I'm titling this "Late Night Blog Session #1" to forewarn y'all, that there will be plenty more late night blogging in the future.
It is currently 1:04 A.M. as I type this. I know what most of you are thinking, Katelyn you should be asleep! And yes, you are correct. I should be asleep. But I've discovered that I am most productive late at night. Strange I know, but I think it's very true. During the day I get super distracted, mainly by my laptop. I mean it's hard to not get distracted by my MacBook. I log on to work on an essay or check Blackboard, but I wind up on Tumblr, Facebook, Netflix, Gmail, and the list goes on. I can dwindle the hours away on social media sites. It's terrible, I know. But it's quite addicting. Have you ever binge-watched a TV series on Netflix? If not, well then where are your priorities? Just kidding. But seriously, try it one Saturday afternoon. It's almost like a spiritual experience.
Well another week of college has gone by, and I shall fill you all in. Not much happened this past week. Although there was one exciting moment! I've probably mentioned it, I don't remember, but I have been attending Belmont Vision meetings. Which is Belmont's newspaper, it's all online which still amazes me. I really miss the feel of a newspaper and deadline week, but I guess I can go buy a copy of the Tennessean and I don't need that extra stress in my life. Anyways, that article on the professor who worked with Death Row inmates was published on Tuesday! Here's the article! Read it if you want or don't, whatever floats your boat. I'm still doing well in all of my classes. It was another week, where every professor decided to load on the work, so the next few weeks shall be fun. But I guess it keeps me busy and what not, so I shouldn't complain. It would just be really nice if I didn't have so many research papers to write or books to read in a short amount of time. But hey that's college, right? I also explored a bit more this past week. I guess it's not really exploring, but I walked down to 21st Avenue which is like 4-5 blocks and went to the Dunkin Donuts by Vandy (Vanderbilt). All I will say is, those students are pretentious and need to have a class in manners. But that's all I will say. After I got my coffee, I walked down 21st and went to Harris Teeter which is a grocery store. I just wanted to look around and see if they had any good sales. Sadly they didn't. But that's really about it for this past week. If I think of anything, I'll write about it in my next post.
I did watch the newest episode of Sons, and let me tell you, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I won't spoil anything, but if you haven't seen this episode, where are your priorities? Anyways, the final scene made me bawl my eyes out. Seriously, I thought I was going to die. My heart ached and I couldn't stop crying. Once I was calm, I called my mom so we could dissect the episode and she reassured me that all is good, for now at least. That's the problem with certain websites, they don't show you the preview for next week so you assume people died but in reality they're still alive. So thank god I called my mom. This upcoming episode will probably send me to therapy though. It looks intense! Darn you Kurt Sutter.
Tomorrow the Titans play the Texans. I am crying on the inside. JJ Watt will be 3.5 miles away from me. Yes only 3.5 miles, and I won't be there. Let's have a moment of silence for this tragic occurrence. But really I guess it is for the best. I don't have a problem buying a ticket, I mean JJ is worth it but risking my safety isn't. I don't want to take the bus. I don't feel super comfortable taking it into downtown and then having to switch buses and figure that whole mess out. And I refuse to pay an arm and a leg for Uber or Lyft. They can both kiss my butt. They claim to be cheaper than taxis, but I'm pretty sure a taxi would be cheaper. But anyways, I am a semi-broke college student who shouldn't be spending money on a Texans ticket. Please forgive me JJ.
Well that's about it guys. If I think of anything more exciting, I will for sure let y'all know. Oh yes I did think of something. I applied to be a Bruin Recruiter this past week and I heard back and I made it to the interview process! Basically Bruin Recruiters show prospective students around campus, answer their questions, and encourage them to attend Belmont. I really, really, really want this, so please just keep me in your prayers! Or hum for me, whatever works for you! Thanks guys!
Peace! <3
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Writing and Reading are Good for the Soul
"Love is easy, and I love writing. You can't resist love. You get an idea, someone says something, and you're in love." ~ Ray Bradbury
I love this quote. It speaks to me on a spiritual level. I'm currently a Journalism major and I plan on spending the rest of my life writing. Hopefully about sports, but it's also been a dream of mine to publish a novel someday. I love writing. I also love reading. I find them both to be therapeutic. There's just something about writing down your feelings or a scene you imagine in your head and making them come to life. I have this problem where I write random paragraphs about random things. And I have to edit and perfect them. Then I feel like they go to waste because I never add anything else to them. They're just lonesome paragraphs on random pieces of paper, strewn about my desk. But writing is extremely therapeutic. I find that I get lost while typing and realize that hours will go by and all I've done is just write.
The same goes for reading. If I find a really good book, and I mean a truly spectacular book, I can read it in two days tops. It's just a passion of mine. Throughout my time spent in public education i.e. kindergarten through high school, I always excelled in reading tests. I always had an above average score, which I do like to brag about because like I said, reading is a passion of mine. I can always find comfort in a book or relate to a certain character. I agonize and sympathize with them, even though Nabokov stated that one should never connect with book characters. But books are just amazing. There's so many out there, it actually depresses me that I will never read every published book. Yes I know that's nerdy, but I like books. They get me, and I get them. I can get lost in books.
