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

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

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:

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

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

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

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!!)

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