Breathing in a new mentality.

OOOOOOOHHHH MAN, WHAT a WEEKEND!!

Friday-Sunday was the first (of 2) weekends for the Sophomore Leadership Retreat. I expected it to be pretty cool, but I NEVER thought it would be as wonderful as it turned out to be.

On Friday we left on the first bus around 1:40 pm. The entire way to Lake Geneva we watched V for Vendetta. It's the first time I ever saw it, and it was REALLY awesome.

Once we got to Lake Geneva, we dropped our stuff off in our rooms and headed out to have some student/faculty competitions. There were heats for tether ball, horseshoe, badminton, shuffleboard, and volleyball. I was on Sarah's team, and we gradually worked our way up. EventuallyNikhail and I decided to team up for the championship round against 2 other students (to determine who would play Bruce [director of the Leadership Academy] and John Anderson [president ofIIT]). Nikhail and I prevailed, but unfortunately, we lost against Bruce and President Anderson 10-7. It's ok , though, because we were able to get to know the two of them fairly well, which was really awesome! I mean, these are two powerful guys atIIT, and they sat there and talked with us AND played horseshoes with us! Awesome.

After competitions, we headed to dinner. After dinner, we played this version of dodgeball called "star wars", and it was SO fun (basically dodgeball but with stuffed animals, etc.) After that, the 2nd bus arrived. We were divided into "teams" and did a bunch of extremely fun (and silly) team building games until about 10. Then we had free time, and a lot of us went to bed.

On Saturday morning, we had breakfast, then we had Team Olympics. We had to come up with a team name/cheer, and our team was team 'Bumblebee Tuna'. Our cheer was basically us in the formation of what we assumed a bumblebee tuna would look like, and it was a LOT of fun. The events were basically a bunch of team building/problem solving exercises, and I don't think our group stopped laughing once.

After Team Olympics, we had lunch. Post lunch, we had our first activity. Our team canoed first, and it was really fun. We canoed all over the lake, and learned how to right a tipped canoe in the middle of the water. We got to a spot where a bunch of us jumped out of our canoes and swam around. It was just a really interesting experience.

After canoeing, we got to go sailing. I have never sailed before, and I was pretty freaked out about doing it in a really deep lake (we had life jackets but I was convinced there was a lake monster that would eat me). The person I was with wanted to tip the sunfish (keep in mind a sunfish is a 1 to 2 person mini sailboat). When the big sailboat came by I discovered there was a ladder that went down the back of the boat to the water, so I bailed out of the sunfish and swam over to the big boat. :)

After sailing I took a quick shower and headed over to dinner. After dinner we had a brief speaker and then we had free time. During free time, a big group of us went to the Observatory. We got a tour AND we got to look through the huge telescopes to see a bunch of really cool astronomy stuff.

I left the observatory and went to bed. On Sunday morning we had breakfast and then our 3rd activity. Our group had low ropes, and it was WAY cooler than the name lets on. We had record time for this one challenge (6.5 seconds baby!), and it was cool to work together on all the others.

After that we had lunch and a leadership seminar to follow. Although, during the seminar, we discussed how it shouldn't be called that, because the term seminar implies boring, long, monotone speech. And oh no, this was definitely not a seminar. It was a hands-on, interactive, ridiculously entertaining activity. I loved it.

Right from the seminar we got on the buses and headed back to campus. We watched The Devil Wears Prada on the bus on the way back, and it was pretty cool. Once back, I did laundry, showered, cuddled with Marsala, and went to sleep.

It was a ridiculously awesome weekend, and I met a bunch of kids I had never really talked to prior to going on the retreat. We had a blast, and I expect the fun to continue through this school year. I HIGHLY recommend the retreat to any sophomore at IIT. You really can't understand how fun that weekend truly is!

The only survivor was miraculously unharmed.