A few posts ago, I mentioned one of my favorite books, Life's That Way, by Jim Beaver. Jim is a well known actor. You may not notice his name, but I'm sure if you saw a picture of him, you'd recognize him. He was in the TV series Deadwood and has guest starred in various shows i.e. NCIS, Major Crimes, Justified, etc. But I know him as Bobby Singer from Supernatural (one of my favorite TV shows). Anyways, Life's That Way, is a memoir on his wife Cecily Adams diagnosis with cancer and the struggles and what not. I mentioned in that post that y'all should read this book. I do highly recommend it. And I don't recommend books often. Strange I know seeing as how I love books, but this one hit home. I read it right after my grandpa passed away from cancer and I found solace in reading it. I could relate to Jim's emotions and struggles. This book truly affected me in such a profound way. It's been almost 10 months since I read it, in two days nonetheless, and I still think of it often. I don't know how to describe it, but I think it says a lot about the book and author if said book stays with you. I don't really know why I'm sharing this really. It may be due to my sleep deprivation and the urge to blog, but really if you get the chance, read Life's That Way. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll hold on to those you love a lil' more tightly.
Back to writing though. There's another quote about writing that I simply adore, mainly due to it's truthfulness. "A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people," ~ Thomas Mann. I've struggled with my writing. I always thought that I was a good writer, until I took AP Lang my junior year of high school. My teacher, Mr. Turnbaugh was a tough grader. But it pushed me to try harder and go outside of my comfort zone. I worked really hard that year, and my writing improved tremendously. Fast forward to senior year when I took AP Literature. I thought Lang was hard, it has nothing on Lit. I was pushed WAY beyond my limits in that class. At the time, I hated it. My papers were always returned with a lower than expected grade and there were times where yes, I cried. At home of course because I was so stressed. But then I began to realize that Captain Oz was helping me and pushing me to succeed. And succeed I did. My writing keeps improving and I'm really proud of that.
Currently I am in the process of writing a FanFic. For those of you who have no idea what that is, Urban Dictionary defines fan fiction as: when someone takes either the story or characters (or both) of a certain piece of work, whether it be a novel, tv show, movie, etc, and create their own story based on it. And that's a pretty accurate definition. Most people write fanfics for their own pleasure...if you catch my drift. Mine's not like that. It's based on Sons of Anarchy and inspiration I had for an actual book. I'll tell you the story of how it all came to be a fanfic. For my first year writing class, we have 10-minute free writes about random words, quotes, etc. So one day the topic was anything. So I wrote a few paragraphs and got inspired to write a novel of sorts based on them. I was actually re-watching Sons while typing away, and decided to turn it into a fanfic based on Tig. He's my favorite, even though he's messed up, those of you who watch it know what I'm talking about. But it all just came together so I've been writing it as a fanfic ever since. I'm 22 pages in, the longest of anything I have ever written, besides that 16 page paper on stem cell research junior year of high school. If I ever want to publish it, I'll have to change the names and locations, but it's always a possibility. Y'all can ask to read it, but you'll be denied. For now that is. I'll admit there are parts that are not appropriate, but you Sons fans know how inappropriate that show is.
I really don't know why I shared this knowledge with you all. Probably because I'm tired and felt the urge to write, and maybe brag a little. But I wanted to use an example of how I get lost in writing and reading. I literally go back and read it from the beginning and get lost in the imagery and raw, physical emotion. Even while writing, I'll get lost and realize that I spent hours just typing away and editing parts of it until I think it's perfect. It's a newfound love of mine.
This post has nothing really to do with college, so sorry if you were expecting a post on school or something of that nature. But I just wanted to talk to y'all about something not related to college. I want y'all to know the real me. That's another reason I started this blog. I want everyone to see the real me. The me at random hours of the day. The me who can ramble on about books and writing. The me who gets distracted and rambled throughout this post. The loud, lovable, (full-on) crazy me. I will be honest in my posts, and if you can't handle that, well then I'm sure there's other blogs out there that cater to your desires. Because this blog is all truth and crazy. Peace out y'all.
I love this quote. It speaks to me on a spiritual level. I'm currently a Journalism major and I plan on spending the rest of my life writing. Hopefully about sports, but it's also been a dream of mine to publish a novel someday. I love writing. I also love reading. I find them both to be therapeutic. There's just something about writing down your feelings or a scene you imagine in your head and making them come to life. I have this problem where I write random paragraphs about random things. And I have to edit and perfect them. Then I feel like they go to waste because I never add anything else to them. They're just lonesome paragraphs on random pieces of paper, strewn about my desk. But writing is extremely therapeutic. I find that I get lost while typing and realize that hours will go by and all I've done is just write.
The same goes for reading. If I find a really good book, and I mean a truly spectacular book, I can read it in two days tops. It's just a passion of mine. Throughout my time spent in public education i.e. kindergarten through high school, I always excelled in reading tests. I always had an above average score, which I do like to brag about because like I said, reading is a passion of mine. I can always find comfort in a book or relate to a certain character. I agonize and sympathize with them, even though Nabokov stated that one should never connect with book characters. But books are just amazing. There's so many out there, it actually depresses me that I will never read every published book. Yes I know that's nerdy, but I like books. They get me, and I get them. I can get lost in books.
