Running in the Rain

Hey Bugs! Happy Weekend!

First of all I would like to say that I was half tempted to write a rant about my pretty crappy week, but recognizing that my last blog post was all about being sick I decided to tend towards a more uplifting post today. I will say though that I did have a pretty crappy week, but I say this because knowing that will make what I’m about to say much more meaningful. As I’ve mentioned before, I had a fantastic weekend last weekend, but I started off my week following it on a pretty bad note; I woke up sick Monday morning. It wasn’t really until Thursday that I had my normal energy level back again, and on top of feeling like death, homework seems to have the tendency to pile up like crazy lately. I have a paper and 3 tests coming up pretty quickly, and my week has pretty much consisted of homework and nothing else. Some other crappy things happened too that I won’t get into since this is supposed to be an uplifting post, but just know that it was not the best week. So with that, let’s get to the happy part shall we?

Well this afternoon my outlook on life picked up a little bit. I had just done 3 hours of calculus homework, and knowing that I needed to take a break before my brain exploded, I decided to go for a run.

Now usually when I go for a run I think to look outside beforehand to make a note of the weather but for some reason I didn’t think to today. Too much on my mind I guess. Anyway, I changed into my running attire, grabbed a water bottle and some tunes and headed outside.

As soon as I walked outside I realized something… it was raining. Not pouring down buckets or anything crazy like that, but sprinkling a good bit. How did I miss that? One wall of my dorm room is practically just one giant window so you would think that I would have noticed the water falling from the sky. But for some reason I didn’t.

For a split second I contemplated going back inside, just watching a youtube video or reading a chapter of a book as my break instead. But then I realized something – running in the rain actually sounded wonderful.

I’m not really sure why. I’ve never run in the rain before. But for some reason it seemed like it might be… refreshing I guess. So, questioning my judgement and sanity, I started moving my feet. And the farther I went, the faster I got, and the more my mind wandered away from the troubles of the world.

Running has always been a stress-relief for me, but usually I tend to stay inside when it’s raining. But for some reason I just felt like I had to go for it today. I knew I needed a break, and the cold sprinkles of water somehow made me more energized and ready to go.

I got back to the dorm room after my rainy run, changed back into normal clothes, and went to dinner with my roommate. After dinner I got back to calculus homework and realized that I had a much better outlook on everything than I had just a few hours before. I still had just as much stuff to get done, but I was taking it one thing at a time rather than worrying about all of the things I would have to get done after my current task. This actually got me through what I had to get done faster because I was more positive and wasn’t stressing as much.

So was my positive demeanor due completely to running in the rain? Probably not. But it did allow me to clear my mind, take a break from the crazy of my life, and realize that life would go on despite my one crappy week.

So, moral of the story? Find something that allows you to clear your mind when you feel overwhelmed, it sure did help me.

Or maybe the only thing we learned from this is that Laney likes running in the rain. I’ll leave that interpretation up to you.

Anyway, stay happy bugs! Go for a run in the rain! Clear those minds of the cluttered world around you! All in all, stay positive! Life goes on.

And with that happy note,

Love,

Laney-Bug ❤

Lemon Tea and Honey

 

So as you have probably already heard, I had a fantastic weekend. A fantastic weekend of being pampered, dancing the night away, and being surrounded by the people that I love. Unfortunately, my Monday that followed was not so great.

Of course a large part of this could have simply been that I was terribly sad after saying goodbye to everyone the previous evening, but something tells me that I wouldn’t have been in a good mood any morning that I woke up with a sore throat and the inability to breathe through my nose. As soon as I woke up I knew it was going to be a really long day.

Now first of all I want to say that I’m about 99% certain that I was never actually sick throughout the last few days. At least once a semester I usually explode out of a combination of allergies, exhaustion, and stress, and this was most likely the effects of that. We are halfway through the semester, my allergies have only been getting worse, I was on 4 different planes within the last 3 days, I’ve been working my butt off in all my classes, and I have had multiple nights of less sleep than usual due to my crazy travel schedule. Not to mention my emotions running wild after bidding goodbye to my Texas loves. Anyway, back to Monday.

