Kathleen's Blog

"On an island in the sun.."

2010-08-08T19:48:00.000-07:00

Being back in California after being gone for a couple weeks definitely feels weird. I felt like I was gone for so long. Part of me never wanted to leave! My connecting flight in Las Vegas got majorly delayed, and seeing as I am not old enough to participate in any Vegas fun, I really wanted to just hop on a plane back to the east coast and spend the rest of my summer there. But I am also glad to be home and take in all the California I can get until I am back at Stonehill until Christmas.

This past weekend was the US Open for surfing in Huntington Beach. I went with two of my friends, Marissa and Allison for a day. It was so much fun! Marissa has been gone vacationing in Brazil for the past month, so it was so great to be able to spend time with her again! The whole day was great! Huntington Beach is really not far at all from my house, but with all the craziness that is the US Open, it became quite an ordeal just to get there! Once we got within a couple miles, there were cars everywhere and it took us almost an hour to find parking! We took my Mini Cooper, so we were able to find a little spot I could fit into, but even in that small of a car, it still took a few times to get it all parallel parked in there!

After that, it was still a 20 minute walk to the pier where the concert actually was. By the time we got there, most of the surfing was done, but the main reason we wanted to go was because the band, Weezer, was having a free concert by the pier! There were SO many people there! It was a lot of pushing and getting extremely familiar with people you've never met, but it was all worth it. Hot Hot Heat opened for Weezer. They did a great job, but it was really Weezer that made it great. They were phenomenal, and definitely one of the best bands I have ever seen perform live. The concert lasted about 2 hours. We thought that was a pretty full set, especially for free! It was such a great day! It also took us about an hour just to get out of downtown Huntington because of all the cars. I drive a stick, so my left foot was getting sore from being stuck in first gear for so long, but I would do it again for another chance to see a show like that!

BACK EAST!

2010-08-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

In the past couple of weeks I finally got a break from reality and had my vacation back east to visit Stonehill friends! It was nice even just thinking about not having to wake up for work at 5am for two weeks! But I could never have anticipated how much fun I would've had! It was such a great two weeks!

The first day, I flew into Boston. My friend Kelly and her mom came and picked me up at the airport. I was greeted with lovely signs Kelly had made for me. It was a such a great welcome and was awesome to finally be reunited! And, of course, the first thing we did after being reunited: THE MALL! Kel and I are both big fans of the Natick Mall in Massachusetts, so we hit that on the way home from the airport. Surprisingly, I showed restraint and didn't waste any money on that trip. But, that was kind of my only option seeing as I spent a good amount of my summer earnings on airfare. From there, the trip only got more fun! I arrived at Kel's house in Wilbraham with a huge sign welcoming this "California Gurl" to the east coast! It was so nice knowing how much Kelly did in preparation for my arrival.

The rest of my time in Massachusetts only got better! I had my first bite ever of Friendly's. We don't have that restaurant out west, so I had never had the pleasure of eating there before. Kelly's Grammy and Grampy even got me a Friendly's shirt, and Kel made me a ridiculous hat to wear for my first Friendly's experience. After that, we went straight to to this really cool quarry. I didn't even know what a quarry was, but it sounded like fun, so I was pumped! Kel's friends Lindsay, Sean, and Sam all came with us. It was great! It was at a state forest with huge cliffs, and a rope swing where you could jump into the water. It was so much fun! It ended up raining that day, so it made it pretty dangerous to climb anywhere too high and risk slipping, so we stayed with the much smaller jumps, but it was still great! I had a slight near death experience my first time on the rope swing, but I successfully did it on my second attempt! The best thing about that day though was trying to get out of the state park. We had driven down this pretty small dirt road to get to where we parked. I am still convinced it was a road, but some argued that cars were really not supposed to drive there. Well, I guess we learned our lesson because the trail was locked with a rope gate when we tried to exit. We thought we were going to end up having to call for help, but Lindsay saved the day and figured out that we could all lift the rope over the car as Kel drove through. It was an extremely tight squeeze, but we made it! Some other Massachusetts highlights were seeing Inception at the drive-in, playing golf with Kel's dad, picking blueberries, and bonding with Kelly's cat Tutu!

From Massachusetts, Kel and I headed to Connecticut with our friend Morgan to go to our friend Justin's house in Branford. That was quite the journey! Kel doesn't enjoy driving highways, so I took the wheel, and along with that, I took the abuse of her GPS screaming at me every 5 minutes when we all we really did was take one highway for 2 hours. But, we eventually made it. Immediately upon arriving in Branford, Kelly and I decided we were moving there. The town was so cute! It was so much different from home, but I loved it! That first night we just hung out at Justin's and met some of his friends. But the main event was the next day when we went camping at the beach! It was my first camping experience, so I was really excited! However, one thing I was not excited about was the bugs! In Southern California, we don't have the dreaded humidity of the east coast, so the mosquitos don't really make an appearance. At the drive-in back in Mass, I literally got attacked by mosquitos on my feet, so much so that my friends began referring to me as "the leper" because my skin looked so disgusting. Unfortunately, the bugs were also a prescence at the campsite, but I came prepared with every anti-itch cream known to man, so I survived. I also got a little too familiar with a jelly fish, and a major sunburn, but all of my painful skin ailments were completely worth it! Camping was so much fun! It was so great to all be back together! We had a blast making hot dogs and s'mores over Justin's beautiful fire and hanging by the ocean all day. We were even able to fit a pitstop at the mall into the trip, so I would say we were pretty professional campers by the end. The rest of our time in Connecticut was filled with more lazy beach days, lots of Hannah Montana, and way too much food! It was an amazing week!

From there, I took a train and made my way to visit my roommate Tara!! We have been waiting to be reunited for WAY too long, so it was extremely exciting that the day had finally arrived! Our first stop: Dunkin! The lack of Dunkins in California is frankly, just sad. And seeing as Dunkin was such a huge part of Tara and I's lives freshman year, with our weekly "Dunkin Dates" turning into daily meetings by the end of second semester, it was only fitting that would be our first outing together. My medium iced coffee with milk and caramel swirl tasted just as good as I remember :). And then, after I got settled at her house, we made our way to my third mall of the trip. I didn't show as much restraint at this mall, but we convinced ourselves that everything purchased was an "emergency" and we felt pretty okay with it. Our most exciting purchase was Build-a-Bears we both made for our room! We were the only people in there over the age of 5, but we still loved it. We are planning on looking extremely cool and bringing our bears to the book store at school when we get back and getting our bears some infant skyhawk apparel! We are pretty excited, so if you see us in there, don't judge! Another great thing I got to experience my first day in Pennsylvania was the amazingness that is Wawa. I have been hearing all about these "convenience stores on steroids" from Tara all year, so it was great to actually go to one! I completely fell in love when I saw all the different kinds of coffee and the touch screens where you could order food. Keep me well caffeinated and give me a nice touch screen to play with, and I am a happy camper! We made at least 4 more stops to Wawa during the rest of my time there.

The next day, we went to a little shopping area called Peddler's Village. That was very cute! We walked around, did some window shopping, and ate some good fudge! Then, that night, Tara had a staff dinner for all the lifeguards who work at her pool. It was at this really nice hibachi restaurant where they cook up the food right in front of you! I haven't been to one of those places since like junior high, so it was really fun! The food was great too! It was really nice meeting all of the people Tara spends her summers with. They were all so nice and welcoming!

Another fun thing on the trip was when we went to the Delaware River with her family! Some of Tara's aunts and uncles met up with us, along with her parents, and we went tubing down the river. That was so much fun! We went on a 3 hour course that takes you down the river. Most of the time it was very relaxing, which was much needed. There were the occasional rapids that made it exciting, but it was really great to just have a nice lazy day on the river to relax. I loved meeting Tara's family too! I had met a couple of her aunts at Stonehill before, but it was really nice to spend time with them. I have always loved meeting friend's families because it shows so much about them. And though our day was pretty relaxing, we were still pretty tired out from spending the day in the sun, so we came home and took naps. I took so many naps when I was at school, but I haven't really been taking them since I've been home. I forgot how great naps were. We were supposed to sleep for about an hour. I ended up sleeping for 2 and a half. It was wonderful. Then, that night, after we were well rested, we went to her friend's house and I met a few more of her friends. They were all great, but we didn't stay long because we had a big day in the city ahead of us the next day!

