Forgotten Blog

So hey, I don't know if anyone checks this any more - sorry if you do, I obviously quit posting for another six months there. Anyway, if you are reading this now, hi!
Things have been going very well in Iowa since April. I took some fun trips this summer: first I went out west (Badlands, Yellowstone, and a four day white water rafting trip down the Yampa river in Colorado) with a geology class lead by my friend Jeff. It was an absolute BLAST! Then I took a week trip up to Canada to visit my friend Courtney, the one from Tasmania. It was SO good to see her again! It had been almost a year, but we have been in good contact since we parted Tas. I took a summer class, Intercultural Communications, which took a little turn with the flood here in Iowa City, but it turned out we only missed one week. Fortunately we were not affected much by the flood (well, besides not being able to cross the river, go to school, use the internet for a couple days, etc). It was actually kinda' cool to see the city come together like we did to help one another. Then Dad took me to Chicago for a week for a judicial conference in August. That was a REALLY good time too!!
Then the fall semester began. I am only taking 13 hours of class, but I am also doing a research assistantship with one of the professors in the Communication Studies department. She is writing a book on the Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast. And I am watching an adorable 3 month old baby (the daughter of Jeff, the geology professor) three days a week. So, I am staying pretty darn busy.
Of course in September I had to take a week off school to go to Maui. Lizzie got married on September 23rd to Andrew Gillman. It was the most perfect wedding with the sunset on the beach, and it was so great to spend a week with the whole family (the Gillman family included).
So, now it is just pounding out the school work and waiting for Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and ultimately Christmas break!
Thanks for keeping up with me!!

Wrapping up the semester

Phew! It's almost over!
The semester is winding down, and, though it's time for all of those "fun" final presentations, I am enjoying the end of the semester. I have been working as a cashier at Hy-Vee for a couple months now. It is exceedingly tedious, but I have met some cool people and really enjoy interacting with the customers.
I am getting VERY excited for the summer to begin! For the first ten days after school gets out, I am taking a geology field trip for a class I am in. We are going to go to Wyoming (Yellowstone) for five days camping and hiking, and then to Colorado to raft down the Yampa River. We will just raft all day and pull over on the banks to sleep at night. These rapids will be a LOT crazier than anything I experienced in Tasmania - we will be encountering a lot of level three rapids and even quite a few level four!!!! (level one is like a lazy river, and level five means you will most likely die - just to give you a scale to go by) Then a week after that I am going to head up to Canada with Mom and her friend, Emily, and they will drop me off (on their way to Emily's folks') at my mate Courtney's place for the week!!! (Courtney is my best friend that I ran around with so much in Tasmania.) After that I will take a couple classes until August, and in August I get to take a trip with my dad for four days - which will be great!!!
In the mean time I am keeping busy with school, work, hanging out with my roommates, and bumming around with my friend Scott (with whom I went on a three and a half hour bike ride yesterday... I am SO sun burnt, I am maroon!).
I hope everyone is well and enjoying this BEAUTIFUL spring weather!
Now for some random pictures:


This is me being a dork with my cool "tatoo"... That's what happens when I sit in class for five hours a day.



This is my friends Chris and Chuck at the Fraternal Order of Eagles "2nd Chance Prom Night"



And this is my sweet house (where I live with six other people... yeah, seven total. We used to have eight!)

Semester 2

And so it begins, the start of another semester. Classes do not seem to be too bad so far. My interpersonal communications teacher is really cool - it's a small class, and very interesting subject matter. Persuasion in society is proving to be rather tedious and not all to engaging, but philosophy should be fun as my friend Seth is teaching it. Core concepts of communication will be a lot of work, and my essay workshop should be a fun challenge. Geology doesn't start until after spring break, but I cannot wait for that one!!
Today is a snow day (woohoo)!!!! I have been watching movies and snuggling on the couch with my roommates all day. This afternoon we will go sledding (that's what snow days are for, right?), and then it's cocoa city!
I have been keeping busy with school and hanging out with buddies, but will hopefully be starting work at Hy-Vee next week. I am excited to have the opportunity to make new friends, and to put a little more Starbucks money in my pocket! Haha! No, really I spend the better part of my free time at Starbucks in Coralville - it's such a quiet place to study, and it's far away from the bustle of the city.
Hope this weather is treating everyone alright! Just think of the snow removal as a free workout!

Semester 2 about to begin

I really need to work on this blog thing, don't I?
Well fall semester is over, and winter break is coming to an all-too-soon close. First semester went pretty well - much better than I had thought it would! I have settled (Finally) on a major in communications studies. I was going to minor in astronomy as well, but after realizing the requirements are far greater than those for my major (and would keep me in school another year or two) I decided against it. Now I will be able to graduate (HOPEFULLY) next December!
This semester looks to be a bit of a busy one. I am taking 17 credit hours and none of them (from philosophy to interpersonal communications) look to be too terribly easy.
I will have to let you know how it is though once I get settled into my classes a little though. I hope everyone is having a happy 2008 so far!