Friday, August 26, 2011

TGIF

THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY!!! 1st week of school - DONE - All RA paperwork - STAMPED COMPLETE - Cross-Country 7 mile recovery run - FINISHED - so what's left then??? Why, how about an outdoor movie on the golf course showing Pirates of the Caribbean: On stranger tides!!! WOOHOO!! yup, good stuff ;D We also received our agendas for the year and they're looking awesome! Goodness, it's been a long, tiring week, but in a good way. I've been active, busy, and excited for the next day!!! Though, I really cannot wait for labor day weekend :P hehe
My favorite class so far has to be Forensic Psychology. I freaken LOVE it. My professor is new, but she's awesome, she used to work for the FBI as a Forensic Psychologist and that's what I want to go into so it's neat hearing her experiences and learning from them and really seeing the world in a different way.
What else... My RA duties can be a bit overwhelming but it pays off. I haven't caught anyone... yet ;) Running cross-country definitely makes me look forward to my bed at night but I really do think I'm in the best shape of my life, this early in the season :D  Air Force ROTC on Tuesday was exciting, going back and seeing all your cadet friends and hearing stories of field training. It did suck though because all I could do was listen, not chime in with stories of my own about field training since I couldn't go this summer due to that broken elbow incident... which by the way is all healed up! I can straighten out my arm now!! :D I am so happy I can!

Alrighty, well I better leave off this that, the movie is gonna start soon and I gotta get a good spot!
Peace
~Annie

Saturday, August 20, 2011

1... 2... 3... CLEAR!!

So the Trine University campus has revamped and come back to life!!! :D The freshmen are all moved in, fall athletes are good to go, and one more wave of returning students is scheduled to hit us at exactly 9 o'clock tomorrow morning. Are we ready? Why, we were born to be ready!! haha The Resident Life staff has been doing an amazing job making this a smooth and painless beginning for the year ;) Being an RA has really opened my eyes to all the work and effort it takes to make this move-in process happen! It's crazy :P But if was great having fraternity brothers, sorority sisters and CCH (Christan Campus House) members help people move in. Seriously, it took maybe one load to get a student's stuff all in their room, just because of all the help we had, it was awesome! We just got done going through some orientation stuff at the ARC for the freshmen. And i'll tell ya what, I am EXHAUSTED! I took a power nap like an hour ago, but whew, am i whooped! The XC girls went out on a run this morning at 7:30 around the golf course, that was fun :P *note the sarcasm* but it was nice getting the run done and over with for the day so I wouldn't have to worry about doing it after all the crazyness with move-in.
Ah well, I better go, din-din is coming up and then.... PIZZA WARS!!! yummy in my tummy :)
Peace Out dudes

~Annie

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Bring On the Calvary!!!

RA training has been non stop!! I've met such amazing people holding the same position as me and it's been a blast ;D Tammy Bowen is doing an amazing job putting on this entire RA orientation *stands up and applauds*
I am so exhausted though, whew, lots of work ahead of me. :P I've got some programming out of the way, a ROTC meet and greet set up, and my life planned out for the next 6 weeks, get ready Bukoff residents, it's gonna be a wild ride!!! :D

hmmmm.... what else.... OH! Comic Con in Chicago, aka Nerd Fest :P haha It was a BLAST!!! My costume dudes, turned out amazing!! I was babydoll from sucker punch the movie. You probably don't know who that is... just google it :P It seriously was an under rated movie, but it was so AWESOME!!! Best movie I've ever seen dudes!! But yeah, Comic Con was dah shiz ;D I totally cried when I had to leave. I mean, it was 4 days of stardom. Paparazzi were all over taking pictures from when we 1st arrived to when we left that night, it was awesome. I was disappointed in returning back to the "normal" world, but halloween will be around soon enough ;D

Alrighty, well imma catch some shut eye, but I'll check back in soon. The madness will soon begin :O
Peace Out

~Annie

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Ready or not.... RA I Become!!!

Yep so today was the first day of RA training. From sun up to sun down, it's been all about learning my responsibilities, the expectation, and just gathering the ropes to what it takes to be an RA. and dude, I'm super excited for this position :D Tammy has been awesome by welcoming all of us newbies with open arms and even inviting us over to her house to help prepare lunch and dinner and playing a game of woofleball with the other soon-to-be RAs :) It's been exciting, and I'm sorry I have to make this one short, but I'm totally whipped from today and gotta hit the hay. But I just wanted to let you guys know, so far so good ;) It's weird living on campus and being the only person in the building haha
*yawn* goodness I'm pooped, but before I go, just to let everyone know, there is now a bridge on campus that connects the University Center (known better as the UC) to the Stadium. Yep, pretty crazy, but it looks cool :D
Alrighty, I'm peacing out, chat with ya later ;)

~Annie

Saturday, July 30, 2011

3... 2... 1... wha????

Wow, this is my last free weekend of summer vacation :( the countdown is just zooming on by and I'm having a hard time playing catch up. On the agenda these coming weeks are:

31st-4th    =   Work nonstop on the costume and get my hair dyed platinum blonde!!!
5th-8th      =   Move-in and RA training
9th&10th   =   Finish anything that isn't done with the costume
11th-14th   =   CHICAGO COMIC CON!!!!!!!

and after that it's more RA training, xc practices and finally school starting.... i guess somewhere in there I should have "order books" listed, but that may have to wait since comic con is getting perdy expensive erg!

Besides, it's actually not a bad idea to wait to order your books a week after school starts so that you can see which professors recommend earlier editions or maybe say they probably won't need the book at all (slim chance but hey! could save ya 50 bucks) I actually didn't buy a single book the fall semester of my sophomore year. I had friends that had either taken the class before and had a book, or they were taking the class at a different time, so I just borrowed books all semester. And, in the chance that I couldn't get a book, like for exam week, I simply asked the professor if I could borrow one of his text books to use to study for the final and he told me I shoulda asked him from the beginning of the semester! The school just gives him the books for free and he doesn't use the older editions so he happily loaned me one of his :) See? You get creative when you're broke ;P haha

A big thing besides finishing up my costume is.... PACKING!!!
That's gonna take a few days haha I had a futon my freshmen and sophomore year and I really want it again this year, but our family van is broken so there's no way we can haul it down there this year :( So I gotta think of an alternative, a CHEAP alternative fast.... hmmmm..... ah well, I'll hopefully come up with something... I just hate using my desk for doing homework or working on my laptop. I find it more comfortable and relaxing lounging on my futon with all my stuff just right on my lap. That's how it works for me. but now.... what to do :/ hmmmmm. suíbiàn  níyǎ!!! haha I'm not even sure if that's the right pinyin for it, but it's supposed to mean "whatever" in chinese :P so yeah, whatever i'll figure something out.... hopefully 
besides that, just got a lot of clothes, bedding, comic merch, captain america awesomeness, ummmm... tv, uniforms, did I mention captain america awesomeness??? haha and oh! my vibram fivefingers! can't forget them ;) I hope my roomie is ready for this haha I think my packing list just about describes me in a nutshell :P

What else... OH! I just got an email from our new Cross-Country and Men's Head Track&Field Coach! His name is Coach Massi, he's coming from Tiffin Ohio and he emailed all of us interested athletes his philosophy and it's made me truly excited for this season! He really emphasizes teamwork and strengthening not just physically but even more-so mentally which is what I totally, TOTALLY am all about when it comes to running: Team and Mind. That's all you need, if you don't have that, then you lose out physically. so yup, looks like it's gonna be a good year dudes!

Gah!!! I have so many plans and ideas for this year! I wanna start a group on campus: Empowering Women Globally (EWG) My sister started the group at her school at Florida State Univ. a couple years ago and I think it'd be really cool to the expand the group to Trine. Since Trine's specialty is engineering, college is the time to go out and use your mind for cool projects around the world and I think it'll be a great way to get engineering students out there to do just that. And keep in mind, EWG isn't just for women, men are highly HIGHLY recommended and encouraged to join! So yep, that's one thing I have in mind. I have a lot of things in store for the ROTC program, I simply couldn't write them all out right now, I'm still formulating some thoughts haha Then of course, I'm RA-ing this year so that'll keep me busy, on top of cross-country and my 18 credit hours so yeah... cross your fingers I don't lose my mind! haha :P

Alrighty, well I've taken enough of a break, I need to get back to cutting, pinning, thinking, more cutting, sewing, throwing away, re-cutting, and the cycle goes on and on :P  Later dudes
-Peace-

~Annie 

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Ka-BOOM!