A few posts ago, I mentioned one of my favorite books, Life's That Way, by Jim Beaver. Jim is a well known actor. You may not notice his name, but I'm sure if you saw a picture of him, you'd recognize him. He was in the TV series Deadwood and has guest starred in various shows i.e. NCIS, Major Crimes, Justified, etc. But I know him as Bobby Singer from Supernatural (one of my favorite TV shows). Anyways, Life's That Way, is a memoir on his wife Cecily Adams diagnosis with cancer and the struggles and what not. I mentioned in that post that y'all should read this book. I do highly recommend it. And I don't recommend books often. Strange I know seeing as how I love books, but this one hit home. I read it right after my grandpa passed away from cancer and I found solace in reading it. I could relate to Jim's emotions and struggles. This book truly affected me in such a profound way. It's been almost 10 months since I read it, in two days nonetheless, and I still think of it often. I don't know how to describe it, but I think it says a lot about the book and author if said book stays with you. I don't really know why I'm sharing this really. It may be due to my sleep deprivation and the urge to blog, but really if you get the chance, read Life's That Way. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll hold on to those you love a lil' more tightly.
Back to writing though. There's another quote about writing that I simply adore, mainly due to it's truthfulness. "A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people," ~ Thomas Mann. I've struggled with my writing. I always thought that I was a good writer, until I took AP Lang my junior year of high school. My teacher, Mr. Turnbaugh was a tough grader. But it pushed me to try harder and go outside of my comfort zone. I worked really hard that year, and my writing improved tremendously. Fast forward to senior year when I took AP Literature. I thought Lang was hard, it has nothing on Lit. I was pushed WAY beyond my limits in that class. At the time, I hated it. My papers were always returned with a lower than expected grade and there were times where yes, I cried. At home of course because I was so stressed. But then I began to realize that Captain Oz was helping me and pushing me to succeed. And succeed I did. My writing keeps improving and I'm really proud of that.
Currently I am in the process of writing a FanFic. For those of you who have no idea what that is, Urban Dictionary defines fan fiction as: when someone takes either the story or characters (or both) of a certain piece of work, whether it be a novel, tv show, movie, etc, and create their own story based on it. And that's a pretty accurate definition. Most people write fanfics for their own pleasure...if you catch my drift. Mine's not like that. It's based on Sons of Anarchy and inspiration I had for an actual book. I'll tell you the story of how it all came to be a fanfic. For my first year writing class, we have 10-minute free writes about random words, quotes, etc. So one day the topic was anything. So I wrote a few paragraphs and got inspired to write a novel of sorts based on them. I was actually re-watching Sons while typing away, and decided to turn it into a fanfic based on Tig. He's my favorite, even though he's messed up, those of you who watch it know what I'm talking about. But it all just came together so I've been writing it as a fanfic ever since. I'm 22 pages in, the longest of anything I have ever written, besides that 16 page paper on stem cell research junior year of high school. If I ever want to publish it, I'll have to change the names and locations, but it's always a possibility. Y'all can ask to read it, but you'll be denied. For now that is. I'll admit there are parts that are not appropriate, but you Sons fans know how inappropriate that show is.
I really don't know why I shared this knowledge with you all. Probably because I'm tired and felt the urge to write, and maybe brag a little. But I wanted to use an example of how I get lost in writing and reading. I literally go back and read it from the beginning and get lost in the imagery and raw, physical emotion. Even while writing, I'll get lost and realize that I spent hours just typing away and editing parts of it until I think it's perfect. It's a newfound love of mine.
This post has nothing really to do with college, so sorry if you were expecting a post on school or something of that nature. But I just wanted to talk to y'all about something not related to college. I want y'all to know the real me. That's another reason I started this blog. I want everyone to see the real me. The me at random hours of the day. The me who can ramble on about books and writing. The me who gets distracted and rambled throughout this post. The loud, lovable, (full-on) crazy me. I will be honest in my posts, and if you can't handle that, well then I'm sure there's other blogs out there that cater to your desires. Because this blog is all truth and crazy. Peace out y'all.
Friday, October 17, 2014
Home is Where the Heart is
I was always taught in AP Literature to never use a cliche in my essays. But this isn't AP lit and I couldn't come up with a better title due to lack of sleep, so I'll have to deal with it. The majority of y'all know that I went home this past weekend to good ole Carol Stream, and my God did I realize just how much I missed it.