The first thought that popped into my head when I first woke up was that what I probably needed most (and wanted most) was to roll back over and go back to sleep, don’t go to class for the day. (I haven’t missed a day of class yet, I can miss one day!) And I almost did so until I realized that my first class was at 9 a.m. and I had a quiz that morning. (First class on a Monday morning and I have a quiz? What is this?) So, being the dedicated student that I am I dragged myself out of bed, made myself semi-presentable, and went to class, hoping that maybe I would feel better once I got up and got going.

And did I? Negative. By the end of the hour I felt even more like death, and decided that the next 4 hours of class that I was supposed to go to just wasn’t going to happen.(I would just like to point out that if I miss class, or even consider missing class, that you know it’s bad, because this really just doesn’t happen much. Yes I know, I’m one of THOSE kids.)

So, back to the dorm room I go! I put on my Olaf sweats, laid in bed, watched Netflix, and drank lemon tea and honey (which helps sicknesses of all kinds if you ask me). After about an hour I passed out and didn’t wake up for another 3 hours. And when I fall asleep in the middle of the day, you know it’s bad – because I simply just don’t take naps (kind of like I simply just don’t miss class). If I ever take a nap, you know that I feel like I’ve been run over by a truck a few times, dipped in gasoline, and thrown against a wall. It just doesn’t happen.

So after my once-in-a-blue-moon nap I finally decided to actually be productive and do some homework. That was pretty much the rest of my day. Around dinner time I finally felt just good enough to eat something resembling real-food, so I went down to the little market place on campus and got some good ol’ mac & cheese. Yum.

Today I feel much better. I didn’t go to my 7 a.m. dance class (which I later found out ended up being canceled anyway, so it didn’t even count against me. Score!), and I didn’t go to one of my lectures because being squished in a lecture hall like a sardine with 350 other students just didn’t sound enjoyable. Claustrophobia only makes being sick worse, just sayin’. But other than those 2 classes I attended all my other classes, functioned as a normal student, and actually started eating mostly-normal meals again (bagel and cream cheese for lunch – nothing wrong with a simple meal! And a large improvement from the fruit leather I had for lunch yesterday). So all in all, I think I’ll live. I should be my normal self again by tomorrow, just with a scratchy-sounding voice. Oh, and a cough that makes everyone think I’m going to infect all of them with some lethal disease.

But looking back on the last 24 hours now I just want to say that I have super cool people in my life, both in Texas and here in Montana. My boyfriend and my parents were all texting me and calling me all day to check in on me, my roommate did everything she could to make sure I was as happy as I could be in my dying-state, and I even had a friend that noticed I wasn’t in class and came by my room to ask me if I wanted her to bring me some tea. Where would we be without people like this in our lives? Although humanity can sometimes disgust me, it can also be pretty great too. Sometimes us humans can actually show an amazing amount of compassion and consideration for others. It’s kind of awesome.

Well, I have to be at a calculus study group soon so until then, I’m taking a netflix-and-hot-tea-with-honey break.

Stay healthy, bugs!

Love,

Laney-Bug ❤

Wedding Weekend and the Dreaded Goodbye

First of all, I know I said I would post on Friday, and I’m sorry that I am a failure as a blogger and didn’t end up doing that. It turns out that going away for the weekend and trying to get all your homework done on Friday afternoon is a bit time consuming. Who would have thought? That’s college life for ya. But to make up for it, here I go!

Well, as you may know based on my last blog post, this weekend was the big wedding weekend! My boyfriend’s sister got married on Saturday, which meant that I got to go back home to Texas for the weekend to be a bridesmaid. It was great to see everyone again and made me realize all over again how lucky I am to have such wonderful people in my life.