I'm baaaaack!!! haha Sorry dudes for not posting in a while. I've been working nonstop on my costume for Chicago Comic Con, working with new freshmen ROTC cadets to get them all scheduled and cleared, and SOAR week wore me out!! haha It was good though. I could only make it to 2 of the 4 days of SOAR, but I was able to nab like 4 new incoming cadets. 3 are dudes, and one chic!!! I am ecstatic!!! it's gonna be a fun year, I have a lot of goodie in store ;)

And updates on my fractured arm! I just saw my orthopedist today and he.... cleared me for physical training!!! woot woot!!! CELEBRATE!! so i'm all good to go this next year at ROTC. cross your fingers I don't break something again :O steeple chase is out unfortunately :'((((( I really loved that race, but I can't put everything at stake again like that, so I'm sorry dear steeple chase, but it looks like I'll be enjoying you from the stands, dry! haha

What else.... oh! I'm doing cross-country this year! I did it freshmen year and just really missed the team feeling I had my senior year in cross-country so I decided to take a break from it my sophomore year and well, my coach has talked me back into joining. and i'm totally psyched! I got these awesome new shoes! look at these:
Photobucket 
Cool right?? haha they're AMAZING!!! Seriously. Okay so here's my marketing side coming out (I've actually talked in numerous people into getting these and they are all surprised at how well they work!)  These Vibram FiveFingers (This is the KSO model) force you to run how you naturally should run, on your toes. This way it takes the pressure off your knees and hips and strengthens your feet, ankles and calves (not to mention the quads!) more so than a regular tennis shoe would. You see, tennis shoes make you do a heel strike run, whereas these keep you on your toes for a smoother, more enjoyable run :) I love them. I run on trails, through water, on roads, paved sidewalks, rocky graveled trails, and never once have a rolled my ankle! They're amazing and I can feel myself getting in much better shape from them. They've made me look forward to running everyday! So dudes, get these! Yeah... they're a bit pricey, but for starters I'd go for these, the KSO model. They're the cheapest and the original model they started with. I'm eventually gonna buy the Bikilas:

Photobucket
Even cooler right? haha these are more expensive, but I think they'll be great for the Disney Marathon I plan to run in January 2012 :D
But till then, I'm working these KSO right into the ground and they're AWESOME!! highly highly recommended ;) maybe I can talk in my whole team into getting a pair haha

Alrighty, dinner is about ready and I'm hungry!! :P I'll chat with you guys soon ;) RA training starts next month!! get ready!! :D
-Peace Out-

Annie

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Get ready to SOAR!

Yo dudes, so SOAR week at Trine Univeristy is gonna start in T-minus 2 days!! Woohoo!! I will be attending, to talk about the AFROTC program and all that good stuff ;) hehe. Unfortunately, I won't be able to drive there everyday for it this year, only for Tuesday and potentially Friday. I LOVE, and I mean whole-heartedly LOVE talking to anyone about the ROTC program, goodness, I could talk your ear right off! But I have a job to go to, and gas isn't the cheapest for a starving college student, but i'll try to make it to 2 of the days this upcoming week! :)
SOAR week is just a time when the new freshmen come to Trine, meet their coaches, sign up for classes, say hi to their new roommates, it's just a big WELCOME! And it's always a blast to see. I'm thinking of wear my ABU's (camofluagh) one of the days, that uniform is a lot easier than the others to put on :P I just hope no one gets intimidated... then I have absolutely no one to talk to the entire day about the program. Those are the worst. But, who am I kidding? Just me wearing a military uniform kinda makes people refuse to make eye contact with me, is it because they think I'll ambush them and try to convince their son or daughter to fight for their country?? hahahahaha yeah right :P How I would love to get everyone to join, I'm not out their to recruit every individual. The first step that potential cadets have to take is to come up to me first. Not the other way around. The military isn't cut out for everyone, heck! out of all my relatives and family, I'm only the 3rd person in the military! So I know that everyone doesn't get this butterfly feeling in their heart whenever the National Anthem is played. That's why I wish people understood that making eye contact with me doesn't mean that I think they want to join, it makes me feel human! and not invisible to world. ;)
Well I'm totally excited for the week ahead and will keep you informed on any new updates with the ROTC program at Trine ;)

In other news, Insanity Workout is kicking my booty yet again. We had the Fit Test for the 2nd time yesterday and I improved on every exercise! yayayaya! We still have to measure and weigh ourselves, but I'm just taking in the fulfillment of beating my last numbers and that I am getting stronger! :DDDD
I just received news that our distance coach at Trine has retired :( Coach Doyle was an awesome coach and I wish him all the best! He was able to strengthen the mind and the body in all his runners and he wasn't too bad himself at running ;) So Doyle, all I have left to say is, Peace Out!

~Annie

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Day of Rest

Ahhhhh,.... so I've been at Insanity Workout for a week now, and dudes, this thing is AMAZING! Though one of my bros dropped out of the program (he couldn't handle it I guess) and my mom just had shoulder surgery today so she won't be back in it for some time, this program really tests you every single day as to how bad do you want it.
We did (meaning my lil bro and I now) the Plyometric Cardio Circuit again yesterday and I remember the 1st time I did it, just 5 days before. I sucked the bag and my legs killed, I kept having to stop and wipe freaken sweat off of me haha but this time I was really holding my own. I was going faster, kept better form, and I didn't sweat as much!! woo hooo!!! In just 5 days I'm kicking booty! Well, I still had to stop a few times, but physically and mentally I feel stronger and healthier. Now, I know everyone is wondering, with these kind of workouts, how do I look now? Am I seeing any progress yet?? Is this workout really doing it for me?? It's hard to say, because ya know, I've always been active and have an athletic physic... somewhat. :P So, weight loss is not what I'm going for (though I have lost some already). Moreover, I'm trying to GAIN weight, not because I'm under (i'm actually in the right weight class for my height) but so that I can gain more muscle. I wanna be ripped :P hehe And since that bad fall I had a month or so back during the steeple chase, I've been really wanting to get back in shape. And I'm seeing some improvements with just a week of Insanity Workout under my belt! My arms are more defined now, my calves are chiseled and my neck and shoulders just look stronger :) The best part is..... I'm not sore!!!!!!! So after 4 or 5 days, the major soreness in my quads and calves went away, thank god :P haha
So today, every Thursday actually, in Insanity Workout you are given one day of rest. So, what do I do? Sit on my butt, eat junk food and watch TV? Nope. I ran 4 and 1/2 miles with my dog :D yep awesome right? I felt so good and my dog held strong. I just wanted to keep going, I really had a runner's high. It was fantastic. I hope to run 3 miles at least everyday or every other day, but we'll see. The temperature finally dropped to a cool 70F so I didn't come home soaked in sweat or my dog dieing of dehydration (he still has quite a fur coat on...) We did on Tuesday though :P I believe when I went on for a run with my dog then it was around 11:30AM and the heat index, I was told after, was around 100F. Yeah. it sucked. I had to pick up my dog and race to the nearest lake to throw him to so that he could cool down and get a good drink (he liked it a lot) I won't dive into much detail as to how I looked, let's just say, not pretty :P So yesterday, Wednesday. all I did was watch reality TV on like VH1 or MTV. Like, Basketball Wives and all that crazy stuff, it was horrible! my brain was decomposing every second. I did do Insanity afterwards and felt better. But today I made a vow that I would never do that again. and so, I went on a run :) and it was worth all the sweat.

Peace
~Annie

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Insanity Workout or Bust

So, yesterday I started Insanity Workout. It's a full-out 60 days of intense workout. Kinda like P90X, only with Insanity Workout you don't have to worry about buying all the equipment that you would need for P90X (and it's cheaper) So yep, just started and boy am I in P-A-I-N. :P My knees ache, my back is killing me, and my abs... they're crying out. So yeah! I'm excited! Sweat so much today with the Plyometric Cardio Circuit, that there were puddles on the floor of my sweat haha. I'm making my mom and two bros (tried to get my dad to do it, but I guess he's trying this Atkins Diet thingy, whatev...) do this with me and they're holding up! I'm already started to see a result, just from 2 days! My appetite has slowed finally! It could be 2 o'clock in the morning and I'd want to eat a whole meal! But thankfully that has slowed a bit and I'm getting into a better eating habit. Even though I ache all over and am sore, I just know it'll all pay off in the end. I think I'm gonna take my dog on a run tomorrow, just to try to shake out some of the soreness, and come on, I LOVE running :P
So yep, that's me with Insanity. I'll try to update more frequently throughout my experience just in case any of you guys out there are interested in doing it. I think this coming fall semester, I want to host a Insanity Workout thing for campus, get a whole group together to do this, I think that would be awesome! We'll see how that goes. Anywho, I'll chat with you guys later ;)

