We're in our second week of school, about to start the third and I'm already starting to feel the pressure of school weighing down on me. I have homework out the wazoo and so many things for CAB and Dateline that it's driving me insane. I'm sure I don't want it any other way, I get bored way too easily and if I keep my work load heavy then I won't get bored and I'll be able to have a lot of fun doing a lot of things even though it doesn't seem like I'm having that much fun- but I totally am. :) LOL

 But this was a good weekend for me! I went to the Mount's first home football game yesterday and we beat the Wilmington Quakers 21-7 so that was pretty awesome! I went with my friends Sam, Jimmie, Tom, Nicole, and others. We had a ton of fun hanging out in the perfect 80 degree weather! :)

 Then today we went to the Newport Aquarium. When I say we, I mean the executive board of the CAB (Campus Activities Board). There was: Ally the president, Brittany the VP, me as publicity, Molly our secretary, Brittani our Cincinnati Connections Chair, then also James and Justin our 'assistants', then also Tim Bessler, the Assistant Dean of Students. We got to go on a private tour of the Aquarium. We were checking out the space for the upcoming Spring Formal on April 18, 2009. Dates fill up fast for functions at the Aquarium so we had to act fast and we had a ton of fun this morning! We were seeing things most people don't get to see on a normal trip there and we were talking about some amazing things we can do for our dance. One thing that I know I'm super psyched about is the animal encounter. We have the chance to get a penguin or two to come and hang out with us during the dance! They come in a little wagon that says penguin mobile on it and then we can take pictures, pet, and 'play' with them in about 25 minute increments. I am SO excited about that! I mean I know the dance is a fars way off and we have to get through Homecoming first (October 24th) but this is just so exciting and so different from what the Mount is used to that I am just dancing out of my skin trying to be patient and wait for this to happen! This is gonna be one THE premiere events that CAB will be putting on this year and I am just SO excited! (Can't you tell!? Alright, alright. I'm shutting up! lol)

 Later tonight I get to hang out with my family as they come to visit me. My mom really misses me and even though we talk every day, she still misses me. Dorming is different than living at home, obviously. But it's different in the fact that I feel like I'm living in some sort of weird hotel kind of thing and that if I want to go home, I can at any time. I just really miss my pets (two cats, Milo and Domino, and my dog, Ranger) and sleeping in my own bed... But this is where being busy comes in and that way I don't have too much time to think about all those things and those people that I miss the most...

 It's a goregous day outside and I can hear through my open window the soccer game going on in the stadium across the way. I feel like going outside and doing whatever I feel like... So go out and enjoy the sunshine and blow off some start of term steam! :) 

The first is me and Tom at the game. Tom's a fellow blogger. The second is the final score of the football game. The third are two of the penguins that could visit us at Spring Formal. And the last is part of the ballroom that the Aquarium has that we can use if we so decide to. :)

I thought I would catch you guys up on happenings in the art department.  The Interior Design department just hired on a new faculty member Elizabeth Bartley.  Now we have two full time professors and three part time.  Kim Burke and Elizabeth Bartley have taught me studio classes.  Nodas Papadimas has taught me one studio class, Construction Technologies, and is currently teaching me Environmental Technologies.  Leeann Thomas who works for DEI taught me Drafting 2 and Rendering.  And lastly Nauman Mysorweala taught me AutoCAD and Advanced AutoCAD. 

Adjusting to each persons teaching style has always in the beginning taken some adjustment on the students and teachers part.  But each semester I have come out with such a wonderful appreciation for each one of my professors.  Each one of them has taught me invaluable information that I will always carry with me.  I look up to many of them as sources of inspiration and try to emulate their own philosophies but also integrate them into my own. Currently Elizabeth is teaching my studio class, and we are working on creating a Boutique Hotel for baby boomers.  Elizabeth again brings such a different dynamic to our classroom, but it’s a really wonderful, refreshing approach to design.  She is really able to challenge you in a design perspective but also on an intellectual level that completely correlates to the design problem.  I think Elizabeth will fit in well and really become a great resource for us. Well I think I pretty much caught ya up!