Updates!

So here's what I've been up to:

I've been working really hard trying to just keep up with school. This semester has definitely been harder than ones in the past. I'm doing all I can to pass Econ and Accounting. At this point, it's a "we'll see" how these turn out.

I just had the best weekend, ever, though. I had Relay for Life on Friday and walked for a long time with my new sorority sisters. On Saturday, my pledge class held our service project with the kids at a local shelter and we had so much fun! We played kickball, had sack races and jumped rope for hours. Later on Saturday, I danced the night away at my friend Maria's Quinceañera (15th birthday party). Today was my sorority chapter's celebration day, where I was inducted and we took a lot of pictures.

Here are some:

Me and my "big sisters" at Relay

The entire ΓΣΣ sisterhood

A big thanks to everyone who donated to Relay for Life. Clemson's Relay raised nearly $100,000 for cancer research. Every bit helps, and this is a fight we can win.

☮ & ♥

Amy

Clementis

This is the flower growing on our back porch. I thought you'd like to see it.

Photos

Here's links to some photos I've taken this fall.

Gettysburg

Valley Forge

Lancaster

The Storm Has Passed

Oh, what a weekend last weekend was. I had Laura, Paul and Derek come to visit me. First, the Phillies won the World Series last Thursday! Fans of any Philadelphia team (Flyers, 76ers, Eagles, etc.) are absolutely insane. Don't think it's cute to go into a crowd of people in Philadelphia and yell something like "Go Yankees!" because you will suffer a very painful death at the hands of an angry mob. The news reported that it was a relatively lawful win, since there was just a little looting and only 2 cars were flipped over. Only two.

Then on Friday, the Clemson Trio got here, just in time for me to make breakfast and head to work. That night, we drove to Philly to see Robin Williams. Before the show, people in the crowd were chanting "Phillies! Phillies!" as if that's who they were there to see. I suppose the excitement of a World Series win doesn't wear off that quickly. The show was hilarious, but too crude for my taste.

On Saturday, the boys left us to go to Boston to play in the band at the Clemson-Boston College game. Laura and I went first to the downtown market and got some pretty yummy treats including some chocolate that had printed patterns on it and some Scottish salmon. That afternoon we relaxed and watched tv, because we needed to rest up for our upcoming adventures. On Saturday night we drove back to Philly to see Coldplay in concert. It was amazing. Our seats were a little far away, but the show was so cool. I hope I have another chance to see them in concert.

Sunday was Laura's big surprise. She had no idea where we were going. I actually had her tricked into thinking we were going to go get on a plane, but instead we got up early and headed to the train station, where we hopped the train to New York. First we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where we explored for a few hours and had lunch. Then we went to see Uncle David run by in the marathon. He looks like a mountain man (which is perfect for the boys' adventure today to Mt. Laconte) but he was running fast, so I guess the beard didn't slow him down. We got to spend some time with Aunt Melissa and her friend Nika while they waited for Uncle David to finish up his race. We waited for awhile with them then headed on our way to go shopping. The crowds were insane because of the race and a lot of the intersections were blocked off, so it was best to just pick a person and follow them through the crowd. Shopping was a blast. We didn't buy a lot of stuff, but we had fun just going from store to store on 5th Avenue. I was so tired on Sunday from a long week at work and late nights out, but Laura wanted to go to Times Square, and I'm glad we did. The lights were beautiful and we had a great time taking pictures and looking around. After that, we took a pedicab (attached to a bicycle) with a very handsome Italian driver back to Penn Station and headed home.

On Monday I had to go to work and then that night, the boys came and whisked Laura away.

I had to spend the week catching up on my sleep.

Click here to see some pictures.

Have a great weekend and hopefully, I'll see you soon!

Only 6 weeks left!

Hello everyone! I only have 6 weeks left here and I am so very ready to come home.

Cameron came to visit this weekend. I really enjoyed just spending time with him. It's been a long time since we've been able to hang out, so this was an excellent weekend. I was very sad to have to see him go this morning :(

I'm very excited about a couple of things:

First, I have a brand new second cousin! I can't wait to meet Wendy June...I bet she's going to be my new favorite cousin.

Second, Laura and Paul are coming to visit and we have several adventures planned, including a Robin Williams show and a Coldplay concert. There's something else, but I can't tell you...it's a surprise.

I hope everyone has a great week! Don't party too hard.

Mid-october already!

So it's already the middle of October! When did that happen? 

I don't have a ton of time to blog because I've gotta get a shower (believe me, you want me to shower more than you want to hear what I've been up to) before bed. 

The past few weeks, I've been in the bindery, where we stitch, fold and generally stand around  packing boxes. That is so not fun. All I do is tell myself that I need to stay in school because if I don't, I will spend the remainder of my life standing at the end of a folder picking up packs of 100 pieces of junk mail and putting them in a box. Not the way to go.

Exciting news! Cameron got back to the states last Thursday! He seems great...he can finally relax. But he's bored and doesn't know what to do because his family is CRAZY. 

I'm actually getting to fly home to see everyone this weekend. I'll come in late Friday and leave again on Sunday evening.

Off to bathe! I'll try to get a more comprehensive update of what I've been up to soon.

Sorrysorrysorrysorry

I know, Grandma, I know. I can't say that I've been busy, because I haven't, but I have been lazy. So that's my excuse.

The weather here is changing for the better. Not that it was bad in the first place, but I really love this cool-ish light breeze kind of weather. It's been raining since Friday, which is a drag, but methinks that it will clear up by the end of the day tomorrow.

Let's catch you up with what's been going on since my last post:

I finished my two weeks in the sheetfed press room on a Thursday and headed to the Ink Systems, Inc. room. ISI is a separate company that is housed inside the plant. They're staffed by about 5 people, round-the-clock, and they serve the entire plant. We worked on matching colors to customer specs and mixing 20 lb batches of those colors-some of them by hand (with a putty knife on a counter). That lasted two days.

Next, we headed to the web press room. Web presses are huge, loud and fast. Presses are web presses when they are fed by a web (continuous stream) of paper rather than individual sheets. Some of these webs weigh over 3000 lbs. My job is to prepare the splice (get the roll ready to attach to the last roll), check ink levels and learn about the different operations. 

During the first week of the web room, we had lunch with the company president like we normally do at the end of each rotation. He asks us questions and sees what we learned in the department we just left. It's pass/fail (really, it doesn't count for anything)...we always pass.

This past weekend, Mom and Dad came to visit. Unfortunately, it rained most of the time, but we still managed to have some fun. When they first got here, I gave them a tour of the plant. After that, we went and purchased some new Corell dishes. They still sell those iris plates we used to have when I was younger. Dad is super picky about plates (of all things), so we ended up with beige round plates that are so boring, but whatever. We just eat off of them. 

On Saturday, we went to the downtown market and then to Kitchen Kettle Village in Intercourse. Later that day we went to church where I've been going. They had a very touching baptism service. Sunday, we went to the Strasburg railroad and museum. That was really cool. The train ride is relaxing and a great way to spend an afternoon. It was very sad to say goodbye, but time has started flying and I'll be home before mom knows it.

Great story: Went to Sonic today and ordered a large Dr. Pepper. Not only was it half-price drink time, but they were out of large cups, so I got an extra large for $.99! I can't describe how happy I was at the time.

Current tracks:

Plain White T's 1, 2, 3, 4

Casting Crowns East to West

Conor Oberst Cape Canaveral

Bye y'all! (I've been dying to say y'all. Up here, they don't get it)