Peace
~Annie

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Blackout

So my town made national news today! I guess the storm that hit us yesterday really left its mark. 30,000 people without power (including myself) as power lines hang like vines over the fallen trees.
Yep, it was a day like anyother in Michigan: unpredictable weather. It was kind of cloudy and dreary, nothing new, so my two bros, my mom, and myself decided to go out and see a movie. My mom and bro #1 saw Pirates 4, bro #2 and I saw Kung Fu Panda 2 (we already saw Pirates 4, ehhhh it was okay...). KFP2 wasn't half bad, not too long, just 1hr and 1/2. It had it's laughs, not bad really. Anywho, the movies get done around 1600. I'm driving back home and my mom tells me that she needs to go pick something up for work at Big Lots, so I drop the boys off at home and my mom and I head off to the store. Weather is still blah, nothing out of the ordinary. As we get out of the car, I hear a radio saying we're in a Weather Alert. I'm thinking "Oh it must be like a flood warning, the Kalamazoo River is getting really high and it looks like it's going to rain again, so that's probably what it was." Yep, totally wrong. My mom says "No, it's probably like a tornado warning or something." I'm like whatevah, let's just get this shopping done so we don't get stuck in either, though I have always wanted to see a tornado, I just think that would be the most awesome thing EVER! So yep, she get's her items and goes to checkout, when suddenly, the tornado sirens go off!!!!!! My mom looks over at me and I roll my eyes as I already expect what she's going to say "Told ya so, tornado!"
The cashier quickly checks us out and the store manager announces to the customers that they may either leave or get into the center of the store. My mom and I high tail it outta there to the car. "I'm driving" my mother says. "Ah come on mom, it can't be that bad, I'll be fine driving." She snatches the keys from me before I can protest anymore. "I've driven through this kinda weather before, you don't know what you're about to buckle up for." Yeah right mom I mumble in my head and strap in the passenger seat. We pull out of the Big Lots parking lot and head home, it's like a 5 minute drive, not bad. I'm looking out the window for any funnel cloud and spot 2 that could be a potential. I crack a smile Ooooooo I hope I get to see one!!! My mom races on home. In the sky, you see a dark grey blanket just over Battle Creek, it's the strangest thing. Then, all of a sudden WHOOOOSH! Rain fall by the tons, but in the strangest fashion. It's almost like we hit a curtain of rain and then instead of it continually pouring down, it came down in like sheets or curtains, flapping in the wind. You could see each individual curtain of rain hanging from the clouds. It was amazing. My mom takes a hard right to the bridge, hoping to beat the brutal storm home. We peak over the bridge only to see a fireworks display of sparks shooting out of a electrical pole.
"It's okay if it keeps raining like this, that means the tornado hasn't hit yet." My mom reassures me, only to be followed by an abrupt halt in rain. We both looks at each other. "Oh Shi-!" Thunder is pounding, lightening is flashing. My mother pulls the car in 5th gear, with 3 more blocks to go. The rain unexpectedly starts up again. We both breathe. We hit a red light. Seconds pass and then suddenly the red light starts blinking and then POOF, it's gone, lights out. "Well, I guess I can go." My mom shifts the car in first and guns it on home. Almost there, almost there. Trees tops are nearly touching the ground as the violent winds commands them to bow. I pray that our car isn't the next one to kiss the ground. One more block to go. We hit an intersection, can't see if any cars are coming, the wind and rain and pounding so violently. My mom trudges the car on through, almost there, the driveway is up ahead, just gotta pull in. My mom brakes the car to a stop. Where the heck is the driveway!?!?! You couldn't see Rudolf's red nose even if it was right in front of the car window, the wind and rain we thrashing that violently, it was almost as if it was a blizzard. We sit in the street idly for what seemed like seconds and pull in the driveway the instant we catch a glimpse of it. "Ready? One, two..... THREE!" We jump out of the car and race into the house, only to become completely drenched from just the little distance.
A few more minutes pass, and the storm's over. I walk outside onto the front lawn, only to fine half of a tree that's in our backyard to be lying in our front yard, entangled in the power line. All went dark.
Power is out for us and a lot of people I come to find. I wander across the street to help an elderly neighbor out. She's terrified by what happened, and I help give her comfort by offering to go to the store with her to get a lighter so that she may make some tea on her gas stove. We travel out, heading on the highway at a blazing 35MPH (I was afraid for my life). I look around only to see trees fallen everywhere. Thank goodness the highway was backed up and already going at a leisurely pace, since it was down to one lane because fallen trees restricted it to, so the whole 35MPH wasn't as terrifying, but there were moments when I felt, this is the end for me. She learned how to make a Michigan Left that day, all the while cutting other cars off the road. Yes, it was an experience for both of us. We reach the store and I find the appropriate lighter for her to use. Only one dollar. She's in awe. "One dollar?!" Yep, one dollar. We go to checkout, and it rings up at $1.06. What does she do? Pulls out her checkbook. yeah.... I ask her, "You don't have one dollar you can use to pay?" She asks me, "What? Do you have to pay a dollar to use the checkbook?" The cashier and I hold an expression as if we had just hit palm to head. We both explain to her that it is just 1 dollar and 6 cents. Not $106 dollars. "What? Oh my goodness, just one dollar?" Yes, one dollar, just like the first time I told you haha. So she pulls out her neatly folded one dollar bills and pays the cashier, with cash, and we finally are off. Okay, this time, we are NOT taking the highway back, just back roads. I want to live another day. We pull out of the store and she begins to explain to me the route she takes to get here. It's a back road, thank god! We head off, and trees are just down left and right, people are racing around with chain saws trying to clear roads. Residents are standing in the road conducting traffic. It's a mess. Through all of this the elderly woman explains to me how to maneuver around a nonworking stoplight. "You see, you have to stop and wait for people to go, because you just don't know what they're going to do, you just never know. So just wait till it's time you think it's good to go (which seemed like never with her, she seriously would let EVERYONE go and people behind us would start honking and then she'd start going off on a tangent about why people honk)" I nod and agree, all the while wanting to jump out of the car and help these people clear these trees out. But, I gotta get this lady home. We've been told to go this way and that, and she's just completely discombobulated with where she is. I know exactly where we are and we come to find out that all the back roads are blocked off with downed power lines and fallen trees, so the only way back to the city is.... the highway. Crap. Well, we head back to the highway, do another amazing Michigan Left, and head off, burning rubber at 35MPH. We reached the city and approach some nonworking stop lights. She again starts to explain to me what to do. Only her explanation and actually doing this time don't match up. She says to you have to stop, which is true, but what she would actually do is just follow right behind the person in front of her, and not right behind either, she just wouldn't stop at the light, she would just, well, go. Thank goodness people were on high alert and would stop. I counted down how many more downed stop lights to go, and people, I've never been so happy in my life to be home. Through it all, she got a cup of tea. Amen.
That night I was able to entertain my brothers with making a fort and paying some jams with the violin and guitar, my bro #1 blaring on the sax, and my bro #2 going with the harmonica. It was a lot of fun. They at first didn't know what they were going to do without electricity. I give a huff and have flashbacks of my childhood when playing outside was the thing to do.
Ahh well, the electricty is back on now, so it's all good. But that was my adventure of the crazy storm that hit on May 29th 2011. It turns out that it wasn't actually a tornado, but Straight-Line Winds, which are also called Hurricanes of the Prairie. Wow I wrote a lot. So moral of the story, always be the one to drive when going out with an elderly person, it's for the best.

Peace
~annie

Friday, May 27, 2011

Bipolar weather...

So for one week it'll be high 80's, pushing 90, I'll be sweating my bootie off, and then the next week??? high of the 50's, cold, raining, super windy, and oh! no SUNSHINE! gahhhh i hate going days on end without seeing that flaming ball of mass high in the sky warming my freezing core to a normal degree for summer. it's been 3 or 4 days (the days just start rolling into one in the summertime, can't really keep anything straight... hehe) since the sun has been hiding, wait no, not hiding, since the clouds have been standing in front of the sun! Clouds, I love you, seriously, if I could be anything in nature, it would be a cloud, preferably a cumulonimbus, but anyway, I love you clouds, but COME ON! let my skin get some color here! and it's nice to get some vitamin D once in a while.
So as mother nature has been going through her roller coaster of emotions outside, I've been hunkered down indoors working on my first item with my BabyDoll costume: the charms for her 1911 pistol. I looked on ebay, and they're going for like 75 bucks, and I'm not in any position to fork over 75 bucks for 5 tiny charms that no one may notice. So, as I was getting ready for bed a couple days ago, a lightbulb went off! Why not make the charms myself, not out of clay, but.... TAPE! yep yep, I'm making them out of tape, masking tape. So far so good, I've made 3 out of the 5:
Skull - ✔
Baby Bottle - ✔
Hourglass - ✔
Bunny - X
Bear - X
Just finished painting the skull completely, pretty much done with the baby bottle's paint, and now I'm painting up the hourglass and putting together the bunny. I'm using masking tape and tooth picks with the bunny (and a bit of elmer's glue, I'm hoping my padre was able to pick up some super glue today so I can be sure the bunny's arms and legs are not gonna fall off, that would be bad...)
So yeah, I'm starting off on a small item but, it's one of the few things where I have all the materials at my disposal. I still need to get the fabric and pattern for the top, fabric for the skirt, gotta find some T-strap Mary Jane heels, gotta buy some leather to make my pistol and clip holster, dye my hair wicked blonde, and my friend from canada is offering me her real katana to use for my costume so I gotta figure out a way on how it could get here... hmmm... so yeah, a TON to go, and I didn't even fully outline everything... so yeah, lot's to go, and I still haven't recieved my Insanity Workout DVD's yet, grrrrr... but I'm hoping I'll get them next week.
So yep, that's me so far. Went running a few days ago, sucked the bag, but kept up and ran a total for 4.5miles! :DDD yup, so alrighty, I'll let ya loose to get back to your summer.
PEACE

~Annie

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Nail biting

I've finally gulped the courage to look up my grades. now, I wasn't expecting anything horrible, but I still always get butterflies before I look at my final grades :P hehe it's like, I'm just worried to see that maybe all that hard work didn't pay off... I know, I know, a lot of people hate me for this, but anything short of an A, I'm not jumping for joy for. :/ that's just how I roll, I always aim for an A and when I see anything short of that, I'm just upset because I know I could have gotten better. So well, I finally looked at my final grades for this semester and.... 4.0!!!! woot woot! thank god :P effort paid off!! and I cannot wait for next semester to begin! I'm taking a serial killer topics class and I'm like beyond excited for that class to begin! so yeah, so far soo good this summer :)

Up next, start Insanity Workout, begin my BabyDoll costume from Sucker Punch for Chicago Comic Con, and make some dough :P ye-yah! I'll update you soon on how everything falls together :)

-Peace-
~Annie

Monday, May 9, 2011

I'm FREEEEEEE....Free Fall'n

Yo dudes, so last week was, *JAWs Theme song* FINALS WEEK!!! :OOOOO Yeah, it was a bit brutal, especially when you're taking 19 credits, running track, AND have AFROTC ontop of that. But, actually, running can be taken out of the picture, temporarily. Yeah... a couple weeks ago at the Hillsdale meet, I ran the steeple,  and had an incident...