The weekend started out with a flight from Montana to Denver, followed by one from Denver to Austin. I landed in Texas just after 11pm and was greeted by my parents and my boyfriend, who was still dressed all spiffy from the rehearsal dinner earlier that night that I had missed. I was already excited to see him of course (8 weeks apart feels so much longer than it is!), but for some reason it made it even more fun that he was all dressed up, even if it wasn’t necessarily for me. I guess that the cheesy side of me felt special because I felt like a princess being welcomed by a super cool prince in a festive bow tie. And I gotta admit, he pulls off the bow tie well.

That night I pretty much stayed up visiting with them for awhile, until we all decided that we should probably go to sleep so that we would have a bit of beauty sleep before the big day. The next morning we ate delicious chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast (my favorite!), and then my boyfriend and I got to his house at 9 am so that he could head off with the groomsmen while I joined the other girls for bridesmaid shenanigans. The first bridesmaid activity was a trip to Starbucks (because what’s a wedding day without some caffeine to get you through it?), where we got “bride” and “bridesmaid” written on the appropriate cups. I was even adventurous and tried a new drink. (Iced chai tea latte. Do it!)

Next we headed to the venue and took turns getting massages and facials that the mother of the bride set up as a gift to all the bridesmaids. It was absolutely wonderful, and definitely just what I needed after my long travel day on Friday. I have to admit that the idea of a massage kind of freaked me out at first since I had never had one before, but I’m so glad I did it, I think I really needed it! You don’t realize how stressed you’ve been until that stress is somehow relieved, even if just a bit by a massage.

What did we do after getting pampered? Get pampered some more of course! It’s wedding day! We had professionals at the venue to do our hair and makeup, the whole shabang. The makeup artist seemed a bit confused by my request of a lack of bright red lipstick, but eventually she came to terms with the fact that I simply would only wear lipstick of the light pink variety and agreed to it. Apparently every girl is supposed to dream of bright red lipstick, but I beg to differ. Coral pink rose for the win!

Well eventually it came time to start helping the bride pretty herself up. The hour leading up to the wedding was a rather chaotic explosion of getting her into her white dress, getting her hair just right, and last minute wedding party pictures- all while the immediate family was running around making sure everything was perfect, just as any family would do on the big day.

Prior to the ceremony I learned that I was the first bridesmaid to walk down the isle, even though I was the only one who couldn’t attend the rehearsal the night before. Basically I just had to walk down the isle, meet the groomsman I was paired up with (which just so happened to be my boyfriend, no complaints here!), and let him walk me to my spot on the bride’s side. For some reason this terrified me. It was really very simple, but I’ve never been in a wedding before. What if I trip in my heels on the grass? What if I walk too fast? Too slow? What if my boyfriend goes bonkers and takes me to the wrong space? Well, of course none of that happened. I was just bring a worry wart, as always. I walked down the 5 meter isle just fine, stood in my place, and watched one of my best friends get married. It was a beautiful wedding, with an even more beautiful bride.

Next was the partayyy! Otherwise known as the reception. The bridesmaids broke out into dance during Shake it Off by Taylor Swift, I got to meet more of my boyfriend’s family, got to visit with one of my favorite high school teachers, and pretty much just danced the night away while surrounded by some of my favorite people- including the bride’s 2 year old son. He is the cutest thing ever and I have missed him to pieces the last 8 weeks. My biggest fear was that he wouldn’t remember me, no lie. But he did! Or at least he seemed to as far as I could tell. Who knows what goes on in the mind of a 2 year old.

At the end of the night I said my goodbyes to pretty much everyone other than my boyfriend and my parents, and then the 4 of us went to IHOP for some tasty food since there isn’t an IHOP within walking distance of my college campus and I had a ridiculous craving. Saying goodbye to my friends and my boyfriend’s family at the wedding was really hard, harder than I expected. I hadn’t even realized how much I missed some of them until it was time to say goodbye again. But, life goes on, and I’ll see them come Christmas time. So for now I keep my head up and continue on with this crazy thing called life.

Sunday was nice and relaxing. We woke up relatively late and my parents had another wedding to get to, so my boyfriend and I watched a movie and ate left over chocolate chip pancakes and just plain enjoyed being in each other’s company again. When my parents got back we did some shopping for some things I needed back at college, we ate cheese fondue for dinner (because I can’t come home for the weekend and not eat the deliciousness that is bagels dipped in melted cheese), and then we headed off to the airport.

