good life

Last week (as you can imagine from my earlier post), I was at the peak of my stressed-out-o-meter. I was grumpy and freaked about turning 22 (this Wednesday). Needless to say, I was everyone's favorite person...eh.
How did I cope? The way I do with any stressful week: I got in my car, plugged in my ipod drove to Omaha.

I love that city, and I love everything that happened this weekend. There was hardly any traffic on my way out of town, which meant a small audience to see my performance of the Glee soundtrack, Ingrid Michaelson's new album and my new favorite Josh Turner song. I met my wonderful disciple Toni for a little bit of coffee and shopping, which was a lot of fun and financially successful with small purchases of a sweet headband and lovely hat. After a walk around the Old Market, I made my way to spend the night with Sara. What can I say about her except that she makes me feel loved and happy when we talk. A long conversation with her was just what I needed and after a restful night on her couch, I woke up too late to go to Mass at St. Cecilia's Cathedral at 7:30. However, while I was driving, disappointed, to a bookstore I'd always wanted to visit, I found a church having Mass at 8:15. I couldn't thank God enough for His providence and gift of going to Mass that morning.

After grabbing some coffee and looking for books, I grabbed some more coffee (sensing a theme?), this time with another friend, Annie, with whom much catching up and many laughs ensued. Then, Vietnamese food with a mother of two and inspiration to me was the wonderful end to my semi-spontaneous trip that followed me west on I-80.

When I thought that the break was over and it was back to an awful reality of papers, applications and a long to-do list, I got home to witness another great Husker win and take some time with my roommate Amanda to drink wine and eat good food. I guess my life is pretty great in any city I'm in or will end up in. But for right now, I'm happy to be in the good life, where the biggest city is under a million people, where the football team can claim wins over Oklahoma AND Kansas and where my heart can be content.

rant: on having a lot of stuff to do

I don't even know where the list starts, but I do know that it doesn't have an end.
I have to say, my intent in this post is not to complain about all of the things I have to do (at least not the whole time), but I have a really hard time believing that professors understand exactly what they do to students this time of year.
Since when does a senior in college need to turn in an annotated bibliography before a paper is even due, just to make sure they're getting things done? Either the students will have their projects done on the due date or they won't.
And really, economics professor? Sending out a problem set at 4 p.m. due in morning class when it's not on the syllabus? Um, no thanks.
Also, if I have to upload another stupid document to blackboard, I will probably scream.
I have to apply for graduate school, write an honors thesis, finish my resume and, well, graduate. Oh yeah, not to mention, work, serve on ASUN, lead a Bible study, lead a women's ministry, pick the next dean of the college and maintain sanity.
My life is impossible.

Thanks for reading. I guess I did end up complaining the whole time. :)

post-game

i woke up this morning to remember that nebraska lost to iowa state because of eight turnovers, to find that texas a&m beat texas tech by 22 points and to realize that i had slept for 11 hours (oops).
let's forget about a&m and my outrageous sleep patterns for a moment, and i will remember that at 10 a.m. i will be sitting in the football offices, trying to help recruit a senior to join our athletic program. there will be 12 sad coaches, six different colors of red furniture and the five hopeful championship trophies from years past.
what do all these numbers add up to? well, life.
our spirits will be lifted with the promise of a new friendship(or a new head coach) and we will inevitably be let down with the imperfection of an old friend (or a carry-over offensive coordinator).
there will be days like iowa state and ones like missouri. there will be glimmers of hope like a 300-pound defensive tackle and agonizing unpredictability like the performance of a certain quarterback.
we can pout and yell and "give-up" as much as we want to, but at the end of the day, we're still alive, and in this case, we're still husker fans. so today, i will suck it up and help my huskers be a better team, just like everyday i will try to improve myself and my life.

but seriously, we better beat baylor.