The gun goes off, and we head off, against Div. 1 chicas, like Notre Dame and MSU and stuff, yeah it was intense. So my adrenaline is pumping and I'm booking it, staying with the pack. The 1st 200m was a bit fast, but I'm keeping up, feeling good. Breathing is is perfect sync, arms are pumping. legs are pounding through the first barrier jump. I land, a bit off balance, but I quickly get my footing and pick up speed again. Jump number 2, smooth landing, I got this. Third jump coming up, gotta get it... wait can't see the barrier... too many people in front of me, oh crap, JUMP! Down. Roll. Get up Annie! GET UP! The next laps were all ketchup. My mind gave up by the forth lap, I should just drop out. I'm too afraid to hurdle the barriers, so it's step up, step down. Time keeps piling up, Water Pit. Am I gonna make it? Push up, push out, push up, push out Annie. SPLASH! Not enough push out. So tired. Step up, step down. Come on Annie, just finish, only a few more laps to go, it can't get any worse than this. Breathing getting heavier, everything becomes a blur. What's that? tap tap tap. Steps, rushed steps coming from behind me. Breathing, on a different beat than me. It's competition. Gotta go Annie, GO! Step up, step down. Shoot. ZOOM a mass appears in front of me. I Step up and step down as she soars over them. Too afraid. Don't want to eat the track again... Last water pit jump, keep up behind her Annie, come on, come on. Remember push up, push OUT! really push out. Am I gonna make it though? So tired. Legs quivering... is it adrenalin or exhaustion? Alrighty, here goes nothing. Push up! Yes, I made it. Now push out. My mind screams out of agony and hope that maybe I'll make it. Soo tired. I see the water coming. Feet make impact. SPLASH! The crowd doesn't even express their known Ooooos, maybe out of sympathy as they watch a lifeless mass kneel in the water, hoping her knees have the strength the get up. Come on Annie, one more jump. one more freaken jump! She's just up there, you can catch her Annie, come on! I part the sea and trudge through the pain and focus on that last barrier. One final Step UP, Step DOWN! YES! I'm free, go go go!! All you freaken got Annie, every last bit of energy you have, finish! Almost, no. I didn't catch her. But now... I can rest. Horrible time as it flashed across my face. 14 minutes. Whatever. I finished. My body wobbles to the field and my legs crumble from beneath me and my hands hit the soil. Breathe, breathe. Foreign hands grab me. Breathe, breathe. Help me up. My legs scream demanding an answer as to why I put them through this torture. My left arm starts to give way. Help me up. On my legs finally. Wet and exhausted steeple chase runners pat me on the back as they chug their cup of water. I cradle my left arm. Pain starts to explode within it. I move it slightly and I bite my bottom lip to keep from crying out. "You probably broke it." my coach chuckles at me. I laugh, out of fear and disbelief, "No it isn't." I replay the race in my head over again. That third jump. What happened? Jump, hurdle. My trail leg catches, not enough air. I hit the track as if a sniper shoots me. I brace my fall by landing on my left arm and roll back onto my feet to continue the race. Yeah, it was a bad time, and I fell, twice. So, today wasn't my day.

I call home and tell my mom about what happened, and she immediately comes to pick me up to get my arm checked out. I continue to say in my head, it's only a sprain, it's only a sprain. X-rays are taken and the doctor comes to the room, and my body goes numb from the words that spill out of his mouth. "Fracture." A waterfall of tears roll off the cliffs of my eyelids. What about field training this summer? I'm supposed to ship out in a few weeks. The doctor shakes his head, hopeless. It's going to need much more time than that to heal properly. My throat chokes and my face drowns in a sea of tears. A nurse comes in to wrap my arm in a temporary cast and reassures me everything will be alright. She was nice. I travel back to Trine University and inform my AFROTC Captains what happened and the words I get back devastate me. I call my mother up, frantic. "My life is over." Field Training will be a no go for me this summer. My mother races down from home to pick me up. I replay everything over in my head. How could this all happen? I should have foresaw this and never have ran that race. We see a specialist, and again I hope good news will be foretold. I tell him of my issue with AFROTC and he tells me that a cast won't be needed, but 2 weeks in the sling and then just regular movements after that, but no exercise on it for 6 weeks.

So long story short, I fractured my Left radial head, and may be able to go Field Training this summer later on, or else I'll have to go next summer. :/ Yeah, sucks big time.

But ya know, I'm home now, finals are over and summer is gonna begin. Just gotta take it day by day. Hopefully this will fix up soon, so that I can start exercising! My right arm is just pumped because I've been doing everything with it haha so I gotta balance it off soon so I don't end up with a weak left arm and just ripped right arm :P hehe
Alrighty dudes, Peace Out, I'll keep you updated this summer!

~Annie

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Full Speed Ahead!

Hey guys, quick post. It's a been a busy couple weeks, exams are less than a week away :O so it's been nonstop library! haha That means field training is coming up too!!!! goodness, it seems like it's so far away, but before I know it BAM! i'll be on the plane heading down to Alabama getting ready to be yelled at for 4 weeks :) can't wait! And I've been planning out a wicked sweet summer too, that's if I survive field training and come back in one piece :P I've got a 60 day Insanity Workout to do, running, a am gonna work on a costume for the Chicago Comic Con, yup ya read right, COMIC CON!! hahaha i'm so excited dudes! Last summer I didn't really have any "my" time since I was taking 2 summer classes and was doing an internship which was fun, but... it wasn't comic con :P so this summer, since field training is going on, I won't be doing any summer classes which is an win/lose situation. I don't get to worry about homework and studying this summer and finally get a break, but then, I also lose out on a summer to get ahead, or to keep on pace :/ When you're double majoring and have ROTC to worry about, trying to get all my necessary classes in are not impossible, but it at times it seems that 18 credits or more every semester just isn't enough and that taking advantage of the summer isn't a bad idea. But, I said HEY! I'm gonna live this summer and go all out, so I will. End of story :P
Alrighty dudes, well I better peace out. The library is open till midnight this week which is awesome, so I can get some great study time in this week and prepare myself for those upcoming exams. I'm not too worried actually. Getting into sophomore year, you get more into classes that are actually about your majors, so these exams are over subjects I actually want to learn about! so yeah! I'll chat with you dudes later.

Peace
~Annie

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

I've gotta pocket, gotta pocket full of SUNSHINE

Spring has finally filled the air on the Trine Campus!! :DDD And just in time as the track season is really starting to roll. We had a meet this past weekend at Adrian. I will never forget how muddy it was, uggggg.... I will also not forget the awesome PR I nabbed too! PR is, if you didn't know, Personal Record. I run the steeple chase and well, the first meet we had this season I sucked the bag :P I went out waaayyyy too hard, so at Adrian I knew that if I paced right, I could survive haha So I did, and dudes, I hurdled at least 2 steeples every lap!!! If you don't know what the steeple chase is, it's 7 and 1/2 laps of, well, agonizing pain and thrill. There are 35 jumps total (we jump over steeples which are like 3 hurdles long and are wide enough that you can push off of them, but they won't move if you run into them or if your foot catches when you go to jump over it like a regular hurdle would, so yeah, that leads to some awesome wipe outs) and out of the 35 jumps, 7 of them you have to not only get over a steeple, but over a water pit too. Yeah, it's crazy :P That's why I love it so much! It takes guts to do it. And at the Adrian meet, we were coming up to our first water pit jump and this defiance chic had to of slipped or something as she was getting ready to jump because her legs totally caught the steeple and BAM! face first in the water pit. I had to jump over her, it was epic :P So yeah, my best time had been 13:30 which really isn't good at all :P Like good steeple times are like a minute faster than that, like 12:30 but at Adrian I was able to finish with a 13:13!!! Yeah, still not where I wanna be but i'm getting faster! I think that once I start hurdling every steeple it will be sooooooooooo much easier and faster :)))))) So yeah! I also did the 800m and finished with a 2:33 which isn't my best ever, but it's my best this year, so I'm excited for that race too! Overall, it was a successful day fo sho! We're actually heading back there this saturday for an MIAA meet so I like knowing what I can expect from the track because their track is set up a bit differently, it's weird to explain, but like their turns are longer than usual, but yeah, anyway, can't wait!