Tara's aunt took us into Philadelphia! I have only been once on a trip with my 8th grade class, so it was so nice of her aunt to drive us around and give me the full tour of the city! We went to the famous steps at the museum where Rocky ran. We, of course, were too lazy to actually run up them, but we pretended to for a picture just to say we've done it. Her aunt also took us through downtown and then the whole section where the universities are. I really liked seeing it, but I have never been a big city person, so I don't know how those kids live and go to school there all year! That day, I also had my first Philly Cheese Steak, and got to see all the historic places like Independence and the Liberty Bell. After our day in the city, we came home and decided to give cooking a try! Well, our very simple version of cooking. We made puppy chow, which is Crispix covered in melted chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar. If you have never had it, you are really missing out! It was delicious! We ate puppy chow, watched the Disney classic My Date with the President's Daughter, and spent the night on the internet ordering stuff for our dorm room next year! We are way too excited to decorate!

My last day, I finally met Tara's best friend Nicole when we went out for bagels and ice cream. It was very nutritious meal! That day, I also got in my last Pennsylvania necessity and had some water ice, which was delicious! It was such a great visit! We probably had the most fun at night just talking and laughing on her bed, watching stupid YouTube videos and ordering our Fruit of the Month Club for the school year. It was a very good preview of what is to come when we will be sharing a room in just a few short weeks! And I literally cannot wait! We are going to have so much fun!

Family Fun :)

2010-07-23T15:27:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was my cousin Rachel's bridal shower. She is the first of my cousins to get married on my dad side, so it was pretty exciting. The shower was at my aunt's house and most of my girl cousins and aunts all came, along with some of Rachel's friends. It was really great seeing everyone because I haven't seen much of my extended family all summer. My grandma was there as well, who I hadn't seen in awhile, so it was just really great catching up with everyone and celebrating Rachel's marriage.

Then, on Monday, I went to Balboa Island in Newport Beach to go see my cousin's sail for their yacht club. It was extremely windy that day, so there was a lot of capsizing. Everyone survived though, and all of my cousins sailed really well. After the sailing, we all went down to my cousins' house that they are renting on the island for the summer to have pizza and hang out. I always loves spending time with my cousins, especially since I missed seeing them a lot during the year at school.

This coming week I am finally flying to Massachusetts to visits friends from Stonehill. I have been looking forward to this for so long and I couldn't be more excited! I am going there, Connecticut and even Pennsylvania too!! I can't wait!

Oh, what a knight!

2010-07-22T09:37:00.000-07:00

Wow! Last night was amazing! One of my dad's best friends, Brian, got inducted into a group called "The Knights of St. Gregory." People who are inducted into this group are honored for their service and their dedication to the Catholic community. It was a really big deal for Brian, so he threw a pretty extravagant party at his house in celebration. My sister Christine and I went to the party with my dad because my mom was out of town. We were so lucky to get to go. It was absolutely amazing! The party was at Brian's house in Beverly Hills. I have been there before, and it is a very impressive house, but what we saw when we arrived was more than impressive. Brian had themed the whole party around the knights. Servers were dressed as knights, flags waved from the house, and there were trumpet players to announce dinner. The whole dinner was set up beautifully! There were suits of armor at the end of the table, and the decor on the table was all gold. There were royal flags waving everywhere, and a live band played behind us while we ate our 6 course meal. It was amazing! The people there were really great too. A lot of priests from Brian's childhood came out to support him.

Probably the funniest part of the party was the end. My sister and I wanted to take pictures with the suits of armor. When we walked over there, everyone thought it was so cute that we were so excited by the decor, and we kind of became like entertainment for the party. We were having a blast. Then we were talking about how great all the decorations were, and the party planner heard us and immediately told us we could take it all home. We took home roses that were brought in from Ecuador. They were absolutely beautiful. We also really wanted the flags. They were on these really long posts, so my sister and I were barely able to balance as we walked down the street to our car with huge vases of roses and 10 foot flag poles. They just barely fit in the car, but it was definitely worth it! That was definitely a (k)night to remember!

The Getty!

2010-07-22T09:23:00.000-07:00

The last couple weeks, I have still been working a lot. It pretty much takes over my life, so its a good thing I like it! Though, it doesn't make for anything too exciting or blog worthy. However, this week, I did get a chance to go to my favorite museum in Los Angeles, The Getty Center. I went with my friend Caitlyn. I haven't seen her at all yet this summer, so it was a really great thing to do together! The Getty is beautiful museum. It has lots of great artwork. They have a few Monet paintings there which are definitely my favorite to look at. But, the best part about the Getty, I think, is the outdoors. Outside, the Getty has beautiful gardens and spectacular views of Los Angeles. It is up in the hills, so the views are breathtaking. The building itself is also very interesting looking. The Getty is definitely my favorite place to go in LA. I hadn't been in so long, I almost forgot how much I loved it. It was so great to get back there!

For the next few weeks, I will be continue to be working a lot, but I do have something really great to look forward to! I just booked tickets to go back and visit some friends on the east coast at the end of July! I cannot wait for the trip! It will be really nice just to have a break from work, but of course, it will be most exciting to see my friends! I will be back east for 2 weeks! I am going to Connecticut and Massachusetts to see some people. And then, I am also going to Pennsylvania to stay with my future roommate, Tara. I am so excited for the trip! We are all counting down the days!

Summertime!

2010-07-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

Summer back in California has been crazy busy! I am working A LOT! My family owns a golf course, and I have been working there since I was 13. For the last few summers, I have been on the maintenance crew. I mow the fairways every day. My work day starts at 5:30 in the morning and finishes at 3 in the afternoon. It is extremely exhausting working those hours 5 days a week, but I really like it too! I have known all the people at the course for so long, it is kind of like my second home. But that rigorous work schedule doesn't leave much time for other fun. A lot of days, all I want to do is come home and sleep. But, I have still been able to enjoy myself some too! It has been really nice getting back to seeing all of my old friends again! Reuniting and catching up is so much fun! It is great to hear how well everyone has been doing.

This past week was my 19th birthday. I had to work, so I didn't do anything big. I went to the beach for a little bit after work, and then went out to dinner with my family. Then we came home, opened gifts, and ate my favorite mint chocolate chip ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins and watched the Lakers win. It was very simple, but I liked it! I also got a couple packages from friends from back at school, so that was really exciting! I never get anything in the mail, so it was pretty exciting!

Back to California

2010-07-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

Freshman year is finally coming to an end. The past couple weeks have been full of studying, packing, and taking finals. It is crazy to think that almost a whole year has passed since I first arrived on campus back in August. My finals went pretty well for me. I had a pretty big paper for my Mediated Communications class that took a lot of time, but once it was finished, I was pretty happy with it. Other than that, I had finals in German, Philosophy, Religion, and Psychology. German was definitely the hardest, but I still think I did okay (at least, I hope I did!). Studying obviously takes up A LOT of time. My friend Tara and I pretty much lived in the atrium in the science center the last couple weeks. We love studying in there because we can talk to each other, unlike the library, and the Dunkin Donuts is right there. Caffeine is a must for finals week! But, if finals aren't stressful enough, we also had to pack up our entire lives and ship them back home! Packing was definitely an experience. I had to pack up some clothes and stuff early and send it home in a package back to California so that I wouldn't have as much to take with me on the plane. However, I am not the best at parting with my things. I wanted to keep everything with me. But, my roommate Lauren helped me out a lot, convincing me I didn't need to keep every single cardigan I own with me for the last week of school. Because we did it together, packing actually ended up being fun and somewhat of a stress reliever from finals.

