First Week of School

It's almost the end of my first week at PSU (No one reads on Friday).

First off I underestimated the amount of people here. My neighbor's daughter who works in Career Services said there are about 43,000 students. I'm sure that is just undergraduates too.

Sometimes I sit in the HUB between classes and for almost an hour straight, it's a constant stream of people coming in. I may have to do a time lapse video for you all. I've never seen so many people in my life. Or maybe I've just forgotten what it's like to be surrounded by people.

Despite the enormous amount of people, I am finding that most people just keep to themselves or to people they already know. That's a bit disappointing but as Frances Mayes says in "Under the Tuscan Sun"; "It's only natural that making friends takes a while." Or something like that. *Sorry for the butchered punctuation.

I am super excited about all my classes. I am taking Early Jewish and Christian Studies. It's basically an unbiased examination of the bible and the context of the history from that time period. I've never read the bible and going to Church left me with a taste of bias instead of the truth. In order to run, you have to learn to walk. So this is the walk to my spiritual future. Plus I think it's really important to understand the Bible in order to understand the present. Everything I know about the Middle East is muddled. I can't form an opinion by listening to the news.

Next up is Intro to Art History. I originally thought it was history of art through the ages but it turns out the class teaches the aesthetics of art, why we learn it and how art affects our lives. It's a great primer and I'm super glad I took this one first. The teacher is AMAZING. I love her already. Even though the class is held in a semi-auditorium she effectively engaged the class in discussions ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL no less! She was amazing in her use of PowerPoint and multimedia to teach her lesson. She made us listen to two songs, one by the Indigo Girls called Galileo to honor his birthday which I never heard and thoroughly enjoyed. Later she played a Lauren Hill song which I also never heard. It was amazing! I only ever heard her in the Fugees and I am definitely going to check out her album.

The best part was that my teacher is going to provide any reading material online. She doesn't believe in propagating the cycle of ripping off students via an expensive book that is only good for one semester. She got a round of applause for that one.

Next is Linguistics. I'm sure this class filled a humanities requirement or something but I would have taken it as an elective anyways. I'm such word nerd. I love learning the origin or words and history and why they came to be and all that. This class is about the study of language and I love it already! On our second day we watched an episode of Star Trek. Talk about geeking out! I think my teacher is a grad student but he's pretty decent at teaching so I don't mind too much. He actually looks like I would be friends with him in real life.

Which brings me to my next point. I feel old. Seriously. I'm not old. I'm 24 but in college years, I am practically 30! Everyone around me are still teeny boppers and I literally want to bop them! But then I remember that this is their first time out in the real world and I'm sure I was just as annoying. It's hard to tell because I've always been more mature and reserved than my peers.

My last class is Microeconomics. This one I also electively took although I'm sure it fills some requirement. The only way I understand economics is through the Planet Money podcast. I want to take my education in my own hands so hopefully this class will help me understand money and society a little better. This teacher has like 600 students and she does pretty well. My only beef is that I can't remember where I sat the previous class so I'm having a hard time remembering who I met and making a class buddy.

There is a deaf or hard of hearing guy in class and in front of him is a lady translating with sign language. How awesome is it to have her job? It's like she gets to experience college again.

Dan and I have been riding the bus more often. We don't want to bother each other if we have other obligations on campus so sometimes one of us will take the car home and the other will ride the bus.

This morning I took the bus to school since I have an 8am class. This way it gave Dan some time to relax and drink his coffee. It makes me feel good. I feel like my small sacrifice of giving up my car is helping the environment. When we move again though I'll need my own car again. Charleston is just too sprawled out without an efficient public transit system.

I still have sleeping problems. I'm talking to my doctor in a week or so to talk about the results of my sleep study so I'm crossing my fingers that we can come up with a solution other than taking medicine at night.

I signed up for a few clubs on campus. I really want to join an athletic club to get fit again but I am so scared that I'll just drag the team down. Then I'm worried about time commitments. Will I be able to commit because I'm looking for a job too.

My first real stress was getting out of the library. I seriously could not find the exit, even after studying the maps for several minutes. At one point I thought I needed GPS but my phone hardly works in the library. As it turns out, the library has become my favorite spot to study and just get away. The carrels are dispersed within the stacks with an occasional computer and it's pretty quiet. I can take a quick call without bothering anyone. I'm sure I could get away with eating too but I like to eat my lunch in the HUB or outside in the sun.

One last thing. This University is filled with beautiful people! Most everyone is fit and tanned with perfect hair and makeup. Dan attributes it to the high cost of tuition so the rich come here. Makes sense. Luckily there are normal people here to make me feel less hideous.

If you read all of that, I hope you weren't expecting a cookie :P

I've Arrived... in Pennsylvania

This week has been crazy! First I said goodbye to everyone in Charleston. Then Courtney and I were hanging out trying not to cry when all of sudden Dan walks in through the door. What?! His grandmother was flying into town the day after so why was he here when his lieutenant said he couldn't travel with me?

I didn't recognize him at first and then I was confused and I then I realized it was actually him and I was being surprised. Then I jumped into his arms and started bawling my eyes out. All my restraint of keeping my emotions in, went out the window.