Nothing crazy going on in class or ROTC. Ummmm... it's Wednesday so that means Delta Ki WINGS!!! My friend and I always look forward to it. After practice, we race over to the Delta Ki house and fill our empty bellies with delicious homemade wings and lemonade :)

Alrighty, well I'll end this here since my last post was quite long and it's gorgeous out so dude, stop reading, don't check out your facebook, go outside and have some fun!!!! :D

Peace
~Annie

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

MIA and KIA

Sorry dudes for being a bit MIA there for a week or so. It's been... an emotional few weeks. :/ Lots to cover, so sit back, and prepare for a crazy ride.

1st = FTP Retreat. Like I said in the last post, I SURVIVED! It was tough, but not as tough as I thought it was gonna be. :) It really opened my eyes to how much I really do need to learn and prepare for. Through all the yelling, all the stressful moments, I do feel more comfortable now and do feel that I can be a better leader when FT does come. As of the date to when I ship off, that's coming up in a bit.... So overall, it was worth it and I would totally recommend to all the other cadets when it comes to their time to have to face FT. We went to a Navy Base in Chicago and I was roomed with a cadet from another detachment and she was really nice. We both helped each other out with getting the room set up correctly and up to standards (yeah know, folding, hospital corners, that fun stuff) then we had to change out of uniform into another uniform in record blowing time while keeping the room still up to standards, and fall out in the hallway at attention. We did that at least 20times throughout the course of the day, just constantly changing uniforms haha. Then we might do PT, marching, ORI (Open Rank Inspection) and the most fun, STBYI (Standby Inspection!) aka get your room torn to shreds after you've spent forever getting it together. Nothing is ever perfect to them, ah well :P Eating was a blast too. Don't grab too much, or else you're gonna want to vomit trying to shove all that food in your mouth in a matter of 10minutes. So yeah, that was great. I was appointed Flight Leader, yeah, talk about nerve racking. The outlook of your flight depends upon the Flight Leader's actions. If I don't know a command or screw up, it's not just on me, but my ENTIRE flight, so yeah it's stressful, but... I kinda liked it hehe. Yes, I messed up and broke my bearing a few times, but it was a learning experience and now I know I can be that ready-for-anything Flight leader :DD So yeah, that was FTP! good times hehe

2nd = Sucker Punch the movie was AWESOME!!!! everyone needs to see it. I am determined to either dress up as Baby Doll or Sweet Pea, haven't figured it out yet, for future Comic Cons (yep, my nerdiness shows :P ) The music, storyline, action, cinematography, acting, EVERYTHING was just amazing. My favorite movie of all time fo sho :)

3rd = Okay, so more into last week which was a sucker punch to the heart pretty much. Yeah, a little more mellow now so please, bear with me. A weekend ago, 4 Angola High Schoolers were killed in a car accident. They were driving up from Florida, it was their spring break, and the weather played a key factor in the whole situation and took these 4 young men's life. The whole community shook like an level 10 earthquake. I didn't even know the 4 men and it affected me. Numerious church services were given throughout the week. Trine provided the ARC for the funeral viewing. The radio, posters, colletion jars, I mean everywhere you looked, those 4 men's names were ringing in your head. There was no way you couldn't be apart of the emotional time. Through all the hurt through, Trine University did something great and helped contribute to a scholarship made by the four families called Fourever Friends Memorial Scholarship by matching the amount of money the football team raised for the scholarship. In sorrow we give hope. God rest those four souls and many prays to the family and the entire community to find that hint of sunshine in their life. 
Alexx Bauer, Matthew Roe, Evan Weaver and Riley Zimmer <3

4th = Well, this is, yet again, another sucker punch to the heart, and it happened only a day or so after I heard about the 4 teens killed, so again, sorry if I make this last one short, since it's still tough for me even a week or so later to talk about. So last week at Air Force ROTC we got word that our Captains have the list of what cadets got a slot into FT or not. In all the years of AFROTC at Notre Dame, they have never once not have a cadet get a slot, until this year... Gosh, it's still hard to press the letters on the keyboard down to just write down what happened. Okay, well I'm going to jump right into it. I got a slot. Yes, I got a slot. Notice I didn't say "we" ..... it was only I, from Trine University, that got a slot, not my fellow Trine cadets. Just me. The Captains had originally split us in separate groups (ones who got a slot, and ones who didn't, though at the time we didn't know what the grouping meant, so it shocked everyone) I just remember starting to smile when I got word I got a slot, but then I looked around me in the room and I didn't see anymore Trine. Even some of my other fellow AS200s that had become my friends through these last 2 years weren't there. Ugh, I just wanted to vomit and wake up from this nightmare. I never wanted this, I never wanted to go through this alone. I joined the Air Force ROTC program, yes to be in the Air Force, but to also create a bond with other dreamers that are wrapped in the Red, White, and Blue. Out of the original 4, the first ever AFROTC cadets from Trine, I'm the only one left..... I know, I worked hard, I earned it, but they did too!! I'm angry, sad, confused, sick, and maybe even a bit hopeless. I mean, the scholarships they were given are gone now since, if you don't a slot for Field Training, you're not in the program anymore, kicked out pretty much. I mean, you could take the chance and go another year, but it's all the same really, nothing on your record is gonna say that you're trying again. 10 people didn't get slots. 10!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it. 10 of my friends didn't make it. The cadets from Trine are probably not even gonna come back to Trine next semester because they're short of $ now since their Air Force scholarship got taken away. So why such a blow this year compared to the past years? The military is taking heavy budget cuts, and they seriously cut out like 1,000 slots from FT this summer. So that's 1,000 people that couldn't go. It's horrible it had to come to this and everyone at the detachment felt the hurt and still do. I don't know if I'll ever recover. I just know I gotta lead now and make the ones that didn't get a slot proud. It's all for you guys now. 
Shipping off Date: May 19th.

Peace

~Annie

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Verdict....

I survived.
end of story.
more details later.
peace

annie

yesh, ftp retreat exhausted me to the brink that i literally do not have enough energy to write more than this single period.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

....into the wild blue yonder!

So, I can't believe I'm deciding to post at almost 2 in the morning with the fact that I'm going to have to wake up at 6... Yeah, nuts. But this is going to be very brief, and I thought I'd let you know that after this weekend, I won't be the same. At 0700, I and a fellow AFROTC cadet will be heading off to a life changing experience - FTP (Field Training Prep aka Boot Camp Prep) Retreat, which is a weekend full of yelling, discipline, knowledge, cleanliness, and just an overall stresser. But, its main goal is to get me ready for what I'm going to experience for 4 weeks this summer, so I might as well start getting used to it :P Ya know, I say I'm nervous, but really, deep down, I'm not. I'm, well, .... excited, like beyond belief!! I think I just say that I'm nervous because I think I'm supposed to feel that way, and yeah I am, a little, but overall, I simply cannot wait! In 5 hours or so, I'll be heading to a dream I've always wanted to experience. I just pray I'm ready for this. Give me strength! I'll see you on Sunday evening dudes ;)
Peace

~Annie

Monday, March 21, 2011

Spring is... in the air??

Buuuurrrrrr!!!! So, it's Spring on the Trine Campus, and I'm not too impressed Mother Nature. I'm still clutching tightly to my leather jacket as I walk to class during the day because of that frigid wind whipping around! Grrrr, it better warm up soon! I wanna break out the shorts as soon as I can :P I'm in withdrawals from my spring-break in Florida :D

Alrighty, so on with the up and up around campus! Let's see, I went to the QPR (Question Persuade Refer) Suicide Prevention Seminar on last Wed. that the Trine University counselor was hosting and it went really well! I liked how they made us role play to put us in those type of situations and see how we react. I thought I would be fine and do everything by the book... but yeah, it didn't go some much that way :P I mean, once you hear those words "I want to kill myself" you just freeze! You feel afraid to say anything to them because maybe it'll make it worse or something, but ultimately from what I learned, if you listen to them, without any interruptions, then persuade them out of hurting themselves and refer them to a counselor, pastor, professor, anyone you know that may help them out, is the best way to go about it. Just, putting all those things in motion are hard, and at the seminar luckily I had the counselor to help me through the whole process, so I came out rewarded. I feel more prepared now and am not afraid to ask someone who I think may be at risk, "Do you feel like killing yourself?" So yeah! Though, it was a very deep topic, I felt comfortable learning about everything because I am going into Psychology and in the Air Force where suicide is ever so increasing year after year, and with me being an RA next semester, I can be prepared to address these situations now and in the future. :)