I love, love, LOVE my first class of the day! It was my IPRO, or interprofessional project, and it is absolutely perfect. I'm taking orthotic and prosthetic education for Latin America, and I am already super excited about the work we're going to do this semester. I'm hoping it will help me figure out exactly what I want to do within the field of prosthetics when I graduate, and right now I'm leaning a little bit more towards pediatric orthotics and prosthetics. Regardless, it's an 8:35 class, so it's a very good thing that I love it. It will help get me motivated to wake up for it in the morning.

After work yesterday I went to the delt house for the steak dinner. Oh my goodness, it was SO delicious! They started everything off with this delicious salad that had little mandarin oranges and some sweet vinaigrette dressing. After the salad they served steak, shrimp, twice baked potatoes, and green beans. Naturally, since I hate seafood, I gave my shrimp away. However, I DEVOURED the rest of my dinner and it was absolutely delicious. After everyone had finished their main course, we were each brought our own banana's foster for dessert and OH MY GOSH. It was heaven.

After dinner I briefly went to the MTCC Ballroom to visit the Kappa's event. They were doing country dancing, but I was both exhausted and stressed, so I decided to leave after a couple of minutes to start preparing for classes that began today.

When I went home I pet Marsala (she has been locked away in my room the past day and a half because her and Echo don't like each other) and took her in the bathroom with me when I showered so she could experience a different room. After I showered I got all of my notebooks ready for all of my classes and discovered I could return my ECE books because I changed my schedule at the last minute yesterday. This fall, I am now taking:
IPRO 497-309
Math 333
History of American Women
BME 315
BME 330
Physics 2

After my next class (history) I'm going to go home to put Marsala back into my room and let Echo out (I had switched roles so she could experience daylight today). I also need to eat lunch and pack for the sophomore leadership retreat, and my third class isn't until 3:15. It's really nice because tomorrow the only class I have scheduled is my physics lab, and labs are never held the first week of classes, so I have the day off tomorrow!

We always assume the worst!

Yesterday was fun. After I left work I headed over to Kappa to hang out. There was a Project Runway event that they did where we all had to make an outfit for a model to wear out of a bunch of stuff from the dollar store (things like garbage bags, tin foil, a shower cap, a curtain, etc.). It turned out to be a lot of fun, and our outfit turned into an 80's era design. It was a great way to help break the ice and let us get to know the sisters.

Today ASA and the delts are having a steak/shrimp dinner and a boat cruise followed by fireworks. I'm definitely going to the dinner, not sure about the boat cruise yet. I have an 8:15 am class tomorrow morning, and classes all day (oh how I'm dreading it!) so I want to get back and in bed at a decent hour.

Campus is very busy with activity again. Aya Eid and I are working on making the camping on Siegel Field a reality. We are going to meet with Ray Ballard (Union Board president) to figure out more of the logistics, but we have a target date and plan that we came up with.

Other than that, nothing too new or exciting has happened. Each day that passes builds my anticipation for the new Underoath CD.....!

You wouldn't last a minute on the creek.

What a crazy couple of days. Not necessarily in a good way, either.

I'm trying to think of where I left off, and so much has happened in the past few days that I can't think straight. Friday night I just hung out at the apartment and tried relaxing. Saturday was date day. Jon and I walked over to 31st street beach to start off the day. The air and water show was this weekend, so there were planes flying over the beach to and from Navy Pier. It was really neat to see, especially since the beach really wasn't crowded AT ALL. We threw around a frisbee for a while and then we dug holes and buried our legs in them. When I got bored with that and was just laying in the sun, Jon decided to dig as deep of a hole he could with his hands. It was crazy because the way he dug it, it was almost perfectly round. It looked really cool!

After the beach, we walked back to my apartment. We made a frozen pizza (and it was actually REALLLLLY good) and just relaxed for a couple hours. I was having issues with my hair and I couldn't get it to do anything that looked decent, so Jon actually managed to put it into two little pig-tail bun things for me. It looked really cute! Around 4:30, we left for Navy Pier. On our way to the bus, he picked a flower and put it in my hair, which actually made my hair even CUTER! It was very sweet of him.

