Well this is it! It is now technically Wednesday of exam week for the S109 semester. I am still awake because I have been spending the past couple hours going through old papers from the semester and beginning to set things up for next semester. I fortunately do not have anything to study this week because I have no scheduled exams so this is my way of preparing to finish the term papers that i have to write. this paper work though has been on my mind for weeks and as i've always said, i need organizaion in order to truly finish anything off. so now that i'm physically and mentally prepared i can focuse on doing my best job with finishing the term papers. tonight was the exam jam, so it was able to set me off in that great mood. i spent time with some good friends just relaxing and having fun. I was able to eat some free food which was served by the teachers, get a free AMAZING back massage, attend a session of 'blessing of the brains' from campus ministry in which you could join in meditation through prayer, and also we were given the opportunity to pie some of the RAs in the face. that was definitely amusing! oh and how can i forget the kareoke. i was able to witness some very interesting performances from some of my friends as they attempted to ...i believe sing... is the word several popular songs from the ages. it was definitely a fun night. and come saturday i will be able to travel home, again through the megabus, for just less than a month. i am hoping to work A LOT at home with my lovely ladies at Hallmark and to build closer relationships with my family! i've realized a lot this year how much i really would like to bond with my family more. i don't want to be cheesey, as some might think. but really, i do love my family. of course we fight and bicker and tease each other and oh my gosh do we get on each others nerves sometimes. but i love them. hey, family is the one thing that will always be there anyway! so whether i like them or not. i'm stuck. but i'm glad i'm stuck with this family. a big irish family in the southside of chicago is one of the greatest things ever known. i'm glad i'm a part of such a community!

 oh and i want an ipod and the twilight series for christmas ;)

 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! It's been a great semester!!!

Hey Guys!

The end of the semester is here! Just one more week of exams and I’m home free. And man, lookin back, it FLEW! I can’t believe its December already and I have to take my exams. And wrestling season is already down to the last two and a half months! But the fact that this semester has gone so quick is a good thing, because as I sit here typing this taking a break from my studying, I am having very little trouble recalling information about philosophers and events that I learned about at the beginning of the semester. Believe it or not, something actually stuck in my head!

I’ll take this time to tell you all about how the end of the semester works. The first and most important thing: I get paid for various things that I’ve done for the school this semester. Second thing: exams. Sometimes they suck, sometimes they aren’t too bad. This semester for me isn’t too bad, except for the fact that I have two exams and a final paper all due within 19 hours of each other. Other than that, my exam schedule is cake.

For those of you who don’t know, the week of finals is different from the rest of the year. Classes don’t meet at their regular times and only once for each class. For example my Monday Wednesday Friday class that usually meets at 10 to 10:50 will now meet Tuesday at 8:30 to 10:30 to take the exam. At 10:31 a.m. on Tuesday, I’m done with American History! (Nothing personal Dr. Lynch. I like ya, but that’s just one more step closer to my degree!) And then at the end of the week, we are done with school till the second week of January or so. I realllllllly need this month off!

Well I gotta get back to studying!

See ya!

>Eric M.

well its coming down to it! there is less than two weeks left of this semester and i'm ready for it to be finalized! i don't know how i managed it but i have not had one test all semester and I have no schedulded exam to take. I have one final project, 2 final papers, and 2 more concerts, and then i'm done! my last event for campus minisitry was last night. I also had my first concert for college chorale last night. our final concert is tonight in the mater dei chapel at 7:30. we had our concert for mount singers on the wednesday before thanksgiving break and our final show will be next friday after the semester is over when we perform at the festival of lights. my final project is for my flameworking class and oh my goodness i am ready to finish it! i'll have a picture of it on here SOON! My final papers are for Ethics and Religion and they are both on their way to be done! I've got these next two weeks to focus on preparing myself for next semester: i can set time away for work, homework, exercise, sleep if need be, and clubs/organizations. I'm ready to start the next semester. I'm ready to take on new challenges. I'm ready to learn new material. I'm ready to further my education. I'm ready!

This winter break is going to be awesome! when i was home for thanksgiving break i was able to go in to my work at Hallmark from the summer and tell my manager about my availability for the winter break and she told me my name is still in the system! i'm happy! I need that job!

 only two more weeks left - I'm making it work!!!!

