Finals...finally

It's been awhile since I've posted, but I just had to get through that whirlwind known as the end of the year. The last day of classes was Thursday and it seems like I had some sort of paper or project or presentation due every day leading up to it. At the beginning of the year I made a Semester-long to-do list and it was nice to be able to cross them off. Now we're in finals week. I think this is probably my favorite week of the semester. Most people think that finals would be the worst, but the way it works out in college is that I may have one or two things to do every day, but then the rest of the day is totally free. Me and all my friends are pretty much just spending this time hanging out before summer comes and we all go back home. I'm not too worried about the finals I have. None of them seem too hard, and some of them I just have to show up and fill out a class evaluation.

Since I last posted I had my Junior Recital. In the music department you have to give a 15-20 minute recital your Junior year and then at least a 45 minute one your Senior year. I think I mentioned before how I heard an art major talking about her art show by saying that it was cool to show off her homework, what she was up til midnight most nights doing. These recitals are sort of the same thing. I guess I should say that it went really well. I was mostly just glad to get it over with so I can start thinking about the Senior recital.

With the weather finally turning nice around here it's amazing to see everyone coming out of their dorm rooms like bears coming out of hibernation. The window in my room faces out on a lawn between three residence halls and there are constantly people out there throwing balls around, playing cornhole, or just relaxing in the sun. And there's always tennis going on these days. And especially this last week all of the trees and shrubs and flowers are coming into bloom at once. It sounds dumb, but when I visited as a senior in HS the campus was part of the reason I really wanted to go here.

But on to more manly things...I played Tennis Ball Golf for the first time the other day. It's pretty much just golf with a tennis ball and trees instead of holes. I have always seen other people play but never gotten the chance to myself. Needless to say I wasn't very good. I did win one hole and it even went over the Riley Creek. I think I was the only one in the group who didn't go into the creek. I've also been getting out to play Ultimate Frisbee more and more these last couple weeks. Usually I have choir when it's going on, but that's all ending now. I really appreciate that the hard-core Ultimate guys that play three or four days a week are welcoming enough to let people with no talent to get into the game. I even scored a goal the other day (mostly on accident, but who's keeping track?).

I think that's it for now. Maybe I'll keep you all updated on all the exciting things I get to do this week in all my free time. Until then, peace out.

Finally Spring

So it's been awhile, but that just means there is more to update on. This past weekend was probably the best weekend of my junior year so far. First of all the weather is finally getting nice and seems like it is going to stay that way. I had planned for Saturday to be my homework day, but when my Google weather alerts said that it was sunny and 57 degrees out I decided against that. But first, Friday: Friday night MCB held an open mic night. It wasn't very well attended, but those who were there had a really good time. It didn't look like there was going to be many acts, so I quick wrote a poem to read and it went over really well. Then I got to sing the song "Bubbly" with one of my friends.

After open mic night, we all decided to head out to Denny's where I officially became a Lumberjack. They have a breakfast platter there that includes: two pancakes, two eggs, two pieces of bacon, two sausage links, a pile of hashbrowns, and a slab of ham. Once you eat it all, you get to join the Lumberjack club. The meal in itself wasn't that exciting just because I tried to trick my stomach by eating really fast so I was done in under 10 minutes. But the fact that we had a group of over 25 people all being really loud and pretty much taking over the restaurant was so much fun. I thought the manager would keep coming out to tell us to be quiet, but he actually kept encouraging us. He even made us do the Beaver Call at one point.

I came back and took some tums and I slept fine all night. Like I said, Saturday was supposed to be my homework day, but that didn't turn out so well. It was such a nice day that I just decided to go walk around campus and see what I could find to do. I met up with some friends in the student union and we decided to check out the Nature Preserve. It is a little over a mile hike out to the preserve, but our whole group was all about getting outside to enjoy the sun no matter the walk. At one point we got on the trail and I realized that there was about an inch of mud/water covering the path. I thought I would turn around to see my three friends turning around to go back, but I turned around and they were all rolling up there pant legs ready to stick with it. It was probably the most fun, random Saturday afternoon I've ever spent. We got back and we all had mud splattered up and down our backs. Awesome.

That night, my roommate and my other friend and I took a campus tour to every floor on campus just to see who we could hang out with. We got a lot of free food, and some really good company from people we normally wouldn't hang out with. Another great activity.

This morning I got to go hear quite a few of my friends lead worship at a local church with Shining Through, the music ministry on campus. It is the first time I've ever gotten to hear them do their entire program and it was relaly good. I used to think that there was a lot of tension between Shining Through and Camerata because we're both about music and worship, but more and more I realize that there's is a completely different setting and they do it really well. I was really touched by their sincerity and joy they had just for worshipping God.

This afternoon were two Senior recitals of two of my friends. They were both really good and it just got me really excited next year for my hour to shine. This next Sunday, though, is the Junior recital. I'm pretty excited about that, but it's considerably less time/work than a Senior recital. It will be good just to have this over with. That's all I can think of for the best weekend ever. Here's to many more.