Mail...

Everyday I have my routine. I wake up, turn on Good Morning America, take my shower, do my hair and get ready for class. Go to class, drink my coffee, get breakfast with my best friend and check my mail. My every day routine. My very favorite part of this is checking my mail. Mail is like a present every day for me! :) Whether it is just a stuffer from MCB saying BINGO was moved to a different day, a package from home, or my paycheck, running to my mailbox is a necessity! :) This past weekend, I was very busy. I worked for a friend of mine, and did much needed homework. While I was at work, I checked my mailbox. Guess What I found?? MAIL! :) This wasnt everyday mail either. It was mail from Northern Ireland. A friend of mine is currently studying abroad in Northern Ireland, with the Bluffton semester program. Her name is Megan, and she lives next door to me. There is approx. a four hour time difference from here to NI, and some days I am lucky enough to get to talk to her on AOL. These conversations are the best. I am able to find out how she is doing and what she is doing. Well anyway... I check my mail this weekend and I find a letter from her. It was in a home made envelope with tape all around it. Inside was a note that left me crying. (in a good way of course)
Mail is what connects us to the rest of the world. Whether it be by email or "snail mail." Everytime I either open my inbox on the computer, or look in my mailbox in Marbeck, it brings a smile to my face.
Next time you go out to get mail, be excited about it. It kind of means someone loves you. (except for the credit card companies) ;)

It amazes me that tomorrow is November already. Time flys by at college. Thanksgiving is in three weeks and then Christmas break after that.
Enjoy the days... and mail of course! :)

Blessings-
Anna

Oh what a weekend

Hmmm... where to start. I could begin with the costume party-no no, what about the hair dye?-nope, a bird you say?-I dont think so. I will start my post with Friday afternoon and proceed up until now. Fridays. Days that make me smile. This is because it is an end to a school week, and a beginning for the weekend. What a day! :) Of course I went to class and then work, but the fun began after work. My bestest Hannah and I decided it was a good idea to go shopping. Always a good idea!! The problem came when we realized it wouldn't be as easy as we had hoped. Everyone says a girl needs a little black dress. Something you can wear on any occasion. It the "best purchase" some would say. But it is NOT EASY finding a little black dress. It is actually fairly difficult. This began our journey for the "little black dress". We left Bluffton in search for this dress at 5:30 pm Friday night. We went for dinner and then our game face was on. By 7:30 still no luck. After we tried Kohl's and Fashion Bug we were a bit nervous. Pulling into the Findlay Mall with little hope we look up and see TJ MAXX shining right into our eyes! SUCCESS! :) Finally by 8:15 we had found that little black dress!! (along with another dress) After dress shopping we decided to grab some groceries and head back to Bluffton. By the time we reached home it was approx. 9:45. But the night wasn't over. Costume patrty?? YES please! :) After we returned from the shopping trip we ran back to our rooms and changed into the lovely ref jerseys. We were going to a costume party!! A friend of our's celebrates their birthday with a costume party at the Cabin. We were just in time for the very end and had a lot of fun within that last hour. There was a minnie mouse outfit, twister, a cowboy, pumpkins and even a pirate. This night was unforgettable. Saturday. Well, it was a day that I WANTED to sleep in. Notice the "wanted". I woke up to something being thrown against my window. Hmmm? I live on the third floor.. what could that be. I rolled over being a sleepy college kid and tried to go back to sleep. But I was unable to succeed in doing this. I put my glasses on and noticed that this thing was flying up against my window. A red cardnial was flying straight into my window over and over again. I had no idea how to make it stop, so I took a video of it! :) After that ridiculous bird, I was already awake and ready for another day. By noon the 4 people left where I live were mostly awake. Hannah and I didnt have anything to do so it was a lazy day of homework. Before we started that we decided to use the box of hair dye (bought friday night) to change my hair color. :) Oh what a day. So as a newly dark brown hair color, I then started homework. Sunday. I attend a local church in town called Bluffton Baptist. Every other week, the pastor always asks if we (Hannah and I) want to have lunch with them. Today, we took them up on that offer. We ate at Arby's and had a lot of fun getting to know the pastor and other people from church. It was like I was with my family on a regular Sunday! I love spending time with people on the weekends. It allows for new friendships and also a time to build on the ones we already may have! It is going to be a great week this week! Remember to stay warm and enjoy the friends! :) Blessings- Anna This is a video of the bird hitting my window--

Last week...

