Fall

everyone has been saying how much they love the change of weather we've recently experienced. i am not one of those people. i dislike the feeling you get when you walk outside and the cold wind takes your breath away and instantly makes your nose a popsicle. i get sick very easily and when its cold out i find myself getting sick more often than when it is warm. i don't like having to put on multiple layers of clothes because then you go inside and have to take half of the things off, dressing for the cold is just an absolute pain. sure the leaves are beautiful at this time of year but in about a month, maybe less, the trees will be bare and ugly. the skeleton trees will haunt the campus and make going outside even more unenjoyable. i'd much rather see the life of summer year round than the death of late fall and winter.

stress

all of a sudden college has put a ton of stress on me. for the most part my classes have been fairly simple and didn't include any tests, just a few quizzes from time to time. the end of this week is packed full of an english quiz, an edpsyc test, and a math exam to top it off. as confident as i am that i will do well on these quizzes and tests the fact that they are 'tests' still make the situation seem more stressful. i think i finally know what my friends have been going through. the best way for me to relieve this stress is to go to the pool and swim. i love swimming and have been a competitive swimmer for the past 10 years. i am extremely passionate about swimming and even though i do not swim for ball state i still love going over to the pool and giving myself a good, challenging workout. no matter what is on your mind, swimming can always help rid you of your problems. when i swim its as if the water is washing my mind clear of all the things that are bothering me and in my opinion there is absolutely nothing better than this.

Ishmael Beah

After listening to Ishmael Beah speak I started thinking about the book in a little more detail. I was absolutely amazed that someone with such a horrific childhood can be as light of a speaker as Beah was. Throughout the entire speech Ishmael continued to make jokes and keep the audience interested in what he had to say without telling the awful details about what happened in his life. The easiness that Beah spoke with made the reality of the success story even more powerful. Someone who can come out in front of thousands of people who know his background and can talk about all his troubles is an absolute role model to anyone.

My favorite part of the speech was when Ishmael said something along the lines of "When you hear gun shots and have to get away fast you don't think 'I think I will take this report card. I might need this someday.' " At first I thought that it was just a simple joke but the more I started thinking about the statement it related to a whole lot more. When you are in danger the most important things in your current life become the most mundane things in your new beginning. School may have been extremely important and he probably considered it a need more than a want but once there were soldiers in his city, Ishmael had more direct needs and put his wants aside. Overall this was one of the best speeches I have ever listened to.

Farmville

There is this application on facebook that many people have recently become 'addicted' to. It's called Farmville, there is also a Farmtown but please do not get it twisted, Farmville is the way to go. The game is somewhat pointless but it is fun at the same time. You can plow, plant and harvest your land. You can also have animals such as cows (spotted and brown), goats, horses, rabbits, sheep (black and white) ducks, and then ugly ducklings that transform into beautiful swans. There are different levels and with each new levels you get more crops to choose from. You can gain level points by accomplishing different tasks. One such task is befriending 50 people. Speaking of befriending people and adding them as your neighbors, I am currently 6 'neighbors' short of the blue ribbon (50 neighbors) so whoever reads this and wishes to add me on facebook ( Emily Slain) and be my neighbor, that would be fantastic. I will award you with 5 friend points*, that's an honor! ;)

K have a great day and think about that Farmville offer :)

*Please note: Friend points are not related to anything whatsoever, they are just a fake bribe but I will just think highly of you as my friend in real life. But I will probably send you some gifts on farmville as well.

and all the gold dust in your eyes wont reform into a ring

I would have to say that the best music to fall asleep to is Joshua Radin. No matter what is on your mind, good or bad, it almost always relates and its incredibly comforting. Pretty much all of his songs are slow and relaxing. My top 6 favorite songs that he sings are:

1. Everything'll Be Alright

2. These Photographs

3. Winter

4. What If You

5. Sundrenched World

6. Star Mile

If you're looking for something calming I'd highly recommend these tunes.

Have a delightful weekend :)

weather

I love big huge thunderstorms that have ridiculously dangerous lightning. I haven't seen a storm like this in a long time and I'm really wanting one. I was reminded of how much I am craving a storm when the fan fell out of our window today. I was a little scared at first but when

I looked outside and felt the pull of the wind changing directions I knew it was coming. Today I was sitting on my bed doing homework just like every other day and I heard this really weird noise outside. I could see the sun shinning in so I figured there were some people out playing a game or something. When I looked outside it was raining super hard but light at the same time and straight down. This is what the fan had warned me about. Unfortunately it rained for about ten minutes and was done. No thunder, no lightning. Just rain. Thats ok though I suppose.

kind of a random entry...

weekend

almost everyone I know has gone home this weekend. I kinda want to go home just because no one is here really but I think about what is at home and it makes me very thankful I'm still here. none of my friends because they're all at their own college, my family who I just spent the past 3 months of summer with, and our stupid new puppy who chewed up anything that belonged to me, yep, I'm glad I stayed. I've heard anyways that you shouldn't go home within the first month because that makes things a lot easier to transition into, so yay me for staying I suppose..

not to enthusiastic about writing right now.

free write

When I was in the second grade my world was opened up more than I could have ever imagined. While everyone else was getting a baby brother or a new puppy, my family was getting a German. I knew nothing about Germany or even that there were other places besides America. My dad came home one night after a long day of teaching technology at a local high school and we had a ‘family meeting’. He told us that there was a girl in his class who was a foreign exchange student here from Germany. He continued to tell us that she was involved in basketball at school and was a great student and had an amazing personality to go along with it. I was a little confused as to why he was telling us everything that was so great about this girl I knew nothing about. After telling us how much she loved Garrett (his school) and everything she was experiencing he told us how miserable she was at her ‘host home’. She would come to school crying and go to his room to talk to him about all the problems she had at home. Once he was done telling us everything about this young girl we'd never met he asked if we would all be willing to open our home to her and accept her as a part of our family.