At the End of April

The north and south views of LaSalle St.

Pictures from the day document the end of the last calendar month of my freshman year of college! Crazy, right? The day involved picking up the yearbook, which is a highlighter orange. Fun! It's weird to receive a book I had no involvement in. Talk about major high school flashbacks!

Tonight, after a team meeting for our Studying & Teaching the Bible lesson next week and dinner, I joined my friends on the floor and a few of us went up to the newly opened roof to listen to a little of tonight's Thursday Night Praise. The cold sent us in after fifteen minutes, and 45 pictures. Next up was watching Remember Me with those same friends, while knitting (Ally), going through email (Cassidy), searching for knitting patterns (me) and eating rice krispie treats (made by me, for all).

I am very excited for this weekend. An early shift at work and temperatures in the 70s!!!

- rl

Movie Snacks

Tonight I adventured to Wal-Mary with Cassidy, one of my friends down the hall, She got some Nerds, and when we got back to the floor and were settling in to watch a movie, we decided to mix them with Skittles. It was about perfect! They were the perfect sweet treat for a sad movie like Remember Me. Sorry if it broke your heart, Cass. (:

- rl

Basically the Worst Blogger Ever

How does one go from blogging daily for an entire year, to not blogging for a month? And I did that twice this year. Aye! Now that I sit here typing, however, it feels good. I PINKY PROMISE I will try harder to blog more often. I know my parents and loved ones will appreciate the effort.

Pictured above is Ally and I's roomie time yesterday. We made orange chicken and jasmine rice. We also did some knitting while watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It's nice to be roommates in similar fandoms!

- rl

To a Most Beloved Sister,

Today is this cutie's birthday! This was her last month, trying to get the hang of crochet. After a craft night with friends we happen to work with, we headed over to one's apartment to watch Austenland. Such a hilarious movie for us Pride & Prejudice fans! My mom had helped Jenna learn to crochet a few days before this, so we had gone over the basics again and she got a lot done! It's so much fun to watch people learn how to knit.

Today, though, Jenna is probably at work. I wish I was with you, Jenna! Our working together last year made us a lot closer, so it's such a treat now when I come back home and we see each other almost daily again. Jenna's the best sister (and manager!) a girl could ask for. J-bird, you inspire me all the time. I miss you daily. I love you dearly. See you in two weeks!

- rl

Back in the Swing...

Ally working on her sweater! 

Unusual breakfast included a sandwich and Harry Potter! 

The snowy plaza!

Snowball fight in the plaza. 

Another movie ("While You Were Sleeping") with a friend from the floor, accompanied by lots of unhealthy snacks!

So I went a month without blogging, and I'm keeping it that way. Repeat: I will not be going back and blogging for January. It's a lot less authentic when 30 posts are being written in one day, and I just don't have time to do it.

This month was fantastic. It was incredibly hard to say goodbye to my family on the 10th, but by the time I went to bed on the 17th, I was already feeling so much better. That may have something to do with the fact that I went swing dancing for the first time that night, but it was also because there is such a strong community here now. Ally, my roommate, made our room feel like home, and let me be a lazy bum those first 24 hours I was back and not wanting to get out of bed. It only took a few days, though, to develop an interest in life again. That first week wasn't all uphill, however, as it involved saying goodbye to a fantastic friend who is switching to Distance Learning.

Now we're on the verge of Founder's Week, which I'm looking forward to more than I thought I would. I won't be attending all of the sessions because I have to work, but I will be at the required amount and that's the important part. Classes are classes, PCM is good, and our bro/sis is way better this semester now that we all know each other well. I especially love when we go swing dancing!! Who knew this once shy girl would be begging to dance every night? It has definitely been added to the "future husband requirement" list. (;

- rl

A New Favorite

360/365

Once upon a time, big sister and I got the Winona Ryder Little Women VHS for Christmas. Yes, VHS. We would watch it from our bunk beds in our shared room, and I haven't seen it since our copy disappeared. Enter Amazon Instant Video. We bought the movie through there, so now it's really accessible for all of us. We watched it tonight, and I think it's my new favorite movie. I'm so thankful I can watch it anytime now, because I already want to watch it again!

- rl

(p.s. this is part of my 14 goals for 2014. You can view all my goals here.)

Christmas Eve

358/365

Christmas Eve, after work and the candlelight service, looked a little like this: delicious soup made by mama, catching up on Advent, and snacks while watching our Christmas Eve tradition, It's a Wonderful Life! Also, how cute is my baby boy while peeking over my book, begging for a piece of our snack, Texas Trash.

- rl

(p.s. this is part of my 14 goals for 2014. You can view all my goals here.)

Friday Night in the City

How do I spend my last Friday night in the city before Christmas break? Stay in the dorm, of course! (Not pictured) Marika and I watched Gilmore Girls, then, because I was feeling sleepy at 9pm, I watched some YouTube and knit:

while making mac and cheese:

Followed shortly by popcorn (day nine of mater's presents!) with Leslie while watching Sherlock:

and working on a tad bit of homework/consuming candy:

346/365

Sherlock season three, y'all. It's been too long since I watched this season and I had ALL THE FEELS. Best show ever, for sure.

- rl

(p.s. this is part of my 14 goals for 2014. You can view all my goals here.)

