The End

After graduation, life kicked into overdrive. I had two weeks to put the finishing touches on my wedding to Rex, then I married him, then we went on a fabulous honeymoon to Jamaica, then we set up our new apartment, and then we started work and are settling in to our new lives together. *PHEW!*

Pretty much, life is totally different now than it was when I was in school. So much so that I have decided to discontinue this blog and start a new one. I mean, I am a Spartan fan for life, but since I have graduated now that isn't really a defining factor of me anymore, so "The Sober Spartan" isn't really a good title. Plus, being married has opened a new chapter in my life, so why shouldn't it start a new blog? It's a fresh start. You can follow my new blog at www.webbnewlyweds.blogspot.com. I hope you do, because I am living with Rex now. Between he and I, I can only imagine the craziness that will be making an appearance on that blog. Check it out.

Word of the Day: Remember

So many stories that adults tell start with, "Remember that one time in college when..." Well, I graduated yesterday. I am afraid I am going to forget all of my stories! So here are some that I am logging now so that I can remember:

Rex: Remember that one time in college when...

...we got in a smoothie fight. My winter coat is still sticky and smells faintly of raspberry.

...we carved our initials into that tree by the rivier.

...we bred rats illegally in my dorm room.

...we pretended to get in a fight in Meijer and that lady in the wheelchair almost hit you because she was so mad at how you were treating me.

...I threw your hat in the fountain and you dove in after it because your hats are like your babies.

...and then you threw me into the fountain as revenge.

...we interviewed all the drunk people on Grand River after MSU made it to the championship game in March Madness.

...we ate at Pancheros and then went to Barnes and Noble almost every single week and we never got sick of it.

...BTB closed and we thought it was the absolute end of the world.

...we had that statistics class with PK and just passed notes the entire time. (BTW, I would like it to be recorded here that I got a better grade than you in that class. I'm just saying. So what if it was by one percent? I still win.)

...I threw my ice cream sundae at you and pretended that I just found out you were cheating on me so that all of the girls in the caf thought you were a terrible person and then you had to go take your exam covered in sprinkles.

...I ran into a brick wall walking home on my 21st birthday.

...we dressed up Cindy for Halloween and Easter.

...you bought baby Houdie and he jumped out of your hands and ran to hide in a bag of dog chow.

...I told my teacher you can deliver her baby, but luckily you didn't have to.

...we had a picnic in the garden.

...we went to two Tiger's games.

...we went to Michelle's place in Ann Arbor during the MSU/OSU game, and there was that one random guy cheering for State.

...when Swenson kicked that field goal to beat Wisconsin by one point and we were sitting twelve rows behind the goal posts.

...we raised $800 for the humane society by renting out puppies.

...we found that duck nesting outside of your window.

Katie: Remember that one time in college when...

...you told me that "we are going to be BEST FRIENDS" on the day that you met me, and I was totally freaked out.

...you made super cute fishbowl door decs for everyone.

...and made super cute tote bags for everyone.

...you went with me to pick out my wedding dress since my family was in New Zealand, and we found that ridiculous bird hairpiece. I still think you should wear it.

...you went to Bible study with me even though it took some serious convincing

...and you ended up accepting Christ a few weeks later. :-)

...you called yourself a "delusional bridesmaid" and told everyone you are in my wedding.

...you thought you were going to marry Kevin and had your wedding date set for April 30, 2016.

...you finally met Cindy and decided that you must have a rat of your own.

...that one thing happened the night before we left for home while we were watching "Never Been Kissed," and we did the weird jumpy/screamy thing that is only okay in middle schools and sororities.

...we actually did become best friends.

Charissa: Remember that time in college when...

...we were roommates.

...you made up a song for Cindy to teach her about Jesus: "Cindy Lou Cindy Lou Cindy Lou Cindy Lou-yah! Praise ye the Lord!"

...you also went to help me pick out my wedding dress, and you were the only one who liked the dress I picked.

...we always had quesadillas and watched Brian Regan on the first day of school.

...that one time when the Wings guy was looking for "Room 1" but found us instead and we tried to take Rex and Josh's wings.

...we got engaged within a month of each other and asked each other to be bridesmaids.

...we made our "wedding board" and each had half of it to tack up our wedding ideas.

...we decided to save money by splitting a graduation cap and gown and also a wedding veil.

...I tried a million times to convince Josh that you guys should get a rat but he didn't believe me.

...we went to Macy's with Rex and tried on the most ridiculous clothes we could pick out for each other.

...we went on a double date to Chili's and talked about possibly trying to reserve a table for "MackaHolleWebAsel."

...we went to that Bridal Show together and took crazy pictures in the photo booth.

That's a fun game. Maybe I will continue it with some of my other friends later. Three is good for now, though, since this post is already so long. I love college. Oops, I guess I should say, "I loved college." Sad day. I already miss it.

Word of the Day: Empty

Everyone is gone.

Campus is like a ghost town right now. I hate it.

All of the rooms are opened so you can look in and see the bare furniture and blank walls.

My friends are gone...Rex is gone...my rat is gone...life is bleak.

It is seriously eerie. I'm working at the front desk right now in Yakeley, the busiest desk in West Circle, and no one is coming by. I helped Katie move out today, and it was weird to see her room all blank and devoid of personality like all of the other rooms in the hall. It's just sad. I don't like being here alone. It feels wrong. It seems like everyone died and I'm the only one left behind. I have one friend still on campus (that's it! One!), but she doesn't live in my hall so it still feels totally weird. I've started packing, but it's just so sad! I'm not coming back again! This is my last day at MSU...WEIRD.

Still, being at MSU when no one else is here is no fun at all, so I really just want to leave at this point. I don't get to leave until tomorrow, though. *sigh*

Word of the Day: Secret

I have a secret.

Well, it's not really my secret...it's my friend's secret. We'll call that friend "Bernice."

So, Bernice has been wanting to meet Cindy (my adorable rat) all year. Because Bernice is also a mentor, I did not want to let her meet my pet on account of it would be her responsibility to turn me in. Even though she swore she wouldn't and I totally believed her, I still didn't want to put her in that compromising position.

As the year came to an end, though, I decided it wouldn't be that big of a deal to let her meet Cindy. After all, I am totally not going to get fired with two days left of the semester.

