Yet another pretty average day.

And that's what I dislike about the school routine. Every day just seems pretty okay. I guess I could consider it an accomplishment that I speak up in class, complete my schoolwork, and generally just make it through the day. But I hate how each day becomes just another day. Hence I love this quote:

"Push the urge away to wake up feeling just the same as yesterday" (NeedtoBreathe).

So I try to take it to heart and make something about each day special and unique. It's a process I'm still struggling with, but I'm trying.

Tomorrow shouldn't be average though, because I get to see the family! I'm going home to teach Franklin on Saturday. It's their first show of the year, and it should be a productive practice day on top of that. The rain just needs to go away!

My coffeemaker is set. The Doctor's Wife and my fluffy bed are calling my name.

Night of television

Wednesday nights are my nights of television. So You Think You Can Dance followed by Glee. Lots of music and dancing, just how I like my life. The best part is that friends come over to watch them with me, so it's also social hour. My mom sends me text message commentary too.

Today was a pretty average day. I went to classes, ate lunch, went to work, did some homework. I'm actually ahead in most of my classes. It's a wonderful feeling. However, I have tests and papers coming up, so I doubt I'll be ahead for much longer.

Starting to get excited about the weekend. No college debauchery planned for this student; instead I'm going home to see the band program I teach march in their first show. I should be able to see some people and hang out a bit, so it's shaping up to be a good weekend.

I hope tomorrow is as stress-free as today. ^Karma cap!^

I promise.

I promise I haven't forgotten about this blog, so

I promise to do my very, very best to write something in this EVERY single day. Even if it's a sentence, I will write something. Anything.

Summer has come and gone, although Evansville weather does not reflect this change yet. It's still hot and humid, no matter how many times the weatherpeople promise relief is on the way.

I sit here, in my very first apartment, and think that I'm facing another semester. But it's not just another semester. It's my final fall semester. I am a senior. A year from now, I will (hopefully) be living in another apartment and (hopefully) have a real-person job that I (hopefully) love and enjoy.

I want to go back to Nashville.
But that's really the only certain thing about my future right now, though.

Oh, the uncertainty. I don't really mind it though.

Now, the Netsilik Eskimo are calling my name, telling me to read the rest of my assignment on them.

Day 1 of promise completed; now many more to go.

Whew

Wow - I finally have a minute to breathe! The past month and a half has been quite possibly some of the busiest days in my life. Lots of endings, a few new beginnings. So I will try to give a quick summary of what happened.

Winter guard ended - Eklipse performed its last performance of "Can I Have Another" at prelims in Dayton, Ohio. While we had a solid run, our performance solid was difficult, so we didn't make finals. Tough, but we spent the following days hanging out and watching some great color guards. I took a dance class from Mia Michaels, and that was an incredible experience! The way she explores movement is so innovative.

Eklipse 2009

Drum corps started! I auditioned and earned at spot at my mother's newest baby (haha), Music City Drum Corps. Since it is a new corps, we will be Open class this year. We are taking a new approach to the activity and doing a shortened tour schedule with everydays in July and weekend camps until then. I know quite a few people in the guard and my brother is marching there as well, so I'm very excited for it to get completely under way.

I went home for Easter! I saw some good friends, had some good meals, and wrote a large majority of my term paper. It was nice to have a normal, relaxing weekend at home.

My friend Kaitlin celebrated her 20th birthday, and it was an epic weekend all around. Several friends came in town, Secondhand Serenade headlined the annual free concert at UE, and we spent the weekend frolicking in the sun.

The general fun that occurred that weekend.

Also, that weekend, I started dating a boy named Ray. We have quite a lot in common.

Between all the fun weekends were days filled with classes, papers, quizzes, tests, workouts, and some fun thrown in. Today was the last day of class, and I have two exams next week. Tomorrow, I'm heading home to take some of my dorm stuff home and then heading to New Jersey with my father to help photograph a giant indoor percussion/guard/dance/baton competition. It's gonna be some work, but it will be nice to see that part of the country!

I have an hour of work left, so I'm off to do that! I'm loving this weather.

Spring break has come and gone. I need another break to recover from my break. Highlights include:

- Winter guard practice and performance in which people screamed lots.

- Playing the Wii and making root beer floats with the family.

- Driving to Knoxville to visit Jenn, a bestie.

- Reading and watching lots of the Food Network at Jenn's apartment. 

- One day at home to do all my errands and take care of the high-maintenance dogs.

- Drive to Atlanta to practice and perform twice for guard.

I realize that I am in a competitive performing arts experience. However, I am and never was one to focus on the scores that are given. Instead, I was taught to focus on the feedback given by the crowd. This weekend put that philosophy of mine to the test. My guard had a decent prelims run and a much better finals run. We had great audience reaction at both performances. The scores did not reflect the feelings we had as the audience applauded and cheered, as we left the floor. But that's not why I perform. This is why:

We present an "intriguing look at the Punk street culture of the 80s. In its color guard structure, 80s effects are also at play: rolling chain-link fences and honest-to-goodness dead-on character performers make this Nashville unit a stand-out. But it's when the show gets a "hit of that adrenaline" that it takes off, with daring, with revolution, and with competition, in mind."

Obviously the reviewer was able to partake in the energy that my guard creates as we do our thing. That's why I pay lots of money to get yelled at, have no social life on the weekends, am constantly behind in homework, bruise and break various joints of my body, and run up miles on my car. 

Just something I wanted to share.

The storm outside is lovely.

This weekend was less successful than I was hoping. At times, I lose hope, and then it's restored in places or by people I don't expect. Here's to hoping this weekend doesn't repeat itself this season.