So Thanksgiving break went by in the blink of an eye. Before I knew, I was sleeping in my bed at the dorms and I was preparing for the torturous Monday that I just encountered. 

But my break wasn’t all that bad, but I’m certain I’ve had better. I went home Tuesday night after my ASL class and slept at home that night. Then Wednesday morning at 6:30 AM, my mom and I made the 4 ½ hour drive to Pigeon Forge, TN, to meet up with some of her friends to hang out for a bit. We shopped, went out, and just had some good general girl fun (say that ten times fast lol). They ended up going home on Wednesday night but Mom and I spent the night in Tennessee. Then on Thursday morning, Thanksgiving, we went up through Gatlinburg, surprised there were people out and shops were open, but we went up into the mountains to Cade’s Cove and drove around on the path up there observing the natural scenery. It took three hours to drive the 25 miles up the mountains, the 11 mile trail, and the 25 miles back into Gatlinburg. It was excruciatingly slow but my mom and I had fun in the car making fun of all the other holiday drivers. ;) We ended up leaving for home at 2:30 PM and got to my aunt’s house at 7 PM. We were tired, I was hungry, and I was exhausted from driving in the car for almost 8 hours (Cade’s Cove trip + the drive home). The Thanksgiving meal at my aunt’s was good and we had fun hanging out and just being goofy. For example, my uncle had my two younger cousins, Lexie who is 8 and Jake who is 4, put on a circus and do acrobatic tricks for us in the middle of the living room. Of course, my other cousin, Sean who is 1, wanted to join in and he tried doing his own flips, unsuccessfully might I add.  

Friday was Black Friday and my mom and I went out again and shopped till my feet just about fell off my legs. It was fun though and I got some gifts for people crossed off my list so it was productive to say the least. Then on Saturday my brother and I spent 4 hours raking leaves for my mom (she’s showing up a lot in this isn’t she? Wow… lol). Of course, on Sunday we were looking out into the expansive backyard and my mom said, “Wow… it looks…” and I said, “Desolate.” And she said, “No. I was gonna say pristine.” Lol But later she did say it looked a bit desolate so ha! She agreed with me! Lol I like the leaves on the ground, just as much as I like snow on the ground. I just don’t like to clean either of them up, but again, who does? J 

Sunday I spent the day watching the Bengals lose again, but what else is new? I also watched the Steelers-Patriots game so that was fun. I like both teams so I didn’t care who’d win (I’ll prolly get flack for that later but oh well). Then I came back to school for school this week and the exams are next week so… 

Only four more full school days left and four exam days and then break! I’m going on vacation with three of my girl friends from Friday, Dec. 12^th-Sunday, Dec. 14^th, so I am really looking forward to that! But it’s getting down to the wire and I am stressed beyond belief but I really don’t have that much to do. I just need to calm down and breathe and I’ll be fine. That is some good advice for everyone though. J Until next time, breathe evenly and deep and all will be fine… J Now, if I can just remember that for myself… ;)

So Stress has been my best friend lately. I have so much to do and so little time to do it, it seems like! Ugh... its annoying! I had a presentation to do on Monday night in my CED class and I have to present again on Tuesday during my IDS class as a PL. Then I also have a research paper due at the end of the semester that I've yet to start along with two papers that serve as exams in my ENG and PHI classes and a paper in my ASL class. Along with my hectic schedules, it's getting to be a pain. This is my Tuesday this week: get up at 6:30 AM, baby-sit 7:30-8:30, class 10-11:15, my CAB meeting 11:30-12:30, class 12:45-2, class again 2:15-3:30, break, then class again 6-8:30... It's a non-stop day that I'm not sure if I'll have to breathe during but oh well... I thrive on fast pace days sometimes, but other times I don't... 