My flight back home is tomorrow. I seriously cannot believe this day is here. Going home is very bittersweet. I, of course, want to see all my friends and family back at home. And I've got to admit, I am happy to be escaping this humidity. However, I am going to miss Stonehill so much. Freshman year here was definitely the best year of my life! My friends here are not just friends, they are my family. Living 3000 miles away from them for the next 4 months is going to be really hard. But, I have my great memories that I can look back on all summer. Freshman year will definitely be one to remember, but I also cannot wait to start off Sophomore year and make many, new and wonderful memories!

My Brother visits Stonehill :)

2010-04-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

This past week was really great, but also really stressful! Tuesday night we picked our housing for next year, and Thursday we had to register for our classes for next year. Its so weird thinking this year is already almost over and we're preparing for our sophomore year. Picking housing was pretty stressful, but I was really happy with the result. My roommate for next year is my friend Tara. We knew we wanted to live in Pilgrim Heights, which is suite style living for sophomores. We wanted to get a suite where some of our friends could get in too, and it all worked out! We got a room in Sheehan. And 4 of our friends also got into our suite, so we were pretty excited. After housing picks were all done, the 6 of us went over to Sheehan to check out our future home. There were some girls in there who currently live there, and they were really nice and let us look around. Everything looks pretty great. We love the location and the suite is very spacious and should be an awesome place to live next year! Once the stress of picking housing was over, there was a viewing of Avatar on the quad. That was a really nice way to end the night. We had no classes on Wednesday for Academic Development Day, so we were able to stay up late without having to worry about waking up for classes in the morning.

Then, on Thursday, freshmen had their turn to register for classes. I had spent a lot of my day Wednesday figuring out what classes I was going to be taking for the next three years, so I was really worried I wasn't going to get the classes I wanted and screw up my 4 year plan. But, it all ended up working out and I got all of my classes. That was a major relief!

After my stresses of the week were over, I was so excited for the weekend and for my brother Michael to visit. He's graduating from Michigan State this year, so this was his last chance to visit for a weekend before he goes off to work in New York in a couple weeks. He has never been to Stonehill, so him visiting was really exciting. He got here on Friday night. We spent the night introducing him to all of my friends and walking around showing him the campus.

Then on Saturday, we went into Boston with some of my friends. My brother wanted to see the Boston College campus, so we drove in there and walked around campus. There was a spring football game going on when we got there, so we watched some of that and then just looked around. When we got to the city, we wandered around the Boston Commons and the Public Garden. Then we met up with more of my friends for the Red Sox game. It was pretty cold, but the game was still really fun.

I was really glad my brother came to visit and got to see what my life is like here. He really loved it and hopefully will get the chance to come back. Finals are coming up in only two weeks, so its going to be continuing to get really busy from now on!!

Spring Week!

2010-04-25T18:18:00.000-07:00

This past week was Spring Week at Stonehill. Spring is a week full of activities around campus, with a concert and a mixer being the main events on the weekends. We have been looking forward to this week for a very long time, so I couldn't believe when it finally arrived. The first big thing of the week was a comedy show in the gymnasium on Tuesday night. Loni Love came. She's been on VH1 and Chelsea Lately on E!, so it was pretty exciting. Personally, I have seen her on Chelsea Lately so I was really happy when I found out she was our Spring Week comedian. I was definitely not disappointed. I think that was the hardest I have laughed in a really long time. She has a really great show prepared. She also put in effort to involve all of the students in her show which was really cool. A few students got a chance to go up on stage with her. She gave them a pretty hard time, but it was all in good fun and I think everyone enjoyed it. She even stayed for awhile after and took pictures with students, so that was really great.

The highlight of the week was definitely the weekend. On Friday, there was a concert in the Sports Complex. The band State Radio came to play. We also had the DJ, Girl Talk. I'd never heard of State Radio before, but I had a few friends that really liked them and they ended up doing a great job and put on a really good show. I was personally really excited for Girl Talk. A couple of my friends from home are huge fans and I've always liked his stuff. His performance was crazy. A lot of students had previously won the chance to go on stage with him, so that was obviously really exciting for him. Everyone watching was dancing and having a good time. It was really great! Then on Saturday during the day there was a carnival. That was really fun. There were a lot of really fun things to do. Some of my friends and I got Henna tattoos. My friends Morgan and Justin did this boxing thing that was there. That was pretty hilarious watching them try and beat each other up (of course, all in good fun, no one gets hurt!). Then at night, there was a mixer in the Sports Complex. That was really fun! We haven't had a dance in there since the first weekend of the semester, so it was really great to have another.
Spring Week was really great, but I am also extremely excited for this weekend to come because my brother Michael is visiting! He's never been to Stonehill, so I can't wait for him to come and to show him around.

Spring in Easton :)

2010-04-25T17:56:00.000-07:00

Winter is finally over, and spring has definitely arrive at Stonehill! Of course, there is still the occasional rainy day, but it is definitely a lot warmer here on campus. Campus is covered in tulips and looks beautiful with the sun shining every day. The past couple weeks have been really fun! Last week was my friend Kelly's birthday! Her actual birthday was during the week when we were all pretty busy with work, so we waited until the weekend to celebrate. On Thursday, we went to a Stonehill lacrosse game. Lacrosse isn't really big on the west coast so I've never been to a game before. It was really fun, though, and the Skyhawks won!

Then on Friday, a bunch of our friends all went out to dinner at Bertucci's for Kel's birthday. Bertucci's is a great place to go because it is walking distance from campus and they take our HillCard, so we don't have to pay with cash. Kelly's best friend from home, Lindsay, came for the weekend to celebrate. She's really great, and Kelly definitely loves having her around, so it was really good of her to visit. She goes to BU, so it isn't too hard for her to get here. The next day, a few of us decided to go into Boston for the day. Lindsay came with us too, and then went back to school from there, so that really worked out. It is pretty easy to get into the city. We just take the Stonehill shuttle to the Quincy Adams T station
and ride the T into the city. We spent the day walking down Newbury Street and Quincy Market. It was a really fun day! The weather was really nice, so I loved just walking around outside. We went into a lot of fun random stores and just had a really great time.

Spring Break!

2010-04-25T17:52:00.001-07:00

For spring break, Stonehill had a little over a week off. That was great because that meant I got to go home to California! Though it is always a little sad to leave the Hill, coming home is always great. Being so far away from home makes me really miss my family, so I loved getting to go home to see them. First semester I didn't go home at all, so it was nice to be able to go back home so soon. I had a really great break. I spent most of my time with my family. All of siblings in college had the same spring breaks, so we were all home at the same time. That was really lucky! It seems as we all get older, the time we have all together as a family gets rarer, so I really value when we are all home at the same time.

Besides spending time with my family, I went to visit my best friend Jenn at her college. She goes to University of California at Santa Barbara. Her school is right on the beach, so that was really nice. Her classes were still in session, so she was obviously a little busy, but I still really loved visiting her there. I spent 3 days there. We pretty much just spent the whole time chatting and catching up and hanging out on the beach. There are also some really good shopping outlets right by her school, so we definitely took advantage of those and got a lot of shopping done. It was a really great trip!

Before I knew it though, spring break was over and I'm back at the Hill. This week should be fun! It is my friend Kelly's birthday this week, so the festivities for that should be really fun! I cannot believe its almost April! Spring semester is flying by!!

