonight. Apparently I made too much pie-ness and it started to overflow! So...I also made some funny looking pumpkin pie cupcakes! Ally, Debbie, and Jessica all said they were delicious so I guess they must be good! Debbie was very proud of me for actually baking something right and put a note about it on the white board in the kitchen! She's funny... I'm very excited to see sister's new house and spend the evening with her and Other and see everyone on Sunday!! I feel like I haven't been home in forever. Ok I guess it's time to get back to work... (Or at least pretend to be doing work) :)

Angry Eyes

I finally made it to the eye doctor after 2 straight weeks of not being able to wear my contacts. I have no time to go home just for an eye appointment, so I found a Pearl Vision at the mall and had my appointment today. After several pictures of the inside of my eye, straining to read way too small letters, getting shot in the eyes with puffs of air, having orange dye put in my eyes and looked at with a blue light, I found out that I have an infection. How wonderful! I have an inflamed retina that has caused numerous white blood cells to flood my eyes. So...he wrote me a prescription and said I have to come back in three days. I pay my bill of $167.00 thinking it included new contacts. Not even close. It was $49.00 for the exam, $39.00 for having the retina photo thing, and $79.00 for the rest of the exam. Not cool. I then go to Walgreens to fill the prescription and wait 20 minutes in the store for them to fill it. They finally announce that it's ready so I go up and the guy asks again if I have a prescription insurance card. He said it wasn't going through so they had to call the insurance company, and if it wasn't covered I would have to pay $87.00. Ten minutes later it was finally worked out and I still had to pay $40.00. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper and I don't even want to think about how much I am going to have to pay when I go back on Thursday. I'm sure I will be charged for another office visit on top of what the contacts themselves will be.... Then I came home and took a 3 hour nap.

It's amazing how much your wardrobe grows once you do your laundry...or mine at least since I don't do laundry very often! I like to leave my closet doors open now so I can see my lusciously filled racks. O my, that sounds funny. :) I've survived another week of crazy work and class schedules. I don't have much on Fridays so in my mind my weekend starts on Thursday the minute I get off work. And it's even better when the next day is pay day!! It feels so good to finally have some checks coming in again. I still have to work a ton this weekend but I'm going to use every free minute I have to catch up on homework, study for the tests I have already next week, relax, and do some artwork. My walls are still too white and definitely need to be covered up with something. I know my art's not the best, but I take pride in it nonetheless and feel more at home with it covering the walls. Although, "Johnny Depp at the Piano" is probably my most favorite thing in the room and he makes me so happy every time I walk in!! I think Ashley and I are going to resign out here at the Oaks which makes me really happy. I love it out here and don't want to leave! We just need to find a couple new roommates which we are working on. I'm going to miss my Little Debbie!! Speaking of, I'm just waiting for her to come home from work so we can hit up BWW's for cheap boneless wing night! I love that stuff! My throat is itchy, I need to find something to moisturize it a bit...

I Solemnly Swear...

...to never eat kiwi again!! (the fruit, not the bird, of course!!) This happened a few days ago but I haven't had time to post anything about it yet. So....the other night Ashley and I went for a run and of course came back to the apartment hungry. I didn't want to eat anything that I would regret, after having just burned a bunch of calories, and remembered that I had bought some kiwi that I didn't want to go to waste. So I get them out of the fridge and cut up all 5 of them and put them in a bowl. Jessica, Debbie, and Ashley were all here too so I figured they would eat some too. I don't know what it was exactly about these particular kiwi, but they seemed especially delicious. I had eaten quite a few pieces when I started to feel a little funny. My tounge began to tingle and burn a little bit and my throat started to feel scratchy. I disregarded it at first but after a few minutes I said something to the girls about it. Then my throat felt like it was made of splintery wood and it hurt to swallow. Soon it felt like there was a piece of chicken caught in there. I kept biting my tounge as it got fat and bumpy. I started freaking out and didn't know what to do. I have eaten several kiwis in my life and never has anything remotely close to an allergic reaction happened before. My roommates and Jessica are practically rolling on the floor with laughter at my apparently comical antics. Sure, I was making a joke of it but I was a little frightened as well. Debbie ran and got me some benadryl and said if the swellingness didn't go down in a half hour or kept getting worse she was going to take me to the emergency room. Um...red flag here, I am terrified of hospitals and wasn't too excited about the idea of possibly having to go!! 2 benadryl and a bowl of soup later, the swelling and the tingling started to receed and I felt much better about life. I am just oh so sad that now I will never be able to eat kiwi again!! :(