I went bowling last week which was a good stress reliever, though. On Thursday night, CAB and Lions for Life (our pro-life club) sponsored an event at Western Bowl and I bowled two games for free so that was awesome to smash some pins! lol :) Then on Saturday I went to the Bridge Bowl! It's the Mount versus Thomas More and this year it was played on their campus (last year it was here). We lost 19-0 but it was fun, I guess. It was raining but my mom and I had fun. Then we went shopping and I blew $100 on clothes so that was fun! lol :) Time to get in the winter season! Today is snowed most of the day even though none of it really stuck so that was no fun but at least it was the first snow of the year! I love snow! It is definitely my favorite time of the year!!! :D 

This coming weekend, my boyfriend comes home from school so I'll get to see him for a week so I'm happy about that! And next week we have two days of school and then we're out for Thanksgiving break! We get Wednesday-Friday off so I'm excited about getting some time off! I need a break... I also need time to get things done. Time is like money: we spend it, we save it, and we invest it, but once it's gone, we never get it back.

I have been awake since 6am this morning going through e-mails, papers, binders, folders, books, web-sites, phone conversations, and everything else possible! Lets start off with the first two hours of my day. I spent two hours this morning putting together information for an interview that I would have for Kiss 107 about my involvement through the Mount on www.collegeweeklive.com. I then got ready for the day and went to my 9am class. Afterwards I spoke with Cliff about the semester so far and picked up my the Flip Video Camera to start taking more footage for the video that will ...eventually... be up on this blog page. He also had mentioned some ideas for the phonathon job just so many hours later. I then had just enough time to stop up in my room to check e-mails again before my tutoring for ethics. My tutor helped me pitch some ideas for my last ethics paper for the semester. I finished tutoring and made my way up to the room to yet again CHECK MY E-MAIL for more updates for the day and this week. ((I feel like I get 10 e-mails every hour - I'm too involved.)) I then rushed my lunch in order to once again check my e-mail so I can be ready for another interview for the day. I was able to speak with Shane Fero for an hour today about glass art. He is the president of the Glass Art Society and has created some amazingly beautiful pieces and has been able to present, lecture, demonstrate, and teach the techniques of flameworking. I had this interview with him today because of a research paper that is due on Thursday for my flameworking course. We have to research the technique and history of the glasswork as well as an artist who uses the technique and their thoughts and experience with it. I chose Shane Fero because of his magnificent work but never expected to be given the opportunity to speak with him directly about his fabulous work! The best thing I got from the interview was this direct quote from him. His words are inspirational:

“Coming from a traditional background, you learn by practice. Somebody that is coming from a background doesn’t have to have huge skills to make something beautiful. You don’t have to have incredible flameworking skills to make incredible art.”

I've been in a great mood ever since! But still tired because there has been more to add on to the day. After the interview I had voice lessons and then had to rush up to the theatre lobby for the campus ministry leadership team bingo event. I was unaboule to stay for the whole thing however because of choir. Of course after choir, I went up to my room again to CHECK E-MAIL AGAIN before dinner in which i rush in order to get to work on time. Working the phonathon was of course slow tonight because its the last week of calling and we were calling some of the more difficult customers. We made it through though and ended up making it over our goal for the semester. So it overall was a big success. Well after work I had another meeting with campus ministry to talk about the bingo event earlier in the day, as well as the trick or treat for canned goods event. They were BOTH BIG SUCCESSES! We are really excited about it. We also began talking in to more details about upcoming events for the semester. This includes shanty town in which any of the mount students/faculty/staff etc. can build a place to stay for the night of november 19th out of cardboard boxes and sleep outside. it is a big part of our homelessness awareness week! we talked about more details within the week about movie events, speakers, and more. i'm really excited about it! we have more events coming up as well, including a night hike on december 2nd that is welcome to all. after the meeting i was finally able to come back to my room FOR THE NIGHT and get ready for bed. and so now i'm here. writing this blog, tired as can be, and still having to work on more homework, including that ten-page paper that my interview was for. thankfully i have more than enough information to feed off of. its just a matter of whether my brain is too fried to work on it much tonight before i sleep.

well either way, thanks for reading my blog again!

Hey guys!

For those of you who don’t know, Cincinnati recognizes daylight savings time.  This means that that a couple weeks ago, we all turned our clocks back an hour to allow for more light in the morning.  It was designed to save on energy for the workplace. But I have a problem with this.