When Bernice met Cindy, she responded in the way that any normal person would (If you were normal, Carly and Josh, you would have responded this way too). She said, "Oh my gosh she is sooooooo cuuuuuute!!!! I love her!!! Awwwww!!! Look at the way she scampers around!!!!! AHH! She's tickling my shoulders!!!" You get the idea. She loved her. Approximately three minutes after meeting Cindy, she said, "I want one too. Let's go get one."

With no finals left and everyone else studying, I didn't have anything better to do. So Bernice and I went to Preuss Pets and got her a complete rat setup! A rat, a cage, toys, a food dish, water bottle, the whole nine yards. Her new baby rat is so cute!!! So now even though I am graduating and moving away, there will still be at least one stowaway rat in Yakeley. Oops, I mean...on campus somewhere. I don't want to incriminate Bernice.

Oh, and we'll go ahead and say that Bernice named the rat "Katie." You know, just to keep up with the code names and such. ;-)

I am so proud of my little Cinders Linders. That fateful day in August of 2008 when I went and picked her up at the pet shop, no one knew what was coming. Here is a list of people who have gotten rats now because of meeting Cindy and learning how amazing rats are:

1. Rex

2. Cara

3. My mom

4. Jake

5. Michelle

6. My cousins Max, Michael, Matthew, and Jacob

7. Rex's cousin Joe

8. Cara's friend Morgan

9. Rex's cousin Dorothy

10. "Bernice"

That's a lot of rat love being spread around. All because Cindy is the cutest ball of fur to ever hit the Earth. I love her.

And now Bernice loves her rat too. Just like my love of Cindy, though, it has to be a secret. On-campus love of small animals is forbidden. We're like the Romeo and Juliet of the pet/owner variety, and our ending is much happier.

Stay tuned for an invite to Cindy's 2nd birthday party, which will be in July!

Word of the Day: Long

It has been a LONG time since I posted anything to this blog. The last few weeks of school have been CRAZY, but things are slowing down now. That is, they are slowing down until after graduation, at which point they are going to get crazy again as I put the finishing touches on the Knasel/Webb wedding. 17 days. WHOA!

Here's what you missed while my typing fingers were idle:

1. Michelle came to visit! I had a total blast with her, and I'm so glad she came. She had to do some last minute work on school stuff before her finals week, and she wanted everyone at U of M to leave her alone so she came here!! She mostly studied, but Rex and I had to study too so that was okay. On Thursday (the night before she left), we went out after Rex's work shift (which ended at 1 AM) to BW3 and got boneless wings and drinks - YUM!! So much for that Webb curfew...lol

2. On the subject of Michelle, she graduated on Saturday and Rex and I went to go watch her. President Obama was speaking at the ceremony, and he did a really good job. After graduation we went to Abby's grandparents' house for dinner, and it was delicious. It may have been slightly less delicious if I had eaten anything in the past seven hours, but I hadn't. Therefore it was AMAZING.

3. Duckies! I was going to devote an entire post to ducks, but alas - I never had time. There is a female duck nesting outside of Rex's window, and we check on her every day. I can't wait for the babies to be born! Also, Rex and I saw a separate mommy duck a few days ago in the river. She had ten tiny babies who looked like they were swimming for the first time. They couldn't swim well at all and kept bobbling around. It was hilarious.

4. Puppies!! Rex loves dogs, so I decided to devise a way to get dogs to campus so he could play with them. Little did I know that this small idea would actually end up becoming a big event! I organized a "Rent-a-puppy" event where students could rent a puppy in exchange for a donation to the humane society. The humane society provided all the puppies last weekend, hundreds of students came, and we (my staff and the West Circle Community) raised over $800 to donate to the humane society! WOW! All because Rex wanted to play with puppies! Rex, of course, was a main volunteer for the event. :-)

5. Cotton Candy - At "Stress-free Zone" on the Sunday before finals, I was in charge of running the cotton candy machine. Best. Job. Ever. The only downside was that at the end of the night I felt like a bug that a spider was wrapping up to eat on account of the thin strings of sugar clinging to my clothes, skin, and hair. I bet I smelled good, though!

6. Girls' Day! On account of the fact that I only have one piece-of-cake final and it's not until Wednesday, I spent yesterday at the mall and then having a movie night. Two of my friends, Megan and Sara, are in similar finals situations, so I hung out with them. I bought a dress for the rehearsal dinner as well as two pairs of flip flops (2 for $5! WHOO HOO!). We had a lovely spaghetti dinner, and we watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. While we were watching, Sara took notes on all of the reasons why she dislikes Matthew McConaughey. It filled up FOUR pages.

7. Because this is number 7 on my list, it is the perfect time to tell you that I am working a seven hour shift behind the desk today. Can we say, "boringville"?? I was only supposed to work three and a half, but the girl after me was sick so I said I could stay. I played McVideoGame for an hour and made it to the year 2030. You may say I'm being unproductive, which would be true, but hey - I have no homework! Have you ever played McVideoGame? It's pretty sweet. Try it out: http://www.mcvideogame.com/

8. Today I filled out my first application form where, when I have to check the box, "What is your highest level of education?" I could click "I have a bachelor's degree." It felt good.

Well, that's all for now. The mail came, so I suppose I should sort it.

I promise to update more often now that my work is done for a while!

Word of the Day: Chipper

I have been feeling really chipper all day. I'm not really sure why. It was to the point where people were saying, "Why are you so happy?" lol... I don't know. Here are some possible reasons why I might have been feeling chipper today:

1. I am getting married to the greatest guy on Earth one month from tomorrow.
2. My lovely coworkers threw me a WONDERFUL bridal shower on Saturday.
3. I got a popsicle maker at that shower, and I have had at least one white grape popsicle every day since then. YUM!
4. My wedding dress has arrived, and it fits perfectly.
5. My friend Beth got engaged, and she asked me to be her Maid of Honor (even though technically I will be a "Matron of Honor" since I will be married.)
6. I finished my two online classes
7. My future sister in law Michelle is coming to stay with me starting tomorrow until Friday.
8. I graduate two weeks from Friday.
9. Today Rex wrote me a note about how he sees Christ in my life.
10. I get to see my family this weekend.
11. Katie and I got to have a "girls night" to go see RENT, which was FANTASTIC! I'm still in awe...and currently listening to the soundtrack.
12. I got new shoes on Saturday.
13. I got a new shirt that makes me look like a canary but I LOVE IT.
14. Cindy was extra playful this weekend, and watching her eat her first popsicle was HILARIOUS.
15. God has blessed me in more ways than I can count, which is pretty neat-o.