Hold On Tight

As hard as it is to believe, that time has come already....school started last Monday. Although these last 2 weeks have been fairly calm, I know that this semester is going to be by far the greatest challenge I have encountered in my college career so far. I'll do a quick run down of the classes I have this semester. Let's see, Apparel Product Development will be pretty fun I think. We will make 5 projects in there, a hand bag, pajama pants, skirt, t-shirt, and blouse. The only scary aspect of that class is the industrial machines. They go so fast and are really hard to control. Clothing and Behavior has already proven to be an interesting class, and I've only been there 3 times. Italian is the same old same old, just a little bit harder now that I'm in my 3rd semester. Mads and voice lessons will be the same... We've got some really fun new people in mads which will be good. Politics of Latin America, Africa, and Asia I think has the potential to be an interesting class. At first I didn't think so, but I think I'll try to make the most of it. My Marketing class is a joke, or at least my teacher, Merlin, is. The class will probably be somewhat difficult but the guy is clueless. On top of all that, I'm still working a ton of hours a week. That's going to have to stop soon. I need time not only to do my homework but to get in some relaxation as well. This semester is going to be crazy enough as it is and I don't want to get too burnt out too fast. I feel like I'm going head first into a whirlwind of fury! I'm looking forward to going home this weekend to see my family and get caught up on my readings for class. I need a few days away...

Last Day of Summer...

It's bittersweet... I love being down here and I'm so happy to finally have roommates. I love them so much and we are going to have way too much fun living together. I can't even begin to express how happy I was every day this week driving by the dorms and watching everyone scramble to move into the dorms. I've already seen Kathryn and Ally a couple of times but it will be weird not seeing them all the time every day. Monday night I met Kathryn and Sarah over at Atkin and joined them for the honors meet and greet night or something like that. Basically we all walked over to Avanti's and we ate some yummy food and I met a few of the new girls on their floor. Tuesday night Ashley and I cooked up some delicious stirfry for Kathryn, her younger brother Jacob who is now a freshman down here, Ally, and Sarah. It was a nice little reunion dinner! Wednesday night Debbie, Ashley, and I improvised a pasta dish with tomatoes and parmesan cheese and some herbs...we're so good... :) Thursday Andy and Brandon came down so we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for 50 cent boneless wing night. SO GOOD!! Friday night Ashley was making tacos for us so we decided to go over and invite the new neighbors who had moved in earlier that day. We didn't think they would really come but about 20 minutes later all 4 of them showed up at the door! They're all pretty cool, 2 are on the golf team, 1 will be on the hockey team, and the other goes to Hartland. We already seem to be pretty good friends with them and they invited us over for chili cheese dogs last night. I went to Dr. Carlson's for a little bit for what was supposed to be a thank-you-for-summer-mads-dinner but me, molly, jonathon and his wife were the only ones who came. Oh yeah, and NIALL!!! So that was fun and Carlson made some delicious salmon and rice and zucchini pie...yum! Then Debbie, Ashley, and I stayed in and had a Sex and the City marathon until the neighbors came home and we hung out with them for a little bit before we went to bed. So I guess it's been a pretty good week. On top of all that I worked like..53 hours?! I can't wait till I get paid on Friday!! Should be a really good one....

It still hasn't really hit me that classes start tomorrow. Is this really the last day of summer? I'm not ready for it all to be starting again!!! And I have six classes tomorrow, starting at 8am! ugh...

For My Sister

Sorry, Sister for not having written anything in a while. I have been very busy working full time and singing at Shakes Fest several nights a week. I didn't realize you enjoyed reading this thingy so much! :) So even though I worked from 7:30am-6pm today and then sang and its now 11pm and i have to work at 8am...I'll stay up just to write a little somethin-something for you! Because I like you that much. So let's see...Saturday after work I went to Peoria to visit Justin which was fun. I hate that I don't get to see him very often!! Mom, Dad, and Jessie came down last night to hear me sing at Shakes Fest and check out the new apartment. Of course, we had to go to Avanti's for supper. I love when they come down because it's pretty much the only time I ever eat there! This is the first summer I've been away from my family and it's kind of hard and definately weird. I don't like not being able to see them very much either!!! I finally got my computer reformatted and after hours and hours, now it all works just great. First Site installed broadband yesterday so I had to buy a wireless router tonight which sucked because it was kind of expensive, but it will be ok because the roommates will chip in and this internet is so incredibly fast!! It's awesome, even though it also took me a couple hours to figure out. But hey, I did it all on my own, so maybe I'm not quite as dumb as I look... And I'm glad I finally have something to do to keep me occupied while I'm sitting all alone in my apartment!! I get 2 checks on Friday which is awesome and I'm going to go buy myself a TV!! I need one of those.. Ashley is moving her stuff down on Saturday and then coming back for good either Monday or Tuseday. Debbie will be here sometime next week. She came down today for an interview so we went to lunch and then she came in the office and I did her orientation and gave her her keys. Rachel will be down next Saturday, and school starts on Monday the 20th. I am definately not ready for that. It seemed like the summer was just dragging on but now it seems to be coming to an end way too fast and while I want everyone to be here, I don't even want to start to think about going to class! Ugh... Anyway..Sorry, Sister, that this is rather short and uneventful but hopefully this will tithe (is that even a word?) you over until I can think of something fun and clever to post for you. At least now I have internet so it will be much more convenient for me!! I'll be heading back to the 'Doza on Saturday to make my appearance for the infamous Sweet Corn Festival. I think everyone is coming home and I am most looking forward to seeing Melissa whom I havent seen since December!! So sad... Until next time, stay classy, San Diego..

