Saturday night I went and saw Wes and Johanna from the real world Austin. I have never met anyone on television before so I went to say I have done so. It was a rather interesting experience. I thought they were going to talk about relevant issues of college students but instead they talked about the real world. I guess this was a bit more acceptable than saying not to drink, party etc because they still do and that will be hypocritical. Anyway it was entertaining none the less. So during the presentation you could definitely tell that Johanna wanted nothing to do with Etown because she kept checking her watch and fidgeting. I really wanted to ask them how much they got paid for coming out and talking to there "fans" about a reality television show that aired 3 years ago but I figured that would be rude. Anyway they were nice enough when I got the picture and an autograph. At least it provided something to do on a Saturday night.
I have had a hard time writing this week because nothing positive has occurred. I do not really want to make this into an emotional, ranting blog so I try not to write when I am in a bad mood. Thus, now I have only written once this week and it is Sunday. I wanted to go see Wanted this afternoon but I have too much homework to do. I have my microeconomics midterm tomorrow which is worth 20% of my grade and I haven't put forth much effort toward studying for it. :( I do feel productive though because I did all my laundry, vacuumed, dusted and organized my room. So at least I got something accomplished. I also called my dad because it is his birthday today. This is the first time I haven't seen him on his birthday. That kind of upsets me because I was only able to send him a card. I guess I will see him next weekend when I go home. I am really looking forward to finally being able to be back at my house for a little bit. I haven't been home yet and I am really starting to feel homesick. Hopefully, a visit back home will put me in a better mood.
So let we just finished two games for volleyball in which I did not play in again. I haven't played a full game since last Wednesday and it is really starting to irritate me. Volleyball is my passion in life. I love it and because of this I had to choose a school in which I would be able to play it at. Since I am not over 6 foot and not a volleyball prodigy I chose division three hoping to make the team and play. I have never sat the bench my entire life and now I am realizing how demeaning it really is. I want to be on the court so badly I can barely contain myself. It is a bit ridiculous. So volleyball is not going well and it consumes all of my social time. So others are bonding while I am at volleyball doing nothing. So I am rethinking my decision process in choosing a school to play volleyball. I really would just like to go home for a while and take a break.
This past weekend the volleyball team traveled to Ohio which ended up being a 6 hour bus ride. We got to travel by charter bus so we got to watch a lot of movies together. On the way to Ohio we watched Baby Mama and Step Up 2. Baby Mama was actually less predictable than I thought it was going to be. It was one of the movies where the trailer doesn't really give too much of the movie away. I enjoyed it more than I thought I was going to. Step Up 2 was definitely not as good as Step Up probably because Channing Tatum was not the main character. I like the plot behind Step Up 2 however I didn't like the dances as much. The last scene was definitely the best part of the movie in which there is obviously a dance showdown. It is one of those movies that makes you want to get up and dance and I liked that because we played right after we finished it. Then on the way home we watched What Happens in Vegas and P.S. I love you. I thought both of these were excellent movies. I thought What Happens in Vegas was surprisingly funny and also not as predictable as it seemed in the previews. However, my favorite movie of the weekend goes to P.S. I love you. I know I really enjoyed a movie when I think about it the next day. If I can't get something out of my head I know it was amazing. P.S. I love you was one of those movies. Despite not liking Hilliary Swank as an actress I enjoyed her performance in this movie. I think the concept is awesome, heartbreakingly awesome but what kind of girl doesn't like a good heartbreaking movie. I personally don't like to cry about movies in front of other people. I cry when I watch movies alone but usually not with other people. I can only remember one or two times when someone caught me crying at a movie. The most recent was watching the documentary series Invisible Children. It really hit home for me and I don't think there was a dry eye in the theatre. Anyway, I strongly recommend all four movies they helped the time pass quickly on the bus and were all entertaining.
You don't really realize all the things your mom, well at least my mom does for me without having to do everything without her. For volleyball we have "secret buddies" who we have to get a little gift for, for every conference game. We play Messiah this evening who is in our conference. So last night Andrea and I went out to Kmart, Giant and Hallmark to get some stuff for them. Let me just tell you how easy it is to rack up a bill on practically nothing. I tend to suffer from "throw everything that appeals to me in the cart" syndrome. This strategy isn't very practical for a college student. Anyway I didn't end up with much and I didn't find any cute little trinkets. In high school we also did buddies. However my mom put together my buddy gifts for me. Let me just tell you they were amazing. She found they coolest stuff for them for hardly any money. So I really missed her last night I struggled to put together something appropriate. Then today I check my mail and she sent me an amazing care package. I really don't know how she does it. I wish she were here.
