Friday, August 31, 2012

On the Wonders of Morning

As I sit here typing this, my ideal bedtime is ticking away. This makes me sad, but I know that I will just have to make the night what the morning could be— study time. You see, I have found that though living in a dorm has it's perks (basically a huge mall and only two minutes from class), there is also the disadvantage of my friends. I may innocently be working on my Microeconomics homework, when someone barges in to tell me a story. Of course, being the easily-distracted person that I am, I'm all ears, and before you know it, half an hour is gooonnneee. Once they leave, I then have to (somehow) re-focus and get back into the "zone". It's rough.

So this morning I tried what I did a couple of times last year— go to bed early and wake up super duper early. So, at 8:00pm I turned off my light, and at 4:30am I popped out of bed ready to roll! Didn't even hit the snooze button and let me tell you, it feels GREAT. I got loads done, and since I went to bed on time, my entire day just felt, more vibrant. It is difficult to do this every night though, because some nights, meetings must be met and life must go on. But basically, what I'm saying is:

You should try it sometime.
Lemme know how it goes.
:)

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Friday, August 24, 2012

Big Country, Little Lincoln

Man, oh man, the things I do to save just $50 is getting ridiculous. Granted, $50 is a lot of money for a poor college student such as myself, but the hassle and stress that tend to come attached to this 'saving' are almost not worth it. For example, I booked my flight to return to Nebraska from Hawaii in May (for August, you know, 'cause it's cheaper), with a total of five flights. Yeah, five. As I was checking in on my day of departure, I was only allowed to check my two suitcases under for four flights, not my total five. Problem? Yes.

You see, between my fourth and fifth flights, I now needed to go to baggage claim to collect my suitcases, check-in once again, go through security, and get to my gate. The problem was, that my layover was only 45 minutes long. 45 minutes, no matter how fast you are, is NOT enough time. Now add on to the fact that I am tiny,and would have to handle two 50 pound suitcases, as well as two carry-ons, on my own. Honestly, it wasn't going to happen. So, during my five hour flight, I decided to beg for my bags to be taken off in Portland, because I had a three hour layover there.

With my adrenaline pumping and my brain exhausted from the never-fitful sleep of flight, I charged off the plane and into the nearest agent. After quickly explaining my situation to the man at the desk, he got on his radio and asked those unloading the plane to send my two bags to carousel 6. Off I went to baggage claim: backpack, attached ukulele, red rollerbag, and jacket jangling with my short and quick steps.

Upon arriving at carousel F, I waited about five minutes. (By waiting, I mean paced up and down the empty area, careless of the lone man watching me). Soon, a buzzer sounded, and out popped my two bags. All by themselves. They made it about 15 feet out of the flapping rubber tire door before the carousel was turned off. Now, along with hauling these two huge suitcases up an escalator, they were now at the entire other end of the baggage claim area, far from the escalators. Throwing my pride to the dead air of the airport, I grabbed one and began to lug it about 50 feet. I then returned to get my second suitcase, which was actually a trunk, and haul it to where the first was waiting. Cue lone man, "Hey, do you need some help?" Already feeling terrible, but knowing that it would be great to have some assistance, I replied, "Sure, I just need to get this all to the escalator." So away we went, loaded up the bags on the escalator with a quick, "Thanks, bye" and I continued on up.

If you are not exhausted by now just reading this account, I applaud you for continuing on. Maybe you can see how tiring it was for me! Because as I reached the top of the escalator, I found that my airline was (of course) at the far end of the row of airlines. leaving my bags a few feet behind me, I ran to one of those "Ask me for help" people and, well, asked him for help. He said I needed to get a cart because I couldn't carry stuff over one by one—  I would get in trouble from security. So I told him I would get a cart from outside. I left my stuff by the window and ran out the door. Reaching the front of the cart dispenser, to my dismay, I found that a cart cost $4.00! As I pulled out my credit card to do the deed, I heard knocking on the window right beside me. stuffing my card back into my wallet, I ran back inside to find the helper man. He had found me a cart for free!

I loaded up and checked in at my airline's desk. Finally rid of my 100 pounds of stuff I headed to the security line, where I waiting for 20 minutes. That's right, 20. I made it to my departure gate with an hour or so to spare. Let me tell you, God definitely took care of me as I was lugging my suitcases around. I'm pretty sure He gave me the idea to prematurely take my stuff off the plane in Portland. I happily landed in Nebraska two flights later; everything with me and intact.

It's good to be back.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Money and Cookies

You know your student financial aid office is on the right track when they give you cookies. Money can make you salty, they want you to be sweet. Gotta love my college!


Sunday, August 12, 2012

Afternoon in the Park

Kerri was waaaay excited for this picture . . .
                     

                    


Friday, August 10, 2012

Friday Back

I'm back on campus, ready for a new year, but it is so empty here. I can't wait for more of our new freshman and transfer students to start showing up in stronger numbers— so many potential friends, I can't wait!



Sunday, August 5, 2012

Happy Sabbath!



Happy Sabbath! My mom got a Vitamix for her birthday, so we have begun to experiment. So far, so delicious!





And then the beach to close the day. :)



Friday, August 3, 2012

Out on the Town

 Gotta love the pink starburst!

So cute!


The adventures in Photoshop continue . . .