Forrest Gump is Jon's favorite movie, and he really wanted to go to Bubba Gump's, so we decided on it for dinner. When we got there, there was about a 2 hour wait, so we put our name on the list. Then we just walked around the Pier the whole time and went into all of the different shops. There was a juggler that we watched for a bit, and we sat in the garden for a little while, too. After the time passed we headed back to the restaurant. When we got there, neither of us could decide what to get. We decided to each order something and share it 50/50. He got a BBQ cheeseburger and I got a Cajun grilled chicken sandwich. We cut them in half and each took half. We also got a coupon for a free smoothie, and it was REALLY good. The picture I attached is of Jon attempting to finish dessert (it is literally called 'That Chocolate Thing'). Apparently it tasted just like this brownie dessert he used to get at Applebee's when he was younger that they stopped making. He was so full and I told him not to attempt to finish it because he would get sick, but he didn't listen and sure enough, he felt really nauseous for about 2 hours. The picture of the two of us was taken in the garden prior to dinner.

All in all, Saturday was a GREAT day!! I love spending time with Jon.

On Sunday we went to church, and after church, Jon, Shea, and I went to Subway. It was delicious. After lunch, Jon and I headed back to his place to hardcore clean. We moved all of his furniture in order to sweep, and once we swept we wet 'Swiffered' the entire floor. While I was doing some sweeping, Jon did his dishes, cleaned out all the moldy food from his refrigerator, organized all his shelves (and threw out a bunch of old papers), and took out the trash. We also washed all of his clothes. When I went to clean Lola's cage (our dwarf hamster) I realized there were bugs in her bag of fresh food, so after we threw it out, Jon walked over to Petsmart to get new food and I washed the bathroom. It probably took about 3 hours total to clean everything, but once it was clean the apartment looked GREAT. I felt very accomplished after.

I didn't come into work yesterday because my friend Tasha was coming from Ohio to drop off Marsala, her old/my new cat. I cleaned my room and some of the apartment, and Tasha and her mom got in around 2. We moved Marsala into my room and shut the door, then Jon, Tasha, Tasha's mom and I all left. We went to Jewel first to get the two of them a 1-day pass, then after Jewel we walked over to Millennium and Grant parks. Tasha took lots of pictures with this stuffed camel that her sister (and one of my best friends), Heather, got her. We went all over Chicago, to the Bean, Buckingham fountain, etc. After walking around for about 2 hours we went to Giordano's for dinner. After dinner we went up to the Magnificent Mile and just walked around for like 15 minutes. We left for Garret's popcorn and after that headed to Chinatown. Tasha looked at the little turtles there and bought a bubble tea, and we went back to the apartment.

It was a good and busy weekend. There were some sucky areas that I intentionally left out, but overall I can't complain.

Classes start Thursday, so we'll see how that goes. Sophomore Leadership Retreat for me is this weekend. I'm nervous about being gone all weekend, but it should be good.

Learn to live with it, long enough to take it day by day.

My head hurts so bad right now.

There are some issues happening with someone back in Ohio that are pushing me to my breaking point. It's so frustrating because I feel like I am doing everything humanly possible to resolve the issues, and no matter what I do or say, he refuses to accept me. He's more stubborn than I am, and I just don't know how to handle it anymore. All I know is that I'm tired of fighting, and I'm tired of constantly being put in a place where I feel like everything that goes wrong in the world is somehow my fault. I just really don't know what to do.

On a less upset/dark note, it's almost the weekend. Jon has this Saturday off, so we're going to hang out all day because next weekend I'll be gone on the Sophomore Leadership Retreat. We're either going to go to Navy Pier to watch the air and water show/eat at Bubba Gump's, go to the beach, go to Shedd Aquarium, go to the zoo, or we may even wander out into the suburbs. I'm really excited to have a whole day with him :) It will be date day!!

I talked to my mom today. We're hoping that sometime this fall she and Jon's mom can come out here for a visit. I sure hope so, because with the way my week has been steadily getting worse, all I want right now is my Mommy.

It's a shame to walk away from everything I want, and leave you here all alone.

