I Put the Pro in Procrastination

If you know me, you know that everything I do is done at the last possible minute. Everything from doing my makeup for the day to writing a paper. But this week I've hit the deep end. I have always been used to doing everything at the last minute so I wasn't surprised when my professor announced a project in October that wouldn't be due until November that I put it in the back of my mind. Now he would mention it here and there in class, but I wouldn't listen! I mean it wasn't due for weeks! Well big surprise when I went to class and my fellow students asked what my project looked like and when I told them I hadn't started they gave me the "Are you nuts?!" eyes. Yupp, it was due the next week. So last night I drug Shayla out to a 24hr McDonalds where she got her burgers and I got my 10 piece nuggets and we sat down and cracked these projects out. Shayla was also working on a class, although she was not procrastinating...she's all the way ahead into December (sure wish I had her motivation). It wasn't until 2:38 that we left McDonalds and headed back to the dorms where I spent another hour writing a bit more. Now here I am, today I have 1 quiz, 1 test, and a project that I still have 4 more things to do to. Lord have mercy on my soul and I PROMISE that next semester I will not let myself get this far behind.


Maybe.

Plans Don't Always go as Planned

I'm a planner when it comes to everything but school. I can't seem to get my life organized when it comes to classes, when quizzes are, or when homework assignments are do. I don't even have a plan for most of the homework i get anyway. I often go to class and wing it, and so far its been working for me. I am however a great planner when it comes to group outings. I love the excitement of planning an event and inviting everyone, and just having the days agenda all up in my head. I'm sure Angelene gets annoyed with sometimes because I tell her my weekend plans just so I can hear myself say them out loud and also so she can catch any holes in the plan, which there sometimes are.

This weekend I am especially excited because its all about celebrating Halloween and anything to do with this spooky holiday gets me excited! And my friends from Wayne are coming, so that's pretty cool too. In the planning process I have taken upon myself to be the one to house everyone coming to visit, and by that I mean asked my mom if she could tell my dad that I have friends coming over. As a farmer during harvest season, (and because of the currently crappy bean/corn prices) my dad is not his most joyful self in the fall. I find it easier to ask my mom to tell him so that I don't get the backlash. Especially since this time there will be a total of 8 college students stuffed into out guest room basement. I insured my mother though that I would keep them as quiet as I can, which doesn't say much as I am usually the one that people have to hush in situations like this.

The original plan was to go camping Friday night after haunted housing and do what almost all college kids would do at an unsupervised camping site: fish, s'mores, and beer. But after looking at what the temperatures have been at night, a few of the girls decided that they wouldn't be up for trying it. So again, we are back to my basement and trying not to wake the beast (my dad). After a little thought I decided to ask Angelene if we could borrow her parents fire pit so that we wouldn't have to skip out on the weenie roasting and s'mores part of the night. Thank god we have the Enkes, because I don't know what I'd do. In the off chance that we won't be able to use the fire pit though I have a back up plan. Which includes a small charcoal grill and lighter fluid.

Even when you try to plan an event out, even if it's weeks ahead, they don't always go as planned. I'm sure my moms okay with it though, now I can return the sleeping bag I bought on her credit card. (:

I Loved Him First

As some of you may know over the summer I had a dream come true and I got a little baby hedgehog of my own. I saved up my waitressing money this summer and in June I found a hedgehog breeder that had very good reviews and were reasonably priced. I contacted the breeder from Renn's Hedgehog Heaven via Facebook and she quickly got back to me saying that I can pick any one of the hedggies on the Facebook page. After a few hours of going back and fourth I picked out a little light colored male named Vance. After giving the breeder a 50$ down payment she sent me new pictures of Vance and the date I would be able to pick him up.  A few short weeks, I was able to pick up Vance. He was so teeny tiny and sweet, it didn't take long for him to stop hissing in my hands and he rode well in the car. I had changed his name form Vance to Hamlet. He came in a little tupperware box with holes drilled on the top, but instead I held him in my lap as I drove home from Omaha. When I took him home I had his little habitat ready for him. The habitat had a little hut I painted for him to hide in and a snuggle pouch as well. I even got him a little wheel and dig box that he loved to play in. Almost every morning I would have to put his rocks back in his dig box because he love to push them out. I had a little fleece cut out so I could hold him without worrying about his little quills poking me. It was great, until I moved back to college. Ang and I moved back to Cedar Falls and into the dorm Campbell this time. We had a cute little set up with Hamlet in the middle section of shelves about our tv. We had a cute little curtain covering him up as pets were illegal in the dorms, but Hamlet was too cute not to sneak in. Life was great, we had friends coming in to visit Hamlet and he was getting used to being held by strangers. Unfortunately the good life didn't last long.