So I think maybe one of those reasons is why I am so chipper. Or maybe all of them. Who cares, really?? After my string of bad days last week, it's nice to feel like this.

Word of the Day: Yuck

Despite my efforts in my previous post to make my week better through sheer willpower, it did not work.

Today was YUCK. A complete pile of doo. I had to take two exams of two hours each, back to back, with a combined NINETEEN PAGES of essay writing. No, not pages of test, pages of ESSAYS. My right hand hurts all the way up to my elbow. I got a voicemail after my four hours of misery that was from my dad. He told me that he was in Lansing and wanted to surprise me and take me out to dinner, but that I wasn't around when he called so he just went home. DARN! He was on an expense account too, so I could have gotten appetizers and non-water drinks and everything!!!! Plus, you know, I miss him and stuff.

So then I get back to Yakeley with 15 minutes to spare before I had to go on rounds. Well, rounds have been crap too. I just had to write up two of my friends from Bible study for underage drinking, and I don't even think they were drinking. They were in the room with alcohol, though, so they all had to be written up. GAH! That's the absolute WORST. So I wrote up the report and then decided to do some wedding chores online while I waited for my next set of rounds. Guess what? The bridal toolkit isn't working!!! This had better be a temporary problem, because my entire guest list, addresses, people attending, etc. is ALL on that site. If it's gone, I am complete toast. Burnt toast, even. I've tried getting it to work for the last fifteen minutes on every browser I could possibly try, and no luck. I've given up. I think the world just hates me today. I'm scared to go on my next set of rounds....what will I find???

Oh, and also: when I went to the caf for dinner, I knew that Rex was working in the dishroom. I thought it would be a good idea to get a tray, spell out "I (heart shape) REX" in M&M's, and send it down the conveyor belt. I did this, but at the last second the tray bumped the side of the conveyor belt and the entire message was ruined. I'm sure whoever in the dishroom got that tray was like, "What a dumb person to put all of these M&M's on here." Lame. I worked hard on that. There was even a smiley of M&M's below my message.

Crappy day. Bleh.

Word of the Day: Crap

This week so far has been utterly crappy. I keep waiting for something good to happen so that I can blog about it, but as of yet everything has been bad. As Rex says: "Somedays you step in it, some days you don't."

Well, I'm prancing around in it this week. Blah.

ANYWAY, since there is nothing good to write about, I have decided that this blog post is going to be the turning point of this week. Now that I have logged my series of bad days, I can start having good days again! TA DA! This will be a fantastic week, starting..............now. GO!

Word of the Day: Fun

What a fun weekend!! Here is a quick recap:

1. Friday: I went to work (where Rex showed up with a BEAUTIFUL bouquet of tulips for me "for no reason." YES! I love it when he does that!), and then Pancheros and Barnes and Noble date with him. While I was downstairs in Barnes and Noble picking out a book to read, Rex bought me a rice krispie treat from the cafe and threw it off of the balcony. It hit me on the head and then fell on the floor, but I figured it was still okay. 10 second rule, right? Also, Rex and I decided to play a game where we each picked out a book that would be fun to read together while we ate the rice krispie treat. Just like in one of those cheesy, over the top movie scenes, we both hid the books we chose from view and were like, "My book is better!" "No MY book is better! It's perfect!" "But you're going to love my book!" etc. etc. Then when we showed each other the books that we chose and....you guessed it....we chose the same book. HA HA! So corny. We laughed really hard. The book was a picture book from the children's section on puppies. What are the odds we would both choose that? Anyway, it was good, and the rice krispie treat was delish (even if it was kinda dusty - lol).

Saturday: TIGER'S GAME!!! It was so so SO fun. Please read Rex's blog for details on that...I really just can't do it justice like he did. After the game we went to Olive Garden for dinner, which we really can't afford, but Rex said that since we really couldn't afford the Tiger's game either we might as well just totally break the bank on our special day of celebrating nothing. Hooray!

Sunday: I went to church and heard an awesome sermon on Mark 5. After church my mom and sister came up to Lansing to be there when I got my WEDDING DRESS!!! It finally came in! It fits perfectly and I absolutely love it. I can't wait to wear it in only 40 more days! Cara got her bridesmaids dress too, and she looks totally grown up in it. Hooray! It was like playing "bride" when I was a kid in my dress up clothes, but more legit this time. :-)

After we got our dresses we went to my friend Elle's apartment because she threw me a BEAUTIFUL wedding shower! She worked so hard and made awesome food, and the cake she bought was beautiful. Also, it was approved by Lupe Izzo, who Elle ran into at the bakery. Wow! Special! I felt so loved by my friends, and we had a great time laughing and having fun together.

*PHEW!* What a great weekend. I'm exhausted, but it was so fun. Monday is going to hit me like a ton of bricks.

Word of the Day: Casino

I have found my new calling in life. I am going to move to Vegas and be a Black Jack dealer.

That is what I did between 8 and 11 tonight at West Circle's Casino Night. It was so fun! I was pretty much a pro by the end of the night. Also, some volunteers were in charge of taking care of the dealers, so they kept asking me if I wanted food or drinks or anything. SWEET! I just had to deal, and everyone else did everything for me. It's a pretty cush job, right? Right.

Also, at the end of the night everyone cashed in their poker chips for raffle tickets to win prizes. A guy at my table who had been playing all night only had enough poker chips for one ticket (other people had eight or nine!), so I gave him an extra raffle ticket for effort. Guess what? He won the digital camera! WHOA! Hooray for Vincent!

Word of the Day: Worms

Let me begin this post by giving you an approximate transcription of the phone conversation I had yesterday evening:

Me: Hello?

Rex: Get your rain coat.

Me: Excuse me?

Rex: Get your rain coat. We have a MAJOR worm recon project.