This time of year is obviously wrestling season (my earlier blogs might have clued you in on that) and we have morning and afternoon practice.  Morning practice takes place early enough that I’m still driving in the dark to get to practice and afternoon practice takes place just late enough to be dark once again on my way home. The constant darkness starts to take its toll and get a tad depressing.  And all this on top of the stress of school, wrestling, family obligations, and a combination of all three.  School work is getting tougher, I need to make weight every week now, and the holidays draw a lot of work and time at home. 

But guess what? I have some tips on how I avoid getting stuck in the rut of depression caused by all this stuff.

First and foremost, in regards to wrestling and making weight, I watch what I eat very closely.  I’m nothing close to a doctor, so don’t take my word for anything, but the way I keep my diet helps my energy levels.  I take a B vitamin complex, which helps with the healthy maintenance of the nervous system among other things. I also take my protein shakes that help my muscles recover to keep my body from hurting too much more.  Bodily pain tends to weigh heavy on your mind and keep you from focusing.  I also take ice baths to help my muscles recover quicker as well. 

Along with the supplements, I keep my vegetable and protein intake high and sugar, sodium, and carbohydrate intake low. I don’t know how much this affects my mood, but it helps me make my weight.

In regards to the other factors, I make sure I go to every class (I have yet to skip a class this semester) so that way I don’t get buried in missed work or struggle to find the notes for the missed lectures.  This is hard to do. The last thing I want to do is wake up from a hard practice and get to class. But you gotta make yourself do it.  Speaking of waking up, sleep is vital! I try to get as much sleep as I can, which usually falls between 4 and 5 hours a night, which I know is too low.

Other helpful tips to keep energy levels up that I have found to be successful include a workout routine and chill time.  I’ve found a regular workout routine (as long as it’s not too intensive) increases my energy levels and happiness.  Chill time for me would include napping, watching a movie or two, and talking and hangin out with my girlfriend, Katelyn, and my teammates and friends.  Video games, meditating, listening to music, and other enjoyable activities tend to help as well.

Well I gotta try to increase my sleep time tonight! I hope this might help you cope with the long, cold, sometimes depressing winter months. Just remember, spring is just around the corner!

See ya!

> Eric M.

So, unfortunately, I have nothing new to really report. I'll give you an overview of my past week and what's potentially coming up this coming week, but I'm sad to say, I live a semi-boring life right now. 

Last week: Well I already told you my car broke down but the update on that is nothing. I still haven't gotten it back yet! It's frustrating! I feel cut off from the entire world because I have no car and no way to go anywhere. It's a sad reality when we feel lonely because we don't have a car... Wow... hopefully my dad can hurry the mechanic up so I can get my car back early this coming week. I'm still doing my service learning hours at St. William's Homework Helpers Program. I don't know if I ever mentioned that or not? See, I need hours to get a service learning credit for one of my classes- it's required- and I need 30 hours and I have to do a tutoring program 3 hours a week so hopefully, that combined with other odd service jobs, I can get my silly lil credit by the end of the semester or I get a stupid incomplete for my class. Go figure. I had a meeting with my advisor about my classes. It lasted 10 minutes. I already knew what classes I'm taking, I've already taken my Praxis test, and I'm already accepted into the Education Department so there wasn't anything to talk about. He cleared me to register and on Wednesday morning, I'll get up at 6:30 AM to register for my second semester of my sophomore year of college. Wow... time flies... Halloween was Friday but I didn't do anything. It's the first Halloween that I've really missed. No car equals no parties and no trick-or-treating so one of my friends came over and she and I ate candy, made puppy chow!, and watched movies. Exciting right? Not... On Saturday, I took a computer proficiency test so that I can waive a computer class that I'd have to take for my degree if I didn't pass this test. I don't know how I scored yet but I'll prolly find out some time this coming week. I eventually had my parents come get me and I spent Saturday night and Sunday at home. I came back to the Mount, worked on a project with my partner for my Human Exceptionalities class, interviewed my mom and recorded it for our project, and now I'm here. Boring... :( I like variety and this is certainly not it. 