After a lengthy wait at the airport, I finally made it to Portillo's! And was it delicious. I probably ate that hot dog in like 30 seconds, no lie. Partially because I was starving, but Portillo's is just heaven in your mouth. After Portillo's, I finally got to go HOME! And boy did it feel amazing to walk through the front door and be greeted by Sparky (my dog) and just crash on the couch and do nothing. I really can't describe how it feels to come home after being gone for awhile. I guess it's something you have to experience to be able to understand what I'm talking about. But anyways it was a good first night back. But then when I got to sleep in my bed, oh my god it was like sleeping on a cloud. I miss it so much. Saturday morning, my parents and I went to breakfast and harassed Kyle at work. Later on, I went to Savers and saw a bunch of my friends. It was awesome to see them all! After that, I went to Sonny Acres and surprised my best friend Kelley! And boy was she surprised! It was pretty awesome to see her! Sunday, I went to church and saw all my friends and everyone. Monday, my mom and I spent the day together, shopping and what not. I also stopped by her work to see everyone! Then I went back to Savers to see even more of my friends! That night, my family went to Giordano's and had the best pizza! Let me tell you the struggle of living in the Chicago area for 18 years where pizza is a staple food, and then you move and nobody understands the importance of good pizza. Tuesday I just chilled at home and packed, and then that afternoon, my parents took me back to the airport. It was bittersweet to say goodbye, but hey I'll be back next month! That's my four day weekend in a nutshell! It's hard to explain everything in a blog post, partially because I can't remember everything I did, and because it really was just awesome to be home. I'm looking forward to coming back next month and seeing everyone again and people I didn't get to see this past time, that's directed at you Pastor Craig!(: But it was a good weekend.
It's been a good week at school. Nothing major has happened. I'm still learning new things every day. I just got back from the volleyball game! I had fun, even though they lost. My parents will be happy that I got out of my room and away from Netflix for one night! Oh but I shall share this funny story with y'all!
So when I was home, my mom bought me a Supernatural blanket and scarf! Sam, Dean, & Cas are on the blanket and it's pretty freaking fabulous if you ask me. As for the scarf, well that's another story. It's black, and in white there's anti-possession symbols, some other symbols pertaining to the show, and devils traps. Now the devils traps have a pentagram in them but there's other symbols around it. It's just a Supernatural thing. So anyways, my mom was kinda nervous about me wearing it at school and getting in trouble and what not. So I wore it yesterday, and there were no problems. No one cared. Today however, I went to Kroger to buy some stuff. As I was walking around, I notice an elderly woman a few feet in front of me, headed towards me. And she had this look in her eye and immediately I knew she was headed for me. She approaches me with this shocked expression and asks me why I'm wearing pentagrams around my neck. Now I could have done the easy thing and explained that it's from a TV show, but no, I had to be a jackass. I proceed to reassure her that they are not pentagrams but in fact devils traps, anti-possession symbols, and various other symbols. Needless to say, she looked horrified. So she reaches into her purse and pulls out one of those Ask-Jesus type booklet and handed it to me as she told me there were numbers in there that I could call and get help. She then said that she would pray for me. Now like I said, I could've said it's from a TV show and I'm a Christian and I'm just uber-obsessed with Supernatural. I probably should have done that, so she could save the booklet for someone who could really use it. But it truthfully made my day. Anyways I just thought that was one of those priceless moments that don't happen often.
So tomorrow I am volunteering at a women's shelter with some girls from my dorm. I'm really looking forward to it! I think it's a neat opportunity to help give back to the community! But that's about it on this side folks. I did receive some nice letters and cards this week! Y'all should send me some letters, or even better, free stuff in a care package!
After a lengthy wait at the airport, I finally made it to Portillo's! And was it delicious. I probably ate that hot dog in like 30 seconds, no lie. Partially because I was starving, but Portillo's is just heaven in your mouth. After Portillo's, I finally got to go HOME! And boy did it feel amazing to walk through the front door and be greeted by Sparky (my dog) and just crash on the couch and do nothing. I really can't describe how it feels to come home after being gone for awhile. I guess it's something you have to experience to be able to understand what I'm talking about. But anyways it was a good first night back. But then when I got to sleep in my bed, oh my god it was like sleeping on a cloud. I miss it so much. Saturday morning, my parents and I went to breakfast and harassed Kyle at work. Later on, I went to Savers and saw a bunch of my friends. It was awesome to see them all! After that, I went to Sonny Acres and surprised my best friend Kelley! And boy was she surprised! It was pretty awesome to see her! Sunday, I went to church and saw all my friends and everyone. Monday, my mom and I spent the day together, shopping and what not. I also stopped by her work to see everyone! Then I went back to Savers to see even more of my friends! That night, my family went to Giordano's and had the best pizza! Let me tell you the struggle of living in the Chicago area for 18 years where pizza is a staple food, and then you move and nobody understands the importance of good pizza. Tuesday I just chilled at home and packed, and then that afternoon, my parents took me back to the airport. It was bittersweet to say goodbye, but hey I'll be back next month! That's my four day weekend in a nutshell! It's hard to explain everything in a blog post, partially because I can't remember everything I did, and because it really was just awesome to be home. I'm looking forward to coming back next month and seeing everyone again and people I didn't get to see this past time, that's directed at you Pastor Craig!(: But it was a good weekend.
It's been a good week at school. Nothing major has happened. I'm still learning new things every day. I just got back from the volleyball game! I had fun, even though they lost. My parents will be happy that I got out of my room and away from Netflix for one night! Oh but I shall share this funny story with y'all!
