1. Last week was nightmarishly busy. I really didn't have that much free time because of all of my obligations. I'll start with Monday. I had class, tutoring, a meeting, Physics lab, and a tour of Enid with the PLC groups from the other campuses. When I see on the screen, it doesn't sound like that much for one day, but, believe me, it was. Our Enid tour took about five hours total, and included stops at the new Cherokee Strip Museum, Simpson's Museum/Studio (they're out of the retail game, in case you didn't know), the Enid Symphony Center, and the Planetarium here on campus. I had the most fun at the ESC, because it is one of my favorite places in the whole town. That, and I feel very glamorous walking through the ballrooms, which I also love! When we got done for the evening, I was exhausted, to say the least.
2. Tuesday, us four Sophomores went to OKC to tape an episode of the game show we were involved with last year. I wasn't exactly looking forward to the trip, but I ended up having a good time. I can't go into great detail about the show itself, but I can say that we had a great meal at Eischen's on our way home, which made the entire trip worthwhile!
3. Wednesday was the most uneventful, and that made me happy. I had a nice evening at church with Tevis, and a great talk with him afterwards. It was the perfect way to unwind from everything else!
4. Thursday and Friday were spent at a student leadership conference in OKC that I was chosen to attend. As expected, I had a great time with my fellow NOC attendees. I'll give you the highlights of the retreat...We got to the Crowne Plaza hotel, where the retreat was going to be, and also where we expected to be staying. (It was a NICE hotel.) Apparently, we never got the memo about that, though, because we spent about ten minutes trying to figure out the name our reservations were under, just to find out that we were staying at the Comfort Inn across the street. Talk about the let-down of the year... When we went to the event for that night, we got there to see that everyone was wearing suits/dresses/etc. and we were all wearing jeans and t-shirts. For the record, we were told that there wasn't a dress code, and that casual attire was allowed, so we really didn't miss that memo, but we felt a little out of place. We didn't have the best table service at the meal, because it took twenty minutes from the time the first person at our table got food to the time when the last person got food. There was also an odd exchange with one of the waiters, who deliberately dumped a guy at our table's salad fork off of his salad plate while clearing it...not sure if he was new or disgruntled, but it was a bit odd. There was an evening session with a couple of higher ed dignitaries that seemed very scripted and stiff. (We though that it would be more like a mixer.) Thankfully, none of the Friday events disappointed, and I learned some interesting tidbits that will definitely help me as a leader, so hooray for that!
5. While I was at the retreat, I did quite a bit of homework in our downtime at the hotel. It was like the perfect storm because I had about three different Physics projects going on. I had some lab homework questions to finish up, an online quiz to get figured out and submitted before Monday morning, some regular homework problems for extra practice, and a Unit test to study for. Yuck. Thank heavens I had a good understanding of the material, otherwise I would've been on the verge of insanity! I muddled through, and by the time I got back on Friday afternoon, I had all of the practice homework, most of the online quiz, and a little bit of the lab completed. I had to go over to a friend's house to get some extra help on the lab work, but I think I came out alright! I finished the quiz late Friday night, and I was done studying by Saturday morning! I took the test yesterday, and I felt pretty good about it, besides the fact that it was extremely lengthy! We shall see.
6. Saturday was Tevis's step-sister's wedding in Sand Springs. I was really excited about it, minus the fact that it was held outside. And it was about 45 degrees. (More on the wedding in a sec...) Because of the weather, I knew that I'd have to alter my choice of attire to better fit the weather. With some help from my mom/sisters, we decided that I would wear a sweater dress, but what they really thought was that I needed some leather boots to wear to complete the ensemble, so that led to Gina, Emily, and me making a spur-of-the-moment trip to town to buy boots. I think it was one of those things that was meant to be, because my mom had a 20% off coupon for the store we planned on going to, and once we got there, they had the exact boots I had envisioned in my size and in the right color! Also, Emily found herself a new shirt to wear to a business conference she's going to this week, so it was a win-win trip for everyone! After we were done shopping, we stopped by a local wing restaurant to pick up some take-out for Gina & Emily, and I stopped in at Starbucks to grab a coffee. I tried their pumpkin spice latte, but I really wasn't impressed. And I payed an ungodly amount of money for what I got. Nothing against the great people of Starbucks, but I'll stick with my local coffee houses, who are more budget-friendly. On our way home, my sisters and I had a great talk. It is times like this that I remember how incredibly blessed I am to have sisters like mine!
7. Back to the wedding. Tevis ended up driving his brother and me to the wedding, and we had a great little trip. It was an almost two-hour drive, but it really didn't seem that long, since we had all kinds of conversation. The wedding itself was beautiful, even if was freezing outside. The upside was that the reception was held in a building next to the ceremony, and it had a fireplace, which was warming us all! Tevis, Kamen, and I didn't stay long after the ceremony, though. Since it was such a long drive, we decided to get back on the road so we could get back to Enid at a decent hour of day. When we got back to Enid, their dad was actually in town for some family reasons, so we went and grabbed a bite to eat with him. It was the second time I've ever met their dad, but it is fair to say that we got along wonderfully! He even invited me to come visit him in Denver for a couple of days when Tevis goes up there sometime soon, so we'll have to see how that one goes! Here are some pictures from the evening! (PS-I'm loving the orchid on Tevis, even if he isn't!)
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| Symphony thought she was a princess in her flower girl dress! |
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| I absolutely love this picture of us! |
9. I'm also tired of meetings. But you already knew that one!
10. Last night, after I came out of my Physics coma, I did something I didn't think I'd ever do...I got a Pinterest account! It was mostly at my boss's suggestion, because she loves to Pin, but I did it, and I love it! I already have so many pins on my boards, it's not even funny! However, I am also feeling more inspired to have more of a DIY take on my Christmas presents this year, as a more economical and practical take on gift giving. Pinterest is officially my Internet happy place!
Here's hoping for a great, restful week for everyone!
It WAS a busy week or two wasn't it. You guys look beautiful in your purples. Yeah, calc is demanding but, everything you are going to study after this year is going to be demanding. That is what college does, push you to beyond where you are so that your understanding, capabilities, vision and scope enlarge. Otherwise it would just be called High School....and you've already done that one. Congratulations.
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