Like I said before, saying goodbye to everyone at the wedding was hard. But it was nothing compared the the goodbyes of Sunday night. Not going to lie, there was much crying. In some ways it was easier saying goodbye to my boyfriend this time than it was saying goodbye to him at the beginning of the semester, but in other ways it was just as hard if not harder. On one hand, we got through 8 weeks this last time and this time it’s just 5 weeks. 5 weeks should seem like nothing! But at the same time it seemed like our time together went by so quickly. I loved every minute of it, but I had been looking forward to it for so long and now it’s already over just like that and I’m back to counting down the days again (37!). And of course it was hard to say goodbye to my parents, I have lived with them for 18 years after all! They’re pretty darn swell too.

So now I’m sitting on the plane, heading back to Montana with mixed feelings. Feeling very lucky to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard, but also already missing Texas and the people in it like crazy.

So what’s the moral of my story?

Love every moment.

Laugh a lot.

Look forward to whatever is coming next.

I miss my life in Texas like mad, but I also love my new life in Montana – and I always know that Texas and all my loved ones in it are there when I need them. I also know that although I miss my boyfriend like crazy, that we love each other and will find a way to make this crazy long distance thing work. Hey, we got through the longest part of the semester! From here on out it’ll be easy peasy. I am grateful for the fantastic weekend I just had, and it only makes me look forward to my next time with him during Thanksgiving break even more so. If that’s even possible that is!

Well, this one was pretty cheesy. But hey, that’s just me. And this is my blog. So naturally it has to be just as cheesy as me. And just as cheesy as cheese fondue, because that stuff is fantastic.

Well, thanks for listening bugs!

PS: picture caption!
Top left: my boyfriend and I all spiffied up as groomsman and bridesmaid
Top right: the beautiful bride and I!
Bottom left: the bride’s 2 year old son trying to feed me a cupcake. Isn’t he just so sweet?
Bottom right: bridesmaid selfie of course! (It had to be done)

Until next time…
Love,
Laney-Bug ❤

Anticipation

Ahh, anticipation…. my feelings regarding just about everything right now.

I have had a very eventful week. Is this a bad thing? Not particularly. Is this a good thing? Eh, in some ways. It’s kept me busy and I’ve gotten a lot done, but going going going all the time is a bit draining. And now I’ve reached that point in the week where I am completely drained from everything. Last night I reached the point where I had so much to do that I just didn’t want to do any of it. You know that feeling when you just want to lay on the floor, plug in headphones, listen to the soothing sound of that band that you won’t admit you love, and just lay there forever? Well that was me. At least that’s who I WANTED to be. In reality I just went to swim practice and did homework, like I would any other night. But, back to the point at hand. Not only am I drained from my chaotic week, but I’m also waiting in anticipation for the results of just about everything that happened this week.

First of all, I had a calculus test on Wednesday. This was the calculus test from hell. Not because the test itself was hard, but because it was over 8 sections of material, and many of those sections really should have been split up into even more sections, so basically it was a crap-ton of material. Who even designs these books anyway? I demand to know. I will write a very strongly worded letter to them. Anyway, it was like as soon as I studied one section and felt really good about it, BAM I would be reminded of another section that was included that I had totally forgotten about. We did some of these things 4 weeks ago and haven’t touched them since. And now we have a test over it? What?

Come test day the test seemed pretty simple. A little too simple. I did nothing but study for 2 weeks and now within 40 minutes I’m done? No sweat, blood, and tears? Done just like that?

Well, either I totally overstudied, or I did everything absolutely wrong. It was probably the first one, but for now I wait.

I wait in anticipation of my grade.

Then I had an interview this week. I had an interview to be part of the group on campus that basically gives tours and runs orientations and other assorted things like that. It’s basically a big group of cool people that you could classify as leaders. And, well, that’s me. So I had an interview – a two part interview. The first part, the part that I most want to share with you, was last night – it consisted of a multiple things, but today I’m going to focus on one specific portion.