Yesterday was a good day.

After work, I cleaned the living room and made dinner. Nikolai and Jon came over and we watched the Olympics. Nikolai left around 8, and Jon and I put on some Ace Enders and a Million Different People and danced around. It was actually a LOT of fun, and I didn't stop laughing the entire time. I love my boyfriend!

Today I went to the lab to get oriented, but the chemicals they ordered that they need to synthesize the proteins haven't come yet, so I decided to come into work instead. I'm going to try again tomorrow.

Our international students get into campus for orientation today and tomorrow, and it is excited because campus is quickly becoming a buzz of activity. It seems like only yesterday when I was a freshman...

Jon works all day today so I'm not going to see him :( After work I'm going to take a nap and veg around the apartment. It's supposed to storm this afternoon, so I might curl up on the couch with Echo and read a book (which will in turn put me to sleep).

I get my kitty on Monday! She was originally my friend, Tasha's, but Tasha is going to college in Iowa and her parents are moving to Florida, so she needs to get rid of Marsala. I'm excited because that means I get to see Tasha, not to mention Marsala is a total sweetheart..

Just as things should get back to normal, they're not quite for me.

OH my goodness, I ADORE the band Ace Enders and a Million Different People! I've been listening to them nonstop since the show on Sunday, and I keep falling more and more in love with their sound. Not only is their music wonderful, but the bandmates are all SO down to earth and NOT conceited at all, which is a major breath of fresh air. Their album is free for download from Fuse, so there is no excuse to not listen to them.

After work yesterday I went on a cleaning rampage. Since Nicole is still in the process of moving in, our apartment is a DISASTER. It is so disgusting and I just couldn't handle it anymore. Jon put away all the dishes (and washed the other dishes) while I scrubbed down the entire bathroom. I scrubbed the walls, floor, toilet, sink, shower, mirror, and washed the bath mats. After that, I went into the kitchen (which was difficult to do based on the piles of miscellaneous items on the floor) and started putting other new dishes and various items away. Once the floor was somewhat visible, I swept and mopped. During the whole process, I also had a bunch of laundry going in the background. After the main cleaning was done, I took out ALL of the trash (kitchen, bathroom, bedroom) and in the process, got locked out. It was all good, though, because Jon was still inside doing dishes and he let me back in. Once those living areas were clean, I decided to have a go at my room. All that really needed done was putting clothes away (and re-organizing my dresser drawers). While I cleaned my room Jon played my guitar and sang some of the songs he's written, and as usual, they were beautiful. With a large hunk of cleaning done, I decided to shower and relax for the evening.

I also got to talk to my friend from home, Heather, for about 45 minutes yesterday. We talked mostly about her wedding plans and how they are coming along (Heather is my best friend/is engaged to Paul, who happens to be Jon's best friend). We brainstormed ideas for the *gasp!* bachelorette party (no worries, ideas involved spa days and baking parties. We are not a wild bunch). It was a good conversation and it was nice to catch up with her.

Today I am going to try and clean the living room area because that it still a disaster. Tomorrow I'm going to Dr. Orgel's lab for most of the day to become more familiar with it. Should be a good time:)

I know you wonder if it's worth the wait.

What a busy (but wonderful!) weekend!!!! The pictures in this blog are a general preview of the madness that went on.

Lauren and Kevin got in around 4:45 on Friday. We went to my apartment to drop off their stuff then headed up north via the red line. We met up with Jon at The Metro to see The Lifeline. We ended up leaving early to go to Clark's. After we ate, Jon went home and Lauren and Kevin and I headed back to the south side.

On Saturday Jon had work basically all day, so it was just L, K, and me. In the morning we went to Lincoln Park Zoo for a few hours. It was really fun until we went to the chimpanzee exhibit. One of the chimps had caught a rabbit, killed it, and was carrying its limp body around its enclosure. It was really, really, REALLY depressing.