End of Winter :)

2010-04-25T17:09:00.000-07:00

One big thing I had to get used to when moving to Massachusetts was obviously the weather. It has definitely been a big change, but it hasn't been as bad as I expected. I don't love all the rain, though. Everyone warned me about the snow, but no one told me about all of this rain. It seems to rain all the time. Walking to class takes a lot of motivation when the weather is like that, but I just put on my rain boots and North Face and make the walk to Duffy. I have definitely gotten used to it as the year has gone by. We have had a couple more snow storms this semester too. I actually really enjoy those. Our last big storm was really fun. The first night it started to snow, I went out with a couple of friends and played around in it. We had a snow ball fight, made snow angels, and failed miserably at making a snowman. Earlier in the semester I made one, but the snow was pretty hard. This time it was soft and powdery so we thought it would go better, but it was somewhat of a fail. It was still really fun trying though! It was a really fun night. Then a couple nights later, we took advantage of the snow sticking to the ground and went sledding down Donahue hill. That was extremely fun. I haven't gone sledding since I was really little, so I really enjoyed that. Though I wiped out a few times and had a few bruises the next day, it was definitely worth it!

Now that spring is coming, it will be about time to start putting away the North Face jackets and whipping out shorts and flip flops. I am definitely excited about that. We have had a few random really nice days, and the mood is always really great around campus on those days. Everyone sits out on the grass to do homework and plays football or frisbee on the quad. I have some busy weeks ahead with all my classes. This semester is going by so fast!

Second Semester Courses

2010-02-17T10:35:00.000-08:00

A really good thing about coming back for a new semester is getting all new classes. So far, I really like my classes this semester. I am taking philosophy and religion as my core classes this semester. I like my philosophy class a lot. I have never taken a course in philosophy before, so it is really interesting. And my professor has some pretty funny ways of explaining things, which makes the class go by pretty fast. I also have my first class in the new science building this semester. I am still an undecided major, so I am taking general psychology course this semester just to test out some different stuff. So far, it is pretty interesting. Also, after being in Austria, I have found my second semester of German even more interesting. Actually hearing people speak the language has given me more motivation to learn it. I am pretty sure that I want to continue taking German past the regular two-semester requirement. It would be awesome to study abroad in Germany or Austria and be able to become fluent. Another course I am taking this semester is Mediated Communications. It is only once a week for 2 and a half hours. It is pretty long to sit through, but I really like the professor, so that makes the time go by quicker.

I am really excited for this weekend. Both of my roommates are going out of town, so one of my good friends, Kelly, is going to spend the weekend in my dorm with me. We did that a couple times last semester too, and it is always so much fun! We are also going to take the shuttle to the movies and see Dear John. Hopefully it’s a good movie and a great weekend!!

Back at the Hill

2010-02-17T10:34:00.000-08:00

The first couple of weeks back at school have been great! It was so awesome getting to see all of my friends and get back into the swing of things. Being back in my dorm is great. I actually missed my bed here. And even though it was nice being back in the warm weather in California, I realized I actually missed the snow. New England of course welcomed me back with some snow in the first couple days back, and I actually really liked. I’m sure if it keeps coming down I won’t be saying the same thing, but right now I am enjoying. Some of my friends and I took advantage of the first snowfall back and made a snowman. By the time we made it, the snow had become pretty icy, so it’s not the best snowman ever, but it was really fun making it. Stonehill also welcomed us back with the Whiteout Ball last weekend. It was a semi-formal dance in the Sports Complex. Everyone got all dressed up and danced the night away. I had a really good time.

Also, last weekend, my friend Joey and I went into Boston for the day for the Harry Potter Exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science. We have been planning on going to that since the beginning of the year, so we were really excited. We took the shuttle and then the T into Boston. Neither of us have had much experience on the T, so we were a little worried, but we made it there safely. The exhibit was amazing! There were props and costumes from all of the Harry Potter movies there. It was so cool. One of our favorite things was they actually had a place in there where you could play quidditch (not on brooms, of course, but it was still fun), and you could also sit in Hagrid’s chair. It was such a fun day!

Break in California :)

2010-02-17T10:29:00.000-08:00

Being home in California has been great. It has been over 4 months now that I have been gone, so being home was awesome. The weather was obviously a nice change. I can’t even remember the last time I wore shorts and flip flops outside. But the best part about being home was seeing all of my friends. Right when I got home from Europe, my best friend Jenn had a dinner party at her house for a bunch of our girlfriends. That was so much fun. It has been so long since I have seen all of them, so it was great to catch up. Unfortunately, Jenn’s school is on a different schedule than us, so she already had to head back to school on the January 3^rd. So, because I only got to see her at home for a couple of days, when the next weekend rolled around, I drove up to her school and spent the weekend there. That was probably the highlight of my time at home. She goes to UC Santa Barbara which is only a couple of hours away from home, right on the beach. It is gorgeous there. And even better, one of my other best friends, Juliana, is her roommate. So I got to spend the whole weekend with both of them. It was really great meeting their friends, going to Jenn’s sorority, and just actually getting to see what their lives are like. They both seem really happy, so that made me really happy.

The rest of my break at home I spent hanging out with my other friends that were home. My brother and sister had to head back to school a week earlier than me, so the house was pretty quiet my last week home. But, now it is time to head back to Stonehill. I am so excited! I cannot wait to see everyone and get to my classes. It is going to be a great semester!

Europe Trip!

2010-02-17T10:20:00.000-08:00

Wow! I can’t believe I am already back home from Europe. It was so amazing!! It was definitely the best vacation I have ever been on. The last day of school, my Dad flew into Boston to pick me up. I was so glad he came here, because doing my first international flight by myself would’ve been a little scary. The flights were long, but not really as bad as I thought they would be. But, once we got there, I was definitely glad to be on the ground. My sister Kelly and my mom flew from California, and my brother Michael and sister Christine flew from Chicago because they were at school too. We all met in Austria, and our trip began!

We spent the first six days of our trip in Salzburg, Austria. That was definitely my favorite place. Our hotel was right by the center of town that had a big Advent Mart for the holidays. That was a really cool place to walk around at night. Our time in Austria was very laid back, since we had so much time there. My sister Christine and I found it hard to adjust to the time zone, so we took what became known as our “post-lunch laps” every day. We got into a really nice routine there that made it feel a lot like home. Every day we would find somewhere new to walk around, and just take in the sights, then we would go to the grocery store or the Advent mart for meals, and then come back to our hotel and just spend time together. One of my favorite memories there was walking to Auniff, a small town nearby where my dad lived in college. We got to walk through parts of Austria that were in “The Sound of Music.” That was really cool. Another great memory of Austria was Christmas. We got a little tree from the Advent mart and brought it up to our hotel room. We obviously didn’t have lights or ornaments, so we improvised with ornaments made of wrapping paper. It was so much fun making the ornaments and listening to Christmas music. Even though it was a very different Christmas, it is definitely one of my favorite ones.

We then spent most of the rest of our trip in Rome. Rome was very different from what I expected. I was only picturing all the historic stuff I’ve seen in pictures or on TV. I wasn’t expected to also be such a big modern city as well. There were so many people on the streets all the time. It was crazy. I still really liked it though. One of my

favorite places was the Vatican. It was so awesome going to mass in St. Peter’s and seeing the Pope speak. I think that is something every Catholic should get to experience someday.

Overall, the trip was incredible! But, the best part about it was just getting to spend time with my family. Now that all my siblings and I are older, it is very rare when we are all together. It was really nice to be away with them, with no other distractions like work and other friends. It was just family time, and I loved it.

That will definitely be a trip that I remember for the rest of my life. And now it’s almost time to head back to the Hill. I do have a couple weeks here in California, and I plan to make the most of them, because I won't be back until March!

Off to Austria!

2009-12-19T13:16:00.000-08:00

So this was my last week at Stonehill for 2009. It was definitely an awesome semester! This week was finals week. My schedule was pretty weird. They started last Saturday, but my first exam was not until Wednesday. That was really nice though, because I had a lot of time to relax before I started studying. I think my finals went pretty well. I only had three. I had final papers for history and literature, but no exams. My German final was harder than I thought it would be, but I think I still did okay. I studied the most for my calculus exam, but I think it paid off, because the test didn't seem that bad. And my Public Speaking final was pretty easy, as well.

