failed cooking

Usually, when I cook something for the first time, I'm always nervous that it won't come out good, but 99% of the time it does anyway. However, I needed to do a cultural activity for Spanish, so I looked up a recipe for natillas, a Spanish custard-type dessert. The first easy-looking recipe I found called for corn flour, so I went gallivanting all over town for two days trying to find some (Wal-mart didn't have any). I found some, and paid nearly five dollars for cinnamon sticks (the recipe called for just one), and today I tried cooking it. It SO did not work! The mixture just stayed watery and chunky and I could not figure out what I did wrong. I went back to the recipe on the Internet, then looked at other recipes for Natillas, and I believe I found the problem. Every other recipe calls for corn starch, not corn flour. I think whoever wrote the recipe that I used accidentally said flour rather than starch. Which makes sense, because corn starch is what people use for custards, etc. for making it thicken. Grrrr. So I spent all that time looking for corn flour and wasted money just to throw my "natillas" away. So I opted for making sopaipillas, and they are not nearly as good as my mom's, and didn't puff up as much as normal sopaipillas do, but they're edible and pretty tasty. So that's what I'm taking to class tomorrow.

TOMORROW IS MY LAST DAY OF CLASS!!!!
I finished my last paper today!!! Finally!!!!! After weeks of tormentuous (I think I made that word up?) paper writing!!!! I have one online test to take by Monday, then I have my Spanish final on Monday, and my Comm. and Culture final on Thursday! Then I'll be packing and my family will come to help me move out, and within a few days after that, I'll be GONE from here and HOME for the summer! Wahoo!!! I'm happy :-)

Sleeping weirdness and Peace Corps

I am very tired and will probably take a short nap soon. Sunday night I didn't fall asleep til late because the girl in the room next to mine had her boyfriend over and...well, they were being loud...as in their headboard kept me awake....ERIKA NOT HAPPY. Then Monday night I went to bed late again because of homework and I went grocery shopping kinda late, then slept through my alarm in the morning and woke up fifteen minutes before I had to leave. I somehow made it to class on time. Then I went to bed still a little late last night, and had trouble falling asleep because I was thinking about my future, and when I finally did doze off, the girl above me got back from a softball trip or something because she stomped in at about 1 am, was dropping her giant bag of softballs and bats on her floor, stomping around for at least an hour. I'm not a fan of my upstairs neighbors. And I was restless all night, woke up a lot. Then I had to get up a little earlier this morning so I could study for my Spanish test.

My uncle emailed me two days ago and his words were really encouraging to me. We had talked a bit during Christmas about my plans after college (which I really don't know yet), and in his email he offered a couple suggestions that he thought I'd be a perfect candidate for: AmeriCorps and Peace Corps. I'm sure you know what the Peace Corps is, and AmeriCorps is much like that, but service in the United States. To be honest, sometime in high school I thought about what it would be like in the Peace Corps, and a couple months ago my interest was sparked again by recruiters on campus. Then my uncle sent me that email with very encouraging words. He said that I show "grounded maturity" and have a "rare and admirable gift in your heart to serve the disadvantaged". I think my desire to do so stemmed from my experience in Honduras. I spent one week there for two summer with a group from my church volunteering and working at an orphanage outside of Tegucigalpa. It fueled my compassion and desire to help others who are very much in need. I also am trying to better my Spanish-speaking ability so that I can do more service work in Central or South America. I would definitely be interested in the Peace Corps, or at least something very similar. There are, however, a few things holding me back from signing up right away. You get an allowance for living, and you get a generous amount of money afterward to help you transition back to "regular" life, and of course it would look great on resumes and open up a lot of career opportunities, but it would be difficult to be without a job for two years.. I'm also incredibly close to my family, and I would miss them terribly. You get only two days off per month, and some people fly back to visit family or have family visit them, but it's only two days per month. Anyway, my point is that I feel a longing to do something like this. Maybe now's not the time, maybe I can wait a few years, but I think it is calling me.

Apple Juice

If you know me really well, you know that I'm rarely a picky eater, except when it comes to a select few items for consumption. Two of those are apple juice and orange juice. The orange juice I drink should have some pulp, but not too much, and if it has no pulp, it has to be the perfect consistency and not be too sour or sweet. I'm a fan of the orange juice at village inn, I should ask what kind they use. And I rarely drink orange juice anyway. I'm not a huge fan of apple juice in general unless it actually tastes like real apples and also can't be too sweet. I like Tropicana apple juice (but still haven't drank it in a couple years), but today I found an even better kind. It's called Simply Apple. You've probably seen the Simply Orange juice commercials (I can't remember if I like that orange juice), and now the company has Simply Apple. I saw it at Wal-Mart yesterday. It was murky and caramel-colored, and I had an inkling it would be delicious and change my apple-juice drinking life forever. I was right. There was lots of stuff at the bottom of the container, which made it more believably organic, so I shook it up, poured a glass, took a drink, and heard a "Hallelujah" from above (not really). It's so good. Go to the store and pick up a bottle, you won't be disappointed. It actually tastes like apples, as apples are essentially the only ingredient. Yum. I'm going to go pour myself another glass...

my brother...