Well, to lighten the mood, I had a great weekend! I had to get up at like 7:50am on Saturday which wasn't so fun, but it was for a good reason - TRACK RECRUITS! haha God how I LOVE track :D Only 3 could make it, when usually we have nearly 30 or so! (Spring Breaks and the Indoor Track National Meet were on that same day!) My fellow running buddy, Sannie, came with me to help Coach Cooper with giving tours and talking with the recruits. It was fun. Sannie and I have never given a campus tour before, and shockingly we knew a lot more about Trine than originally thought! haha I did some quick research before giving the tour, but in the end, I thought we are Aces at it :P hehe Fast forward to that night, one of the guys from cross-country and track hosted his annual Techno Party, this year though at his villa instead of in the common area at one of the dorms. And surprisingly, it wasn't as cramped as I thought it would be! Those campus villa's are gorgeous! I LOVE techno music, so I was able to request a few songs and get the floor jumping with wicked tunes, so it was blast :) Yesterday, our Chinese class went to the Great Wall Restaurant just down the road. I carpooled with one of the guys and that was a lot of fun! I ate so freaken much! seriously, I thought I was gonna explode :P I tried to speak some Chinese while I was there, and I should have spoke more instead of shoving my face with more and more Chinese cuisine, but dudes, those Chinese donuts are to DIE FOR!!! haha
Well I totally regretting eating all that food when I had to wake up this morning at 5:55am to go to Air Force ROTC Mandatory PT (Physical Training) *yawn* I'm still trying to recover from the workout :P It wasn't too bad, but with it being that early, it's gonna take a bit out of ya, especially all that Chinese food I ate :P

So, yep! That's the up & up! This week is Women Appreciation week, so there's gonna be some cool activities going on to celebrate all the women that have made an impact in the world :) I'll be a busy bee that's for sure! Got my FT (Field Training) Retreat this weekend at a Navy Base, so in a nutshell, I'm going to be yelled at all weekend because I can't fold my clothes right. Yep, fun fun :P Actually, it's really gonna help prepare me for the real Field Training I'm gonna go through for 4 weeks this summer, so the yelling will pay off :)

Okay dudes, I better head on out to grab some grub :P I'll try to control myself this time, promise!
Peace

~Annie

Monday, March 14, 2011

...and it's gone in a FLASH!

Wow, it's been too long since I've updated :O And dudes, a TON has happened, but don't worry, I'll keep it as short as I can ;)
Well, Spring Break was last week, ahhhhhhh was it splendid. As cliche as it is to go to Florida for Spring Break, I totally did anyway :P I flew down with my mother to meet up with my two sis' down there. We were there for only 4 whole days, but it was totally worth it! It was great to meet up with all the girls again, and, oh my gawd, Universal Studios has the new Hogwarts Caste added on, and dudes, it's seriously legit! I mean, people wait in line for two hours to just get a tour of the place! Yeah, crazy :P Luckily we got there early enough that the wait was only 45min woot woot! There also is a ride inside the castle and ah! it seriously is indescribable! you legitly feel like you're on a broom stick with Harry battling dragons, Dementors, the whole kit and caboodle! It's awesome! I am proud to say I  had a cup of Butter Beer (it's not really beer, just a made up concoction of awesomeness! no alcohol included) and Pumpkin Juice and gaaaaaahhhhhh!!!! they're freaken delicious! seriously, get some! it'll blow your mind ;) hehe
I also made a visit to the comic book store that's also in Universal Studios. Bought a few things.... hehe okay maybe more than a few but it totally was worth every penny, because who do I see riding by???? CAPTAIN AMERICA ON A ATV!!! Yep, my heart melted :P So the dya at Universal Studios was a success, and mind you I left a TON of other crazy, amazing things out, but those were the biggies :)
I also successfully scorched myself at the beach, so yep, I'm all tanned up (with my back peeling away, ouch, maybe too much sun...)
And guess who paid for all of this??? ME! Yep. My dad paid for the tickets, but I reimbursed him by paying for all of our, that means my, my mother's, and my two sisters expenses down there all because of air force rotc :) what better way to use that money than to spend all on family and fun without anyone having to worry about expenses, I got it all covered ;) and it was the least I could do.

Well now, as I said in a title, it was gone in a flash, and it's quite depressing to think that just last week I was wearing a tank top, shorts, and flip flops and now I'm all huddled up in a coat, hat, and mittens :( But I guess on the bright side, it's Advising week, so that means more doors to open and more adventures to embark on! There's a class on Serial Killers and I'm totally jumping on that and signing up for it!!! I can't wait :DDD Next semester looks like it's gonna be a fun one!

A couple other things that have gotten me at least comfortable with coming back are these numerous programs Trine is hosting. Like, on Wednesday - 16th - there's a Suicide Prevention Certification Seminar at 6pm in Best 229 and I'm totally signing up to go to that! What better thing to have under your belt that the means to know how to approach that sorta problem with someone. I'm looking forward to it and there's no charge! Everyone loves free stuff ;) Also, there's a CPR Certification Seminar going on this Saturday - 19th - in the Ford Building at 10am. Yeah, I know it's considered "early" on a Saturday, but having a CPR certification is great for your resume and for you because you just never know if someone will just inhale that huge chunk of steak and gets it lodge in their wind pipe, then you'll be able to sweep in with your cape and CPR certification and preform the proper procedures ta-dah!

Ah, alrighty. well my peeps are waiting for me to eat lunch so I better head out dudes. Please, if you can go to either of those Seminars GO! What do you gotta lose? A couple hours of sleep or sitting on the couch watching America's Next Top Model reruns??? Well, if you can't go to either, then I'd recommend for EVERYONE no matter what to go to this: Take Back the Night. Men and women, join all of us in the march to fight rape and to stand up for all the victims out there! Let them know that their voice is heard :) Be a hero
Peace Out

~Annie

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Tap tap, tap tap yo feet!

So dudes, I saw Lord of the Dance on Friday (Feb 25th) and OH MY FREAKEN GOD IT WAS MIND BLOWING!!!!!!!! no joke :P If you don't know what the heck I'm talking about, first off, *shakes head* and secondly, don't worry, a lot of people don't know what I'm talking about haha But i'm here to enlighten you a bit, so be ready!
Here's an awesome quick clip of what MIND BLOWING stuff I saw:



Incredible right??? All that tapping was their FEET DUDES!! Do you get what I'm saying!!! THEIR FEET!!! GAHHHHH!!!! simply incredible. :) my life is now complete. haha I have always been into this kind of stuff ever since I could remember. I did tap and ballet when I was younger and aspired to being a part of this group when I grew up. Of course, that dream died when I found that dancing really wasn't my type of thing, but boy do I love watching it! This stuff truly makes me proud to be Irish! haha so yeah, that was great. It was playing at Miller Auditorium in Michigan and the place I interned at this past summer, my supervisor gave my family 4 tickets to see it, and they were the best seats in the house!!! I bought the CD, a wicked t-shirt and I bought the DVD off of ebay (was like 25 bucks cheaper that way :P ) now, I kinda want to get back into all that awesome tap and irish jig stuff, maybe I'll try it out this summer, see where it takes me :P haha yeah maybe not...

In other news! Our last Indoor track meet was yesterday and I ran the 1mile, the 800m, and the 4x4 Relay. Yeah, it was a lot to ask for that's for sure :P But, in all, it went okay, I didn't do worse, but I didn't meet my expectations :/ I ran the EXACT same time in my mile, and my 800m sucked only because I was put in the 1st heat and the closest girl to me runs a 2:32 (I ran a 2:36 last week) so there was a huge gap from me and the rest of the group, yeah not fun, and it also frustrates me how in high school I ran a 2:32 all the time and now I struggle trying to run a 2:36 gahhh! me' old legs I guess :P and finally the 4x4, this was my last chance to give it my all, and dudes, I totally did :) our goal was to get less than a 4:20 and we finish with a 4:19!!! yeah it may only be one second but hey! we made it and did it!!! :DDD so at least it ended on a good note :)

So yeah, pretty productive weekend. The agenda for today: Study for Midterms booooo!! Spring break is less than a week away, and all I can say is Florida here I come!! :DDD
Peace

~Annie

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

I'm ahhhhhhhLIVEE!!!!!

It's been a bit over a week since my last post, sorry peeps for keeping you waiting! That's how the life of a student works though during Midterms week :/ Yep, I've been stressed up to my neck! But hey, I'm here to give you good news and to kinda escape the stressful environment ;)

So first things first, TRACK! We had a meet last week on Friday, and dudes, I dominated!! And when I mean dominated, I mean it as in like, I proved myself, not that I won the race or anything, but yeah :P So anywho, I ran the 800m for the first time this year on that Friday and, I was kind of afraid of what was gonna happen to tell you the truth since I haven't ran a good 800m since my senior year in high school (last year/freshmen year was an epic fail on my part when it came to that race). But, I know this race, more than the 1600m that I've only just started running this year so, yeah! It was AWESOME! My madre was there too, I swear she's like my biggest fan out there :P Running all over the place, getting ready to cheer and shout out commands (she's a former runner, and was an AMAZING one too, or so she says, hehe) so, in the end, I came out with a 2min 36sec run, which isn't great, but it's an awesome starting pointing for me :D And I came in 3rd! The thing that sucked was, 2nd place was about 7 seconds in front of me (2min 29sec) and then BAM there was just a void/emptyness between me and her so I had no one really in front of me to push me to catch up to :/ I think if just one person was somewhere in that void I would have at least cut off 4 seconds, but hey! I survived and did better than what I thought I would have :) My 400m times in both the DMR and 4x4 relay were great too, like a 63-62sec so that's awesome :D All in all, a huge sucess on my part and I was glad my mom was there to see it :) this is defiantly gonna be a better year than last. Not looking back from here!