So when I was home, my mom bought me a Supernatural blanket and scarf! Sam, Dean, & Cas are on the blanket and it's pretty freaking fabulous if you ask me. As for the scarf, well that's another story. It's black, and in white there's anti-possession symbols, some other symbols pertaining to the show, and devils traps. Now the devils traps have a pentagram in them but there's other symbols around it. It's just a Supernatural thing. So anyways, my mom was kinda nervous about me wearing it at school and getting in trouble and what not. So I wore it yesterday, and there were no problems. No one cared. Today however, I went to Kroger to buy some stuff. As I was walking around, I notice an elderly woman a few feet in front of me, headed towards me. And she had this look in her eye and immediately I knew she was headed for me. She approaches me with this shocked expression and asks me why I'm wearing pentagrams around my neck. Now I could have done the easy thing and explained that it's from a TV show, but no, I had to be a jackass. I proceed to reassure her that they are not pentagrams but in fact devils traps, anti-possession symbols, and various other symbols. Needless to say, she looked horrified. So she reaches into her purse and pulls out one of those Ask-Jesus type booklet and handed it to me as she told me there were numbers in there that I could call and get help. She then said that she would pray for me. Now like I said, I could've said it's from a TV show and I'm a Christian and I'm just uber-obsessed with Supernatural. I probably should have done that, so she could save the booklet for someone who could really use it. But it truthfully made my day. Anyways I just thought that was one of those priceless moments that don't happen often.
So tomorrow I am volunteering at a women's shelter with some girls from my dorm. I'm really looking forward to it! I think it's a neat opportunity to help give back to the community! But that's about it on this side folks. I did receive some nice letters and cards this week! Y'all should send me some letters, or even better, free stuff in a care package!
Thursday, October 9, 2014
ONE. MORE. DAY.
Y'all can probably guess by the title of this post, BUT if you can't, let me help ya. One more day till I am home! I know, I know you guys are just as excited as me! But seriously I am super stoked to be back for four days.
It's funny, when I was preparing to leave the 630 for the 615, I was excited beyond hell to get out of there and start a new chapter. Truthfully I still am. I'm having the time of my life at college. But I also miss home, like home itself. There's no way in Hell that I miss that treacherous state of Illinois, but I miss the people and the food, definitely miss the food...With that being said, I cannot wait to get a hot dog from Portillo's tomorrow once I get home! The food isn't that bad here, I mean we have a Chick-Fil-A on campus, how awesome is that!?!?! But it's definitely not Chicago style pizza or hot dogs served in the Caf. Heck it's not even a good-old fashioned home cooked meal. But I guess I'll take what I can get.
Aside from my apparent love of food, I'm super stoked to see my family and friends. I realized it will be pretty much two months to the day that I haven't seen any of my friends. And that's a long time to go without seeing them all. Sure you go to college to make new friends, but let me tell ya, it's not the same. My friends Kelley and Jocelyn have known me for 15 years! Yes 15 years, that's a really long time to be friends with someone if you ask me. And their like the sisters I never had. So it sucks being far from them. And all of my friends I made at Savers and church, I miss you all! And am so excited to see you all! And obviously I'm way beyond excited to see my parents and Kyle. It's been almost two months since I've seen them, and I do miss them. After living with them for 18 years, it's still weird not seeing them every day or fighting with Kyle over something stupid. So I will say it again, I am super stoked to see my friends and family. And to go to church on Sunday at Medinah because I have missed everyone there as well! :)
I'm also pumped to have four days off to relax and just chill. Truthfully I will probably be spending a lot of time catching up on all my TV shows like Law & Order: SVU, Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., but most importantly Sons of Anarchy. Yes I watch it, and no I'm not ashamed of it. And no my parents aren't horrible parents because I watch it. I am 18 years old and an adult, and they shouldn't be judged because of a TV show that I (emphasis on the I) watch. So if you want to judge them, be gone. This is a judgement free zone. It is not tolerated on my blog. If you wish to judge me or my parents, seriously get out. You're not wanted here. Anyways I have waited almost a month to get caught up with Jax and the gang, and I can guarantee that I will watch every episode of season 7 tomorrow evening, even if I have to stay up till 3 in the morning. And I will be fangirling hard, you have been warned!
So that's that for my plans this weekend. But I do want to share a pretty awesome story with you all that I experienced this morning. I am writing for the Belmont Vision, which is the school's newspaper that is online, y'all should check it out sometime. It's pretty legit. I'll even be super nice and include the link right here: www.belmontvision.com
Anyways I am writing this article on a professor who spent 5 weeks this past summer teaching inmates on Death Row about Shakespeare. Which I think is super fascinating. She told me all about the experience, which was super interesting to hear about. Long story short she basically used some of Shakespeare's essays on mercy and similar topics and started a discussion with the inmates. She said that the unit she worked which is actually the calmest and non-violent unit in the state of Tennessee. But truthfully just hearing some stories about the inmates was honestly just super fascinating. I know I've said that, but it really was. I can't describe how honored I felt to listen to her describe her time with them. She also discussed how the prison and legal systems are flawed. Although the inmates on Death Row have committed some crazy, heinous acts to land themselves there, they are still humans regardless of how you see them. They deserve at least somewhat decent treatment and basic human rights. Inmates who aren't on Death Row and who will eventually rejoin society aren't given for lack of a better word, lessons on how exactly to rejoin society. After spending months or years in prison, they are thrusted back into society, sometimes with no clue of how to re-adapt. The whole system is just unique I guess in itself. But I truly did feel honored to listen on her experience. It opened me eyes. Oh and she also told me how the inmates collaborate with students on art projects. The inmates will start the projects and then the artwork itself is transmitted outside of the prison, since students are not allowed in there, and sent to the students. They then finish the artwork and it is sent back to the inmates to see, and then there's actually a gallery filled with all of the artwork. She showed me the website filled with pictures, and like the nice person I am, I will also include that link here as well if you desire to see some of the pieces. I must say, some of the artwork is phenomenal in my opinion. Here's the link: www.reachcoalition.wordpress.com So check it out if you want, or don't. It doesn't matter to me. But I just thought I'd say this story with y'all. I thought it was pretty fascinating.
