Things That Amaze Me

So there are certain things in this world that simply amaze me. And not always in a good way.

One: Colour changing water bottles. I got one from my university's booth at our state fair last month and it's just way cool. It's white or clear in room temperature and then it changes to dark blue in the fridge! You can put your fingers on the side when you take it out of the fridge and you leave small white circles all over. You don't even have to guess which bottles you recently put into the fridge and which ones have been in there overnight, you just know because of the colour!

Two: Kid leashes. What kind of parent would feel so inclined to put a leash on their child? I mean I suppose it keeps the kid form getting lost, but couldn't you just be a responsible parent and that would serve the same purpose? I guess this falls into a similar category as putting bells on a toddler's shoes to warn you when they're coming down the hall. If you're a parent, shouldn't you always know where your kid is regardless of their shoe's decibel?

Three: Whipped yogurt. I love whipped yogurt. I can't understand those people who don't like it. I know people who buy the whipped kind and then stir it all up because they don't like the texture. I have a solution for them: buy the regular kind. It will save you stirring effort. Whipped yogurt is delicious, I don't care what anybody thinks. Chocolate Mousse is my favorite flavour.

Four: The effects of shampoo on my hair. I don't understand how all those types of random shampoos have such differing results. I thought that it was just fancy hair soap, but maybe they do all have their own unique patented formulas to lock in moisture and make hair ten times as strong as the leading brand. Hooray for shampoo!

Five: My attention spans. Apparently I don't just have one, I have many. A long one for playing orchestra pieces by famous composers, a medium one for class time, a short one for work-depending on what job I'm at, and an even shorter one for classes don't particularly enjoy, or, when I'm supposed to be doing homework and somehow end up on one of my favorite-ed websites. Erm, no one saw that relapse of my Facebook addiction right?

Thanks for reading!

Amour de Choses

Things I love:

Jesus

learning

pink

green

the colour plum

sewing

being a girl

talking

laughing

making things by hand

being creative

playing music

listening to music

friends

hanging out with a group of friends

watching movies

red roses

patterns

corduroy

dresses

girlie stuff

Pride and Prejudice

figure skating

teaching skating

telling jokes

making faces

talking weird

photography

editing photos

french

almost everything English (as in British)

English accents

Australian accents

Scottish accents

people from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and California

colourful things

smart comedy

taking walks with people and talking

my cousins

dogs

hamsters

YouTube

Yahoo

shoes (heels, flats, Mary Janes)

making a perfectly coordinated outfit

doing hairstyles

rhinestones

hair clips with rhinestones

fleece

sweatpants

pea coats

red 

romance

certain romantic comedies

classics (books, novels, TV shows)

Harry Potter

Twilight

make believe

Mr. Rogers

rain boots

doing interp. on ice to music

skating with my iPod

my Mac

clearance shopping

getting good deals

Target

Charlotte Russe

Forever 21

The Gap

lace

sheer material for sleeves on a dress

getting dressed up

being silly

guys in suits and tuxes

tiaras

girls night out

when guys are chivalrous

instrumental pieces

painting my nails

driving

dancing and driving

texting (but not driving)

Christmas

Halloween

the smell of changing seasons

wearing cozy sweaters

wearing skirts and tights

being a goof

being smart

being a blonde

video chatting

wearing rings

stretching out

decorating 

making art

getting compliments

doing things for others

having my day made by someone else or making their day

cooking

eating

ribbons 

bows

pink and brown

black and white

black and red

plum and most other natural colors

getting my hair cut

people doing or playing with my hair

traveling in groups of friends

hugs

high fives

Le Premier Jour des Classes

Le Premier Jour des Classes (The First Day of Classes)

So today was the first day of my sophomore year at college. I feel so much better this time around because I'm not worrying (too much) about how to find my classrooms, when and where to eat lunch, how to not look like a freshman in the hallway, or if I'll have any friends by the end of the week. It is so nice to know that I already had friends I could count on and hang out with. I love those moments where you just get that reassured feeling that you know what you're doing. 