Well Hello!
I am going to jump right into activities that happened this past week. My two best friends at school and I, planned homecoming week. We had so many events and a lot of fun.
This past week took up a lot of time, but it was worth it. Watching people come to events and seeing t-shirts that were designed by a friend makes my day so much better. After all of the activities that week, the weekend brought something new. Coronation. This was the time when the King and Queen were crowned. It takes place at a football game and it is just a good time.
After coronation was the dance. This year the theme was TOGA!! :) Just picture a bunch of college students wearing bed sheets around them, dancing to some good music! This night was so much fun! It was a time to take a step back to have a lot of fun!!!


After last week, this week seems very simple. It is layed back and not hectic. I can sit on the couch and patiently check my email, type up a paper or even watch some tv. Being active gets me through the week sometimes. It keeps me busy, and helps me meet new people.

I know this is actually short, but I am going to post a lot of pictures from the past week. If you have questions about what is going on, or events, or just about anything I would love to hear them! :)

I hope that tomorrow will bring smiles from all of you!!
To a new day.
Blessings-
Anna

One of those days...

Have you ever had one of those days when things just dont seem to go right? A day when you want to be happy, but can't? That was my day today. I was previously going to talk about last week and the activities of homecoming, but this afternoon my day just didnt seem to be going right. Last week was our homecoming week, and being chairperson with my two best friends, it was a busy one. Well after all the hussle and bussel (i think i made that word up) I just wanted a day to sleep in and do homework and watch some good tv. This day didnt seem to come fast enough. Yesterday (sunday) was still busy because of this one test I had to study for. I knew it was going to be a hard one, so I put my whole day yesterday and throughout the day today towards this studying. It got to the point where I was exhausted of looking at the book, my computer, and the note cards I made. I was tired, cranky and just wanted to take the test. I felt as prepared as I would have ever felt and went into this class ready. Well- I guess some things just dont always go your way. The test kicked my butt. I knew some of the test VERY well, but the other half I just drew a blank in my mind. Having only a few points in this class, this test was worth quite a bit. Talking to the other students, it came across my mind that I wasnt the only person whom felt this way. I was actually in the very large majority. The point of this, I guess is that being on campus with activities is a great thing, and I wouldn't change it for the world, but academics are important too. There are days when you can pass a test with flying colors, and there are other days when you could be having the worst time of your life. Today was that day for me. With this test out of the way, I can begin to relax a little bit. Now I have to put forth more effort in order to try and raise that test grade.

College is very different from high school. There is more studying, less points, and some harder classes. But it is very much worth the effort. Whether learning about Paul's Missionary Journey's or relating politics and social work, there are interesting things in the academic field of college. Sometimes it just isn't easy, but working through that work should be worth the degree in the end.

Here's to the rainy day-
Blessings-
Anna :)

HOMECOMING WEEK!!

Hello readers,
This week is our Homecoming week on campus. This is a time for students, alumni, faculty and staff to get together and have some fun! Our theme this year is "Take a Timeout". There are events planned for each day that encourage the campus community to come together and have some fun, while getting to know each other. Our events each night are different but encourage a lot of participation. I am going to list off what is happening each night and what each one entitles....
Monday- Block Party
This was held yesterday in the middle of Neufeld lawn. We served dinner to the students and held raffle drawings for gas cards, waterbottles and an i-pod. We encouraged student residence halls to set up a table with an activity. This was a time for a lot of laughter and some good food. We had corn-hole set up to play and a perfect amount of grass space to sit an chat with friends. With music in the background and a raffle being drawn, this was a great beginning to a long week. The students seemed to enjoy what was happening around, and many of them stayed until the very end!!


Tueday- Are you Smarter than a First Year?
This is a spoof off of the Fox tv series of, Are you smarter than a fifth grader. We are having 6 first year students, come up and challenge the upper classmen to a series of questions for a prize of $50. This is going to be a very fun even in the way of bringing upper classmen and lower classmen together. This should be full of entertainment!!

Wednesday- Beaver Pride, and Pep Rally
Come out and show some spirit. In the Commons, we are encouraging the students to support the sports that are playing in the fall, by getting an inflatable finger and some hand made signs. This event is one that everyone can participate in by being a "Beaver"!!

Thursday- Christopher Carter
We are bringing in an entertainer!! Christopher Carter is an illusionist that will read minds! This is for the students! After long weeks of studying for exams and doing homework having a time of fellowship together is a very good idea. This event is going to bring a lot of different faculty and students together for a good time.

Friday and Saturday- Parade, Coronation, Football and dance
See who is crowned King and Queen, watch some good football and dance the night away Toga style with some friends!!