It wasn't even two weeks into school and the allergies started. I woke up in the middle of the night sneezing more than 6 times in a row. Ang woke up to ask me if I was okay. I ended up having to take my inhaler and medicine until I could fall back asleep 2 hours later. I was hoping it was just seasonal allergies and not from my little hedggie, but I was proven wrong when the next three nights went the same way. I even tried taking allergy medicine before I went to bed, but alas, it did not help. After along discussion with my mom and talking to other friends for advice I decided to have Ang take Hamlet home as she was headed there that weekend anyway. After a few days of talking about it Mom and I decided to sell Hamlet to one of Mom's friend's daughter. She was more than thrilled to finally get a hedgehog as I did and she decided to keep his name Hamlet, which I am very thankful for. I know it was not something I can control, but it breaks my heart having to give my baby up. All the time and love I put into getting his home ready and making sure he was happy. I am just thankful he is happy with his new owner and I know that she will love him as I did.

29/73

June is the first official month of summer. It's the month of my mom's birthday, the pool opens, and it's the 1 month this summer where I have absolutely nothing planned. I don't plan to go anywhere, and it's supposed to  be my relaxing month, key words "supposed to". Even when I have a full month set aside to do whatever my heart wants my mind cannot seem to settle. I have two jobs this summer so this helps me keep my mind off things but the (very few) days I have off I can't help but to feel the need to fill the days with as many friends as possible. To me the summer is time to rekindle friendships put on hold, but during the school year I had decided to let the small flames die out and focus on the ones I am closest too. This is hard because the days where most of my other friends are busy and I have money burning a hole in my pocket, all I want to do is call up anyone to go out. I am teaching myself that it is okay to sit at home and do nothing for a while. So far on my days off I have learned two new songs on the uke, painted three pictures, two over done sketches, played hours of sims, played GTA V and tried not to hit a single thing (the rule is I have to restart a mission if I wreck) and caught up on most of my Netflix. Summer is meant to be about relaxing, and yet I find myself pulling my hair at the mindlessness of sitting at home. I didn't think I'd say it this early but I am ready for the scheduled days and the monotony of college life.

It's Beginning to Feel a lot like Summer

Sophomore year is in the books and let me tell you I have never been more ready for summer break. It is now the first week of summer break and so far the days have been filled with Netflix, long showers with no shoes, and sleeping in til noon. Well I slept in til noon during school too, but there's something more satisfying about waking up and not going to class. Getting home from break was a little hectic. Originally the plan was to have Ang and my parents come up Thursday afternoon and pack us up to go, but rain just had to get in the way. It had been raining multiple times prior to our move out date and due to our dad's both being farmers they had to stay back so they could get into the field. Our mom's being the kind souls that they are decided to come up just the two of them to help us move out, but that too did not happen. Ang's new little nephew just could not wait to see the world and caused our moms to stay back for the delivery. It was Wednesday night, and we still didn't know if we were moving out Thursday or Friday. It wasn't until Thursday morning that our parents told us that our mom's would be staying back for the baby and that Ang's dad would come up with the van to load all the big things and haul them back as quick as possible. Later into lunch we learned that Ang was an aunt once again, and we couldn't wait to get home.

The first three days hoe were spent even busier than finals week. Friday mom woke me up before noon (it's harder than you think), and together we went on a shopping day. We at lunch at my absolute favorite restaurant and went to the small to find some cute summer outfits and dresses to wear to upcoming wedding we would be photographing. When we were finished shopping mom dropped me off at my friend Mollie's house. It was so refreshing to see her again. She is someone who can literally make you smile, and she's great to have deep meaningful conversations with. Later on Karli joined us along with Mollie's friend Ben and out for sushi we went! The old market was another great place to be back in once again. My goal this summer is to get someone to go on a horse carriage ride with me. Karli was so kind as to give me a ride home and we had a great conversation, she is another one I can always talk to. (:

Saturday marked the first wedding of the summer. I seriously have no idea how my mom does it. I like taking pictures and all, but I do not have the creative mind, or the patience to get everyone together and posed. My favorite part is when my mom tells me to go take detail shots. For those of you not in the photography world, detail shots are pictures of the little details of the wedding. Detail shots can range anywhere from rings to flowers, or shoes to programs. This time the couple had a really cute ring box that looked like a little tree stump that held both rings, and i got some pretty neat photos with it if I do say so myself. Really the only parts about photographing wedding I don't like are the ceremonies and the receptions. For ceremonies I have the older camera so I cannot zoom in well, also I am usually positioned at the back, or the balcony of the church and don't take many pictures. Mom always tells me to just get the main shots: the kids, the bride, the kiss. Receptions usually are just as boring as the ceremony. We literally sit and watch people eat for an hour, maybe more. There are no pictures you can take while people eat. Luckily for me, my mom was kind enough to let me leave early for a friends graduation party the next town over. There I was able to see friends I haven't seen in forever, eat cake, and most importantly play with a hedgehog. Chels brought her hedge hog to her party and he was almost more popular than her. Afterwards I was able to see her new apartment and hangout with her and her sister a bit before heading home for the night.

