Liturgical Dance

Upon a request I've uploaded a video of the Palm Sunday Liturgical Dance.  It is during our dress rehearsal.

Starting Summer

Hey all!!  So, I wanted to give a quick update on my summer so far and I have some tips to help make it memorable.

Upon entering college, you make a lot of friends who live in many different parts of the US and Canada, and some might be in other countries.  It is hard when you get home because you can't just run down the hall or across campus to hang out with your friends.  So my tip to beat the summer blues when home is to stay busy.  Start your summer off by visiting friends from home and family.  You probably don't see them that much in college, unless they go to the same one.  Or you may have a job somewhere that is on campus, another state, or just time consuming where you might not have much time to see people later in the summer.

Another suggestion is to visit friends from college.  A friend and I last spent about a week and a half between my house in New Jersey and hers in Maine.  We met around 3 weeks after coming home and it was a nice pick me up.  I'm going to try planning another one similar to this for this summer.  The reason I can swing this is because I'm working at a Sleep-Away Camp again.  I love camping out so this makes my summer even more enjoyable.

So my tips condensed:

• Plan everything for your summer.  You will be less likely to have to worry about twiddling your thumbs at home.
• Do some reading and/or research.  This may sound too much like school, but on your own it can be fun!  I love pulling out my old notes and playing around with computer science code and learning new things about it!!
• Relax.  I slept for the past couple of days and it was nice but now I'm ready to start having fun!!
• Learn something new.  Develop a hobby.  I love crocheting and making friendship bracelets.  I don't have much time during school to do either of these, so I enjoy doing them in the summer.
• Clean out you college boxes.  Yes somethings you pull out because you use them on a daily basis but other stuff may stay their until you unpack at school.  You may then realize - Why do I have this?

So, I hope you enjoy your summer and make the most of it!!

Finals Week and Moving Out

So, my life became consumed last week with studying for my 5 finals.  But now I'm done!!  Yes, I did say 5 finals.  I took 4 and a half courses this past semester and each had a final exam.  I knew that was a strong possibility but I was still drained by the end of the week.  It felt so refreshing handing in that last final exam but I had a bitter sweet feeling because I was heading home for the summer.  In the end, it was a good thing because the day I got home, I got a head cold and I was happy to be able to sleep and not worry about anything. 

What do I dread most about the spring semester ending?  Besides missing all my friends this summer and the seniors?  Moving out.  It is one of the hardest tasks.  Moving in is easy.  You spend the summer packing and organizing everything into boxes.  Moving out, you throw everything where it fits.  You feel you car is over full and don't know how you acquired everything.  Well after my first year, I comprised some tips and suggestions which I found to work this year:

• Keeping all your moving in boxes and bags.  Either that or bring them back at Easter.  Packing clothes, small things, or taking pictures off your walls helps when the crunch comes to the last minute packing.  But how can you do this if you don't have what you need?  Collapsible cardboard boxes and bags fit easily under a bed or in a closet.

• Send stuff home earlier.  Who needs skis after spring break?  Ok, I know some people still do ski, but after two years, I haven't skied once after spring break.  If you think you might, then save them but I don't so I send them home.  This is the same for the warm sweaters and socks.  Keeping one or two is all you need.  After a week or two you won't even look at them again.  So, my point is, send stuff home you won't need for a month.

• Clean out your papers.  I don't know about most people, but I save a lot of the notes or letters from people.  Most of them are out of date before the semester ends  but they basically end up in a pile in the top my desk drawer.

• Start packing before finals start.  This may seem ridiculous or not even possible but taking pictures down, washing all your dishes, or placing all your dirty clothes in the hamper can go a long way in the end.  When it came down for my final crunch pack this year: my walls were almost bear, my clothes were almost all packed, and my desk was almost empty.  It gave me more time to pack larger things, like my mirror and lamp, safely and in less space.

I know this post comes at a little late of the time for current students moving out, but this wisdom was fresh in my head, so I thought I would share.  Happy Summer!!

P-Day 2012

So the past two weeks have been jammed packed and almost non-stop for me.  It is the end of the semester, final exams are starting, and I trying to enjoy the last bit of Sophomore year.  Hopefully I can get a few blog posts up in the next couple of days about the what has happened but this one is going to be about P-Day last weekend.

This past past weekend was Preparation Day, otherwise known as P-Day.  It falls the weekend before the study day(s) leading up to to final exams.  It is basically a carefree Saturday where St. Mike's rents bouncy houses and hires vendors to distribute tons food, all free to us.  Everyone turns out for this event.

Martin Luther King Society, otherwise known as MLK, starts the weekend out with a talent show.  Anyone can sign up to perform their talent.  A lot of amazing people turn out to perform.  This year there were singers, musicians, gymnasts, and dancers.  I ended up performing with Celtic Knights.

Beating Lauren on the bungee thing

The night of the performance I was so nervous.  Stepping out on stage, I was not prepared for the overwhelming number of people who turned out.  Well, I was because I attended last year in the audience, but I still wasn't.  We ended up doing amazing and the crowd went wild.  I'm so proud of everyone.  On a side note, after this amazing weekend I was elected next year's Vice President of the club!!

Photo Bomb!!

On Saturday I wanted to sleep in a bit so I could go all day but sadly the bright sunshine came through my window and woke me fairly early.  Oh well.  Being the klutz I am I sprained my ankle on the way to breakfast.  However, I didn't let that stop me from all the fun.

I met up with my friends around 1pm on the 300s field where everything was set up.  There was music, bouncy houses, and tons of food!!  I was super pumped.  I wanted to try everything.  I have to say, I just about succeeded by only missing out on getting a Henna Tattoo.

After being Photo Bombed we wanted a real pic

After all this fun, I went back to m room to take a much needed nap.  When I woke up, I again met up with friends and attended the Comedian, St. Mike's very own Kit Rivers.  She had a amazing turn out and an amazing show.  To end the day, just about everyone turned out for what is called Midnight Breakfast at 10:30pm.  Alliot served eggs and French toast, all the breakfast essentials.

It was a crazy, amazing day.  I have to say, once my head hit the pillow that night/morning, I was out.  It was much needed sleep and I enjoyed it.