Welcome To My Life

I know this is an old song but Simple Plan is my favorite band and this song seems to be really fitting right now; it's pretty much how I've been feeling lately. I feel like Molly is my only friend these days since we spend practically all of our time together. I talk to a select few friends from home, but to many others I feel like I'm making dead attempts to keep up with them over the summer. I'm looking forward to start working all day every day next week and I can't wait till everyone starts moving back down here in a few weeks. I miss my friends more than ever right now and I'm going crazy all alone in my dungeon every night!!

"Welcome To My Life"

Do you ever feel like breaking down?
Do you ever feel out of place?
Like somehow you just don't belong
And no one understands you
Do you ever wanna run away?
Do you lock yourself in your room?
With the radio on turned up so loud
That no one hears you screaming

No you don't know what it's like
When nothing feels all right
You don't know what it's like
To be like me

To be hurt
To feel lost
To be left out in the dark
To be kicked when you're down
To feel like you've been pushed around
To be on the edge of breaking down
And no one's there to save you
No you don't know what it's like
Welcome to my life

Do you wanna be somebody else?
Are you sick of feeling so left out?
Are you desperate to find something more?
Before your life is over
Are you stuck inside a world you hate?
Are you sick of everyone around?
With their big fake smiles and stupid lies
While deep inside you're bleeding

No you don't know what it's like
When nothing feels all right
You don't know what it's like
To be like me

To be hurt
To feel lost
To be left out in the dark
To be kicked when you're down
To feel like you've been pushed around
To be on the edge of breaking down
And no one's there to save you
No you don't know what it's like
Welcome to my life

No one ever lied straight to your face
And no one ever stabbed you in the back
You might think I'm happy but I'm not gonna be okay
Everybody always gave you what you wanted
You never had to work it was always there
You don't know what it's like, what it's like

To be hurt
To feel lost
To be left out in the dark
To be kicked when you're down
To feel like you've been pushed around
To be on the edge of breaking down
And no one's there to save you
No you don't know what it's like (what it's like)

To be hurt
To feel lost
To be left out in the dark
To be kicked when you're down
To feel like you've been pushed around
To be on the edge of breaking down
And no one's there to save you
No you don't know what it's like
Welcome to my life
Welcome to my life
Welcome to my life

12th Time's a Charm

Ta-Da!! After sending in my 12th application which started out as a joke with Molly, I finally have a job! First Site was the only place to call me back (and a day after I sent in my application, mind you.) I had an interview the next day, a second interview yesterday, and I signed a contract today! I start Friday at 8am to meet the other new employees and be taken around to all the apartments and sites. What is this job, you ask? Here are some fun facts:

• $9.00 per hour
• $10.00 per lease completed
• Eligible for individual/team bonuses
• Leasing, assisting customers, assist in preparing marketing materials for prospective residents, preparing market surveys, attending weekly department meetings, and other tasks/projects given by the supervisor
• The rest of the summer I will be working MWF 12:30-6pm, TR 8am-6pm, Sat. 10am-4pm (that equals 41.5 hours)
  
• When school starts I will work TRF 2-6pm, Sat. 10am-4pm (that equals 18 hours)
  
• Company Vehicle while working
  

I now have 45 days to obtain my leasing license which will be fully paid for by the company and they will take care of all the details. They say the tests aren't difficult...

Soooo lots of hours, good pay, and I think it will be a fun job. Also, I told the guy that I will be living in the Oaks in the fall and he said my apartment is just about ready and I may be able to move in early!! YAY!!! I can't wait to get out of this house and into the air conditioning AND not have to worry about stepping in dog poop every time I go to the bathroom!!