After the zoo, we went to Chipotle. After Chipotle, we visited Jon at work and then went back to my place to take a nap. After our nap, we headed out with Shea and Nicole (my roommates) to Bubba Gump's restaurant on Navy Pier. That name is probably familiar to you, but it was foreign to me. You see, I have never seen Forrest Gump. I grew up in a family that was 75% female, so when I was little our idea of movies was all Disney stuff. Vietnam War classic American movies were not of interest to me. Anyway, the restaurant was a LOT of fun-- our waiter was hilarious and it was fun messing around with him. After we ate, Shea and Nicole headed off and L, K, and I headed into the Pier to do touristy stuff. One elephant ear later, the three of us headed over to Millennium Park to see the Bean.

While there, an orchestra was playing in the amphitheatre, so it was cool to watch that. We saw the Bean, and those crazy sculptures that have faces on them (and they spit water). It was too dark, though, so we went back to my place to crash for the night.

On Sunday we went to church, Giordano's (so they could taste some 'authentic' Chicago deep dish pizza), and back to the Bean. They left for Ohio basically right when we got home, and it was sad to see them go.

After they left, Jon and I went BACK to the Metro to see Danger Radio, Ace Enders (AMAZING band/best set EVER. You should definitely check them out!!!), Powerspace (I have never liked Powerspace. They act like they invented rock and roll and it really annoys me), and Cute is What We Aim For. We left after a few songs of Cute is What We Aim For's set because I couldn't stand anymore, and I'm really not that knocked out about their music.

All in all it was a really long and exhausting weekend, but it was totally worth it!!

We'll bring the beat so you can keep your feet moving.

Note to self:

Listen to more:

• Mercy Mercedes
• Person L
• Norma Jean
• Danger Radio
• Emarosa
• A Bird A Sparrow

My God, where have I been?

I have included a few pictures from Cedar Point for your viewing pleasure. Picture 1 (top to bottom) is of Jon and me on the train that goes around the park. Jon loves trains, and if he had his way he would be a train conductor, so he very much enjoyed that ride.

For picture 2, Jon came up with the idea that we all stand with our backs to Jessica's camera, and on the count of 3 all turn around and smile. I think it's one of my favorites.

The last picture is of Jessica and me. Jessica and her boyfriend, Cameron, just got engaged a few weeks ago and I am VERY excited for them. For the record, that face isn't Jessica's normal smile face. :)

I feel like I am 7 years old again!

When I was little, if something really exciting was going to happen (leaving for a family vacation, going to a birthday party, having a sleepover, etc.) I would get myself so worked up that I would physically get sick.

Here I am, 13 years later, and I find myself so excited that Lauren and Kevin are coming today that I am ACTUALLY nauseous! More on this later...

Yesterday was good fun. After work, I took about an hour and a half nap and it was so wonderful. Echo actually slept peacefully with me (as opposed to his typical attacking antics)-- he army crawled under my covers and sprawled out on my legs-- it was SO cute! I had left the apartment door unlocked because Tim and Tiffany were going to be getting in relatively soon, and I woke up when my phone went off because Jon was trying to tell me he was over but my bedroom door was locked. When I woke up, he and I hung out until Tim and Tiffany got back. When they got back, they cooked dinner and it was DELICIOUS. They made lasagna, grilled chicken Caesar salad, and garlic bread-- I felt like a QUEEN!

Not long after we were done eating, Shea got home, and the five of us walked to Scoops to get ice cream. While at Scoops, Tim gave me $0.50 to ride the mechanical horse. It was actually a lot more fun than one would think.

After Scoops, we all headed back to the apartment and watched some TV and just relaxed. Jon left, and I talked to my friend, Peter, online for about half an hour-- he and I haven't talked in forever so it was nice catching up. After that, I went to bed and had the most solid sleep I've had in a REALLY long time.

Which brings me BACK to Lauren and Kevin's visit!! They're aiming to get into Chicago around 4 today, and around 4:45 we are going to leave to go see 1997 and The Lifeline at the Metro.. for FREE! Tomorrow Jon has to work all day, so Arnett might meet up with Lauren, Kevin and I to go to the zoo and just hang out.