Besides Track, in Air Force ROTC we had our Physical Fitness Assessment just yesterday. That's where we're tested on how many sit-ups we can do in a minute, how many push-ups we can do in a minute, and then a timed 1mile and 1/2. Well, I haven't worked on my upper-body or core lately, so out of 10 points for each, I was able to score a 8.5 on push-ups (33 push-ups total) and an 8 on my sit-ups (44 sit-ups total) which were my goals initially. The 1.5mile run though, I was gonna KILL! :DDD To score the max points of 60 from the run you have to run like a 10min 23sec, but my goal was 10min! And dudes, I ran a 9min 56sec!! Ye-YAH! I was so happy just because I had been working on that all along and finally I broke 10min which was better than what I asked! woot woot! haha That's like a 6min 28sec mile so not too shabby hehe
In total I scored:
     8.5 Situps
     8.0 Pushups
   60.0 Timed 1.5mi
+ 20.0 Meeting the weight requirements
   96.5!!!

The Detachment's goal is a 90 and I totally broke that, so *pats self on back* good job Annie, proud of ya ;)

Other good news! I got an A on my child and adolescent psychology exam! I studied for about 10hours or so, yeah I know, crazy right? But it paid off so woot woot!
what else.... hmmmmm I haven't fallen yet from all the ice on EVERYTHING! haha so that's a plus hehe
and, spring break is in T-Minus 10 DAYS! my mom and I booked 2 tickets to Florida, yup! We'll be chillen or err heating up with my twin and older sis down there so it's gonna be a blast, just all the girls together :D

Alrighty, well I believe it's my nap time now, sprinter workout today :/ not so sure about this...
PEACE!

~Annie

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Run Run! As fast as you can...

You can't catch me, I'm a TRINE TRACK RUNNER!! hehe yep totally just thought that one up. Brilliant!
So yeah, the 3rd Indoor Track meet of the season went on today and it went stupendously!! Running started at noon, so I still got to sleep in (thank god!) and was able to grab a bite before running :) I ran in the DMR (Distance Medley Relay) which goes in this order of legs: 1200m - 400m - 800m - 1600m. I thankfully was the 400m leg and ran a 65sec which isn't bad, but I know I can go faster later in the season fo sho. Our DMR team did great too! We didn't win, but we held up a good fight against Manchester, who were trying to get a qualifying time for nationals, so we had a lot up against us, but hey! we didn't get lapped and that's all that matters ;)
Next, I ran the 1600 with 3 other fellow Trine ladies. I broke my PR with a 5:54! This is only the second time I've ever competed in this event, and considering I've cut off 8sec from my last time, I know I can only continue to go down :) My other fellow Trine 1600m runners also did great! Beating their goal time and snatching their own PRs so already, early in the meet and ultimately, in the entire season, everyone is running extremely well, and it's only gonna get better from here!
So finally, the last event I ran was the 4x4 Relay. We had a great team set up, but when the time came, only myself and the anchor were able to run it (one runner wasn't cleared and the other pulled her quad muscle in the 60m dash). Yeah, it sucked. So we both tried to recruit two other runners, because we both just really wanted to run this race. So who do we find? Two 3k runners, and the 3k race is right before the 4x4 relay! and they're not especially trained to run the 400m... But hey! I respect both them a lot and they were the only ones that had the guts to suck it up and run 400m! Well, I popped it (and i guess a lot of people don't understand that term, so what I mean by "pop" is starter/1st leg) and ran a good time, a 63/64sec and our 2nd and 3rd leg were our 3k runners who ran extremely well! Better than what they both thought they could run! One ran a 1min 14sec, and she was at least hoping for a 80sec! and our anchor totally booked it and, dudes, watching her run is sooooo awesome! she just like flies!! no joke! She also won the 800m race with a 2:28, which to her is going "easy" haha :P Well, we didn't win the 4x4, but we never expected that and just did it for fun. :) I looked at the opposing team's final time and if we had the team we were supposed to have, we totally woulda dominated that race! no joke! ahhhhhh! if only :P next time, we will!
Ahhhhh..., whew it was a longggggg day! And after the meet we got a team picture, I'll post them once they're up and done editing them. I don't know who won the meet or how many points each team had, we were up against Defiance, Manchester, Sienna Heights, and Aquinas who were all awesome competitors! The boys did great too! To sum the whole meet up, it was a success :) and I totally cannot wait till our next one, which is this upcoming Friday, so woot woot!  Be there or be square ;)

And after the meet a few of us runners got together and drove to Steak and Shake and just chilled, it was great and well deserved for our hard work ;) I totally got the double chocolate shake and ate that whole thing in like 2sec! it was soooooooooo good haha

Well, i think i've painted a pretty accurate picture of the meet that happened today, and now will let your eyes rest from reading this post (and well let myself catch some well needed shut eye) :) Later dudes!
peace

~Annie

Thursday, February 10, 2011

must be WINDSday

Yup, thanks to that windchill, instead of it feeling like a "warm" 12F degrees today, it felt as cold as -16F!!! Yeah, -16F. so thank you again wind, you really burn my day, literally! my face is wind burned! haha but Trine University had vans on stand by this morning ready and willing to drive students to the cafeteria and classes, so that was a great thing to wake up to at least :)

Ah, well I guess I better finally update you on the second half of the basketball tournament we cadets enbarked on. haha Well, on Saturday, after throwing in about 5 hours of sleep, I got up and lugged my lifeless body to the van to head off once again to the Det. And, just a quick shout-out to Walt, our driver, being just such a wonderful guy. Willing to drive us multiple times that week and being able to even get a van in the first place was just wonderful of him to be there, always willing and ready to help us get to the places we need to go. Thank you Walt!!
Alrighty, so continuing, we got to the Det about 8:30am and headed off to the basketball court we are scheduled to play Purdue AFROTC at, at 9am. So we get there, ready to go, and.... Purdue never shows up. So we're like okay, whatever, we'll just play each other then since there was enough us there to just play each other on two separate teams. So we did that for like an hour then headed off to our respected scoring tables. THEN! it turned out that Purdue AFROTC was staying in a hotel only 10min from the Det! So we Trine Cadets made it to the game on time, being over an hour away, and Purdue, just 10min for the Det. couldn't make it!! And we still had to play them, no forfeits since I guess Purdue AFROTC was unaware of the game that morning, yeah, so we played them at 11am instead and got slaughtered. Final score: 82-23. :P I scored 2 points! haha But Purdue was actually really cool and apologized for not showing up that morning, so it was whatev. What sucked the most had to of been knowing we still had another game to play. Since we already pretty much played two games that day, and only got about 5 hours of sleep the night before, by this last game we all were like walking zombies haha
But the last team we played against, Wisconsin ROTC, was almost at about our level of expertise with basketball so it was actually a pretty fun game. Final score of that game was 48-25 YEAH! Even though we lost, we had over 1/2 the points! woot woot! haha And I totally got all bruised up in that game too, but it's battle wounds I'll proudly show off. I Survived playing in the Mens Bracket! ye-YAH! haha
Everyone did great too and had fun. We all started working as a team by that last game against Wisconsin so I think we really bonded more. It was cool :)
Then after that game, I checked my phone and saw Walt called. I listened to my voicemail and it turned out that we had to leave immediately because Angola was getting hammered with snow and the storm was heading right to ND, so I informed all the cadets of the emergency and called up Walt to tell them we were on our way out. We got home safely, thanks to the great driving by Walt, by about 4:30pm, and after dinner, I totally crashed on my futon at 6:30pm and didn't wake till midnight to quickly study for some ROTC happening the next day, and then went back to sleep at 1am and finally woke up, refreshed at 9am. Ahhhhhh... it was nice to finally sleep. But OH MY GOODNESS did i feel soar! You don't move like we did in basketball as we do in track, so it really awoke muscles within me that haven't moved around for awhile :P haha. But again, it was totally worth it :)

Ah well, I think i've blabbed enough haha. So even though we lost all 3 games this year,it just sets the bar low for us for next year, so we can really show the other ROTC cadets what we're really made of ;) heck yeah!
Later dudes,

~Annie

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Trine Cadets bring the THUNDER!!!

Alrighty, so it's like 1 o'clock in the morning on Saturday and I'm only up this late because I gotta update you on what happened less than a few hours ago! We Trine AFROTC cadets headed up to Notre Dame today at 1700 (5pm) for the 25th Annual ROTC Basketball Tournament our Det. hosts. Our game started 1900 and we were up against Notre Dame Navy ROTC. Though we had our awesome Trine AFROTC T-shirts, the ND NROTC had freaken jerseys! Yeah JERSEYS! But we put up a good fight. Cadet Winkler was our captain and even though I was new to the game, at least competitively, he taught me quickly. We put a strategy together and tried to impement it, but ya know, it was the first time we all actually had played together, so it was a little rough, and Navy was dominating up! But we had fun and never gave up. I scored two 3 pointers, yep ME! Unbelievable right? :P I pretty much just closed my eyes and let the ball do all the talking haha But everyone did awesome! We have two more games tomorrow. errrr... I mean today! We're gonna head out at 0730 and just try to make our moves in these upcoming games and just come out happy campers :)
*yawn* well I better head out, but before I do, here was our score from our 1st game: 16-51 or something like that haha I know, but hey we put up some sorta fight :P
Peace

~Annie

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

sNOw School DAY!