Now that the semester is over, I am off to Europe for Christmas with my family. We are spending 6 days in Austria and 3 in Italy. I am so excited! It will be great just to spend time with my family at all, but in Europe it will be even better. I don't get back until the 31st, so I won't be updating my blog at all until January. There will be plenty of stories and picture from Europe when I get back, though. Happy Holidays!

The Final Stretch

2009-12-08T16:06:00.000-08:00

I can't believe the semester is finally coming to an end! I have been so busy lately. I have lots of big papers, tests, and projects due for most of my classes this week. I have been spending more time in library in the past couple weeks than I have all semester. I've been managing my time pretty well though, so I haven't too extremely stressed. But this weekend, I did get a little bit of a break from doing work when we had our first big snow fall!! This past Saturday night, it finally snowed. Everyone has been telling me that its coming, and it finally did. That was really exciting. Some of my friends and I went outside and had a big snowball fight. I got so wet, but it was so much fun! A lot of it stuck on the ground, so campus looks so pretty right now! It is starting to melt a little bit though, so i hope it snows again soon!!

I have such mixed feelings about the semester being over. I don't want to leave all my friends here, but at the same time, having finals done, and getting to go home and see my family and friends there will be really nice. I am actually going to Europe for the beginning of Christmas break with my family. I am really looking forward to that! It really is crazy how fast this first semester has gone, but it has been amazing!!

New York City and Thanksgiving Break

2009-12-08T15:47:00.000-08:00

It has been so hectic these past couple weeks! The end of the semester is near, and everything is being crammed in before Christmas break. The weekend before Thanksgiving, I ended up going into New York again. But this time, it was for a Stonehill sponsored trip to New York City. A bus took us into the city for the day. I went with my friends Carolyn, Kelly, Justin, Morgan, and Joey. We had a really good time. I have only been into the city a couple of times, and Morgan had never been there at all, so we walked around and took in all the sights. My favorite part was Central Park. I love walking around in there. It was so pretty. There was an ice skating rink in there already, which looked like a lot of fun. For dinner, we ended up going to Jackal and Hyde's. It was a really interesting restaurant, to say the least. It was a big show, not just eating. The food wasn't really the best, but the entertainment was good, really creepy, but good. We had a really fun time!

Then for Thanksgiving break, I went to my roommate Cait's house in Connecticut. It was too far for me to fly home, so I was really appreciative that her family took me in for the holiday weekend. We had such a great time! I got to meet all of her friends, see her town, and spend time with her family. It was definitely weird not being home with my family during the holidays, but her family was extremely welcoming. We did dinner at one house and dessert at another, which was different that I'm used to, but I really liked it. We had a lot of food that way :). Though I think we may have ate more in leftovers and late night runs to Taco Bell during that break that we even did at actual Thanksgiving dinner. Overall, it was a very different Thanksgiving break that I am used to, but it was definitely one to remember!

Cait and I :)

Weekend in New York

2009-11-17T12:02:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I traveled up to New York with my friend Carolyn. She lives in Ballston Spa near Saratoga. We had a really good, but quick trip back in her hometown. We left on the Stonehill shuttle on Friday at 130. That day was full of travel. We had to take the T to South Station and then catch a Greyhound. There was a lot of sitting around waiting for our bus to come, and a lot of traffic once we got on the bus, so we didn't end up getting to her house until around 10 that night. So that night we just took it easy, watched some TV with her sister Christine, and then went to rest up.

On Saturday, we picked up her friend Margaret and went into Saratoga. Our plan was to get some lunch and then walk around the city, shopping and taking in the sights. Unfortunately, it ended up raining all day. But, we still were able to make it a good time. We had lunch, shopped some antique stores, and then we took Carolyn to get her nose pierced. She has been wanting to do it, and this ended up being the perfect opportunity. It looked really painful, but I think she would say the pain was worth it, because it looks so cute on her. After that, we went to Target and got some stuff we needed for school. Then we visited the garden store where her dad works, Hewitt's, and got some Christmas decorations for our dorm room doors. After all our errands were done, we went home, had dinner with Carolyn's family and then headed over to her old high school. Carolyn did theatre when she went there, and this past weekend they were putting on their fall production, so we went to support her friends that are still in high school doing the show. The play was so much fun. I got to meet a lot more of her friends from high school which was really cool. And play was really good too!

Overall, we had a really good weekend. Our traveling back to Stonehill on Sunday was pretty long, but it was worth it. It was really cool to see her hometown and what her life was like before Stonehill. Her family was so nice and welcoming. I can't wait for the day when I get to bring Carolyn home with me and she can see where I'm from. This coming week is pretty busy for me. Professors are squeezing in a lot of tests and papers before Thanksgiving break, so I can't wait until this week is over and we can be on break. I am going home with one of my roommates, Caitlin, for Thanksgiving break. She lives in Connecticut, so I am really excited to visit her house and meet all of her friends and family. It should be a really good week!

Family Weekend

2009-11-12T12:07:00.000-08:00

This past weekend was Family Weekend at Stonehill. I was expecting to have a pretty boring weekend because my parents couldn't make the trip out from California, but I actually ended up having a really good time. Saturday was the last home football game for the Skyhawks. It was a really exciting game. The Skyhawks scored 14 points in the first minute! They ended up winning the game, so it was a really good way for them to end the season. After the game, my friend Kelly's family, the Middletons, adopted me for the night. It was so great hanging out with them. The Middletons reminded me a lot of my own parents, so even though my parents were back home, it still felt like I was with family.

We went out to dinner at Ken's Steakhouse. It was delicious. Even though the dining hall at Stonehill has really good food, it is still really nice to eat out sometimes. After dinner we drove to the Natick Mall to do some shopping. I had never been there before, so I was just expecting a regular mall. But that mall was the biggest, nicest mall I have ever been too. We only spent a couple of hours there, but we could probably spend the whole day there. Kelly and I definitely want to go back when we have more time, and, of course, more money to spend. To end our wonderful day, we went to Cold Stone and got some ice cream. I haven't been there in months, so it tasted really good.

Family weekend ended up being a major success. I had so much fun spending time with the Middletons. That was definitely one of my favorite weekends of the year. Kelly and I are already planning for me to fly out and visit them in the summer. Though that is really far away, I am already excited! I am also really excited for this coming weekend. I am going with my friend Carolyn back to her hometown in New York. I know we are going to have a great weekend, so I can't wait!

Freak Week!

2009-11-03T07:29:00.000-08:00

This past week at Stonehill was "Freak Week" in honor of Halloween. There are different events going on around on campus each night to get the students in the Halloween mood. On Wednesday night, the Movie/Comedy Committee showed the movie, The Orphan, in The Hill. My friends and I went to watch. It was a really creepy movie, more weird and twisted than scary. We had a good time. Then on Thursday, there was "The Haunted Sem," which is like a haunted house in the Holy Cross Center. I didn't get a chance to go, but I heard good things about it. I will definitely check it out next year. I couldn't go because my friends and I took the shuttle to the mall, because of course, 2 days before Halloween, some of my friends still didn't have costumes. After we got back, we all got decked out in purple and headed to Midnight Madness in the gym. Midnight Madness is like a rally for the basketball teams because that night is when they can officially start practicing. It was so much fun! When we got there, there was free popcorn and Monster energy drinks. Once we got into the gym, all the craziness started. There were free-throw competitions, sumo-wrestling matches, dunk contests, dance performances, and lots of free stuff being thrown at you. It was a really fun night.