Me: Uh...worm recon?

Rex: YES! They're drowning all over the place on the sidewalks. I have glass jars in my room. We are going to fill them with dirt, save the drowning worms, and then dump them out on the ground when it is dry again.

Me: Let me get this straight - you expect me to go out in the cold rain to save a bunch of worms by putting them in glass jars filled with dirt I dug up........?

Rex: Yeah

Me: Awesome. I'm so in.

And that's just what we did. We went out in the rain and saved ~100 worms in five glass jars. They are now proudly displayed on my windowsill while we wait for the ground to dry out enough to release them again. Those lucky little guys. There were hundreds more out on the sidewalks today who were not as fortunate. I bet in worm social circles this rainstorm will be hereafter known as "The great worm massacre of 2010." Sad day.

It was fun collecting worms, though. At one point Rex said, "Do you a little bit feel like you're two right now?" "Yes." "Good. Me too. Just making sure we're on the same page." One of the best parts was the weird looks we got from people while we were picking up the worms. I mean, really...it's not something they see every day. Also, at one point we got to a patch of sidewalk where all of the worms were significantly darker than the other worms. Rex and I decided to call it the "Worm Hood." They are in our jar of "ghetto worms."

One time I was trying to pick up a worm and half of it came off in my hand - AHHHH!! I picked up the other half too and put them together in the jar, though, as if that would somehow fix it or something.

After we were done collecting our worms, we decided to eat Easter candy in my room and watch them wiggle around in the sides of the jars. It's kind of like an ant farm, but with more worms and less ants. It's actually pretty cool - try it sometime. Anyway, I unwrapped a chocolate, popped a chocolate in my mouth, and then realized that I hadn't washed my hands yet. EWWWWWWWWW!!! So if I die from some wormy disease sometime soon, you know why.

I hope those worms appreciate my sacrifice.

Word of the Day: Jake

Someone actually READS this blog? Crazy!!!! I guess I learn something new every day.

How, you may ask, did I discover that someone reads this blog? I will tell you. I got this message today in my inbox, which was addressed to me and Rex from his brother Jacob:

YOU GUYS ARE SLACKING! I look at both of your blogs everyday, and neither of you have posted for awhile! Haha, just kidding. It's really fun to read what's up with you guys. Peace out!

Well, clearly this is not okay. I have a loyal reader, and I am letting him down! AH! Therefore this post is dedicated to Jake in order to make up for the fact that I haven't been writing.

***AHEM***

Here are ten reasons why Jacob Webb is cool:

1. He's kinda like Rex (they even got the same glasses...weird...)

2. He appreciates the finer things in life, like Brian Regan and Sonic slushees

3. He has a sweet collection of baseball cards, which includes some cards in SPANISH. Whoa.

4. He is strong...he and Rex and Tom moved furniture for my mom like it was nothing.

5. He's fun to talk to. Some sixteen year olds can be sorta dumb...but Jake actually has really interesting things to say and has a good outlook on life.

6. He provides lots of opportunities for me to get walking tacos when I go watch his baseball games. If he wasn't playing, I would just be a creepy person hanging out at the ball field and not cheering for anyone.

7. He has a very ambitious list of "Things to do before I CROAK," and I hope he does them all.

8. He goes to KAMSC. Anyone who goes to KAMSC is automatically cool in my book.

9. He always gets his money's worth at all-you-can-eat places.

10. He's good at sports....though I almost didn't put this on the list because he intends to use his athletic abilities for EVIL!!!!!!!!!!! (And if he is successful, I would have to...oh goodness I can't even say it....I would have to....root for U of M. Excuse me while I go puke).

So there you have it. Ten reasons why Jacob Webb is cool. Now, if you don't know him, go stalk him or something! You should be his friend. I never had a real brother, but if I would have had one I would hope that he would be something like Jake. As the situation stands, I'll just consider myself very blessed to have him as a future brother-in-law (and as a loyal follower of my blog).

So there you have it, Jake! I updated. I hope I get to see you soon! Come to State again! :-)

Word of the Day: Blogmania

Today I inspired two of my best friends to create blogs. HOORAY! This whole blog thing is spreading like the bubonic plague, but less deadly and more fun! I can't wait to read what they write. Katie's is "Confessions of a Delusional Bridesmaid" and can be found at www.katethebridesmaid.blogspot.com, and Rex's is "A Fistful of Real Life" and can be found at www.fistfuloflife.blogspot.com. Check them out! I think they're both awesome. :-) I didn't even tell them they needed to make blogs or anything, but I guess mine is so fabulous they decided they wanted in on the action. Lol yeah right...

Anyway, I am super glad that they are going to blog because I LOVE to find out what is going on in people's lives! I'm nosy like that, I guess. I mean, you are too. If you're not, then why are you reading this blog, huh? HUH? So there. You're nosy too. It's the fun way, though, not the annoying way.

Speaking of annoying, Rex and I had to miss MSU's Elite Eight game to go watch his friend Matt sing in the opera. That was annoying. I know that has nothing to do with blogging, but I want it documented that REX IS A GOOD FRIEND. I was very impressed. I was totally ready to bail at the intermission because I fell asleep twice during the first half (unless you're Matt reading this, in which case that's not true! It was AWESOME!), but Rex said we needed to stay even though we missed the whole game. Luckily MSU made it to the Final Four, so tune in this weekend to see how they do! I'm sure all my friends and I shall blog about it, now that we all have blogs. YAY!

One more random note: For the first time ever, while writing a paper on homelessness I learned how to spell Connecticut correctly today. Who knew there was an extra "C" in there???? I totally didn't! CRAZY!

Word of the Day: Bridezilla

I spent eight hours working on wedding invitations yesterday.

EIGHT!

Making my own invitations was a truly horrible idea.

To be honest, though, I actually had a really good time. Rex and my friend Katie helped the entire day. We sat in the staff office because it has a paper cutter to cut straight lines. By the end of the afternoon we had nicknamed it "the sweatshop" because we had been working at our little assembly line stations for so long. We listened to music online through only one speaker. The other one was broken. It's weird to listen to only the bass line of every song. We decided it sounded like a new radio station: "All weird remixes, all the time!" We were laughing about how ridiculous it was that we would spend our day surrounded in an ocean of teal paper, but I think it bonded us.