I cannot stop listening to the new Underoath song.

What terrible company, with zero apologies.

This is an ode to Underoath (I will no longer be ashamed of my taste in music! I don't care if you hate it, I LOVE it!) and their new album.

Their previous album, Define the Great Line, was one that I took to heart. I am a Christian, and so is Underoath, so a LOT of their songs really hit home. They used beautiful language to explain and express so many struggles and disappointments in regards to one's self that I could completely relate to.

On their new album, Lost in the Sound of Separation, I have really only heard one song thus far ("Desperate Times, Desperate Measures"), but I already LOVE it. The lyrics are as follows:

I've been crawling around around in the dark for a while
Spread out across the floor, not collecting dust anymore
Define me a parasite, define my host
Trapped beneath the floor, I slowly waste away
I pull my frail body into a chair, and look me in the face
I'm disappointed, so disappointed
This will be my last one, it's gonna be good and hard
It might be a touch out of key, a touch out of key
When this thing breaks, I will be you, you will be me
I'll pray that this is really happening
When this thing breaks, I will be you, you will be me
Let's hope this is short lived and riddled with disease
Oh God, the noise this is ringing in my ear, it's so unclear, so unclear
I hear them talking, but can't make out the words
Speak up, speak clear
I hear them talking, but can't make out the words
Speak up, speak clear
Where have I been?
What terrible company, with zero apologies
My God, where have I been, where have I been when I sink to the bottom?
I'll sing out as it fills with water
I hope I've done enough
I'm worn out, I'm worn thin, I will never break through
Let me out, let me out

I just know what it feels like to be so disappointed with the person I am and the acts I've committed. Underoath seems to have a knack for putting the things I feel relatively regularly into words and melodies (and for those of you who aren't familiar with me, music is my main escape from reality, pain, fear, anxiety, etc.). I just think their music is liberating. I know it's cheesy and cliche, but it's truly how I feel. I'm not trying to be 'trendy', and to be perfectly honest I hate the way society classifies everyone into categories ('emo', 'scene', 'prep', 'goth', etc.). I am me, and this is who I am and how I feel and think. I am done with trying to be something I'm not. I am done killing myself to act and look how certain people want me to act and look. From the cold years of middle school with the heartless comments of my peers, I have slowly learned to love myself for who I am. I know now that I don't need to impress anyone. As long as I am happy, that is what matters. Don't get me wrong, I have NOTHING against constructive criticism (I have heard a saying of something to the effect of 'the people who tell you [reasonable] things you need to improve are the people who care about you the most') and I see nothing but positivity surrounding one trying to improve who he or she is as a person. But I am done trying to change how I look and quiet my loud demeanor.

Ok that turned out to be a lot longer, darker, and somewhat more 'profound' than I originially intended. My bad.

But anyway, go listen to some Underoath.

Hey unloving, I will love you.

What an exciting morning I've already had! We had a bunch of high school students in that needed tours under 30 minutes long, so we had to spice everything up. Instead of the typical campus tours that we normally give, each of our groups went to individual classrooms/labs/Crown and talked about our own majors. It gave me a great opportunity to brag about our beautiful new BME labs! Mad thanks to Professor Dhar for coming in this morning to unlock the labs for us!

Yesterday was a good day. I left work early because our entire office was at a picnic and there was basically nothing to do at all. When I got home I watched TV for a little bit. Around 4:30, Arnett came and picked me up so I could run errands. We went to Target and I got all of the school supplies I need for the fall, and might I add I only spent about $13! I saved my old binders from last year, my office gave me TONS of random pens and pencils about a week ago, I still have a stapler, staples, post-its, highligters, some paper, and scissors. I bought 6 notebooks (2 for $3) and 6 folders (2 for $1). I also got 2 pads of looseleaf notebook paper (50 cents each!). Sorry, I am VERY proud of bargain-hunting and I LOVE finding good deals (I'm in college-- what do you expect!?). After Target, Arnett and I headed over to Dominick's so I could get groceries and some CTA visitor's passes for my friends, Lauren and Kevin, who are coming to visit this weekend.