I started out with a Child and Adolescent Development class for my psych major, then moved on to the celebration chapel where basically all the freshman and a lot of campus in general attends, since it is considered the kick-off chapel to the year. All the professors get to don their robes of various colors representing their years of service to the school and degrees earned. They walk single file from multiple entrances onto the stage and the balconies of the Great Hall and finally come to their seats. There is a new president of the university this year, so in a way, this was sort of his debut to the student population. The president gets to wear a bright red robe belonging to a past science prof who passed away five years ago. His family let the new president wear them, which I thought was pretty cool.  

So from then on there were speeches and introductions and hymns sung to the resinating sound of the pipe organ. There were prayers said for each group on campus, the president, freshman, the general students, professors, and faculty. It ended up being a little longer than a normal chapel, but since everyone in the school (well not everyone, but all the teachers and a lot of students) were all in the same place, they always remind the freshman that no one is going to be late to their next class because the profs are in the Hall too.

The chapel service ends and the students are asked to applaud the profs as they file out, back to their offices. The students gather outside the Hall to get free punch and talk. And eventually everyone will wander off to their next class or back to their dorms. But all who attended that chapel have been reassured that one, we are definitely back in school, two, our university is a great place to live and be educated in our majors and well as in our faith, and three, there are so many people that are rooting for is to succeed and grow spiritually that it is almost impossible not to. 

Then, the final couple things I did at school today was eat lunch, and go to my afternoon class, 2-D design. I am SO psyched for that class!! Oh, and then I went to work at my on campus job in the music office. Sorting, stamping, and labeling music is LOADS of fun...no really, it's not too bad because I get to talk to people and help other students find classrooms and listen to my iPod. (yes, I might accidentally be following the five paragraph essay style that they teach you in middle school) So to wrap all this up, I just want to say that I had a pretty great first day and I hope that the rest of my first week continues in a similar fashion. Good luck to everyone else who started back to school recently too!  

Thanks for reading!

Bonjour Tout le Monde!

Bonjour tout le monde! (Hello everyone!) Welcome to "Anna, Party of One...Anna?"! Wow, would you look at all that punctuation. I would just like to make this first entry explaining the title of my blog. I came up with it because of one major theme in my life: it sums up almost all of my conversational life in one phrase, also, as an important side note, it was created by some of my closest friends, one of which inspired me to make this blog. Anyyyyyywho...the story behind the title:

You might as how "Anna, Party of One...Anna?" fits into my life. Well, the thing about me is that when I attempt to tell a story, or share a recent event with my friends, my voice just kind of disappears somewhere under their vocal radar. Knd of like white noise that helps you drift off to sleep at night. It doesn't exactly get heard by many ears past the part that goes, "So the other day..." It's not that my friends don't pay attention to me, but usually my stories are just way cooler in my head and not so cool and articulate as I had hoped when I vocalize them. This I am working very hard on. 

 This kind of ignorance happened to me one fine day at the ice rink. (I used to be a figure skater, but now I teach skating. More on that in a later entry.) I was telling a story about something I felt was relevant to the current conversation, and when I started to come to the close of my magnificent tale, I began to notice that no one was really paying attention to what I was saying. It was like I was alone in a room talking to the wall like a loopy person.  At this moment, one of my friends stops his conversation and looks around at all the other people in the room (about five friends) only to also noticed that NO ONE is listening to me talk. Thus the following comment was said, "Is anyone listening to Anna?" And of course everyone listened to him and replied with a resounding and very solid, "No."...then laughed at the statement. (Which I have to admit was pretty funny.)

All this in turn led to a separate convo soon after where we were discussing what our book titles would be if someone were to write a biography about our lives. So because of my historical inability to hold the attention of more than one person over the age of a kindergardener for more the entire length of one of my stories, they unanimously agreed on the title "Anna, Party of One...Anna?"

So there you go. I hope all your queries have quelled and that you don't regret the last five minutes of your life spent reading this. That would be bad for me...

Thanks for reading! 

(Those in this story know who you are and I still love you despite your obvious difficulty in listening to my specific voice decibel.)