road

this week i'm commuting from lincoln to omaha for the last week of my internship. fortunately, i've been riding with a graphic designer named stacy that works in the marketing department, and she's great. but with all of this driving and the fact that my senior year is literally days away, i've been thinking about life, journeys, etc. (the semi-sappy blog post had to come eventually).
i'm not really one to look back and let myself get carried away with nostalgia. i like to live in the present and occassionally daydream about the possibilities of the future.
the "future", along with its unknown possibilities, is coming up faster than i had ever imagined or hoped that it would. and lately, looking back and sharing stories of my past with stacy has been the comfort i need to begin this year full of decisions. scary, life-changing, wonderful decisions.
at least for the next couple of days, i can dream about the days of watercolors painting birds on sketch pads, my pink and white bike with silver tassles, boardgame high school hangouts and the rush of my freshman year of college.
things i can look forward to? seeing everyone again, new classes, football season and the "surpise" going away breakfast the department is having for me on thursday.
stacy spilled the beans.

hit me like a ray of sun

i meant to blog more this summer. whoops.
looking back at my summer in omaha (and occasionally, lincoln), i think it was pretty successful. i accomplished a lot of what i wanted to, although there are some things i could have probably fit in. that's ok, though. there's plenty of time for that. meanwhile, here are some highlights.

hanging out with my roommates. there were many: beth, jena, sydney and eventually katie and mary. i was never one to diss sitting on the couch watching movies, but i learned so much and had so much more fun doing this than i ever had before. thanks for introducing me to "love song for bobby long," beth. i would quote something now, but all of the funny lines are kind of inappropriate...

learning how to drive in omaha. i'm so grateful that my thunder bunny has an impressive turn radius. uturns just turned into something i looked forward to doing when i got lost. but i finally mustered up the courage to drive in the center lane on dodge (it alternates directions depending on the time of day) and i can successfully give directions to a nonresidents (most of the time).

boys town. particularly reading the biography of father flangan and getting to know the other intern, annie. she is wicked cool, and we had a lot of fun together. given, a lot of that fun distracted us from getting things done and involved online shopping, but hey. it's a friendship that will last a lifetime....only if she stops poooking meeee!!! (real housewives of nyc reference)

weddings! featuring the burdas, litts, beauclairs, ostgrens and (upcoming) weeders. i never knew there could be so many truly beautiful ceremonies, truly in love couples and truly uncomfortable shoes i chose to wear. despite some fashion insensibilities, i really enjoyed playing flute, playing wedding planner (jlo cirque 2001) and playing beyonce when i jumped up on stage to belt out "halo." um, you are more than welcome roni and aaron.

there are so many other memories and wonderful people that i will carry in my heart. so long, omaha, where imagination really does meet opportunity.

somewhere in middle america

i've been spending my days as an intern at boys town. it's a non-profit organization dedicated to providing care for youth and families. it started out as an omaha orphanage in 1917, started by father edward j. flanagan, but has over the years developed into a nationwide organization. it's pretty great. all i really do it write articles and talk to people. but hey, that's good enough for me. besides the internship, i've been exploring omaha a little and will continue to do so throughout the summer. for those you planning a trip to omaha in the near future (it's a metropolis, don't even joke), i will be reviewing the activites, restaurants, etc. that i am partaking in. i know you'll appreciate this, you don't have to thank me. but if you do...that's fine, too.
college world series: my first time at the college world series was an extremely hot but pleasant one. i've never really liked baseball, but a week of lsu and texas fans everywhere got me swinging a different bat (ha...). it was seriously fun the two games i went to, and i can't wait til next year. fun family america time.

henry doorly zoo: i had also never been to a zoo before (gasp). it was fantastic! definitely worth the $10+ admission fee and steep hills. highlights: gorillas, aquarium, swamp, monkeys hugging.

mother india restaurant: barely big enough to be a hole-in-the-wall establishment. after seeing a fairly short list of entrees, i knew it had to be good. and it was. chicken curry and a big piece of naan ($10). i've had naan better...for the price, anyway.

three happiness express: yes, that is the actual name of a chinese restaurant on leavenworth st. (mere blocks away from mother india) they are not as speedy as their name implies, but they are decent for the price. good crab ragoon and excellent water glass filling.

garage saling: a must saturday morning activity at some point in the summer. depending on the neighborhood, you can find some pretty great little treasures (i.e. pink rose earrings, free yellow coffee mug, forest green belt). i also really enjoyed the two estate sales i came across. those are more practical for people with more than an interns hourly wage. fun, nonetheless.