When I got home, Shea and I watched some tv and ate some dinner. After dinner, I went for a quick run and then did some push-ups and sit-ups. I am ridiculously out of shape, but I guess you gotta start somewhere.

I went to bed relatively early and then came into work first thing. I am so amped for Lauren and Kevin to come!

You look so cute when you're confused.

Yesterday was fuun.

After work, I hung out with Shea and fought with Jimmy John's. Here is how the drama went down:

I called the Jimmy John's that is about 3 blocks away (just south of campus) and tried ordering. When I gave them my address I was informed that I lived too far for delivery. Confused, I called my friend who works there. He gave them a call and then relayed to me that I am not too far for delivery, I just live in another Jimmy John's delivery territory and if his Jimmy John's were to deliver to me, "stuff would go down". I called the Jimmy John's he referred me to, only to be informed that they did not have a delivery guy in. Frazzled and craving Jimmy John's, I decided to call their headquarters to inquire as to what I should do. I calmly (and politely, too, I might add!) explained the situation, they took my phone number, and eventually the first Jimmy John's I called gave ME a call to take my order. I had a sandwich within 20 minutes :) I think the delivery girl expected me to yell at her when she came, because she cautiously approached my door and was extremely apologetic. When I paid her for the sandwich and told her I didn't need change, she looked scared and asked me, "are you sure?" All I wanted was a sandwich, I didn't want it to be a big deal. But I got my sandwich and it was delicious.

After I ate, I showered then rode my bike to Emily and Frank's. A bunch of Frank's friends were over, and we all hung out and they made dinner. I left about 10 to head back to the apartment, and was in bed by 11. It was a good night.

Tonight I'm planning on laying low for the sake of regaining energy, but who knows what could happen! My two friends, Lauren and Kevin, are coming in from Ohio to visit on Friday, so this weekend is going to be hectic. Friday night we're going to a free show at the Metro (The Lifeline and 1997 are playing), Saturday I think we're going to the zoo, and Sunday Jon and I are going to see Cute is What We Aim For and Danger Radio at the Metro again.

And tomorrow, I know, will be rainy at best.

This is going to be an ode to crazy Chicago weather blog!

Yesterday was really fun. I had to leave work early because two friends from Colorado, Tim and Tiffany, showed up at my office and needed to become acquainted with my place. I took them there and we made lunch, then we met up with Jon and walked around Chinatown for about an hour and a half. The weather was sunny and ridiculously humid, but otherwise nice. After Chinatown we all hung out the apartment the rest of the night. Around 7:30, it had started lightning, but the weather seemed fine. Then at 8:00 we had just started watching a movie when I heard sirens. I thought they were on the TV, but Shea came out of her room (Shea is from Alabama and thus familiar with severe weather) and asked if we heard them, too. We muted the TV and walked to the windows, and I noticed everyone on our street who sits on their porches were running into their houses (the weather wasn't even bad!) I HATE storms, they terrify me, so instinctively I ran for the basement of the apartment building. The thing is, our apartment has absolutely no internal rooms, and every single room and hallway has at least one window in it. When I got to the porch, my landlady was standing there (I almost gave her a heart attack with how quick I came up on her) and she saw me hyperventilating and shaking and took me into her apartment.

Jon was not far behind me, so we went and sat in her living room. I looked out the window and out of nowhere this massive gust of wind was bending the trees on our street at their middle and torrential rains came out of nowhere. I ran into her bathroom and Jon followed me to try to calm me down, and the landlady asked me to call Shea and have her, Tim, and Tiffany come downstairs, too. The landlady's 3 grandsons were there, and we noticed a cop pull someone over in front of the house. Next thing we know, there was a knock at the door-- apparently, the reason the cops were pulling this guy over was to tell him he needed to get into a building ASAP. So basically, it was a little party in my landlady's apartment for about half an hour.