After hearing William Glaubers opinion about daily blogs having no real point I decided this post would be about movies. Its too late to change the random aspect of my blog now so in his honor I will write about all the movies I watched this weekend because I was bored out of my mind. I had the opportunity to leave campus this weekend and I should have because there was nothing to do. It was also gorgeous on Sunday and I could have gone to the pool with my family. Instead I was here doing laundry, homework and watching movies. Great. Saturday afternoon I watched the new James Bond movie Casino Royale. Let me start off by saying the new guy they got is nothing like Pierce Brosnan who I adored. The new guy is just not very attractive. I also thought the movie just dragged on forever. I think at least a half and hour could have been cut out of the movie. Then Saturday evening I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on the Disney Chanel. There is really only one word to describe it...creepy. It is so awkward and is nothing compared to the original. Why must Hollywood always try to remake the classics? Sunday afternoon I watched 27 Dresses. This was probably my favorite of the weekend just because I love chick flicks. It was decent but predictable. Sunday night I watched Oceans 13 which I have to say was better than Oceans 12 but not Oceans 11. I liked the storyline behind the movie I just felt the beginning was slow and it wasn't very comical. So that was my movie weekend. I had fun just hanging out with my friends and watching movies but I hope this weekend is more entertaining.
Last night the we won against Dickinson in 5 games with the fifth game ending 17-15. I got to play all five games in the front row. However, I feel I played horribly which leads into the discussion for this post. My grandparents and aunts came up again to watch me play. Of course after the game I go over to talk to them and they are always like "what a great game etc." How do you honestly respond when you feel (and know) you played horrible but people still complement you. That to me is one of the most annoying conflicts of sports. I wish my family would be like yea you kinda just sucked because I think that would help. I mean honestly what do you say...thanks but that actually was terrible." I don't think I am alone on this issue. How do you show gratitude to your family for coming and thinking you played well when your pissed off because you played bad? I would honestly like to know the proper way of handling this situation without coming off as a jerk and without being complacent.
So I just thought I would write down some of my observations of how different E-town is compared to my hometown of Hagerstown, Md. First of all...what is up with the rain??? It rains here a lot and when it starts it never stops and rains all day. In Hagerstown it really does not rain that much and if it does its not all day. It will rain and then the sun comes out. I also really miss Hershey's Strawberry Milk. In PA theres this Turkey Hill craze. The milk they carry is Turkey Hill "Cool Moos" Seriously, cool moos. Anyway I tried it this morning and it is nothing compared to Hersheys. I also tried the cinnamon toast crunch in the plastic bowls from the Jay's and it tasted like plastic. So I had a rather disappointing breakfast this morning. I miss poptarts, because I can only eat them when they are toasted and I don't have a toaster. That was my randomness for today. BTW Come see the volleyball game tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 7:00 pm in the main gym.
Last night we had our first home volleyball game against Haverford. Let's just say we lost in three games. However, I did get to start and had the second highest number of kills (spikes that aren't returned). Anyway, I was rather disappointed at the fan turnout. In high school we packed the stands every game. Even if we played a team we were going to crush we still had fans. At states last year we played at University of Maryland, which is over an hour away from the high school. Our fans are so devoted that they still packed the stands. On top of driving far away they came body painted, with horns, pom poms, and ready to scream their hearts our. The fans got into a cheering competition with the other teams fans and made up new cheers as well. Talk about devotion. I really miss that school spirit. In college we have like 20 fans total. It is rather disheartening when you look and no one is in the stands. What is more upsetting is when the gym is dead silent. Playing here makes me very nostalgic for my high school team. I miss the sheer inentsity between our rivals. I miss knowing the dirt on all the other players. I miss knowing the other coaches. I miss the familiar gyms. I miss everything... I guess every thing takes getting used to though.