The week went by so fast. I was so shocked when Halloween weekend was already there! Friday night, my girl friends and I stayed in and did trial runs with our costumes. We were Greek goddesses so we had to make togas. We figured we should try them

out before Saturday night, just in case it didn't work out. It turns out that was a very good idea. Apparently none of us have any toga making skills whatsoever. We worked on them for a couple hours and then just decided to give up and hope all worked out on Saturday. After that, we met up with some of our friends and went to The Hill, played pool and fooseball, and then headed back to Villa and watched a movie. It was a pretty low-key night. We had to rest up for Saturday! Saturday ended up being a great Halloween. All my girl friends and I got ready together in O'Hara. We recruited our friend Justin's girlfriend, Stephanie, who was visiting, to come help us with togas. She helped a lot, and our costumes ended up looking really good. We had some extra fabric, so Stephanie ended up dressing up with us too! After we got all ready, we took a bunch of pictures, headed over to Villa to get the guys, and then headed to the dance. Stonehill put on a dance in the Sports Complex. That was really fun! It was really cool that the college had the dance so we would have somewhere to go. All of my friends had a really good time there. Overall, Halloween was a success!

This weekend is Parents Weekend. My parents can't make the flight out to come, so I will be having a pretty low-key weekend. Most of my friends' parents are coming out for all the activities Stonehill has planned for them, so they should all have really good weekends. I will probably just be catching up on homework, sleep, and definitely laundry this weekend. But, it will actually be nice to have a weekend just to chill. And then in two weekends, I am going home with my friend Carolyn, which I am so excited for, so I have that to look forward to!

Fall Continues..

2009-10-25T18:40:00.000-07:00

These past few weeks have been so busy! I've had mid-terms, speeches, papers, and family visits filling up all of my time. So far fall has been pretty stressful, but also extremely fun. It is crazy to think that we have been here long enough at this point to already be taking midterms. My mid-terms stressed me out with all the studying I had to do for them, but none of them ended up being that bad. I think I did pretty well, so hopefully my grades reflect that. But in the midst of all the tests and studying, I had some exciting visits. For Columbus Day weekend, my dad came to visit. We had such a good time. He came up on Friday and we went out to dinner and got all caught up. Then on Saturday, we went to the Stonehill football game. We only caught the first half, but the Skyhawks were looking pretty good. In the afternoon we did a lot of errands. I needed stuff for the winter, since I have never experienced a New England winter before. We got a Northface jacket, boots, gloves, jeans, and lots of scarves. I'm definitely going to be well bundled up when it starts getting cold. After buying all the stuff I needed, my dad and I drove into Boston for dinner. We walked around the city for awhile, just taking in the sights before we settled down for a nice dinner in the North End. It's always so much fun walking around Boston. I haven't spent a whole lot of time there, but every time I'm there, I love it more and more. On Sunday, we got to go to the Red Sox game against the Angels. Even though the Angels are from right near my hometown, I whipped out my Red Sox gear and supported my new home. Though the outcome was disappointing, it was still a really fun game.

The week after that, I had a few more big tests and papers. But, I am actually really glad that it was all crammed into those couple of weeks, because it left this past week pretty open. That was great because my sister came to visit this week. Notre Dame had the week off of school, so she came here instead of flying home. It was such a great visit. I always have so much fun with my sister. We spent her
first night walking around campus, showing her where I spend my time and introducing her to all of my friends. Tuesday we had a flag football gam
e. She came and acted like a proud mom, taking pictures of everything. Then on Wednesday night, we went out to eat at Bertucci's with some of my friends. It was a really great visit. It went by really quickly, but it was still so good to see her. She left Thursday morning so she would be back to get ready for the big Notre Dame vs Boston College football game (Notre Dame won, go Irish!).

So overall, it has been pretty busy here at The Hill. Time is going by so quickly. Part of me feels like I just got here. But at the same time, I am so comfortable here already that another part of me feels like I have been here forever. This coming weekend is Halloween. My friends and I are dressing up as Grecian goddesses. It should be a really fun weekend!!

Flag football

Me and Justin at football :)

Beginning of Fall :)

2009-10-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

These past couple weekends have been pretty fun. Last weekend, there was a carnival on campus. It was supposed to be a few weeks ago as part of Welcome Week, but because of rain, it was postponed. I had a good time there. There was free fried dough, which was delicious, and a few fun rides. My friends and I went on one ride three times. The first couple times were fun; however, the third was maybe not the best idea, especially after the fried dough. But overall, it was a fun night. Then, the next night there was a dance in the Commons. It was the Graffiti dance, which meant that there were black lights and everyone wore white t-shirts and wrote on each other in highlighter. A bunch of my friends and I all went together. We had a pretty good time.

This past Friday night, there was a movie showing in Commons. They showed The Hangover. There has been a few movie showings in the Commons before, but this is the first one I have been to. It is pretty nice that Stonehill offers stuff like that. It seems

like there is always some fun activity that some club or committee is putting on, which is really nice. We always have something to do. Saturday, my friends and I all took the Stonehill shuttle to the mall. That was really fun. I love being on campus, but it is always nice to have the option to go off campus for a little bit. I went off campus again on Sunday morning to walk in the "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer" walk in Boston. Stonehill provided buses for us to go. A lot of students went. We had to wake up pretty early which is always hard, but it was definitely worth it. Then later on Sunday, my friends and I walked across the street and had dinner at 99. Saturday was my friend Carolyn's birthday, but she went to Connecticut with our other friend Jamie for a concert that night, so we all celebrated on Sunday. It was a really easy walk, and it is always nice to eat out. We came home and had cake that we had made earlier in the day. That was extremely tasty!

This coming weekend is a three-day weekend because of Columbus Day. A lot of Stonehill students are going home for the weekend. Since I live so far away, I was not planning on going home, but now my Dad is coming to visit. I am really excited to see him! We don't have huge plans for the weekend, but just spending time together will be fun.

Family Fun :)

2009-09-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

My weekend with my family in Notre Dame was amazing! Though I did miss life back at the Hill, I was so happy to spend time with my family. On Friday night, my friend Kelly and her mom dropped me off at the airport. I flew into Chicago to meet my parents. I got in 4 hours before them, so I took a shuttle to our hotel and checked in. I have never traveled totally alone, so I was a little nervous that something would go wrong, but the trip there went smoothly. Saturday morning, my parents and I made the two hour drive up to Notre Dame to meet my siblings and get ready for the game. Because none of us live at home anymore, it is pretty rare when my whole family is together. But every time we do get to be together, it seems like we were never apart. I love my family so much! We are all really close and always have such a good time together. Hanging out with my family is just like being with my best friends.

The football game was a lot of fun. Because my sister goes to Notre Dame and my brother goes to Michigan State, I usually have to switch off what team I root for. This year was my year to root for Notre Dame since it was their home game. But, I was sitting next to my brother, and the State band was right in front of us, so I did some cheering for the Spartans as well. I probably looked really confused with my Notre Dame t-shirt and ND face tattoo while singing along to the Spartan fight song, but all that matters is that we were having fun. My sister Christine is a student athletic manager at Notre Dame, so she got to be on the field for the game. It was a bummer that we couldn't spend time together at the game, but it was really cool to see her down on the field looking all official. Notre Dame ended the game with an interception and beat the Spartans 33 to 30.

After the game, we went to mass at one of the dorms on campus that has its own chapel. We sang some of the same songs that the choir at our masses sing, so I got a little reminder of Stonehill while I was away. After that, we went out to dinner to celebrate my sisters' September birthdays. We opened gifts and had some tasty celebratory milkshakes. Once we got back to campus, I met up with my friend Joe. He's a freshman at Notre Dame. We've known each other since kindergarten, so it was really great to see him. He was the first of my friends that I have been able to visit at college. It was really cool to get a glimpse at what his new life is like. We just wandered around campus talking. It is always so great to catch up with old friends.

Overall, my weekend away was so much fun. It was also sad though, because it was so short. Getting to spend such a little amount of time with my family makes me miss them even more. But, my friends at Stonehill make it so much easier to be away from

home. I know that the rest of this semester with my friends will be really great, and Christmas break with my family will be here before we know it!

Raindrops keep falling on my head...