Once the weather calmed down, Shea, Jon, Tim, Tiffany, and I went back upstairs to finish our movie. Around 10:00 I went to bed, only to be awoken around 11:30. The air conditioner in my room seems to amplify the sound of rain, which is what initially woke me up, but when I became a little more alert I realized the rain sounded like it was IN my room. I ran and turned on the light, and sure enough, rain was pouring in through the top of my window sill (not from my actual window). Luckily, Tim and Tiffany were still awake, so they came and held up towels while I ran back downstairs to see the landlady. She and her son came up, and he couldn't figure out where the water was coming from. The two of them went to the apartment above ours, and apparently, it was raining so hard/so horizontally that the rain was actually going in between the bottom of their window and the wall, and then dripping down into my window frame. They draped some garbage bags on the outside of her window to prevent the rain from going in, and that seemed to do the trick, so I went back to sleep.

It was such a crazy night, I have never experienced anything like it. I had never heard tornado sirens prior to last night, either, and it was one of the creepiest sounds I had ever heard! I'm just glad Jon was there to help calm me down because I was freaking out and I think I probably would have had a full blown panic attack.

Other than the crazy weather, yesterday was good on the whole. I definitely plan on taking a nap after work because I am EXHAUSTED after the flooding room madness of last night. Lauren and Kevin get in on Friday, and Tim and Tiffany don't leave til Saturday, so it should be an interesting night.

You asked me what I wanted, I want you.

WHHHHHAT a weekend.

Jon and I left bright and early on Friday morning to meet up with Brian at Union Station. Once there, we ate McDonalds for breakfast and waited for the bus. For once, the Megabus actually came on time, and the three of us managed to snake the 5-seater backseat all for ourselves! The trip to Cleveland was quick, painless, and we actually arrived EARLY! Straight from getting picked up, Jon's parents, my parents, my grandma, and two of my cousins met up with all of us at Applebee's for an early dinner. It was so delicious and so happy because I haven't seen my grandma in over a year. After dinner, Brian and I went back to my house to drop off our stuff and hang out with my parents for a little bit. We eventually had to leave to go to Paul's house to drop off his and Heather's Cedar Point tickets. Jon and his brother, Marc, live right down the street from Paul, so they came over, too. Eventually, our friends Matt and Greg came over, also. We all hung out by a bonfire pretty late, and Heather tried on her wedding dress so I could see it and I tried on my bridesmaid's dress so she could see that (Heather and Paul are engaged. Heather is my best friend, Paul is Jon's, and they are ultimately who introduced Jon and I to one another). SHE LOOKED LIKE SUCH A PRINCESS! I am so excited for the two of them, they are definitely perfect together.

Around 11:00, Brian and I left because we were planning on leaving my house for Cedar Point by 9. On Saturday morning, Jessica, Cameron, Matt, and Claire came over, and the six of us left for CP. Around noon, Jon and Marc showed up, and then around 2:30 Heather, Paul, Alex, and Marie came out (Heather had to work til 1:15). There were some definite low points that I won't get into at the beginning and end of the day, but the time spent inbetween was pretty cool. On the Raptor (one of the steel rollercoasters where your feet dangle) they replaced the still photos by mounting cameras in front of all the seats to record your face during the ride. Jon is afraid of heights, so when we got off to see the video of him on the Raptor we were all literally rolling on the floor laughing. His face appeared as though he had just witnessed death, terror, and a vicious crime all at once. It was so adorable!!

After CP, we all went our separate ways and crashed for the night.

Sunday morning, my family, Brian, and I went to Jon's church to see him get baptised. After the baptism, Jon's parents had friends and family over for a celebratory brunch. We all hung out there for a bit, but Brian and I had to go back to my house to finish packing. We took the Megabus back (which was, of course, an hour late into Union) and crashed hard last night.

I just met Tim and Tiffany, Lam's friends, who will be crashing at my apartment this week because their original Chicago host has been admitted to the hospital and they have nowhere to stay. Lauren and Kevin come on Friday.

It should be good times.