Big Mama

I am never having kids. This children's theater camp that Molly and I were so excited about directing has turned out to be an absolute nightmare. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs? More like Snow White and the Seven Devils. Every day we have kids starting stupid fights with each other and either someone threatens to quit the play or someone else ends up in tears. I did not sign up for this. Nor did I sign up to experience what happened yesterday. So Molly started her summer classes last week which means she can only be there for about the first half hour the kids are there on Mondays and Wednesdays; Fridays she can stay the whole time. Which means...I am normally left to babysit 16 kids. Our three leads are awesome. They do everything we ask of them and they can act. The rest are absolutely horrible. What ever happened to parents actually parenting their children? These kids do. not. listen. I guess it's too much to ask for them to come and give us their undivided attention for 3 hours. Do they realize they have a show to put on in 3 weeks? I don't think so. And I can't work with them on making their show good because the whole time I'm trying to break up fights between the little crappers and console the ones who are crying hysterically. I have to deal with this every day. We get through it. I even survived the day the crazy one tried to run away. However, yesterday even though the first half they were acting like little angels, the second half was a whole nother story and somebody messed with the wrong kid. Now there are 2 sides to every story and I know that both were somewhat in the wrong here. Child A was getting frustrated at the other kids for not listening when she was where she needed to be and was actually paying attention. Child B was talking to me about the scene that was coming up. A was continually yelling at B to get in her place which escalated into an argument. Both have very strong personalities and are difficult to deal with. So child B got upset and her little sister decided to get involved and began yelling at A. A told C to shut up, C yelled more, B started crying...end scene. No...not even close. So I have to stop the scene we are doing because I can't work with my actors and deal with this and had to break up the fight. By this time, our time together was over and B and C left in an angry rampage towards their van. Child A comes up to me and begins defending herself which...I was there, I know the story. So I was just talking to her about it and most of the kids had left by this point except Child A and her sister and one more, we'll call her Fifi. Then. Here she comes. The Big One. The Big Mama. The mother of Children B and C. Dun Dun DUN!! Molly and I have dealt with her before but before she was always talking about OTHER people's children...never her own. So here she comes thundering down through the park. The talk starts off pretty harmless..."So, what's going on that my kids are wanting to quit and crying every day? Is it them?" Yes, lady, I'm going to tell you to your face that your children are just as bad as the rest of them and they often stir up the fights. So I simply said, "It's just little fights that the kids have every day." What happened next I was not expecting. She turns to poor child A and starts screaming at her, saying that she "will never say anything to her kids ever again, blah blah blah, if on Wednesday I hear anything happened, I am pulling them out. I did not pay $130 for my kids to come here and get in fights every day. If I hear that it's my girls I will come down here and pick their butts up and take them home!" Then she rounds on the other 2 girls who did absolutely nothing and points her huge finger at them. "And this goes for you, too! If I hear that you were saying anything...blah blah blah..." And my favorite was, "Have you been to college? Have you taken theater classes? These girls have and they have so much to teach you and they can't because they're worried about breaking up your fights all day." Now, I see so much truth in what Big Mama was saying. However, she had no right whatsoever to come down and scream at these poor kids and threaten them the way that she did. I was so scared for them because I didn't know what this lady was going to do. She then proceeded to give me a hug and said sorry and I'm thinking woman, don't touch me! You are RUDE! So she finally left and I looked over at Child A and she just started sobbing. I was heart broken. I felt soooo bad for her so I talked to her for a bit and comforted her. Both she and her sister gave me a big hug when they left. I hope this never happens again. Molly and I are getting together today to paint set stuff and get props, make copies of music, etc. and we are going to talk to our boss. We are going to have to have yet another talk with the kids tomorrow before we get started. We have done everything we can. What else is there for us to do? I thought this theater camp was going to be such a great experience and I would rather be doing anything else right now....

Bumpy Rides

Molly and I took our first bike ride on Constitution Trail on Thursday. First we had to make a stop at the bike shop so Molly could get her flat tire fixed. We were there for quite a while and made friends with all of the employees. They were so in awe of our beautiful vintage bikes and couldn't believe we only paid $5 for them. The ride was so much fun and we took the trail all the way out until we couldn't go any farther! Hello silos, cornfields, and FS grain elevator! Molly says, "Wow, is this what it's like to live in the country?" Sure is. The craziest part is when the trail goes under the overpass of I-55. It sounds like you're in the middle of a battle field! We met a lot of interesting characters on the path and saw some really cute houses along the trail. We think we should try to make friends with the ones with the in-ground pools and basketball courts in their backyards! Going out it seemed like the trail was a million miles long but coming back it seemed so much shorter. So we rode around town a bit, stopped for a sandwich at the Garlic Press, and rode back to Molly's apartment where we sat in the wonderful air conditioning and played some intense games of Mario Cart. (All of this happened after the wonderful wipe out on the quad.) So it turned out to be a pretty great day with tons of bike riding and countless battle wounds. I'm still finding more and more bruises all over my legs. It's cute.