Speaking of bonding...we had an issue with that. In making some invitations last week, Katie insisted that we should use a glue stick to glue them together. The problem with a glue stick is that the paper dries all curvy, even if you try to put something heavy on it to flatten it out. It's not horrible, but it's not great either. Therefore I bought some double sided tape to use yesterday. Unfortunately, we ran out of double sided tape by hour three. Katie said, "No problem. We still have glue sticks. Let's just use those." I wanted to go get more double sided tape, but Katie and Rex thought that was a waste because the glue stick invitations don't look "that bad." After about five minutes of debating this, I said, "Okay, I haven't Bridezilla-ed on anything yet! Just please let me have the tape!!!!" So I won, and my lovely future husband got me some more double sided tape. :-) Unfortunately, Katie now joking refers to me as "Bridezilla." Geez louise, you get picky one little time and you're branded for LIFE! But come on - the invitations were drying all curvy! Who wants a curvy invitation?

By the end of the construction period we had three labeled piles: Invitatons ready for postage, invitations that still need reply cards, and JANK. The JANK pile is for the mess up invitations, like the one where Rex put glue on the wrong side of the invitation (silly - there's words there!), or the one where Katie addressed the envelope to the wrong city, or the one where Charissa wrote the address on upside down. We had some funny Janks, but I never Janked a single thing. HA! I win. I may be a tape-zilla, but at least the invites I worked on turned out okay! I'm not sure why we're keeping the JANK pile. I think Katie said she wanted to keep it...not sure why...but she can have it.

Looking back, yesterday was a blast. Hard wedding labor, but good times with great friends. Now I have a stack of teal envelopes ready to go, and I hope I never see teal paper again.

Except that people are going to send me back the reply cards. Blast.

Word of the Day: Koala

Rex was hugging me good night. I was holding on, because obviously I like him and I knew that when I let go he was leaving, and that made me sad. He said, "Okay...good night...okay...um, Christine, I have to go...uh....geez, stop holding on so tight; you're like a koala..."

And then it hit me.

People always ask, "If you were an animal, what would it be?" Well, maybe people don't always ask that. I feel like they do, though, because I never have a good answer and it annoys me. I mean, 99% of people answer that question with "A bird so I could fly." Sorry, that is lame.

But now, if God were to call me up and say, "Hey Christine, you're done being a human now. Time to be an animal - your choice," I would know my answer. I would be a KOALA! Just think about it! They're all fuzzy and cute. They literally just sit around all day and eat eucalyptus. I was in a rainforest in Australia this summer, and there is eucalyptus EVERYWHERE. It is not difficult to find. Plus, Australia is beautiful. I could totally live there. Also, what kind of predators hunt koalas? Have you ever seen an animal attack a koala on the discovery channel? Can you picture a koala running frantically away from a hungry beast? I can't. Plus, it seems like creatures in Australia are generally omnivores. Therefore, I would be safe to just chew my eucalyptus in peace. Maybe I would be a baby koala, and then I could just hold on to my mommy koala (a la Rex's good night hug) and she could hand me back some yummy leaves. That sounds like a good life to me. Yep, new life plan: become a koala. What do I major in for that?

Word of the Day: Shower

Yesterday was my first ever bridal shower. I have never even been to one as a guest, and now I have been to one as the bride! WOW! Cool, huh?

Anyway, it was tons of fun. The shower was thrown by Rex's aunts, and it was great to hang out with his family (well, the females of the family, anyway). Michelle came back from Ann Arbor for the party, and she hardly ever comes home! I felt so special. Rex's grandma sewed five new tablecloths especially for the party. Dorothy (his six year old cousin) even made angel centerpieces to go on the tables. She said, "I was up until MIDNIGHT finishing those!" Don't worry - I thanked her profusely for her sacrifice.

The party was a total blast. I decided I really, really like bridal showers. lol. I got lots of beautiful gifts wrapped in beautiful paper, and we played Bunco! I had never played Bunco before, and it was really fun. Also, as is true of any Koopsen event, the food was delicious. I got to wear my beautiful new red dress (that I got 65% off at Macy's!), and everyone liked it. For lunch I got to sit at a special "bridal table" that had a special tablecloth and flowers. It was like I was a princess for the day - how fun!

Bridal showers are so fun (in my wealth of experience - ha ha). It's a good thing I didn't know about these before I was engaged, or I would have been tempted to get married just for the parties. ;-)

Word of the Day: Today

Today was that day. You know the one. The day of the year where the sun finally comes out and warms the Earth that has been in a perpetual state of FREEZING since Halloween. It's the day where people bust out shorts even though it's probably still a little bit too cold for that, but they don't care.

Today is the day where Adam's field is filled with playing sports. People were playing football, ultimate frisbee, and even some really weird game where one guy stands bent over by a brick wall with his head toward the wall and his butt sticking out, and all of his friends take turns trying to hit him with a soccer ball. I hope no one hit him...he was going to bash his brains out on that wall if anyone did. I guess sunshine does weird things to people.

Today is the day when there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and people can see that the semester will, in fact, end. Summer will come this year like it does every year, and the doubts of December are chased away by the warmth of spring.

Today is the day where I saw the first flowers peering up through the ground, as if to say, "Is it safe to come out now?" I don't know if it is, seeing as in Michigan snow will pop out of nowhere, but I certainly hope that those flowers are safe because they're beautiful and their yellow blooms mirror the sun. They add a splash of color to a world that has been black and white for too many months.

You know the day I'm talking about, right? Well, that was today.

Words of the Day: Retardo Ducky

Yesterday was a BLAST! I will narrate the more important parts for you.

Rex, Cara, and I went to the grand opening of the new Goodwill on West Main. It was FULL of people; we could hardly move around. I didn't realize how many people love Goodwill! I'm not really sure what that says about society; I will not venture a guess. I found some great clothes, and so we (well, I) decided that we should wait in line because, even though the line was long, it would probably move really fast, right?