Dan and I started driving Wednesday morning and we drove through instead of stopping in Virginia like we originally planned. Jack was a good kitty and barely meowed. As soon as we got to our place, we dropped Jack in his litter box and he was off exploring his new house with me. We poked around in every closet and in every room, satisfying our curiosity while reveling being with our possessions again.

Yesterday Dan and I found a delicious diner and drove through town. It was gorgeous here! All sun and no humidity. I can't believe I live in the mountains. Downtown State College is awesome. I can't believe I'm going to live in such an awesome place. While driving around I missed my friend Jessie a lot. She just moved away from here so we just missed each other :(

So even though Dan and I are here together, it doesn't feel real that we get to live here. It feels like I am on vacation. Our house is nearly unpacked thanks to Dan. I have yet to start organizing but I know I'll start before the weekend is up.

Today is the Farmer's Market so we're going into town again! Yay! It's another gorgeous day so I'll take the camera out. Peace!

Moving update

The movers are here and my house is nearly packed up! Im so freakin stoked! This makes moving so less stressful.

I am currently dying for some sleep. I napped around 6:30am before the movers arrived so I am so ready for some hardcore sleep. I hope tonight my insomnia will go away.

Since the router and modem are all packed, I have no internet or xbox live. Luckily my phone has internet but its crappy internet explorer. I can't wait to buy an iphone and macbook for myself.

Tomorrow the movers will move the boxes and furniture and it will be just six more days until I am in dan's arms. Then I return to finish classes and exams and then Jack and I start the drive up north to live with Dan.

Right now, I just hope to god I sleep tonight.

Top 7 Things I am looking forward to

Top 7 Things I am looking forward to:

1) Dan's Graduation next week - Two months does not seem like long but it feels like it.

2) Settling into our apartment in PA - I love the feeling of a newly unpacked house. It feels so invigorating and exciting.

3) Moving Day - The movers are coming this week and I could not be more excited! It will make this move feel more real and it is one step closer to getting to PA.

4) Leaving before summer - I will not miss the summers in the swampy south. When I was in PA last July for Meredith's wedding I couldn't believe how gorgeous it was.

5) Experiencing Seasons - Since living in Florida for most of my life, I have a skewed version of seasons.

6) My biology exam - I know, sounds weird but I hate this class so much I can't wait for the exam so I can be done with it! UGH.

7) Saturday mornings with Dan - These are the best! This is our day of no stress. I sleep in. We cook each other breakfast or go out for breakfast and then snuggle on the couch playing video games together or catch up on movies and TV.

I survived the storm!!!!!

After this week, THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!

My torture finally seized and I survived. Yeah, it's been a series of bad luck and lots of money out out the hoo-ha, but somehow I managed not to pull my hair out and I am still here. This was a test and I passed. I just wish it hadn't been a pop-test, a little studying might have helped.

Yesterday I did a little shopping, even in the rain. After the torrents of yesterday, today is beautiful!!! It finally feels spring-ish and I am so stoked to be wearing my cute spring outfits.

Today I am a social butterfly! After class I'm hanging out with Court, then dinner with Hillary and then some birthday cake for Ian! Tomorrow I am hanging out with the library crew. It'll be nice to spend some last moments with friends before leaving.

Speaking of which, I need to see if I can take one of my exams early so I can be with Dan sooner. I miss that husband of mine SO MUCH. It's amazing how he balances me. I am truly blessed to have him in my life. Thank you for being the calm in my tornado of life! :D The cat would be the flying witch cackling.

Liz with Lady Luck

If I seem bitter lately, I am. This past month has been quite the adventure. I found a buyer for my car but I can't find the title. Of course. So I print out the forms and head to the DMV. While there I realize the car is in Dan's name and I need the POA (power of attorney) which is at home. I go home and grab and return except now the line is way too long and I'll be late to class.

So today I return and as soon as I get the DMV, I realize I do not have my purse with me. Great. So I head back home and grab it.

Then I get to the counter and I need a lien release so I have to call the bank and wait for that. Well they didn't date it or sign it so I had to call them again.

But I finally got the title and I am ready to sell my car!

BUT it gets better. Last night I noticed all sorts of black specks all over the carpet. I was about to murder a cat since I vacuumed the day before. But I look closer and it is not stuffing from a toy, they are bugs. I call my terminator blubbering (because it's after 6pm and my brain turns off at night). Somehow he understands me and tells me it's probably termites because of the shape and it's swarming season. Great. There goes my the rest of the sale from my car.

In the big scheme of things, these are small. I've handled worse but it just seems that I can't catch a breather inbetween. I want to play the lottery because I can't possibly have this much bad luck without something good but I know better than to play with chance.

So next week the movers are coming and then just a few more weeks until I visit Dan and then just a few more weeks until exams are over and I move in with Dan in PA. I'm so excited to be with him but I am seriously going to miss the people I've met here.

Join me!

I'm trying 31 Days to Build a Better Blog. Read more about it here. It starts April 6th and I realize this month will be tough for me since I have exams and I am moving but I'm going to try hard! Try with me!

-Liz