Homecoming is going to be such a great time for friends, and family. This is a chance for alumni to see how the campus is doing and a time to have students participate in the activities provide for them.


Even though this week is crazy stressfull for planning events, and getting ready for them, I am so happy that things are working out!! This is one of the best times ever!!!
Enjoy each day! Make sure to laugh with friends!

Blessings,
Anna

MCB retreat and Fall Break

Hello All,
I would first like to apoligize that I haven't written in here for a while. This is because sometimes I don't realize how many hours are in the days and when things pile up I personally tend to FREAK out! This is what happened last week. Not this past weekend, but the one before, we had our fall break. Saturday - Tuesday. This was a time to relax and have a long weekend at home, or travel to visit people. Some of the Bluffton-ites stayed on campus. I decided that I needed a break from Ohio, the place I was born and raised, so I drove 5 1/2 hours to Illinois to see my oldest sister. This was what I was looking forward to. I hadn't had a weekend off of campus yet, so I decided to get away. My sister works at Millikin University in Illinois. So I was technically just going from one campus to another. Here is the funny thing...I was expecting some kind of delicious homemade food and what I got was a swipe on her "Millikin Staff" card and ate in their caf. Oh, and the food company was Sodexo, the same as Bluffton. Yum to some "homemade" food. :)

It was very peaceful to drive 5 hours. I was able to get away from the studying, exams and homework. I turned up the music and enjoyed the 70 mph speed limit. The weekend was a great one in the sense of seeing some people whom I havent seen in a while.
After the drive, I decided to go home on Monday and sleep in my own bed and see some of my old friends! :) This was so wonderful for me. Connecting to friends back home was a must!! It allowed me to feel comfortable with them and also find out what is happening since I left!!
Staying at Bluffton is great and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but there are some days when getting off of campus is even better. Sleeping in a bunk bed is fun, but going home to your own room with your sheets and having the comfort was exactly what I needed!! On Tuesday I was able to hang around the house for a bit and then shadowed a Social Worker in Sandusky. This was for a class so it was nice for me to do it at home in a familiar place. I had a really great time and learned a lot of different things about the Social Work field.
Coming back to school seems more difficult after a bit of a break. We needed to jump back into exams and homework and all of the activities on campus. This past weekend, MCB, the campus activities group, went on the annual retreat. It was yet another get away from campus, but with a lot of my friends. This weekend was all about learning how to make our group better in many ways. We were able to bond over funny stories, relate events to old ones, and find some new things that the campus adn student body might be interested in doing. This weekend was filled with a lot of laughs and good food!!!
After a busy weekend, begining another week seems almost impossible. The catch is that this weekend is our homecoming week and my roommate, best friend and I are the chairpersons. Which means it will be yet a crazy hectic week!

But it seems to keep me entertained! Which is always a plus!!! :)

Take some time to breathe!!
GodBless
Anna-

Spiritual Life Week

Every fall we have a week based on Spiritual Life. There is a groups of students that come up with events for the whole week. This week is it! :) The theme is Experience the Abundant Life. It also has a bit of a sub-theme from a Superchick song. This week is based on the spirituality of students on campus. It gives us all a chance to express everything that we believe and learn from others. It gives us time to be one on one with God.
The schedule for the week include,
Sunday- Fall Festival
Monday- Battle of the Airbands
Tuesday-Prayer Walk
Wednesday- Worship at the Cabin
Thursday- Feeding on the Word of God
Friday- Pancake Breakfast

So far the week has been a lot of fun. Sunday The Fall Festival was a time for fellowships with a lot of the groups on campus. They set up booths and handed out raffle tickets. We were able to spend time outside with friends old and new.
Monday was one of the well known events on campus. Battle of the Airbands, is an event at which students get up and lipsync to a song. They can dance, play an air guitar or find another way to perform. It is a lot of fuN! :) Last night, we actually had 9 different bands perform! All were a variety of songs, but they were all good! My best friends, Hannah and Ashley and myself, got up and danced to "Are you gonna be my girl" by Jet. This was SO much fun!! We practiced for a few days for this and ended up doing great!!! We actually got Best Choreograhpy. There were three different placements and we got one of them!!!! The award was a $50 gift certificate to Cold Stone!!! We had the best time ever!!
Spiritual Life week is one of my favorite weeks ever! It is a time of relaxation and time with each and everyone of our spiritual journeys. So when thinking about decisions that you have to make, take time to let the pieces fall where they may.
Have a meaningful week
Blessings,
Anna :)