WRONG. It didn't. We stood in line at Goodwill - Goodwill - for about an hour - maybe even more. It was crazy. By the time we left we were best friends with the people in front of us and behind us in line, so it actually became a bit of an adventure even though it took forever. We were so happy to be emancipated when we finally escaped the store that we treated ourselves to pizza for lunch. Yummmm!!!

After lunch and after dropping off Cara at home, Rex told me to get in the car because we were going to "go for a drive." I asked where we were going, but he wouldn't tell me. He surprised me by taking me out to South Haven! It was so fun even though it was freezing and kind of rainy. It is, after all, the beginning of March. A lot of our friends got to go to some sort of beach for spring break, though, so Rex decided that we should get to go to the beach too! Hooray!

We started our day at the beach by going into the little shops in South Haven. The first shop we went into was a toy shop, and we found the cutest little rubber duckies. We had the BRIILLIANT idea of playing with the rubber duckies in Lake Michigan, so we bought one of each color - blue, purple, green, and peach. (These duckies get important later in the day)

After that shop we went to a shop called "Dog Decadence" where they sell dog paraphernalia. Dog shirts, dog mugs, dog treats, dog plates...it was actually kind of creepy. Anyway, I went to go look at a display of stuffed animal dogs. They were really cute, but then I just about had a HEART ATTACK when one of them jumped out at me! I spun around and said, "AH! REX! That one's REAL!!!" It was the store dog. I really thought it was fake, though, and it totally freaked me out.

When we went to the back of the store, there were two little black lab puppies. They were seven weeks old. They were soft and adorable, and a LUCKY Mexican family was deciding which one to adopt. Rex and I were jealous. We also met lots of other cool dogs: Brie, Dash, Edna and Earl (who are in love), and Willie, the grouchy basset hound who hates everyone but really liked Rex.

We had so much fun going in all of the little shops. In one candy shop that we went into, the lady beind the cash register said, "Hey, is it your guys' anniversary or something?" I said no. She said, "Oh, you just look all yippy skippy in love or something." That's a quote. "Yippy Skippy in love." I'm not even sure what that means, but I'm happy to be feeling that way!

After we were done shopping, we went down to the lake. We pulled out the rubber ducks and tested them out by letting them float in a little puddle that had formed in the sand. We named our blue one Blue Ducky, our purple one Purple Ducky, our green one Sparty Ducky, and we named the peach one Retardo Ducky because when we put it in the puddle it immediately flopped over onto its side. After they swam in the puddle, we decided that they were ready for the big lake. We held races where we would throw the duckies "out to sea," and then whichever one the waves rolled back to shore first was the winner duck. One time, though, the wind turned and the ducks weren't coming back to shore. We called to them, but no response. Go figure. Blue Ducky was safely at shore, Sparty Ducky and Purple Ducky were about knee deep in the water, and Retardo Ducky was about waist deep. They were all drifting further away by the minute. Rex said we should just leave them, but I really wanted to get them back. Therefore I instigated a "Ducky Recon Mission." I took off my shoes and socks, and I jumped into the water to save the ducks. I went knee deep and rescued Sparty Ducky and Purple Ducky, but I was hurting too much from the painfully cold water to wade out to Retardo Ducky. I ran back to shore and put the two ducks back with Blue Ducky. Rex was laughing at me for putting myself in pain to save some ducks. He said, "Oh, well. I guess Retardo is a gonner. Let's go home." I started to put my socks on, but I looked at that pathetic little blob of peach bobbing up and down in the lake and I just couldn't leave it all alone. I stood back up and said, "I will never leave a man behind!! Ducky Recon Round 2!" I ran out to get Retardo Ducky. I waded in up to my waist, and I whimpered back to shore. I will never again complain about a cold Lake Michigan in the summer. I have never gone into the lake wearing all of my clothes and a winter coat. Let me tell you, it was a COLD ride home wearing soaking jeans. Had it been past 68 days from now (my wedding), I would have taken them off, but with Rex sitting right next to me that would have been a bit inappropriate. Therefore I froze. The important thing here is, though, that all of the ducks were SAVED!!! Hooray!

We went out to dinner to celebrate our success (well, that and Goodwill had given us a coupon to Texas Corral as an apology for the ridiculously long lines). We split a meal, were totally full, AND had leftovers, and the bill was just over $7! What an awesome deal! We also had a fabulous time playing "peanut hockey" where the nuts on the table provided pucks, and our forks were the sticks. If you got a peanut to go off the table on the opponent's side, you got a point. My mom would have been very disappointed in our poor manners, but we were laughing so hard and making such a mess that I was concerned we were going to get thrown out. It was SO FUN! I bet our waiter was very relieved when we left.

All in all, it was a fantastic day. If you ever want to see our small collection of rubber ducks, go ahead and ask. We're really proud of the fact that we still have them all. :-)

Word of the Day: Deer

Today, my dad looked out of our front door as he was putting the cat out. He said, "Hey, Christine! Look! There's a deer. Oh, hey!!! *angrily* It's eating my bushes! That's it, I'm hitting it with a snowball." He then took some snow in his hand, formed it into a hard ball, and chucked it at the deer. He hit it right in the middle of the back - a perfect shot. The deer took off running, and I just pictured it running through the forest shouting to all of the other deer, "I'M HIT! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! I'M DOWN!" lol... Animals are funny.

OH MY GOSH! HEART ATTACK! Literally as I type these words, I looked up to contemplate my next sentence and there is a deer STARING AT ME outside the window from my dining room table where I am sitting. Seriously. I could go pet it right now - that's how close it is.

Okay...there are more coming up behind that one...I am starting to freak out...they have come for revenge on my dad. I'M SORRY, DEER! I DID NOT ENCOURAGE HIM TO THROW A SNOWBALL AT YOU! There are six of them now - all within ten yards of my house. That's it, I'm going to go jump on one and ride it through the forest.

Okay, maybe not. They look kind of angry.

No WAY! Two of them are fighting over a bush that must be exceptionally tasty. I cannot believe I am watching this. It's like Discovery Channel LIVE! Now I'm just waiting for the lion or tiger to jump out and eat the smallest, weakest one.

HA! I just won a staring contest with one of them. Now they know I am dominant and that I can take them. They can't just come smashing through that window and trample me in order to teach my dad a lesson in harassing forest creatures.