...is amazingly talented! He tried out for the high school musical production of Bye Bye Birdie and got one of the lead parts (Conrad Birdie), in February. I went home this weekend to see him (I saw the musical twice:) and he was so good! I am so proud of him! He can sing and act, and dance Elvis-style! The musical is a spoof on when Elvis was drafted, so he had to be this bad-boy rocker who can swivel his hips and dance crazy good. Which my brother did. I extremely proud of him! I wish I had videos from the play to post. This is him in one of his costumes. I can't get over all the makeup on him :-) His other costumes included a gold, shiny rocker outfit (lol), a fur robe (haha again), and an army-style, sparkly rocker outfit. Maybe I can get ahold of pictures of him in those too.


I also got my passport issue taken care of. Now I just have to wait for it to come. The woman at the post office said it should be about three weeks. Hopefully it won't get messed up and come really late :-O
I should type in Spanish. Esta semana sera muy ocupada. Tengo que hacer una actividad cultural, diario, y un mas quiz para espanol. Tambien, tengo el tercer examen para espanol en miercoles, y el examen final el proximo lunes. Tengo que escribir un papel analisis para comunication de familia. Finalmente, tengo que acabar el segundo quiz para la orientacion de mi viaje a Costa Rica.
Translation: This week will be very busy. I have to do a cultural activity, journal, and one more quiz for Spanish. Also, I have the third test for Spanish on Wednesday, and the final exam next Monday. I have to write an analysis paper for family communication. Finally, I have to finish the second quiz for the orientation of my trip to Costa Rica. :-)
I have to practice my Spanish all summer so I don't lose it all by the time I leave for the trip.

breathe in.......breathe out.......

I keep needing to tell myself the above words, as they only work temporarily. Two weeks better go by freakin fast. Right now the bass from the room below is making my chair vibrate and I can't concentrate on homework with it. It's the same guy that, after asking him twice in one week to turn down his bass, was astonished that I don't go out and party. Come on, get a life! Then my blood pressure is on the rise because of my roommate as well, as she and I are in a constant, silent power struggle. I know I am a communication major, but I don't do well with conflict management. Well, I'm an avoider I guess, at least with my roommate, and when I do confront her, it doesn't go anywhere because she just has to have her way. URGH!!!
I'm going home this weekend to see my brother's play and to apply to renew my passport. I'm actually going back tomorrow after my classes, and playing hooky on Friday so I don't have to rush home to make it in time before the post office closes. I'm taking a bunch of stuff home that I know I won't need in the next two weeks so I can have more room in my car for when I actually move out. (Thump...thump thump...thump....thump thump...sound of the bass that I am hearing right now). Two weeks.....only two weeks left....... Now the next two things I have to selfishly but strongly pray for are, 1) my passport comes in time for Costa Rica, and 2) I get one of those apartments that I want so badly. Supposedly I'm near the top of the wait list, and the management says I probably have a good chance of getting one by the time school starts in the fall. Man I am SO ready to get out of this awful place. I'm going to the AC with Jake in a while, as I haven't gone running in a few weeks.
I guess I'll put in my iPod to do homework and try to concentrate beyond the bass-sounds. Hope you're comfortable and content.

kessadiller

I just made a quesadilla with leftover Easter ham. It was yummy. Soooo....my parents gave the OK to go to Costa Rica, and I'm doing it for two weeks and getting credit that will count toward my Spanish minor! Woohoo!!! The only big thing that's bothering me right now and completely stressing me out that there is the slightest chance it won't work out, is that my passport is expired and I didn't know that. Apparently when you get your passport under 16 years old, it only lasts five years, and I got it when I was 15. And I'm freaking out because passports have been known to take months to be mailed to you. Costa Rica is in 3 1/2 months. However, I'm trying to stay positive, thinking that since I already have a passport, and I'm just renewing it, it may not take as long. And if worse comes to worst, I can expedite it so that it'll get here much more quickly. That costs a lot though. But if that extra money is the difference between me going to Costa Rica or not, then I'm so paying for it.
So next Friday I am going home in the morning so that I can make it to the post office before it closes (not open on weekends), so I can get my application sent ASAP so that I can freakin' go in August dang it! *Breathe*..... And I have to go to Los Alamos to do it because that's where my birth certificate and expired passport are. I'll have to decide next week if I want the expedited shipping. I'd rather not pay that much, but I also definitely don't want to risk not getting my passport in time.
Besides that stressful ordeal, Jake and I are incredibly stoked to go. We think we're going to do a different campus the second week, and the weekend between we're going on a tour into the cloud rainforest in Monteverde, a thick, beautiful forest with lots of animals and bird species, and a hummingbird sanctuary! I'm anxious to learn some good Spanish skills while I'm there. I'm a little nervous about being immersed into a totally Spanish-speaking culture, but that's the best way to learn. And I'll have to prepare myself for a five-hour a day, 10-day class. Wow. It'll be great though (if my passport comes soon enough)