But that my friends is about it. Some good news, I got a B on my Intro to Audio & Video Production midterm, as well as on my Foundations of Journalism midterm. So I'm passing! WOOOOO!!!!! I actually have B's in both classes which is spectacular! I'm not sure about the other 3 classes, god forbid my professors actually enter grades on Blackboard. I'm assuming that I'm passing, since no one has told me otherwise...But for reals I am going to sign off. I need to finish packing and do some last minute things around here before I come home!
So I shall see some of you in 24 hours, others of you 48, some 72, and others well I may not see. But there's always Thanksgiving to see everyone as well, just remember that folks!
It's funny, when I was preparing to leave the 630 for the 615, I was excited beyond hell to get out of there and start a new chapter. Truthfully I still am. I'm having the time of my life at college. But I also miss home, like home itself. There's no way in Hell that I miss that treacherous state of Illinois, but I miss the people and the food, definitely miss the food...With that being said, I cannot wait to get a hot dog from Portillo's tomorrow once I get home! The food isn't that bad here, I mean we have a Chick-Fil-A on campus, how awesome is that!?!?! But it's definitely not Chicago style pizza or hot dogs served in the Caf. Heck it's not even a good-old fashioned home cooked meal. But I guess I'll take what I can get.
Aside from my apparent love of food, I'm super stoked to see my family and friends. I realized it will be pretty much two months to the day that I haven't seen any of my friends. And that's a long time to go without seeing them all. Sure you go to college to make new friends, but let me tell ya, it's not the same. My friends Kelley and Jocelyn have known me for 15 years! Yes 15 years, that's a really long time to be friends with someone if you ask me. And their like the sisters I never had. So it sucks being far from them. And all of my friends I made at Savers and church, I miss you all! And am so excited to see you all! And obviously I'm way beyond excited to see my parents and Kyle. It's been almost two months since I've seen them, and I do miss them. After living with them for 18 years, it's still weird not seeing them every day or fighting with Kyle over something stupid. So I will say it again, I am super stoked to see my friends and family. And to go to church on Sunday at Medinah because I have missed everyone there as well! :)
I'm also pumped to have four days off to relax and just chill. Truthfully I will probably be spending a lot of time catching up on all my TV shows like Law & Order: SVU, Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., but most importantly Sons of Anarchy. Yes I watch it, and no I'm not ashamed of it. And no my parents aren't horrible parents because I watch it. I am 18 years old and an adult, and they shouldn't be judged because of a TV show that I (emphasis on the I) watch. So if you want to judge them, be gone. This is a judgement free zone. It is not tolerated on my blog. If you wish to judge me or my parents, seriously get out. You're not wanted here. Anyways I have waited almost a month to get caught up with Jax and the gang, and I can guarantee that I will watch every episode of season 7 tomorrow evening, even if I have to stay up till 3 in the morning. And I will be fangirling hard, you have been warned!
So that's that for my plans this weekend. But I do want to share a pretty awesome story with you all that I experienced this morning. I am writing for the Belmont Vision, which is the school's newspaper that is online, y'all should check it out sometime. It's pretty legit. I'll even be super nice and include the link right here: www.belmontvision.com
Anyways I am writing this article on a professor who spent 5 weeks this past summer teaching inmates on Death Row about Shakespeare. Which I think is super fascinating. She told me all about the experience, which was super interesting to hear about. Long story short she basically used some of Shakespeare's essays on mercy and similar topics and started a discussion with the inmates. She said that the unit she worked which is actually the calmest and non-violent unit in the state of Tennessee. But truthfully just hearing some stories about the inmates was honestly just super fascinating. I know I've said that, but it really was. I can't describe how honored I felt to listen to her describe her time with them. She also discussed how the prison and legal systems are flawed. Although the inmates on Death Row have committed some crazy, heinous acts to land themselves there, they are still humans regardless of how you see them. They deserve at least somewhat decent treatment and basic human rights. Inmates who aren't on Death Row and who will eventually rejoin society aren't given for lack of a better word, lessons on how exactly to rejoin society. After spending months or years in prison, they are thrusted back into society, sometimes with no clue of how to re-adapt. The whole system is just unique I guess in itself. But I truly did feel honored to listen on her experience. It opened me eyes. Oh and she also told me how the inmates collaborate with students on art projects. The inmates will start the projects and then the artwork itself is transmitted outside of the prison, since students are not allowed in there, and sent to the students. They then finish the artwork and it is sent back to the inmates to see, and then there's actually a gallery filled with all of the artwork. She showed me the website filled with pictures, and like the nice person I am, I will also include that link here as well if you desire to see some of the pieces. I must say, some of the artwork is phenomenal in my opinion. Here's the link: www.reachcoalition.wordpress.com So check it out if you want, or don't. It doesn't matter to me. But I just thought I'd say this story with y'all. I thought it was pretty fascinating.