Quiet Night

344/365

Tonight is all about movies with accented men. Ireland and Christmas knitting: a night in. Don't worry, mom, I did some homework too. Studying? That's a different story. I've been waiting until the last Old Testament class to find out a more specific list of things we need to study.

ONE WEEK, Y'ALL!!!

- rl

(p.s. this is part of my 14 goals for 2014. You can view all my goals here.)

Surprise Sorbet

(photos by Chloe!)

339/365

Today had some pretty memorable moments! I first joined a girl on my floor, Chloe, and her boyfriend to the Anti-Cruelty Society a few blocks down. It was so great! You only have to sign in before you can go hang out with cats and dogs! The best part, though, was that you can choose a dog for them to put a leash on, then go walk the dog into the courtyard! As soon as I saw Shiloh, I knew I had to cuddle her! It's only 12 days until I get to hold my beagle and it was great to hear the little growl that is characteristic of beagles! 

After returning from there, I still had a few hours until my last PCM of the semester, but I was really dreading it. I checked my mailbox multiple times, because I'm expecting a package from my mom. She paid for two-day shipping, but the man who works down at the Campus Post Office (CPO) said it probably won't be here until Monday. So. Annoying. I was on the verge of tears at this point, mainly because I'm just ready to go home. 

After PCM, I was eating dinner in Leslie and Marika's room when Leslie surprised her roommate with an outing. We took a little walk to the more "River North" area, and had some dessert at Eataly. That place is insane. Tons of Italian goods! I tried sorbet for the first time and, surprise, I really liked it! We finished off the evening by watching The Giver, which was not too bad. I definitely need to read that book again, though!

- rl

(p.s. this is part of my 14 goals for 2014. You can view all my goals here.)

Roomie Date

334/365

"Nice" weather of 40F called for a little walk! Ally and I headed to Open Books first, which is only a block away from school (aka dangerous!). She was looking for children's books, and I took pictures. Must resist the cheap books!

Then we caught the bus to Michigan and went window shopping! We went into Tiffany's, which was kind of hilarious. Ally joked that she's surprised they didn't check our cards first. We just had fun looking at all the insane rings, though. Then things got even crazier when we went into Saks Fifth Avenue. Seven (eight?) floors of insanely priced clothing. Amusing. It was funny because the clothes, even on sale, were still ten times what I'd ever pay.

We left there and headed to grab dinner. Along the way, we stopped at Tribune Tower, which is pretty epic. Google it. Right by there is where a majority of the pictures were taken, including this week's blog post. I got Panda Express for dinner, and Ally had Chinese food delivered. Then we watched While You Were Sleeping! Ally didn't like it. What even. SO crazy that we live there, though. The el station she works at? Randolph and Wabash. Aka the station we walked right by, like, two hours ago. Woah.

- rl

(p.s. this is part of my 14 goals for 2014. You can view all my goals here.)

Cherry Coke + Crochet

325/365

Only 40 days left of 2014?! How is that even possible?

Today I've been sipping on this bottle of Cherry Coke from class the other day. Our professor had us going on a scavenger hunt, and it wrapped up with us getting a drink (put on his account) and meeting him to discuss. Pretty sweet. I'm thankful for the professors I've had so far + the fact that the north seems to be into Cherry Coke as much as I am!

Tonight I had to tear out at least five rows of my current crochet project because my count was off. Marika and I watched The Hunger Games, and hope to rewatch Catching Fire before making time for Mockingjay: Part 1 at some point soon. I worked on my crochet while she worked on hers, which involved learning some new things for both of us. She was able to get the hang of it, though, which is awesome!

Now I've got some counting to do to get this project sorted out before I go to bed. I absolutely cannot sleep knowing it's all messed up.

- rl

(p.s. this is part of my 14 goals for 2014. You can view all my goals here.)

Throwing It Back

My first, but certainly not last, Throwback Thursday. TWILIGHT. I just happened across a video on YouTube of a fellow Twihard talking about how this third week of November always makes her feel nostalgic, so I had to find pictures from the last midnight premiere! I went to all five with my sister and her bestie (in the bottom picture) and it was so, so great.

Oh, Twilight. I seriously need to re-read it. I (aka Diana) was able to track all four books + the illustrated companion at a big book sale in May so I've been wanting to reread them since then! Maybe over Christmas break...

So maybe Twilight isn't the most theologically sound thing, but it was a huge part of my late middle/early high school years, so when someone starts to bash it I get upset. Don't diss Twilight in front of me...I'll get sad.

- rl

Making a Mess

323/365

Tonight I got off work a little early, then joined the girls on my floor in decorating our lounge for Christmas! It's a little early for my tastes (I'm a day-after-Thanksgiving! kind of girl), but it was still so much fun to get together. It's not done yet because we have a (fake) tree coming this weekend.

I'm so excited!! I FaceTimed with my parents when I got back to my room and we booked my plane tickets home! Only four more weeks! I can't wait! So many exclamation points!

Now I'm chowing on my nighttime snack and watching (more) House Hunters. It's on Netflix and I watched way too much today. Leslie is crashing on my floor tonight because she's going to wake up really early to work on homework and setting her alarm loud in here won't bother me like it would other people..like her roommate!

- rl

(p.s. this is part of my 14 goals for 2014. You can view all my goals here.)