Sunday I had to once again wake up before noon and I was getting sick of it. This time though, was to make some money. I will not be getting paid for the weddings this summer as mom helped me pay for my laptop after spilling water on my other one and this is how I can pay her back. Sunday was also my first day back at Wings since January. Being gone that long I definitely missed a few things. One of them was the new manager, he isn't bad, but he is the same age as me. In fact we graduated together. Now there's nothing wrong with this, except for it was a little different to think that someone who I always saw as equal is now my boss. It was also mother's day so we were expecting it to be busy and it was, but that was good because I was hoping to make enough money to take my mom out for the night. I made enough to take my mom out to one of our favorite fancier restaurants, Ruby Tuesdays, and the new movie "Mother's Day". What a fitting title. She loved it and I topped off the night with a typical mom post on Facebook.

Monday and Tuesday were my first two days to relax and I was taking advantage of it. Mom was in South Dakota and these were the days I was able to sleep until noon and do nothing but watch Netflix and relax. Tuesday I actually took a shower and got into a clean set of jammies. I also hit a new record on Netflix, it asked me FOUR times if I was still watching. Wednesday was another relaxed day and I went to the grocery store to get some healthy food, that right I'm (trying) to diet, again. Dinner I met up with Ang and a few other friends and ate at a local restaurant, After dinner I was able to meet her new little nephew and head home. And here I am now, 1 AM and still too scared to go to sleep. Dad plays cards on Wednesday's and usually stays out pretty late, which is usually okay because mom would be here, but she isn't. I don't know what it is about the dark but I have some kind of phobia of being by myself at night. I'm fine as long as someone is in the house too but without someone there I am paranoid. So currently I have all the lights on, all the blinds shut, and the tv on. I also texted a few friends to see if they can spend the night but I assume they are sleeping. So to calm my nerves I decided to catch up on my writing. Dad should be here soon and I should be going to bed soon so I will have enough energy for the Luke Bryan concert tomorrow.

Until next time.
       -Marissa

A Thank You To My First Mentor Teacher

It was the first time in 14 years that I stepped foot into a kindergarten classroom. I was nervous and to top it of the beginning of the day was awful. I had been assigned to Mrs. Phillips classroom in Waterloo. At 7 in the morning I typed in the elementary school and went on my way, later I would find out that google maps had taken me into the elementary in Cedar Falls. It was my first day and I had already made an awful impression. Lucky for me Mrs. Phillips is the most understanding person I have ever met. She could tell I was nervous as I was apologizing for my tardiness, and she comforted me and helped me through my first day.

The first Monday I was there I had to introduce myself to a circle of 23 wide eyes kids. They were so entranced that there was someone new in the room. I told them my name and a few things about me. I  told them that I was in school just like them, and that I lived on a farm. As soon as the word farm left my mouth about 6 hands shot up, some didn't even raise their hands and just shouted out questions and statements. "My grandpa has a farm!", "Do you have cows?", "Do you milk your cows?", "Do you drive a tractor?!" After the questions were answered the students went on with their day. Throughout the day I was asked several times what my name was and how long I will be there. When I left at 12:30 I was excited to call my mom and tell her all about my day.

The second week the kids were just as excited as the first. A few remembered my name. and a few just remembered that I lived on a farm. The second week I was thrown in with the kids to help. This was both exciting and nerve wracking. There were several times a student had a question that I wasn't sure how to answer. Who would have thought that a kindergartener could ask a question that would stump a college sophomore, well they can, and they did several times. The third week I went the students all knew my name and started greeting me in the morning with hugs. By now it was easier to answer questions now that I knew how things worked. For one of the weeks I had to come to school on a Friday instead of a Monday and let me tell you, those kids were shocked like I had just walked in with a box of puppies. Immediately several of them asked why I was there and asked me if I will be on Friday's from now on. I knew Kindergarteners had a short attention span, but man, those kids get distracted by a fly.

Later on in the semester it had some time for me to teach my micro lesson. This lesson consisted of everything that I had learned from Mrs. Phillips about classroom management, and teaching, as well as my ability to use the skills I have learned and teach a 15 minute lesson. Mrs. Phillips gave me a few ideas for assignments that would go well with what they were learning that week and the rest was up to me. Mrs. Phillips was very kind and gave me a few words of advice before starting. She said to use a BIG commanding voice, to be confident, and that I had been doing so well with the kids thus far. I began my lesson, used my BIG voice, and the kids listened without a hitch. The lesson went so smoothly form transition into the lesson, pre lesson, the worksheet, and the final transition.