sicklyness

I was sick again today. I did not sleep well last night at all; for some reason I could not get comfortable, and my bird kept making little noises that kept me up. Grrrr. I finally fell asleep, but this morning I woke up with a terrible migraine. At first I thought it was just a bad headache, but as I started getting ready for school, I realized it was definitely a migraine. I was distressed, because I had a presentation to do today in my prejudice class and a paper to turn in for another class. But I knew I would not be able to do my presentation in that condition. So I emailed my professor and explained it to him, and that I will go any other day he wants me to, and emailed my other professor saying I will turn the paper in tomorrow (he already got my electronic version of it, so it should be fine anyway). Then I went back to bed. Later my comm. and prejudice professor emailed me back and said that would be fine. So that's good.
I threw up three times from my migraine. Ugh. I drank red Kool-Aid earlier, so it looked like I was throwing up blood. Sorry for the graphic explanation. Jake brought me Sprite and chicken soup for lunch and stayed with me until I felt much better. I love him :) It's been a reeeeaalllly long time since I stayed in bed that long (til about 5). I actually slept til about 1, and after I had my soup Jake and I played cards when I started feeling a bit better. I feel much better now, but now I'm even more unmotivated to do homework than I was yesterday. I am so burned out on writing papers. That's basically all I have left to do for the semester (besides final exams), but it seems like they are never ending.

lazy me

Man, I haven't procrastinated this badly in a really long time. Last semester and this one I've gotten really good at starting things early and not putting them off til the last minute...these past couple day, not so much. I have a big paper that I need to start that's due next Monday, and a PowerPoint presentation that I need to work on and practice for tomorrow. And I have another paper due next week, a few days after the bigger one. I'm just really unmotivated. I got some things done on Friday and Saturday, but since yesterday was Easter, I decided not do any homework, and today I still really don't feel like it. It's probably because it's so close to the end of the semester. I only have three more weeks of regular classes and then finals.
In two weekends I'm going home to see my brother's musical, and I'm going to take a bunch of stuff home that I won't need for the last two weeks, in order to make a little more room for when I actually move out. I'm going to take my bird back too, so he doesn't get stressed out with all the moving out, plus that'll save me lots of room later too. A couple days ago I thought that it was this coming weekend that I'll be going home, and when I realized it was still two weeks away I let a whiny sigh because that seems like a really long time away. Usually the weeks here go by fast, so hopefully these will, too.
Ugh...homework! I should go, I guess. At least start. That might mean like five minutes of doing some.

Happy Easter!

I'm looking forward to tonight. I've been kinda down all weekend since I'm not home for the holiday (this is my first major holiday away from home). I decided not to go home because in two weeks I am going home for my brother's musical, and I didn't want to drive both this weekend and that one in order to save gas money, and because I have lots to do between now and the end of the semester, and I just really don't like driving back and forth so much. But this evening, Jake, me, some friends and my soon to be brother-in-law Brian are having an Easter dinner. We bought a ham, and I'm going to make green bean casserole, Danielle's making scalloped potatoes, Brian's bringing rolls, and Jeff is bringing a dessert! Although I still miss my family terribly on this day, I am happy that I can celebrate it with some friends :)

Happy Easter! Remember the meaning behind this day!

Dream Journal

Last night I had a funny dream. Though it was only funny when I woke up and realized it was just a dream. I dreamed that my little brother, who is a senior in high school, got married. In real life, he's going to be performing in a musical in two weeks, and in the dream, the wedding was the afternoon before opening night. I found out the day of the wedding that he was getting married. And my sister and I ended up being two of the bridesmaids, even though we'd never met the bride. So they got married and shortly afterward, Stuart (my bro) started performing his songs for all who were there in order to practice for the night. I was furious at my brother for getting married when he was still in high school, and not telling me about it. So I didn't want to talk to him, and stormed off to my room to pout. His new bride came to my room to talk to me, and was wondering why I was so mad. I told her, "He had a lot of opportunities for his future, and now he doesn't because of you." I was just furious that he blew his future on a girl! lol! Anyway I woke up after that and was very relieved that it was just a dream.