Deer, I will talk to my dad about throwing snowballs. I promise. Now stop looking like you want to eat me.

Word of the Day: Congo

I just got back from hanging out at the Webb house. Prior to chillin with my future in-laws, I was at Panera with my future cousin-in-law Danielle for three hours. Three hours at PANERA. Wow. Anyway, she and her husband have one daughter (who is the flower girl in my wedding), and they have been trying to have another baby for a year now but with no luck. Therefore they are trying to adopt a baby from the Congo. Yes, a black baby. Yes, their very conservative, at times quasi-racist grandparents are probably going to take issue with that, but oh well. Congo babies need homes too! That became the joke for the rest of the night. When Rex, his brothers and I went to Sonic to get slushies for the family, we asked his dad what he wanted. Cherry? Grape? Congo Baby?

I, for one, hope they do it. Adoption is a great idea! As one who does not wish to ever have children, I don't think it is a good idea for ME, but I would fully go visit and occasionally babysit Danielle's Congo baby in the event that she gets one.

Word of the Day: Chi-poo

What is a "Chi-poo," you may ask? Good question. I asked it too. Turns out it is a mix between a chihuahua and a poodle. Yep. Picture that.

Rex and I went over to his friend Colin's house last night to hang out with Colin and his wife Laura. They have this dog, a Chi-poo named Holly, that is the tiniest dog that I have EVER seen. It could honestly take a nap in my shoe. Furthermore, the dog is already full grown! I did not know that dogs were MADE that small! I figure we never need to get one of those since I already have a rat, and the two are very similar in size and friendliness.

Holly had a "bone" to chew that I called her "stick" because it was about 1/4 inch in diameter and looked like a twig snapped off of a tree. Even "stick" was generous...it was more like a twig. This dog would have been perfect for my American Girl dolls about fifteen years ago. Seriously - perfect size. They should sell Chi-poos outside of the American Girl Doll store in Chicago. Brilliant! This is my new money making scheme. I shall spend the rest of Spring Break 2010 devising a plot on how to make this work. Hmmmm....

Wait, if I were to do that, I would actually have to own Chi-poos to sell. No thanks. I guess I'll just finish college and get a normal job. How boring.

Word of the Day: PHONE!

I FINALLY got my new phone in the mail today!! It has been surprisingly difficult to be without a functional phone for the past two weeks. It makes me think about how dependent we are on technology...this probably isn't good. Was the world better 150 years ago, when we didn't have any of this craziness? Or is it better now? I guess I'll never know since I can't live in both places.

I spend a lot of time keeping up with old friends, mainly because I can. Facebook and e-mail allow me to keep up with pretty much everyone. Long ago, people only had their tight-knit group of best friends and that was all. Do you suppose they wished they had more friends, or do you think they were relieved to not have to spend the time keeping up with hundreds of people? I don't know...

I wonder where technology is headed. Flying cars? Time machines? I keep thinking we can't possibly get more advanced...yet we always do. It's going to be weird to see what comes next.

For now, though, I'm happy with my phone. :-)

Word of the Day: Incident

95% of the time I LOVE being an RA. I have great friends, a great floor, I get to plan cool events, and I'm always in "the know" about what's going on on campus.

Today, however, was in the other 5%.

My day started at 4:30 AM, when someone was pounding frantically at my door. I answered to find a very shaken resident telling me that she found someone in the bathroom passed out and having a seizure. I quickly grabbed my phone to call 911 and went to be with my fallen resident. By the time I got to the bathroom she had regained consciousness, and as soon as I saw she was breathing and conscious I became instantly calm. It's weird how, after dealing with so many incidents, the fact that someone is breathing is enough to be like, "Oh, no big deal."

She was, in fact, okay. I rubbed her back while she continued puking and we waited for the ambulance. She went to the hospital, but I was up until about 6:30 dealing with the incident, writing it up, assuring her roommate that everything was going to be okay, and then trying to fall back asleep myself. It is disconcerting to watch the sun begin to rise outside my window, knowing that I have to be up in two hours to greet it for an early class. Blast.

Being an RA is so fun, but it is scary and taxing to deal with emergencies. I'm not sure if it's good or bad that my fingers don't even shake a little bit anymore when I call 911. It's just like an extended speed dial. "Oh, hey, operator? I haven't yet talked with you yet this week. How are the children?" He he he it's not that bad, but I just feel like incidents don't phase me as much anymore. They leave me exhausted, but not shaken up. Does that make sense? They do, however, produce a very tired, cranky RA for the day after the night that she got four hours of sleep. Nobody better bust out the weed tonight; I would not be friendly.

Word of the Day: Experiment

Okay. I have a hypothesis. What made my "Inside These Crookston Walls" blog successful is that I had a format to write in every day, so I was more motivated to actually blog. Therefore I am trying out a format on this blog as well. It is going to be called "Word of the Day." I will pick a word that sums up my day, and then explain why. Easy as pie, right? I should have no problem updating my blog every day now, right?

Well, we shall see. That's why the word of the day today is "experiment." We shall see how this works.

I mean, I do want to remember college. For instance, I could tell you that this weekend was really fun. Rex and I reserved tuxes and bought his wedding ring (!) on Saturday, and then I had a wedding planning party with Charissa. YAY! Then Rex and I went to the movies and saw a movie about a couple who hates each other going into the witness protection program together. It was funny. And SEE? Now I won't forget that I did that because it is in this blog! On Friday night we tried Mike's Hard Lemonade for the first time, and it was DELICIOUS! Oh, and we went to Lou and Harry's Grrrrrrrrrrrrill!! Actually, we didn't, we just walked by it and thought it was a cool name. Well, more I thought it was a cool name. But don't you understand? Now I will REMEMBER that I think that is a cool name! This blogging thing is so cool...it's like writing my own memories. For instance, today I did math homework, but I don't want to remember that so I just won't write about it. Except that I just did. Blast.

I will have to work on this.

It shall be a fun experiment.

I'm Bad at Blogging

It's true. I am bad at it. This is sad.

Today I went back and read pieces of my "Inside These Crookston Walls" blog from this summer. I was laughing so hard - I had forgotten most of the stuff that happened until I went back and read about it. I was so diligent about keeping that updated, mostly because I knew that in a few short weeks the whole experience would be over and I wanted to always remember it.

