Well hello there bugs! Surprised to see that I’m actually posting when I said I would? I know, I’m pretty proud of myself.
As promised, this is basically going to be me telling you about my oh-so exciting life. The last year has probably included some of the biggest changes I’ve had to go through within a very short period of time. It’s been eventful to say the least. So, here we go…
All throughout my freshman year I lived in the dorms. They were nice, but I really missed things like cooking my own food, not sharing a shower with 24 other people, and having a decently sized closet. I know, picky picky. Anyway, last year my parents were in Missoula for spring break and they found a house for sale that they fell in love with. They had been planning on retiring in Missoula for a while, so they basically just decided to buy it so that no one else could even though they still had over a year until they could move here. For me that was awesome because it meant that I got to live in a house less than a mile away from campus for free until they moved in. Score.
Well, mostly score. I love living in the house and it’s infinitely better than the dorms, but living off campus also makes me more of an adult than I was before. Now I have to do adulty things like grocery shopping and cleaning the house and doing dishes. It also means that my friends aren’t all living in the same hallway as me anymore. Then again my friends kind of scattered out to a bunch of different dorms this year so that wouldn’t have really happened anyway. Basically what I’m trying to say is that any change, even if its a good one, takes some time to adjust to. This past year I’ve moved into a house, gotten a new roommate, made my own meals, and have just been a lot more independent in general. Not a bad thing, but definitely something to get used to.
This year I also have the excitement of taking a 300-level Anatomy and Physiology course. I’m currently taking my second semester of it and I have a love-hate relationship with it. In one way it is awesome because the information is super interesting (and I’m one of those nerds who doesn’t at all mean that sarcastically), but on the other hand it pretty much consumes my life. It’s one of those classes that would be perfect if it was the ONLY class I was taking. But I’m taking 17 credits and it’s only 4 of them. Oh, that’s another thing. It’s only worth 4 credits but I do about 5 times the amount of work for it than I do for any other class. Petition to let it count as 20 credits. Anyone with me?
Over the course of each semester we have 3 tests overall in the lecture portion of the class as well as 2 lab practicals throughout the semester AND a lab quiz every. single. week. And to top it off, the lecture and the lab don’t always correspond with each other, so half the time I pretty much have to study as if they are two separate classes. Learning about the origins of the muscles of the arm in lab doesn’t help me much when I’m trying to simultaneously memorize what the hippocampus of the brain does for lecture. My roommate is in the class with me and one time we calculated how many hours we spent studying for just A&P alone. I think we calculated 25+ hours per week. And that’s NOT including open labs. Open labs are basically extra study hours where you can show up to lab and ask questions. They are one of those things that is technically “optional”… but if you want to do well they are pretty much mandatory. Yayyyy college.
Overall though the class is pretty cool. It’s turning me into a nerd because I think way too in depth about the simplest of things now. A normal person would say something like “It’s cold, I have goosebumps”. But I say exciting things like “MY ARRECTOR PILI MUSCLES ARE REALLY WORKING HARD”. Which is basically a fancy way of saying that I have goosebumps.
Oh and my roommate says the same types of things. We have super exciting conversations. Oh what nerds we are.
NEXT TOPIC. I have recently done something that scares me a bit but also makes me REALLY REALLY EXCITED. I am currently training to become a certified aerobic dance instructor. There is a type of dance called OULA that is basically an aerobic dance workout and it’s the funnest. workout. ever. It’s called OULA because it started in MissOULA. Clever, huh? Anyway, I started taking OULA classes my freshman year and fell in love with it. So last summer I officially decided that I wanted to teach it. Back in December I had a “training weekend” where the OULA masters basically taught about 20 trainees, including myself, everything we need to know about OULA. We have 3 months since then to learn lots of choreography, practice how to put playlists together and how to cue for classes, and teach as many practice classes as we want. When we feel ready we can then record a practice class and submit it as our “audition” to become an instructor. Once we submit our audition it takes a week or two to be informed if we passed or not. I recorded a practice class that I did last weekend and I actually think that I might submit it as my audition, but I haven’t gotten up the courage to actually press the magic button to send it in yet. But hopefully in the next 3 weeks I will officially be certified!
This is going to sound super cheesey (though we all know how I love the cheese). But OULA has seriously done so much for me. I have met some awesome people along the way and found a great support system through the OULA community that is there for me throughout any and all OULA endeavors as well as general life hurdles. I have also come such a long way in just my physical dancing. The first class I went to I was barely comfortable swaying my hips, and now I’m dancing through the choreography not caring what I look like because I know it’s just for FUN! And it’s not about how you look, it’s about how you feel (that’s kind of our motto). A few weeks ago my friends and I were dancing around my kitchen being goobers like usual and one of my closest friends told me that she loved watching me dance because I looked so happy and comfortable and because she could tell how much OULA had done for me. That put a smile on my face for a long while. My friend group has been coming to my practice classes these last few weeks and they are really embracing OULA now- it’s great! They get equally as excited as me when a recognizable OULA song comes on on the radio, they’re all attending my classes and some of them are even attending other classes too, and it’s something for all of us to do together just to have FUN! It makes me so happy to see that I’m already spreading it to other people. Especially when they are some of the people who mean the most to me.
On Valentines Day I did a practice class that about 34 people showed up to and I seriously felt SO GOOD after teaching. I had a few minor choreography errors, but for the most part I seriously rocked it (not to toot my own horn). I sang along, I cued the moves, I put my all into it for the entire hour, and most importantly, not only I but also my participants had a great time. Another instructor that was there told me that she wouldn’t have even thought I wasn’t certified based on how I taught. That comment seriously put me on top of the world.
Here’s a selection of my awesome friends who have become my support group throughout all of my crazy OULAness. I’m seriously so lucky to have these guys.
Well those are kind of my big updates for you. My boyfriend and I are still doing that fun long-distance thing, but spring semester is actually a lot easier than fall semester because we have different spring breaks so he gets to come to Montana for his AND I get to go to Texas for mine. He, my parents, and my best friend are going to be coming to visit for a week during their spring break in just 13 days (but who’s counting?). I’m super excited to see them. No matter how great my support system is here, there’s still always a part of me that misses my Texas support system too. Anyway, I don’t need to gush about my relationship for too long on the internet. But since this is a blog about my life I figured it was worth it to mention that my boyfriend does in fact exist and he is not a figment of my imagination. Maybe you’ll hear more about him when he visits in a few weeks. He’s super cool. And has awesome hair.
Well that’s about it for now! Now it’s time for me to study for the 4 tests, 2 quizzes, and the lab practical that I have in the next 2 weeks. Deep breaths….
Love,
Laney-Bug ❤
lovelaneybug 