Friday at noon we( the vball team) left for our tournament at Gettysburg. It only took slightly over and hour to arrive. We played CUA (Catholic University of America) first. They were decent, but we took them in four games. I played middle in the front row all four games and I got to start so I was pretty excited. Then we only had a 30 minute break before our next game. So I ate a snack really quick and got to talk to my mother, grandmother, grandfather, and two great aunts who came to support me. Gettysburg is closer to my home than E-town so a lot of family got to come and watch. After the break, we played Frostburg. We were pretty evenly match and ended up losing in 5 games by two points. I knew two of the girls on the team because they played in the same region as I did in high school. I played middle again for all 5 games. After we finished playing we had to "work". In volleyball this means line-judging, score flipping, and book keeping. I line judged the first game just to get working out of the way. After we all worked we got back in the vans and went to TGI Fridays for dinner. Normally, TGI Fridays is one of my favorite restaurants but this night was ridiculous. We had a group of around 20 but the waitress had to split us up. So she took our orders by table but still charged the 18% gratuity. Our table ordered last so we waited for over an hour while all the other tables in our group got their food before we got ours. It was ridiculous. Everyone was finished eating by the time our table got its food. Then after we were done eating it took another 15 minutes to get our checks and change, which she messed up. On the plus side my Jack Daniels flat iron was delicious but not really worth the wait considering I didn't get to eat until after 10:00pm. Then we went back to the hotel for the night. It was four players to a room so it was rather cozy. We didn't really have much time to do anything so we hung out and then went to sleep. The next morning we had continental breakfast at the hotel and then made it to the gym by 10:00. We worked the first match, I flipped for the first game. Then we played and beat Randolph Macon in 4 games. I played some middle and some right side. After that game we had another little 30 minute break. This time I got to see my daddy and most of my moms side of the family. After the break we played Neuman College who we lost to in four games but we should have beaten them. I played right side for two games and sat the next two. All in all it was a pretty fun tournament. Saturday the gym was like a sauna because of the rain and humidity so that wasn't that fun. This week we have Haverford on Wednesday, and Dickinson on Friday. Both are home games so come out and support E-Town.:)
As I was reading my You and You Tube homework about blogging, I decided I would blog about how differently I am reacting to college than I thought I would. First, you must understand that I am very close to my family. They are amazing, specifically my mother who is my best friend. I thought I would be an emotional wreck, which is normally not the case at home because I have my family to lean on. However, at college without them I assumed I would be calling home crying after a week at E-Town because I was homesick. The strange thing is I haven't really been homesick yet. I am happy here and I can't help but think maybe I just needed to get out of Hagerstown, Maryland. Granted, I do miss my family but not so much that I can't concentrate or have a good time here. Aside from this, the things I do miss are utterly random. For one, I miss my old Spanish class and Spanish teacher. I believe this is because I have Spanish this semester and it is just very different from high school. I also miss my mattress. Even with a memory foam topper the mattresses here are pretty bad. Most mornings I wake up with a backache or a crick in my neck. My mattress at home is heavenly. I tried to convince my mother that we could bring it and switch the mattresses out with no one noticing but she didn't really go for that idea. I also miss driving places. I do not have a car here and so I haven't driven in about 2 and half weeks. I want to just go out and drive around Etown but that's not really possible. I mainly just miss being different places. I am getting a little tired of being in the same five buildings constantly. Even an outing to Kmart seems enjoyable at the moment. I feel bad for missing silly things rather than being homesick because I seems like my family misses me more than I am missing them. I normally get a card or package a week. All my friends here are blown away and always think it is my birthday but its just my family being them. My mother is so amazing that she drove 2 and half hours to see me play in a volleyball game on Tuesday night. Then I told her I didn't even want to come home on Saturday night because there was a dance. I kind of feel like a schmuck. Maybe it will get worse after more time passes and I will get homesick. But for now I am doing just fine.
My 10 grade English teacher introduced me to the novel Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. The first time I looked at the novel I was like there is no way I am reading that it is way to long. So I didn't read it during the school year. However, in the summer I was bored out of my mind and decided to ask my mom to get it at the library for me (she is a librarian). Anyway, so she brought the book home one night and I started reading it around 9:00pm. At 12:30 I was still reading the novel, completely engrossed. I seriously could not put the book down. For the next couple of days it was as if the book was glued to my hands. Don't get me wrong I used to think reading was stupid and only "nerds" read books for fun but this novel changed my outlook on literature. I could not get the characters out of my head. So Stephenie Meyer kept writing and I kept reading. To continue the Twilight Series, which is vampire romance/thriller, Meyer wrote New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. Don't get me wrong I am not a sci-fi freak. Anytime I tell anyone the genre they are like....what??? But just as the common saying goes you can't judge this book by its cover or genre. These four books are all written from the perspective of the female main character Bella. Meyer was also working on Midnight Sun which is from the perspective of the male main character ,Edward. Unfortunately, an unfinished copy made it into the hands of the wrong person and it ended up on the Internet. Meyer was obviously very upset and wrote on her website that she was postponing finishing the novel indefinitely. However, she posted an official rough copy on her website. Thus, now here I am at college and should be reading all my required materials and once again I am staying up late to read for fun. I have no idea how an author writes in such a manner that is so addicting. Even her other novel The Host which is completely separate from the Twilight series was the same way. Anyway , I strongly, strongly recommend these novels to everyone. They might just change your mind about reading all together.