But that my friends is about it. Some good news, I got a B on my Intro to Audio & Video Production midterm, as well as on my Foundations of Journalism midterm. So I'm passing! WOOOOO!!!!! I actually have B's in both classes which is spectacular! I'm not sure about the other 3 classes, god forbid my professors actually enter grades on Blackboard. I'm assuming that I'm passing, since no one has told me otherwise...But for reals I am going to sign off. I need to finish packing and do some last minute things around here before I come home!
So I shall see some of you in 24 hours, others of you 48, some 72, and others well I may not see. But there's always Thanksgiving to see everyone as well, just remember that folks!
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Dreams do Come True
Once again it's been awhile since I've posted guys, and I apologize for that but it's been hectic here in Music City. Last weekend my grandma and grandpa drove down for family weekend and it was great to see them. We had dinner that Thursday evening and Friday is when the real fun began. I had to cover the volleyball game for the school newspaper, so my grandparents came out to support Belmont and I sat on "press row." After a long 5 sets, we went back to my dorm. My grandpa built me a bookcase so I needed to get that into my room and then of course my grandma and her friends made me food so that needed to get put away. My grandpa also helped me un-loft my bed. If y'all read my last post, you know what happened that night and I'll give you a hint, Kliff Kingsbury :) So that was Friday night.
After we finished our mini-project, we headed off to the Lakes' house. Pastor Lake and his wife Kristen are family friends and live near Nashville. My grandparents were staying with them, and I was invited to spend the weekend with them. It truly was a fun weekend. Saturday we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and roamed around downtown Nashville for a bit. Kris also took us to the Nashville Symphony house where we listened to some excellent music. We went back to their house and truly I cannot remember what we did...oh wait we did get Pizza Hut for dinner. I know all of my Chicago friends and family are shaking their heads because to us, Pizza Hut really isn't pizza. But that's the closest thing to real pizza down here and it was 7:30 at night and we were hungry. So we ate and watched some college football, and I think that's it.
Sunday we went to church, which was actually quite nice. Then we went to lunch at this place called The Chop House and my god do they have good food. I got the chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and mac n' cheese and dear lord was it amazing. It was almost as good as a home cooked meal. But when you eat food at the Caf all day, any food outside of it is close to home cooked. Afterwards the women went to Wal Mart so I could get a few things before heading back to school. That afternoon, Kris and my grandma brought me back. It was kinda hard to say goodbye to my grandparents, but thankfully I'll see them next weekend!
This past week wasn't too bad, except I'm sick. Again. I've had a cold all week and it's been terrible. Thankfully I get better every day, but as I type this, my congestion level is still high. I took another midterm for my Foundations of Journalism class. I didn't do too bad on part one, and I am waiting for the results of part two. But really school wise its been kind of boring around here.
I'm trying to think if anything else happened this week that's noteworthy...I really do need to start blogging more often so I remember.
Oh but wait, I just remembered something! Sometime this week, I think it was Monday, I went down to Mail Services to retrieve a package from my mom. But when I got there, I was told that there were TWO packages for me and I got super excited because it means people are thinking about me and I get free stuff which is always good! :) I waited to open them when I got back to my room so I pretty much ran to my room to figure out who sent the mystery package. Much to my surprise, my Savers family sent it! They gave me my old tagging gun, some buttons, a pencil, some uniforms so I can go mess with the Goodwill employees....They also included notes, lots and lots of little notes. We have these white tags at Savers that are used to make bags, and so they wrote on them and put them all in a ringlet thing.
I will say now and with no shame that I cried as I went through this package. I can't remember if I've mentioned this before but the Saint Charles Savers closed last month and it's just really heartbreaking. My co-workers are like my family and I love them all, well most of them ;) But the fact that they sent me this package means so much to me, like I can't describe how excited I was to go through it.
So that's about it. I come home in 6 days which I am super pumped for. I'm really excited to finally catch up on all of my TV shows, but most of all to see my family and friends AND to sleep in my bed. And to finally get a home cooked meal. Now I'm going to go try and not have a heart attack as I watch this Texas Tech game. Seriously I want to punch Davis Webb in the face!!!
OHMYGOSH I totally forgot the purpose of this post until I saw the title which made me realize why I started this in the first place. Sooooooo Tuesday night I got to cross an item off of my bucket list. I saw Rascal Flatts at the Grand Ole Opry! Literally I have wanted to see them play there for like ever and Tuesday night it happened and it was just as magical as I had envisioned. I was probably one of the youngest people there, seeing as how 98.9% of people there were 65 and older and tourists, my god were there tourists swarming everywhere. It was crazy. But the show was awesome. There were some opening acts like Bill Anderson (I think that's his name), Connie Smith, Marty Stuart, Jackie Lee, Easton Corbin, and Brett Eldredge who I am also in love with. Then at 8:45 the moment I waited years for finally happened. Rascal Flatts came on stage and performed Payback to start the show off. They then joked around especially about Joe Don because the night before his wife had their third baby! But they performed a few of their hits like My Wish and then had an acapella jam with their entire band which was stellar. Then Gary was like well thanks y'all for coming and then was like wait just kidding we're gonna do one more song. So there was this girl in the front row who had Down Syndrome and Gary shook her hand and talked with her. She asked them to sing Stand, and they did. Like without any problem, the band just started playing and they performed it. If you haven't heard the song, go YouTube it right now. This song is pure perfection. It definitely helped me change my life and get out of a rough patch I was going through. But I just think it's amazing that they would just listen to her and sing it and they're just gifts from God. Seriously Gary's voice is what I imagine Heaven will be like. But it truly was a fantastic evening. I'm counting down the days until I can see them again!