Yes, you heard right, college actually does have snow days!! crazy right?? I thought that was all a myth, but nope guess not :P Waking up at 10:30 this morning was AMAZING!!! no class, no homework to worry about, just chilling in the room, putting boots on to go get some food, and staying warm. ahhhh.... it was awesome. Though, track practice still was scheduled to happen at 1600, so I trudged on over there through the foot high snow and did my running. 3 miles on the indoor track and 20min on the bike. Not bad right? NO! dude, running 24 laps on that track was hypnotizing, I was like a zombie. So many turns ahhhhhhh!! But the bike was worse, the workout room was sooooooo hot and I was already sweating so after biking on that, it was sooo nice walking outside back to my room, that cold air felt soooo goood! :)

Track practice has been going well! I've been having an issue with my hamstring lately but the trainers have been giving me good advice on what to do. 20min of heat and a couple ibuprofen if it's that bad and whalah! i can go run without much of any pain. though, they've been insisting I take it easy this week, just so my hamstring can heal so I wont be running this weekend at IU. :( I know, sucks! But on a good note, I will be going to Notre Dame for the ROTC Basketball Tournament our Detachment hosts for Army, Navy, and AF Detachments around the nation! It's a lot of fun, even though some teams do take this like really seriously, but it'll be fun fo sho :) Us cadets from Trine made our own team and will be competing on Friday and Saturday. I ordered the team some shirts from a shirt printing store that is just down the street from campus and they were really kind and open to making the shirts for us so I'm totally excited to be showing off my shirt around campus, ohhhh yeah :D Here's the design I put together and hope to see it come out:

Photobucket

So, before I leave I'd just like to announce that I GOT THE RA POSITION!! ye-yah! I'm gonna be an RA next semester so woot woot! :D And! to top it all off, it's groundhog's day and it seems that Phil didn't see his shadow this year! So spring is coming early :DDDD But looking outside, I defiantly do not see that happening haha Alrighty, stay warm dudes ;)
Peace

~Annie

Friday, January 21, 2011

High of 13....

.... but I was smoking it today!! I wanted to update you on my crazy friday before I nod off to sleep at, yeah, 9:20pm :P I had my RA interview today, and I must say, I was freaken nervous! HECK! I showed up 15 mins early because I was soooo anxious! But once I got in there, everything just started to flow. My interviewers were very kind and asked me great questions that I answered to the best of my ability. So, phase 2 of operation RA or Bust is completed, now phase 3 shall commence, and that's going to my 2nd interview next week which will be a group interview! So I'm looking forward to that and can't wait to see who else is in the same boat as me :)

After my interview, and breathing a sigh of relief, I had to get all pumped up and ready for my track meet today! But dudes, I was soooo exhausted! I didn't really sleep that well the night before, and I was sooo stressed about the interview. Once I completed my interview, I had lunch and then crashed on my bed and slept for an hour or so. It was an okay nap, not what I really wanted, but I got up and headed out to the ARC to do what I was trained to do, run! I was soooo nervous for the 1600m and that was my first event to do. I've never competed in that race before, so I was like going in blind, but I had an idea and goal I wanted to reach (besides finishing hehe) I was aiming for around a 6:10ish and so when that gun went off I booked it! In the end, I came out with..... a 6:02!!! Yup yup! :D that was exciting. I felt like I was gonna puke after that and my whole body just felt sick. :/ not fun. But i got up and ran the 800m, which sucked so we'll just skip that and go right to the last race, the 4x4 relay. We kicked booty! I don't know our split but our overal time was like a 4:21 so that's an average of about a 1:05 per person so not bad chicas! We did great :) Everyone did great! I believe we competed against 4 other schools, so there was a good variety of girls to compete with, but it was the cheering that kept me going! We had quite a crowd that was always screaming when any came running around. It was cool. God, do I love track <3 Even though I felt so sick after each race, it's that rush you get and motivation from team members and spektators that just keep me going. I LOVE IT!! :DDD

Ah, well I'm pooped. :P I gotta wake up early tomorrow to help host the High School Track Meet we're doing so i'll peace out ya dudes!

~Annie

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Take 2: Semester II

So, since I've arrived back to school a week or so ago, I'll admit, it's been kinda hectic! Taking 19 credits this semester (you actually have to get a waiver from the head of the department to be allowed to take over 18 credits! but i got that all cleared last semester so I'm good ta go) so yeah, like I said, taking 19 credits, starting the indoor track season, taking on the role as Director of Operations for Arnold Air Society at Trine for Air Force ROTC (wow that was a mouthful) and getting prepared for Field training coming up this summer, I've been a busy bee. AND on top of that I turned in an application for an RA position for next year, and boy, was that an extensive application! An essay, about 10 application short answer questions, a resume, a letter of interest and reference form that had to be filled out by a Trine University faculty member. I chose Professor Trusty who is our Air Force ROTC advisor, he's my main go to guy if I have any proposals, questions, signing up for ROTC class, recruits, pretty much anything ROTC related, I can go to him and get an answer. He's a great advisor and mentor. Being previous military himself he knows what we're going through and is the closest Trine faculty member that understands us cadets the best. So, I got all that paperwork in by the deadline and just yesterday, I received a phone call, asking when I am available for an interview!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :DDDDD I was soooo happy! It's this Friday so I'm prepping myself till then! Cross your fingers :)

Ever since last year, I've kinda always had this feeling to want to be an RA. I don't know, maybe it's Air Force ROTC which has been pushing me to take on more leadership roles, or maybe it's my mom and hearing all her fun RA stories when she was one... back in the day :P Or maybe it's something else, but I know I want this job for the experience, for the leadership roles, for the responsibilities, and for the connection I'll have with my fellow peers at Trine. I know the Air Force right off the bat will help me with this position quite a bit, that's IF I get it, but I'm keeping positive. :)

So, besides my interview coming up on Friday, Trine Thunder Track and Field Indoor Invite is this Friday also! Woot Woot! First one of the season too, so hopefully we can start it off with a BANG! I'm running the 800m, 4x4m Relay and... an event I have never competed in: the 1600m or 1 mile. I'm kinda worried about that one, because the 800m is the longest race I've ever had in a track meet, and especially since it's indoors, the track is only 200m around so that means twice as many laps. So instead of 4 laps on an outdoor track to equal up to 1600m, I have to run 8 laps on the indoor track to complete a 1 mile race :P uggggg but I just keep telling myself it'll be all good. Coach put me in those events for a good reason, so I have faith he knows what he's doing ;)

Ah well, I better head out! With 19 credits, I always have some homework to do ;)
Peace

~Annie

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Home away from Home

Ahhhhhhh back at good ole Trine! And what a welcome back it was! Bingo for Bucks started off the Monday evening, and prizes such as $100 Best Buy/Walmart gift cards, ipod touch, and just a TON of other goodies any college student would love! My friend, Liz, was the first to win the Best Buy gift card with a "BINGO!"
Today, with classes starting up, my professors so far have been really cool and not too hard on us (no 100 page papers due yet! woot woot!) No homework!! :D And it just keeps getting better! At 11 this morning, there's going to be a Welcome Back Bash hosted by Trine University Student Life and those are always a ton of fun :)
Oh yes, it's good to be back. The 3 week break was nice, but to tell you the truth, it's always good to be back into the swing of things. I have a lot of goals I want to meet before the semester is out so be ready everyone! Cause it may just be a bumpy ride :)
Peace Out!

~Annie
(I think this is my shortest post yet!!)

Saturday, January 1, 2011

MMXI

Yes, I am here to announce (even though the other half of the nation is still waiting to celebrate) HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! MMXI = 2011 :DDDD Ahhhhh, i do love when the new year comes around, it means to leave all the bad things behind in 2010, to look forward to a new year and to experience a new day in 2011! I have a good feeling about this one :) One of my new years resolution is to finish writing a story my friend from Canada and I have written together. We got to 89 pages, single spaced in size 10 font, and just stopped writing it about a year ago and we both really miss writing it, so we both made a pact that we'd start it up again this year and finally finish it! We both know we're almost done with it, like one more chapter yet, so we gotta make this good :D It's gonna be awesome ;)
I hope you have your new years resolution figured out soon, because 2011 has begun, but its only just. :)

Before I leave and finally get the sleep I've been wanting, I'd just like to wish my twin a good luck on her new journey down in Florida. Everyone, readers, don't ever stop believing. Even when you think it's the end and there's no hope to be found, there's always another road to be taken. My twin got a brand new start down in Florida where she wishes to pursue her lifes journey and to immerse herself in her music. I'm proud of her to be taking that step, because I soooo do not have the guts to go to a new state, freaken far from home, and knowing no one. Scary stuff, but it's the ones that prove to you that it can be done that gives others the strength to try, so good luck sis, I have great faith in you :D

Ahh, well, this is my first blog of the new year and all I can say is I'm looking forward to experience this unknown adventure in front of us, it'll be a great tale to tell! :)
Peace Out dudes!!

~Annie