2009-09-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

I had such a good time this past week at Stonehill. It was a very fun, but very wet week. It rained a lot, which was very weird for me. I knew that coming from a very different climate meant I was going to have to get used to the bitter winter months, but I didn't know it would already be cold. Its September! But, the rain actually didn't end up being that bad. There is a lack of pictures for this post because of it (I didn't want to ruin my new camera in the rain!), but it actually made some stuff more fun. Friday night was our first home football game. It wasn't raining when we got there, but once the game got going, it proceeded to pour down on us. My friends and I were all completely drenched, but we stuck it out for the whole game and had a great time cheering, singing, and dancing in the rain. And I even won a $20 gift certificate to Dick's Sporting Goods at the game.

Then on Saturday night, we had Casino Night in the Commons. That was so much fun! My friend James and I ended up at a table playing Craps. We didn't know how to play, so we didn't think that we would stay that long. But, we caught on quickly, and ended up staying there for the rest of the night. That table was great because there were two dealers working it. They were a hilarious combo. They were joking around, giving everyone a hard time, and overall making it a really fun experience. And that weekend ended up being a really lucky weekend for me, because I won a DVD at Casino Night!

Classes have still been going pretty good. I've started to have quizzes and papers due, but so far still nothing unmanageable. I find myself overstudying a lot, always prepared for the possibility of a pop quiz. So far, none have actually happened, but I will be ready when they do.

I am really excited for this coming weekend, because I get to see my family! I have two older sisters, one a sophomore at Notre Dame, and one who graduated from Notre Dame in 2008. And I have a brother in his senior year at Michigan State. So, this weekend we are all meeting at Notre Dame in Indiana for the Notre Dame vs. Michigan State football game. My parents are flying out from California, so the whole family will be together. I am really excited to spend some time with my family. It should be a really great weekend :)

Carolyn and I in our rain boots :)

219 Love <3

2009-09-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

This past week has been so much fun! Having a three-day weekend was amazing. The Reel Big Fish concert on Friday was really great. I didn't know the band before, but two of my friends, Jamie and Carolyn, really like them. So I just followed their lead, sang along, danced, and had an overall incredible time. Then on Saturday, we had the Hillapalooza barbecue and a viewing of The Proposal on the quad. That was really fun, and there was free popcorn involved, so obviously we were there!

On Sunday, I went to the student mass at 7pm in The Chapel of Mary. I was really excited to go to mass here. I really enjoyed it. Everyone there was participating and singing, which always makes it more enjoyable for me. And I also got a chance to sign up for some things in Campus Ministry while I was there, so I can't wait for that stuff to start. After mass I hung out with some friends at The Hill. We got ice cream and played fooseball and pool. After The Hill, we went back to Jamie and
Kelly's room in O'Hara. We hung out, ate a lot of junk food, and played Bananagram. Playing Bananagram was probably the most hilarious part of the night. The teams were Kelly and I, Nick and Abby, and James and Alicia. Alicia and James were the only team really playing seriously, but Kelly and I are still convinced that we won! (even though "tawi" is not technically a word)

Overall, I am even happier than I ever thought I would be at this point, only having been here two weeks. Of course I hoped to make good friends and I knew I would have a good time, but there is still always a small doubt that things may not work out. But I was extremely lucky to find the friends that I have. Jamie and Kelly's room in O'Hara is always the center of everything. They are so great, always letting everyone hang out in there. I live in Corr, but they always let me come over and hang out (even sleep!). My dorm room is 219 in Corr, while theirs is 219 in O'Hara, so I have become the honorary O'Hara 219 member. We have a 219 love!

Jamie, Me, and Kelly

First Week

2009-09-10T06:30:00.002-07:00

I can’t believe I have already been at Stonehill for a week. It’s been a crazy week adjusting to everything. I feel a lot more comfortable here today than I did the first day, but I know that I have a lot of stuff left to figure out. Move-in was a very interesting experience. It’s so weird seeing pretty much everything you own sprawled out on the floor. It was really hard to know where to start with the unpacking because I felt like I had so much stuff. But, once it was all unpacked, it was a lot less intimidating. Thankfully, everything fit nicely in my room. It was a lot bigger than I expected. My dorm even has its own bathroom. We are the only room in our residence hall that has its own, so my roommates and I were really excited.

We also started classes this week. It took a little adjusting, but overall I really enjoy all of my classes. I don’t have too much homework yet, though I know that will change soon. Its so nice having so much time in between classes. I am so used to high school just walking from class to class. I love being able to relax between.

This weekend is a three-day weekend, so I am really excited. There is a lot of fun stuff planned on campus as part of welcome week, including a Reel Big Fish concert tonight and a barbecue tomorrow. We also had activities fair today. I signed up for some really good stuff. I can’t wait until everything really gets started! Pictures coming soon!

Here Comes Goodbye.....

2009-09-10T06:30:00.001-07:00

This last week before leaving for school was filled with more goodbyes than I can count. It was filled with laughs, hugs, tears, and many, many parties. Many of my friends took all of us leaving for school as an opportunity to throw a bash. My best friend Jenn had a big pool party for a bunch of our friends. It was really fun. We played stupid pool games all day, and then relaxed in the Jacuzzi in the evening. One of my other close friends, Anna, threw a dinner party at her Dad’s restaurant. That involved really good Asian food (and Doritos), dancing, and a hilarious slide show of our past four years together.

Another one of my good friends, Amy, had her own dinner party. We all dressed up and ate in her nicely decorated backyard. We drank “mocktails” and ate some delicious food. Later, we played charades and reminisced on the good times. I also had a bunch of friends over for one of our traditional “Dane Cook Viewing Parties.” A lot of my friends, along with myself, have an extremely unhealthy obsession with Dane Cook. We like to get together and watch our favorite skits from his “Vicious Circle” DVD. It was really fun to get everyone together to watch one last time before we all go off to school, but also somewhat sad knowing that we won’t be able to do that for a long time. Everything is really bittersweet now that I’m leaving. I already miss my home, friends, and family, but I am also so excited to get to my new home, new friends, and new Stonehill family.

Drinking our mocktails

Putting My Life Into Cardboard Boxes

2009-09-10T06:28:00.000-07:00

Today I finally started packing up my room in preparation for Stonehill. I told myself (and my mom) that I was going to do it sometime last week, but I kept procrastinating. I feel like I waited because packing up my stuff made leaving home very real. Of course I am extremely excited for school, but as my days in California grow fewer, I keep thinking about how much I am leaving behind. It is going to be extremely hard, but my experience at Stonehill will be worth it!

Figuring out what to pack was an interesting process. I am not going to be home at all first semester, so I have to pack pretty much everything I need. I don’t want to get to school and wish I‘d brought something that I didn’t. So, I went through my entire room and threw anything and everything that I thought might have some use at school into cardboard boxes. I realized that I will have loads of stuff that I really don’t need, but better safe than sorry! I brought pretty much every movie I own. You never know what kind of movie you’re going to be in the mood for watching, so of course I had to bring all of them varying from all five of my Harry Potter DVDs to my collection of Julia Roberts’ classics (My Best Friend’s Wedding, Notting Hill, Runaway Bride, Ocean’s Eleven, and Pretty Woman). I am bringing most of my clothes in a suitcase with me when I fly out, but I ended up packing some clothes that take up a lot of room in a suitcase, like sweatshirts and t-shirts. I also packed some stuff from my costume box for Halloween and other occasions that may come up where I will need to be in costume. I am fully equipped with feather boa and sombrero if something comes up!

Going through my room also meant finding some things I haven’t seen in ages and didn’t even know still existed. I came across some old letters my parents sent me while I was at summer camp, my veil from my first Holy Communion, and my diary from 3rd grade. Its extremely interesting seeing what I actually felt important enough to write in a diary as an eight year old. But finding that diary made me think that I should probably start keeping a journal at Stonehill. I know I am not going to want to forget any moments!