Bottom line is that I wouldn't have been able to do it without Mrs. Philips as my mentor. She showed me what it takes to be a teacher and the good and bad of being one. She gave me confidence when I was nervous, and gave me advice when I was unsure. She never batted an eyelash when I had questions and made sure that I got a full experience. I will always look back on her words of wisdom and will never forget my first class and my first little kiddos.

Thank you.

Let Me Tell You 'Bout My Best Friend

Friendships are one thing I take very seriously. I've never really had a relationship with a boyfriend so I spend most of my free time with my friends. When I was younger I would even put extra effort into friendship that were quite small and wouldn't make it past high school, but I did that because I would rather have a lot of little friendships than none at all. After high school I was surprised with some of the friends that I have kept. Some of them were the small friendships that grew as we did, and some dwindled, but we still check up on each other every few months. There are about 3 that I have kept strong through it all.

One of which is my roommate Ang. Our mothers tried to force us to be friends when we were younger and it pretty much blew up in their faces when we ended up constantly fighting. We were both the babies, and because of that we were queen bees of our own homes. What happens when you get two spoiled queens together? Pulled hair, names called, tears shed, and a box of brownies smashed over a head. Looking back today, it gives us a few good laughs. It wasn't until high school that we actually began to act civil and like each other. I'm a school year older so when I went off to school in Wayne we found ourselves texting one another, and lots of snapchats. The weekends home were spent playing sims next to each other, not talking much but just being there was enough. When I decided to switch schools she pretty much bullied me into being her roommate, texting me weekly if I got accepted, and not taking no for an answer. So here we are today, we still annoy each other just like any two sisters would, and there has yet to be another brownie box smashing, but we still have three more years.

Another friend I have kept around was Karli. She and I are completely polar opposites, and sometimes I wonder how the heck have we stayed this close? But trust me it works. There have been a few conflicts because we were so different, like in foods class and we had to make a casserole together. Karli wanted a spicy casserole and I wanted one that was not, and us both being too stubborn to give in (one thing we have in common). We  ended up compromising, with the help of our teacher and made a casserole that was half and half. And if were being honest here, I should have listened to Karli because me side was AWFUL. Growing up we have always known each other, started kindergarten together and graduated high school together. It wasn't until junior high that we had become close. We worked on a FCCLA project and actually made it to state where we got a silver metal (the only metal I have EVER gotten). It was a lot of fun to do that with her and we got a couple good memories out of it. Like the time my mom picked us up to take us to the library and started driving with Karli half in the car. We still make fun of her for that(: We have had a couple arguments and a fist fight or too, or maybe I should call it Karli coming at me and I running away like the wimp I am, but we have stayed together through it all. Today she lives in Altoona and I'm in Cedar Falls, but we make it work with constant snapchats and a funny picture text here and there, and weekends spent at home and getting sushi. It's all a build up to her coming to Cedar Falls in the fall and Karli, Ang, and I living a block away from each other. I seriously CANNOT WAIT!

Last but not least theres Kasie. Now her and I's relationship was a little different. We have had what you can call a friend-enemy friendship. Kasie and I also have always known about each other, like Karli, we started kindergarten together and graduated together. In elementary my mom opened a photography studio in Avoca so often times after school I would go looking for someone to play with. Kasie often times would be the lucky one that got stuck with me for a few hours. We would spend our time going to the Dollar General in town, buying some candy and going to the library. I don't quite remember what had caused us to hate each other, but it happened. Kasie was a lot smarter than I was, mostly because I had my head in the clouds and a finger in my nose not knowing whats going on around me. One memory I will never forget was in 6th grade Kasie had convinced me that calling someone a "douche bag" was the same as a "goofball." Safe to say I learned the hard way they are not the same. The whole day I had been calling people a douche bag left and right, and because of it I got a call to the parents and no TV for two weeks (I'm still a little salty about it). There was also an event during the Homecoming parade in 6th grade. We were watching the parade and I probably said something rude to Kasie so she ended up tackling me, and in return I gave her lice from the tackling. So pretty much we full blown hated each other until Freshman year. It was when I had been going through a hard time with another girl in the friend group. She had been making rumors about me and because of it no one would talk to me, not even to tell me what I did wrong. I was blindsided. I ended up crying to Kasie in the locker room during PE and asked her what I did wrong. She put her hands on my shoulders and told me "I see what --- is doing, I know you didn't do anything." and that is how Kasie and I became friends again, and have been friends ever since. Today Kasie lives in Indianola and we are not very good at communicating, but or friendship is still strong. Our friendship is one of the good ones, where we do not talk a lot, but our love for each other does not change. We can go weeks without a text and then have a long skype call and nothing between us has changed. Together Kasie, Karli, and I are the three musketeers and that's something I hope will never change.