On the bright side, I have completed most of my midterms, and so this week before spring break should be a pretty easy one. I have a few minor things to accomplish, but otherwise, not much on the schedule.

I was struck by an odd craving for a slushie this evening, so my roommate and I ran to Taco Bell. They have Frutista Freezes. The Taco Bell was unfortunately in a shady part of town. There were no street lights. We were the only car on the road. It was a little bizarre. But my craving was satisfied in a short six minutes! Sometimes, I have to indulge my cravings.

I started a twitter account. We will see how this works...I think it's going to be a string of random, often unconnected thoughts that flit through my head. Like I said, we'll see.

Picture of the day:

This was in Amsterdam. I'm pretty sure the guy in the khaki jacket thought I was a major creeper, but I had to take a picture. Too funny.

Happy end-of-Monday!

My Valentine's Day was spent in a 15-hour practice day for winter guard. Talk about non-romantic. It was exhausting and somewhat frustrating.

But my Sunday was amazing! I coordinated an event that we all deemed "All My Single Ladies". All my close girl friends are single, and we went to see a movie and dinner. We saw "He's Just Not That Into You." It's painful to watch at times because the main girl was a little crazy, but it was really humorous. My friends and I looked at each other at least ten times during the movie and whispered, "We gotta stop doing that!" Dinner was at O'Charley's afterwards, where we filled ourself with buttery rolls and diet sodas and entrees. It was a fabulous outing.

This week and next promise to be stressful since they're all that stand between spring break and now. Right now, the plan is to relax on spring break and go chill with Jenn at her college. It's about time I got to see her at school!

Pictures of the day:

The top photo is leaves underwater in a fountain in the museum district of Amsterdam. They were just along the bottom of the fountain, and I thought they looked so magical! The bottom photo is one of the numerous canals of Amsterdam. They are laid out in a ring around the city, so you can navigate by how many canals you walk over! It gave the city such ambiance.

March in February

 Two weeks ago, we had snow and ice. Today, it was hold-onto-a-light-pole windy. 

Dear Evansville, your weather is bipolar. Not much love, Chelsea.

My life has been a little crazy, and it looks to stay that way until spring break (the first week of March). I am taking two 300-level literature classes which have a high (expected) reading demand. Along with a biology class that has a 2 hour lab, I also work on campus. 

My weekends are taken up by winter guard. Yes, I invite this kind of stress on me, 

but sometimes I wonder why. 

I have not taken any pictures this semester. I don't have batteries for my camera, and I always forget to buy them when I go out. I need to write it on my list for the typical Sunday Afternoon Walmart Run. 

My roommate, Bernard, has gotten me addicted to Bones, a show about a forensic anthropologist who works with the FBI. Dr. Brennan, the main character, is a little anti-social but hysterical. The relationship between her and her FBI agent-partner is dysfunctionally interesting. I'm halfway through the first season already.

Picture of the day (well, you get two since I'm behind and they're kind of related):

These are both building art in Amsterdam. The top is (obviously) a full building. The bottom is a detail from a single wall. I really like the text printed in the bottom left corner of the bottom picture (click on the picture - it gets bigger so you can read it). I love when ideas literally jump off of walls to me.

Life is just chugging along.

Weather

The picture of the day:This is your lovely blogger, attempting to conquer her fear of birds at Stratford. This swan and I had a relationship: I had food, and he wanted it. I was terrified when he stalked over at me and my friends, sitting on the ground, enjoying our food. The stupid swan was eye level with me! It was an...experience.

Today, all of my college awoke to see that campus was covered in ice and snow. The giant storm that hit the midwest did not miss me! Honestly, we all expected classes to be cancelled, and they should have been. Walking even 50 yards to the closest building to my dorm was dangerous - it was impossible to walk on the sidewalks. Halfway through class, we all learn that classes after 3 had been cancelled, so my afternoon was free of work.

The snow has kept falling, recovering the sidewalks and streets. Because parts of it melted during the day today and then refroze, the trees are covered in ice. Earlier this evening, the news flashed that around 6000 people don't have power in the greater Evansville area; the Red Cross has set up an emergency shelter for those without power and, consequently, heat.

I am very blessed to be sitting in a dorm with copious heat. The windows don't leak air. I have plent of clothes and blankets to keep me warm if the heat does go out!

Walking back from dinner around six was a scary experience. I warned my mom on the phone that if she heard a crash, I had just fallen on my face! If classes are not cancelled tomorrow, I will be truly surprised and concerned. About a third of our student population are commuters, and quite a few professors live in the next town over. And it's still snowing!

Here's to hoping that you are warm and toasty, wherever you are!

Picture of the Day

I've decided to post a picture of the day from the remaining trips that I haven't written about. This includes the travel I did with my father! Meanwhile, I'll update a little about what's going on in my life. :)

Today's picture:

This is the subway at 5 am. It was empty, as you can tell. We were on the first tube to get to the train station to catch a train to get to port to catch a ferry to Amsterdam (did ya catch that?). It was creepy because there was no one else on!

School is busy. I am taking 13 hours of Victorian Lit, Fitzgerald & Hemingway, Social Psychology, and Biology 100 (plus lab). I'm also working 8 hours a week in the writing center, tutoring students in improving their writing. My classes are okay - not as exciting as I thought they would be. Biology is...well, it's science, and science is not my favorite subject at all. 

Right now, however, the campus is in an uproar because we are under a weather storm warning. It's been sleeting/snowing/precipitating all night, and all the local school systems are already closed. We're hoping that we are awoken at an ungodly hour in the morning to the sound of our phones alerting us that we don't have class. 

Life is moving along.