Well, this portion is the portion in which I had to give a presentation about me and my life, and hopefully convince them that I’m the coolest thing since sliced bread and that having me in their program would make them equally as cool. I had been told that I had 5-10 minutes for this presentation. So, being the planner that I am, I wrote an entire speech made up of Dr.Seuss-style rhymes and drew a bunch of pictures that I then had printed and blown up onto poster board. My plan? To tell them a bunch of witty rhymes about my life while holding up my posters to portray my lovely artistic ability. What actually happened? Well, somehow something was lost in communication, so things didn’t quite go as planned. I in fact did NOT have 5-10 minutes to present, I instead had 3 minutes. So there I was, on the spot, ready for my 8-minute long presentation that I had practiced a countless number of times, and I’m told that I get 3 minutes.

So I ended up just talking briefly about each drawing and how it described me and had to nix the rhymes all together. Overall it went pretty well, but I was a bit frustrated about the change of plans. I worked hard on those rhymes. I want someone important to hear them gosh darn it.

So now I wait in anticipation about whether I got into the program, despite the bumpy start of my presentation when I was flustered and frantically deciding what to do.

And lastly, the anticipation of the weekend. This is a special weekend for me. First of all, as of tomorrow I will be exactly halfway through my first semester of college, which is pretty exciting (and a bit terrifying). But even more exciting is that I get to go back home to Texas for the weekend, where I will get to see my boyfriend and my parents for the first time since the semester started.

You see, my boyfriend’s sister is getting married – and I’m a bridesmaid. So it will be a party-filled weekend. And I’m also not complaining that it gives me a chance to see my boyfriend again after 8 weeks of being apart.

So, here I am, sitting in anticipation. Writing to you, whoever you are, about the things I am awaiting for in life. It seems like we are always waiting for something, doesn’t it? We’re never quite satisfied with what is going on at this exact moment. And then, whatever we are waiting for happens, and we find ourselves waiting all over again. It’s a vicious cycle of life.

Anyway, off to dinner from me. You’ll probably hear from me tomorrow, while I await for my plane at the airport. In anticipation, might I add.

Love,
Laney-bug

Causing a Ruckus about Attendees of College Lectures

photo credit: Sean MacEntee via photopin cc

Alright, so you guys have probably caught on to the fact that I’m in my first year of college by now. And with the first year of college comes “Intro to fill-in-the-blank” classes, which typically consist of about 350 students and take place in a giant lecture hall. These lectures can be hard to sit through. They are long and can often be pretty boring, and you can’t help but think; “no one will really notice if I’m gone, right?”. Not to mention the fact that a lot of them are recorded and posted online, making it the slightest bit easier to skip out on class itself and just catch up in the comfort of your dorm room.

But what I am here to rant about today is not these giant lecture classes themselves, but some of the students that attend them.  My problem? People leave 5-10 minutes early and prevent other students from hearing the professor. My proposed solution? Either come to class and stay the whole time, or don’t come at all and choose to be a hermit- listening to the lecture on your laptop an hour after class.

This is extremely disruptive to the students who want to hear what the professor has to say, not to mention that it is also very disrespectful to the professor that took time out of his or her day to teach college freshman about biology, chemistry, anthropology, or whatever else you may be taking. The resources are available for you to catch up if you must miss some of class, so if you can’t stay the whole time just resort to that option!

I understand that some people who may leave class early may have a legitimate reason. If you suddenly get a phone call about an emergency, or anything that you must report to abruptly, then I am okay with it. Go for it and I won’t judge you! But I’m pretty sure that the 25+ students who constantly leave 10 minutes early are not getting emergency text messages at the exact same time every day. If I’m in lecture anyway then I don’t want to have to find it again online later and catch up on the last 10 minutes of class just because I couldn’t hear the professor over the departing student body.