So this is truly it guys, I promise. Until next time, keep it real folks!
After we finished our mini-project, we headed off to the Lakes' house. Pastor Lake and his wife Kristen are family friends and live near Nashville. My grandparents were staying with them, and I was invited to spend the weekend with them. It truly was a fun weekend. Saturday we went to the Country Music Hall of Fame and roamed around downtown Nashville for a bit. Kris also took us to the Nashville Symphony house where we listened to some excellent music. We went back to their house and truly I cannot remember what we did...oh wait we did get Pizza Hut for dinner. I know all of my Chicago friends and family are shaking their heads because to us, Pizza Hut really isn't pizza. But that's the closest thing to real pizza down here and it was 7:30 at night and we were hungry. So we ate and watched some college football, and I think that's it.
Sunday we went to church, which was actually quite nice. Then we went to lunch at this place called The Chop House and my god do they have good food. I got the chicken fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and mac n' cheese and dear lord was it amazing. It was almost as good as a home cooked meal. But when you eat food at the Caf all day, any food outside of it is close to home cooked. Afterwards the women went to Wal Mart so I could get a few things before heading back to school. That afternoon, Kris and my grandma brought me back. It was kinda hard to say goodbye to my grandparents, but thankfully I'll see them next weekend!
This past week wasn't too bad, except I'm sick. Again. I've had a cold all week and it's been terrible. Thankfully I get better every day, but as I type this, my congestion level is still high. I took another midterm for my Foundations of Journalism class. I didn't do too bad on part one, and I am waiting for the results of part two. But really school wise its been kind of boring around here.
I'm trying to think if anything else happened this week that's noteworthy...I really do need to start blogging more often so I remember.
Oh but wait, I just remembered something! Sometime this week, I think it was Monday, I went down to Mail Services to retrieve a package from my mom. But when I got there, I was told that there were TWO packages for me and I got super excited because it means people are thinking about me and I get free stuff which is always good! :) I waited to open them when I got back to my room so I pretty much ran to my room to figure out who sent the mystery package. Much to my surprise, my Savers family sent it! They gave me my old tagging gun, some buttons, a pencil, some uniforms so I can go mess with the Goodwill employees....They also included notes, lots and lots of little notes. We have these white tags at Savers that are used to make bags, and so they wrote on them and put them all in a ringlet thing.
I will say now and with no shame that I cried as I went through this package. I can't remember if I've mentioned this before but the Saint Charles Savers closed last month and it's just really heartbreaking. My co-workers are like my family and I love them all, well most of them ;) But the fact that they sent me this package means so much to me, like I can't describe how excited I was to go through it.
So that's about it. I come home in 6 days which I am super pumped for. I'm really excited to finally catch up on all of my TV shows, but most of all to see my family and friends AND to sleep in my bed. And to finally get a home cooked meal. Now I'm going to go try and not have a heart attack as I watch this Texas Tech game. Seriously I want to punch Davis Webb in the face!!!
OHMYGOSH I totally forgot the purpose of this post until I saw the title which made me realize why I started this in the first place. Sooooooo Tuesday night I got to cross an item off of my bucket list. I saw Rascal Flatts at the Grand Ole Opry! Literally I have wanted to see them play there for like ever and Tuesday night it happened and it was just as magical as I had envisioned. I was probably one of the youngest people there, seeing as how 98.9% of people there were 65 and older and tourists, my god were there tourists swarming everywhere. It was crazy. But the show was awesome. There were some opening acts like Bill Anderson (I think that's his name), Connie Smith, Marty Stuart, Jackie Lee, Easton Corbin, and Brett Eldredge who I am also in love with. Then at 8:45 the moment I waited years for finally happened. Rascal Flatts came on stage and performed Payback to start the show off. They then joked around especially about Joe Don because the night before his wife had their third baby! But they performed a few of their hits like My Wish and then had an acapella jam with their entire band which was stellar. Then Gary was like well thanks y'all for coming and then was like wait just kidding we're gonna do one more song. So there was this girl in the front row who had Down Syndrome and Gary shook her hand and talked with her. She asked them to sing Stand, and they did. Like without any problem, the band just started playing and they performed it. If you haven't heard the song, go YouTube it right now. This song is pure perfection. It definitely helped me change my life and get out of a rough patch I was going through. But I just think it's amazing that they would just listen to her and sing it and they're just gifts from God. Seriously Gary's voice is what I imagine Heaven will be like. But it truly was a fantastic evening. I'm counting down the days until I can see them again!
So this is truly it guys, I promise. Until next time, keep it real folks!
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