that's all for now. happy summer day, everyone. :)

summer

I can't believe it's actually here.
I kind of hate summer. It's hot. There's rarely a schedule (and I like schedules). There's no football or jackets. Friends are gone.
That's why for the past two summers I made sure I had a schedule and friends around me. Totus Tuus and NSE were really good summers. When I realized that I didn't actually have a plan for this summer and whatever it was going to be, I probably wouldn't have a schedule or friends, I kind of freaked out. Eventually, I told God whatever He wanted me to do, I would do it. He surprised me and gave me a wonderful internship in Omaha where I would totally have a list of things to get done and amazing people with whom to hang out. I can't believe I can't wait for this summer.
Meanwhile, I'm in Texas spending some time with my family. They've made me feel pretty guilty about going back to Nebraska for the summer...again. But they know that I make good decisions, and they know how much I love them. I hope, anyway.
Also, I don't know how I'm going to fit my clothes/shoes into my little bag I carried on again. What a cunundrum.
More posts later.
After all, it is summer.

prague

prague, nebraska.

probably just as lively, but much closer to me than the one in the czech republic. i discovered this gem a couple of years ago when a few people went after totus tuus training. i loved it then.

last night, a group of friends went down to kolac korner to partake in the fish fry (yay lent) and listen to some live polka music. 

a fairly small restaurant in a town that's even smaller, the dream of kolac korner started with a family who sold kolace on a highway corner to nebraska fans headed to the football games in lincoln. now a thriving little and humble business, the restaurant has a variety of foods including hamburgers, fried fish and its sunday special, duck and dumplings. no worries though, the signature kolace(strawberry, blueberry, poppy seed, apricot, cream cheese) are still there, along with czech liquor and beer. last night offered a free domestic brew for all customers because it was the owner's, or the "prince of prague's", birthday. 

i suppose walking into a small town's most popular business as a group of young(and old) college students could be intimidating, however, the people of prague only welcome new friends, fellow husker fans and first-time polka dancers. 

a crowd favorite, "in heaven there is no beer", was enjoyed several times throughout the night. and i have to admit, the polka version of "there is no place like nebraska" in honor of the kolac korner's staff for all of their hard work was a highlight.

it's nights like this when i feel like coming to school in nebraska was the best decision of my life. it's people like those in prague who make my heart come alive. and it's experiences like this that i think everyone should have. and if you want to have it, call me.  

after only 15 minutes into our 4 hour stay at kolac korner, a friend asked "are we in heaven or prague, nebraska?"

"um, both."  

the champion

i am currently facebook chatting with emily, and she sent me a link for the myers-briggs personality test. and since i pretty much click on any link that emily sends me, here is my result: enfp. extrovert, intuition, feeling, perception
in other words, the champion idealist. heck. yes.
i few descriptives that made me laugh:

"The most outgoing of the Idealists, Champions often can't wait to tell others of their extraordinary experiences. Champions can be tireless in talking with others, like fountains that bubble and splash, spilling over their own words to get it all out."
funny because: it's true. i love telling stories. especially ones that are actually pretty boring. but i think i add enough ridiculous expression and interior commentary that people generally stay entertained.

also, "Fiercely individualistic, Champions strive toward a kind of personal authenticity."
i absolutely hate not being myself. whenever i force myself to do something out of character, it never works out. so, i think i'll still strive to be authentic and just live mah life. eyy eyy eyyy (rhianna/t.i. reference).

famous champions include charles dickens and joan baez.
um, enough said.

texas

i'm home for spring break, and i decided to start a blog.
i was just out to eat with some old high school friends and we saw three high school teachers...it was weird. mostly because both groups were legally drinking margaritas. it was really weird.
it's always really interesting to come home...and i suspect this is the case for a lot of college students. i get home, and i'm happy to be here. but i easily and quickly get into arguments with my parents, especially my mom. a length of time will go by, and we'll get along just great. and then it's time to leave, and i cry every single time.
i don't know what it is exactly. i must be growing up...uh oh.
that's all for now.
expect more interesting posts...later.
:)