Alright, rant over. Back to chemistry homework.
Love,

Laney-Bug ❤

In Transit

Today’s daily prompt says; “Train stations, airport terminals, subway stops: soulless spaces full of distracted, stressed zombies, or magical sets for fleeting, interlocking human stories?”

All of these places relating to transportation can be gloomy spaces of bewildered bodies, or astounding areas of crossing paths. The important part is that they tell a story. Each individual passing through has their own reasons for being there, for going from place to place, and for doing it in the fashion that they do. Some may rush to get from one place to another, while other enjoy the journey along the way, but nonetheless these are the stories of the people passing through. If you want to look at the train station as a soulless space rather than a magical set, it’s completely up to you. But in the end, everyone has a story, and all of these stories do overlap at some moment in time. As for my personal opinion, it seems much more enjoyable to look at it as a magical place for interlocking stories. But there is no set answer for this because everyone views it differently. How they view it is up to them.

Well, signing off for now,
Love,
Laney-Bug ❤

Ready, Set, Done

Today’s daily prompt says; “take ten minutes — no pauses! — to write about anything, unfiltered and unedited” So with that, I’m going to jump right in today.

Well, to write about something for 10 minutes straight I guess that means I should write about whatever is on my mind at the moment. And for the last few weeks I have had quite a bit on my mind, but they have all related to one thing; the college experience. I am currently a freshman in college, far away from home, and it has definitely been a transitional time for me.

First of all, I am attending college in Montana but prior to a few weeks ago I had never lived anywhere but Texas. So the first thing that makes this new chapter of my life so different is simply my location. I’m not even used to the weather yet. In Texas if the high was 95 degrees then the low was probably about 92. But here the day will start out at 27 degrees, go up to 92, and then go back down to 35 by night time. Some days I swear I wear 3 different outfits just because I have to change how many layers I’m wearing and the weight of my clothes. Not to mention the dry air here – in the humidity of Texas it took me 40 minutes to straighten my hair. Here it only takes 10. The first time I realized that it was like a whole new world.

And of course there’s the actual college-portion of my college transition. Classes require lots of studying, then again that’s not much different than high school for me. The randomness of the studying is what is really different. I don’t have a constant amount of studying for each class, instead I will have absolutely no homework for a given class for about 2 weeks and then all the sudden I’ll have a week in which homework from that one given class alone completely consumes my life. And on top of the sporadic tendency of homework, tests are few and far between which means that when they do come up, they count for a ridiculous portion of your grade. So come test time, it’s time to lock yourself in your dorm room and study about 24/7.

Another big transition has been all that there is to do around campus. In high school the issue was not being able to find something to do – now it is quite the opposite. On multiple occasions I have found myself deciding between 3 different activities going on around campus that all happen to be at the exact same time on the exact same day. The amount of activities to participate in is awesome because it gets you involved, but it’s almost overwhelming. I’ve decided that the trick is to try a little bit of everything the first few weeks of classes and then decide which ones you really like and stick with them for the rest of the semester.

Well, there’s my 10-minute talk about college life. Thanks for listening, internet-world.

Signing off,
Love,
Laney-Bug ❤

Verbal Confirmation

Today’s daily prompt asks; “To be, to have, to think, to move — which of these verbs is the one you feel most connected to? Or is there another verb that characterizes you better?”

To be, to think, and to move are all way too vague for me to connect to. In order for me to connect to a verb I have to feel that it means something deep, something important, and something that defines me.

So let’s see, what defines me? Well, my love of animals defines me. So does my love of music of any kind – performing it, playing it, listening to it, dancing to it. But then again, exercise and physical fitness also define me. Along with my love of learning. And many other things that I can’t continue to list or we’ll be here forever. But what do all of these definitions of me have in common? The fact that I enjoy them the most when I do them with others, particularly when I feel responsible for getting others excited about them.

So, let’s go with… To Motivate. I love leading and I love sharing my enthusiasm with others. “Motivate” is what I strive to do with everything I do. After all, what’s the point of loving something if you don’t love it so much that other’s can’t help but love it too?

Well, with that motivating note, it’s back to homework for me.
Love,
Laney-Bug ❤