Last night as we were leaving Shakes Fest, Molly called and asked if Jeff and I would like to go with her and some other friends to Grady's family fun park. Umm...of course we would! This place is so ridiculous and I can't believe we never knew it existed. It's like a permanent little carnival/amusement park with miniature golf, batting cages, a carousel, tilt-a-whirl, race cars, bumper cars, and bumper boats. It totally felt like high school all over again but it was ridiculously entertaining!! First we did the bumper cars and it was just the 6 of us in there so we just went all out crashing into each other and shooting lasers. It was a good thing Jackie and Robby showed up because when I put my $20 in to get one ticket, it gave me $20 worth of tickets!! Crap. But I got them all sold so it was good. Next we did the bumper boats. We could see that we were going to get a little wet from the giant dinosaur spraying water in the middle of the pool, but we thought it could be avoided if we really didn't want to get wet. We couldn't have been more wrong. Each boat has its own sprayer AND there are sprayers outside the pool for people to walk up to, put in a quarter, and spray all of us. So basically the ride turned into a battle between the 6 of us and the guys outside the pool that were absolutely ruthless! The boats were also difficult to steer so once you got stuck over by the sprayers it was very hard to get away! Needless to say, we were all completely soaked by the time we got out of that pool! I looked like a drowned rat and I think I got the worst of it. I decided to sit out for the race cars and dry out a bit. Now you know what 6 20/21 year-olds do on a Friday night during the summer... What. A. Riot.

Training Wheels?

Molly and I went to get new bikes yesterday. There's a guy a few blocks away who fixes up old bikes and sells them out of his garage. We decided this would be a great new economical way for us to get around and we could go on some exciting adventures together and get back in shape. I think we both found exactly what we were looking for. Both are vintage and we each payed a grand total of $5!! Molly's is big and green with brown handle bars and brown seat. She named it Jacques and immediately fell in love with it. Mine is smaller and blue with those brown curly kind of handle bars and a black seat. It's pretty similar to the one in the picture but it's a darker blue. His name was proudly displayed on the side, "Ross." My thoughts: perfect. I absolutely love this bike. Only one problem, it's been probably 8 years or so since I've ridden a bike. It takes some practice to get back into it. So Molly and I rode them from my house over to her apartment yesterday afternoon, taking the longest route possible to avoid as much traffic and human interaction as possible. Because we haven't gotten bike locks yet and didn't want anyone to steal our new sweet rides, we proceeded to carry the bikes up the 3 flights of stairs to Molly's apartment and stash them in her kitchen. My only question to Molly, "I wonder what will happen first, if I will crash and wipe out or get hit by a car." Her response: "I'll say wipe out." Mine: "I sure hope so." (don't worry mom and dad we are very safe and allow more than enough time before crossing the street!) So today I decided to take Ross out for his first real ride before Molly and I head out later this afternoon. One thing is for sure: I don't have to wonder anymore... No, no I didn't get hit by a car! This is where the story really gets good. So I'm cruising around campus, trying to get comfortable riding a bike again. I'm very aware that I need to practice turning...and stopping...and riding straight. I had already gone all around the quad once and decided to go around once more before heading back towards the house. At the same time there are 3 or 4 huge groups of preview students out on the quad playing games and stuff with their preview guides. Then here I come cruising down the middle of the quad on good old Ross when I start to go off the sidewalk a little bit. Naturally, I try to get back on the sidewalk a little bit to avoid any sort of disaster then BAM! I hit the concrete and flew off of Ross. About a hundred preview students turned and stared at me with their mouths open. An older lady ran up to me and asked if I was okay. My only response to her: "Oh, I just thought this looked like a good place to take a rest." I couldn't stop laughing. She says, "Oh yeah, it only hurts when you stop laughing." The whole time I'm thinking, "Ma'm it doesn't hurt at all, my dignity is simply lost forever." I could not stop laughing. This happened a couple of hours ago, and still, I can not stop laughing. My knee is bleeding and I'm not even mad. That was hilarious!! I just wanted to give those preview students something to remember their first visit to ISU...