This Coming Week: Since I still don't have a car, my dad is coming to get me some time on Monday so that he can take me home so I can vote on Tuesday. Yes, finally, Election Day is this week and I can FINALLY stop seeing political commercials on TV and stop hearing them on the radio. I'm so sick and tired of politics! I honestly hate politics but whatever... So Tuesday is Election Day. Wednesday is the day sophomores register for our classes- yay! I like getting my schedule ready and knowing what I'm taking next semester so that's exciting. Thursday, my project is due. And Friday is a special day! Friday, November 7th is my birthday! I'll be leaving the world of teenagers behind and becoming a true young adult in some kind of sense. I'll be 20 and I'm so excited! That day, I'll be going to Kenwood to have dinner with my family and hang out and then that night I have to go to a "Silent Dinner" at Kenwood Mall. It's a Deaf community event in which my classmates and I have to go to participate in a conversation  with a deaf person for an assignment for class using our newly acquired sign language skills. It's going to nerve-wrecking and I'll be so nervous to do it. I'm not that confident of my signing skills so I'm not sure what'll happen. Then I'll go back to my house to celebrate some more with my parents and my twin! lol :) Saturday will be boring but that night I'm having a party with my friends at Newport so that'll be good. It's a joint birthday party because my friend Alex is turning 20 on Sunday so she and I are having a mid-way party- my birthday Friday, our party Saturday, her birthday Sunday. It'll be fun!!! :)  

And that's my life. It's boring... Awesome ain't it? I'm sure after the election, registering, and my birthday, I'll have much more to talk about next time :) Until then... bon voyage!

So I was a bad girl on Friday... :) I decided to skip classes (which was only 2) and I went on a field trip with my mom's classroom to a pumpkin patch!

That is one of the kewl things about Cincinnati- we have a TON of pumpkin patches. We went to Shaw Farm off of 131 in Milford (get off at the Milford- theater- exit on 275 and then follow that road straight and you'll eventually hit on your left- go for like 15 minutes) and it has pumpkins, a corn maze, a wooden maze (it's made of wood planks and only has one exit and one entrance right next to each other so you can let your kids go in and you can just stand watching the entrance/exit and they're bound to come out at some point or another), a hay ride you can take, and then a little shop you get candy, goods, food, drinks, and fun stuff in.

While we were there, we went on the hay ride and that was a blast! Then we got to see some animals- goats, a horse, chickens- that looked freaking hilarious! because they weren't the normal kind of chickens, they were ones with a ton of fluff and they looked like they were wearing boots around their feet, and some pigs. We also did a sensory activity. It was a bunch of boxes of corn with hidden objects and you had to find certain ones hidden in the corn. There were also boxes of mixed seeds and you had to identify what seed was what based on a diagram/chart they gave you. We also played in the mazes, played in the wooden "houses" which were just boards put up into house with no roofs so kids could go in and play and stick their heads out of them, found a pumpkin (those little tiny gourd ones- so cute!), and just ran around having fun!

This was also a part of my service hours for one of my classes, Human Exceptionalities. We need 30 hours to get a service learning credit, a free credit toward your total of credits that you can only do 3 times over the course of your 4 (or more) years at the Mount, and I'm working on that right now. So I got 5 hours helping out my mom on a field trip (these kids all have autism in some form or another) and I had fun in the process!!! :)

I love pumpkins!

For Homecoming we got a pumpkin shaped stress ball (just a balloon filled with sand) and it so much fun to play with!!! :)

Well I'm sitting here listening to Coldplay and one of favorite songs comes on.It called warning sign off their "A Rush of B-s to The Head". It made me think about my situation at school. One thing about college is being held accountable for your own actions. Well I recently received an early warning report from one of my teachers. This is basically telling you that you aren't doing well and the report contains details about how to change that. So upon receiving this I realized that I have to turn things around. It wasn't because I wasn't studying or that I'm not smart all I needed to do was change how I study. I realized waiting until the test comes then cramming isn't very successful. I now study my notes every day and things seem to be working out. It only takes about an hour or two which I used to spend online or playing videos games. Setting a schedule of days has also been helpful for me and it leads me to not do anything wasteful when I should be doing something that's important. I came to the point in my life were I really have to grow up because trying to find a job without a college diploma is extremely hard. I had to sit out a spring semester and trying to find a job or at least a good paying job is nearly impossible unless it's backbreaking work. I commend those people but that isn't my future and if I keep slacking then I will soon run out of chances. The college has given me that second chance and I really can't afford to blow this wonderful opportunity or I'll end up in a place, I don't want to be doing something I don't want to do.