Somehow I am not looking at college the same way. In only 72 days I will be graduating from college - that's just over ten weeks! Yet somehow I have not been blogging. I am going to forget everything that I did here!!! AHHHHHH!!! I don't want to forget - college is a BLAST. I need to be better at blogging, though. Hmmmm....how to remember to update this....not sure.

Plus, I feel like "Sober Spartan" is so broad. What do I write about? It's like...freestyling. With "Inside These Crookston Walls," I had a format that I held to. I would nominate "Crookston Moments of the Day," choose my favorite one, and declare a winner. It was easy to keep up with and I never sat staring at a blank box thinking, "Hmmm...what should I write about today?" I was pretty much just doing a summer-long case study on craziness. I need to figure out a way to make blogging about MY life more successful. I just have so much more fun reporting on others. Plus, I'm getting married soon (86 days!), and I don't want to forget my first year of marriage. I'm totally going to need to blog about that. I mean, it'll be like "The Newlyweds" on MTV, only I'm not as dumb as Jessica Simpson and Rex is not a rockstar and we don't have millions of dollars and we're not getting divorced...so okay maybe it will be nothing like "The Newlyweds." It would be cool, though! I totally wish that I could read a blog of my parents' first year of marriage - wouldn't that be cool??? But, in order to prepare myself for that, I need to get better at blogging!!!!

Suggestions, anyone?

My Math History

So I have this class, and I had to write my "math history" for it. I had to give a high point, a low point, a turning point, two "math scenes," my single greatest challenge, and two possible futures (one positive, one negative). This assignment is WEIRD. I kind of had fun writing my responses, though, so I'm posting them here. Hopefully my professor isn't too incredibly serious...


My Math History

The high point in my mathematical history was in fifth grade (is it bad that I piqued in fifth grade?). Anyway, my school participated in "Math Olympics." I won the Math Olympics competition in my class, so then I got to go compete against other mathematically advanced students in Michigan. At that competition, I won first place! HOORAY! I was incredibly proud of myself and how I represented my school, and I felt very intelligent. I still have my trophy...don't judge.

My math low was in high school. I attended KAMSC (Kalamazoo Area Math and Science Center), a magnet school for students gifted in math and science. My senior year, I was in a Calculus class and - for the first time in my life - was entirely confused by the mathematical concepts. I could go ahead and blame the teacher, but I feel that it would be more realistic to blame my infatuation and constant flirtation with the guy who sat next to me. Whatever the reason, I did not understand the concepts. My friend Sara helped me in Calculus whenever I needed it, and I could usually scrape together enough comprehension to do decently well on the tests. My grade wasn't awful, but I did not feel that I grasped the material. I hated the feeling of inadequacy and stupidity, so this was my math low.

I would say that my math turning point would be in college when I decided to begin a math minor. After my twelfth grade Calculus shenanigans, I had decided that I wasn't good at math. After scoring very well on the math placement entrance exam at MSU, I had the opportunity to never take a math class again. I was very excited about this. After a while, though, I really started to miss math. I liked the challenge of the problems and the logic of how everything works together so neatly. Before, elementary/middle school math had been something that I was good at, in high school math was something I had to get through, but in college I saw math as something I actually enjoyed. This was a weird revelation for me. Given the choice to never take math again, I didn't take it! That still boggles my mind sometimes, but in general I am very glad that I decided to do a math minor.

Math scene #1: When I was five, my dad tried to teach me multiplication with Hershey's kisses on my great-grandmother's coffee table. It was largely unsuccessful. I mean, I was FIVE! When that failed, he tried to teach me percentages which was, again, unsuccessful. If I didn't understand multiplication, I'm not sure how he expected me to understand percentages. Anyway, I was frustrated by this exchange, but I was more intrigued because this opened my eyes to exactly how much I didn't understand about the world. I decided that I wanted to learn all of these crazy mathematical conepts, and that when I was older I would understand EVERYTHING.

Math Scene #2: It was kind of cool to come full circle and teach a class that I once took. I teach math and science camps for children in the summer, and I attended those camps as a young student (um, can we say "NERD"??). Anyway, my first year as a teacher there was four years ago, and I taught the class "Teddy Bear Math," which I attended as a kindergartener. It was a cool feeling.

Single Greatest Challenge: In a word, CALCULUS. I have already explained about my Caluculus problems in twelfth grade. I took Calculus I again in college, and I worked my butt off. I practically moved in to the MLC and to the professor's office hours, and I came out with a 4.0. YAY! I tried to take Calc II online, though, and that epically failed. I mean, math online? This is just a bad choice. I should have seen that coming. Therefore I still need to take Calc II, and I'm very nervous about it.

Positive Math Future: Assuming I finish my math minor, a positive math future would be one in which I can teach students math concepts and get excited about the logic and preciseness of the subject. I did not find a love of math until college, and I believe that it would have been very useful to achieve that mindset earlier in life. In a positive math future, I would be able to do this.

Possible extension of this future: Maybe I will be able to inspire one of my students to love math, and they will become very skilled in it. They will work outside of school to persue math concepts beyond what we are learning in class. Because they are so good at math, they will excell in Physics in high school. Because they are good at Physics, they will major it in college. Then, because they are so good, they will get lots of grant money for research, and they will make some huge breakthrough. They will win a Nobel Prize and start their acceptance speech with, "Well, I owe it all to this one teacher..."

Negative Math Future: I am one class away from finishing my math minor (that pesky Calc II), and in a negative math future I would not finish that minor. I would go on to never use the math minor that I worked my butt off to achieve, and I would feel a large sense of regret over the loss of tuition money and effort put into it.

Possible Extension of this future: Perhaps, because I feel such a sense of guilt and inadequacy, I will quit the field of Education altogether. Because the economy right now is just booming...yeah, right...I won't find another job. Because I have no job, I will lose my house and become a hobo living on the streets of Chicago (why Chicago? Not sure. Sounds like a good place for hobos). I won't be a very experienced hobo, though, so food will be scarce and the other hobos will almost certainly pick on me. I'll probably die in some sewer and be left to be eaten by rats, but my last words will be, "If only I had finished that math minor..."