Corr 219 :)

2009-09-10T06:26:00.000-07:00

After much waiting and anticipation, we finally got our residence information. I got in Corr Hall, which was my first choice dorm, so I am extremely excited! I am in a triple, so I have two roommates. I never really thought I would’ve wanted a triple, but now that I got assigned it, I am actually pretty happy about it. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know both my roommates in the last week. One of my roommates is Caitlin. She is from Connecticut, so hopefully she will be able to help me out when the winter months come along. We bonded instantly over our love of Harry Potter, The Office, and Dane Cook. My other roommate, Lauren, is from Florida. I was happy to have someone else from far away. We will be able to commiserate when we get homesick, or just extremely cold. I am really excited to get to school and get to know my roommates a lot better. But from what I can tell, we are all going to get along great!!

Since I know now where I will be living, my mom took me shopping yesterday for dorm stuff. We went to Bed, Bath, & Beyond. It’s really convenient because I can look around a store here in California and pick out all I need, and then when I get to Stonehill, I can go pick it all up at a store there. It makes it a lot easier so that we don’t have to mail everything. I was really excited to go shopping because I got to use one of the wedding registry scanner guns to order my stuff. I have always thought those looked like so much fun! It was, however, somewhat of a disappointment. The gun’s battery kept dying so we kept having to start over, but I didn’t let that ruin the fun of picking out all new stuff. Even getting something as boring as a trash bin was exciting, because I knew when I used that trash bin it was going to be in my new home at Stonehill. I got most of my stuff from Bed, Bath, & Beyond, but I didn’t really find any bedding I liked, so we went to Target for that. I found a really cute blanket and lots of cute pillows that we will mail to school. I can’t wait to use it all. And it was nice to get to bring some stuff home from the shopping trip.

Move-in day is getting closer and closer. I can’t believe its only 3 weeks until I leave! It’s pretty scary, but at the same time really exciting. I am trying to squeeze in everything I can with my hometown friends before I leave. I have lots of “end-of-summer” parties coming up, and multiple trips to the beach and Disneyland in the works. These last weeks of summer are going to be really fun, but what I’m really looking forward to is moving into Stonehill!!!

Harry Potter Mania!

2009-09-10T06:21:00.001-07:00

To say that my friends and I were excited about the premiere of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince would definitely be an understatement. We have been waiting for this movie for two years ever since Order of the Pheonix came out. And, yes, we are those hardcore people that dress up and wait in line for hours. But for us, waiting in line isn’t just to get the seat we want in the theatre. We made the movie premiere an event. We brewed our own butterbeer (which is actually just crème soda and butterscotch), and made our own licorice wands and chocolate frogs. We prepared a game of “Harry Potter charades” and brought art supplies to make our own styrofoam snitches and Gryffindor headbands. The 9 hours we spent waiting in line for the midnight showing went by in no time.

But, our costume was the main event. Each of my friends was a different character from the movie. We all dressed as Hogwarts students (I was Ron!) who would take the train to school, because in addition to our characters, together we were the Hogwarts Express. That’s right, we made our very own Hogwarts Express. I realize that this may seem pathetic to some, seeing as I am 18 and still dressing up to see a movie, but I don’t have to act like an adult just yet. I haven’t even officially entered my freshman year of college yet! Our costume was so intense that we even made some fans! We had at least 20 different people come up to us and ask if they could take pictures with us. We pretty much became celebrities at our own premiere. Little girls came up to me in the bathroom and asked if I was part of the train and would proceed to get extremely excited when I said yes. It was so much fun to act like a little kid again for the night. And, of course, the movie was amazing! There will definitely be some hilarious pictures from that night that I take with me to Stonehill in less than 5 weeks!!

Ron, Ramilda, Pansy, and Luna :) :)

We met Dumbledore, Moody, and Hagrid!!

All aboard the Hogwarts Express!

First Week

2009-09-10T06:17:00.001-07:00

Orientation

2009-07-08T07:10:00.000-07:00

I don’t even know where to start with orientation. When I think about it, so many different words come to mind: amazing, exhausting, exciting, awkward, terrifying, surprising, incredible, and many more. I couldn’t think of a better way to start off my Stonehill experience. It was extremely fun, but also extremely informative. My small group was amazing. I had two wonderful leaders to my group of dreamboats, Jenna and Ashley. They made us feel really comfortable with each other, so we all got to know one another fairly quickly, both through normal conversation and various games involving hula-hoops and soccer balls.

The initial awkwardness faded away instantly. Throughout the two days we were informed on our “Community Standards,” residence life, and other information we will need to know when we start school in the fall. We also went to an information session on Campus Ministry, which was awesome because that is what I am really interested in being involved in at school. I signed up for pretty much everything there, including the choir. They told me it was not a big deal that my voice is not, well, not the best. My friends from home will definitely be shocked (and terrified) that I am joining a choir, but that just shows how Stonehill gets you to take that step out of your comfort zone. The day was also filled with various games where you got to meet people from other groups like “The Wind Blows,” “Zip, Zap, Boing,” and “Giants, Trolls, and Wizards.” But it was definitely that night where you got to meet the most people. “Playfair” was the big secret of orientation. I don’t want to give anything away to future students, but lets just say its something to look forward to. We were all terrified, but it ended up being my favorite part of orientation. You got to meet pretty much everyone in very interesting ways.

Then the night closed with a dance, which was amazing! We all danced the night away to music that varied from Lady Gaga to Billy Joel. Watching the peer mentors breakout in random choreographed dance was probably the best part. That was the perfect way to end an already amazing day. The next day we had more time to bond with our group, and chat with other kids we had met the night before. We got all signed up for classes, learned how to make the most of our college experience, and began to feel more like real college freshman. Summer orientation has made me so excited for fall orientation where I will be reunited with my fellow dreamboats, where I am sure there will be more renditions of our favorite songs (“heeeeey baby, I wanna knowwww, if you’d be my girl”) and many more laughs. After orientation, I am absolutely positive that I made the right choice coming to Stonehill and I can’t wait for the next four years!!

Group 3!

Orientation roomies!

From Fever Pitch to Fanatic

2009-07-04T06:01:00.000-07:00

I always knew that moving from California to Massachusetts was going to be a big change. I would have to purchase my first Northface. I would have to turn in my flip flops and tank tops for winter boots and thermals. And of course, I knew moving so close to Boston meant I would have to know a little bit about the Red Sox. But I had seen Fever Pitch, so I thought I was set. However, it wasn't until visiting last summer that I realized watching Drew Barrymore run across Fenway Park to kiss Jimmy Fallon over and over again was not going to be enough. I didn’t even have to get past security check at Logan Airport to realize that. Almost every passenger on that plane had a Red Sox cap on. Each store we passed on the way to baggage claim was filled with Red Sox memorabilia. Our drive from Logan to Stonehill was filled with billboards and homemade signs expressing love for the Sox. Even the CVS pharmacy down the street from Stonehill had entire magazines solely dedicated to their coveted baseball team. I had entered Red Sox Nation, and if I was planning on moving here, I was going to have to jump on the bandwagon.

Ever since that trip, I have been immersing myself into all things Red Sox. I started Tivoing random Red Sox specials on ESPN. I went to a Red Sox game at Angel Stadium. I, of course, downloaded “Sweet Caroline” on iTunes and got a couple of my own Red Sox caps. I did some research and found out that the “Curse of the Bambino” ended in 2004 and that Johnny Damon got traded to the Yankees and apparently doesn’t look anything like Jesus anymore. Though I know that learning the words to a Neil Diamond classic and wearing a Red Sox tee to the gym won’t automatically turn me into a devoted Sox fan, I know it will eventually become second nature. When I board that plane home at the end of freshman year, I will be joining the other passengers with my Sox hat on and naturally scowl at any Yankee fan who dares to wear a New York hat on our flight. And I know I will look back on my year thinking that the good times never seemed so good.