Funny story time!

Last night was Mike's (Jake's roommate) 21st birthday, and we all went to this bar called High Desert Brewing Company. It was actually pretty fun. We also ordered sweet potato fries, hot wings, and a GIANT plate of nachos to share. And by giant, I mean really giant. The diameter of the plate was nearly two feet, and it was piled high with nachos and all the toppings. Yum!
Anyway, here's the funny story part. As we were walking into the bar, I looked at this group of gentlemen standing around outside the bar talking, and lo and behold, there was my professor. I've had him for three classes, not to mention he's my adviser! Lol! Plus he's my favorite professor. I guess it's probably not that awkward to run into a professor at a bar (unless either you or the professor were really drunk or something!), especially since it's a college town, but I thought it was funny and coincidental since I never go to bars, and of course when I actually do, a professor is there. Anyway, our eyes met and I gave an overly-excited "Hi!" And he responded with "Hey, how's it going?" and then, "Isn't it a little late for you to be going out?" In a joking way, of course, cuz that's how he is. I laughed.
Then today in his class, he was collecting papers that will be due on Tuesday, but some people already had them today, and when he came near me, I told him how I sent him a copy over email already (he usually wants both) but my printer wasn't working (which was the truth) so I'd give him the hard copy on Tuesday. He came closer to me and, looking devious, he quietly said, "You could've been fixing your printer last night instead of you-know-what. I know where you were..." Then I said, "But I finished my paper before I went, you should be happy!" Then he laughed. It was quite funny. Maybe you had to be there, but it made my morning :)

Central America!!

I post a lot about Costa Rica, but I get excited thinking about it. Here's the latest on my possible trip:
My grandma called me last Friday and said that my dad was telling her about how I was thinking of going there for Spanish. She proceeded to tell me that if I decided to go, she would contribute $300 for my trip! She is so sweet, I was (and am!) very grateful! That would take care of my homestay fees (the cost to stay with a family is $150 per week). Then my dad said he and my mom would help me out too...in his words, "We are going to find a way to get you there", and I would have to do a part of course, maybe gradually pay them back for my part of the trip. So I thought, well, maybe I can actually do it so that I get credit (two weeks, super-intensive program) instead of just going for a week for experience like I was leaning toward for a while. And I think I mentioned Jake might be going too? He and I have an appointment to talk to the Language Learning via Distance Education counselor on Thursday to get a good grasp on the processes involved, how much the whole thing will cost in the end, and how we will pay for it. I'm not sure if it goes straight to NMSU tuition, or if financial aid will cover it, or what. Hopefully we'll get all our questions answered so that I can make a decision really soon. Plus, I'm taking two Spanish classes in the fall, so if I do this, maybe the classes will come a bit easier to me and I won't be as stressed.
I registered for my classes yesterday morning. I wasn't able to make my schedule so that I only go to school three days a week, though, as I had hoped, but that's okay because if I had, I would have had four classes on Monday and Friday, and five on Wednesday. That may seem easy, but I'm used to only having 2-3 classes each day. So now I have two classes every day except Wednesday, when I have 3. And I have no more than an hour or so breaks between all my classes except Wednesday, when I have an almost 4 hour break between my second and third class. But that's only once a week. I'll go hang out with Jake during that time, or study, eat, or whatever.
Here are my classes:
Spanish grammar
Spanish linguistics
Art and Mythology (an honors class...sounded interesting to me)
Interpersonal communication
Small group communication
and....
...ready for this?....
........................
...TENNIS!!!!! I'm excited :-) I try to take one "fun" class every semester (though I didn't this semester). I've taken bowling, flamenco dancing (4 semesters of it!), and backpacking. I started a futsal (indoor soccer) class this semester, but I won't lie...it was too much for me. The people in the class had been playing competitive soccer for a long time, and I only played rec soccer til 9th grade. Plus it made me exhausted and I was really unfocused in my following classes.
Anyway, off to read! That's another thing I've been trying to do most nights...read before bed. Not for class, but for pleasure. It makes my eyes more relaxed for sleeping, and it's good for your brain! So, happy trails, good night! :-)

One week closer to summer

This weekend was pretty good! Let me narrate:
Friday, I sent in my paper for my online class and went to see the Fast and the Furious 4 with Shanda and Brian. It was so cool! Awesome movie. Then I met Jake and Jeff at Chile's for dinner and we had fun...laughed and joked a lot. Jake and I came back to my apartment and watched TV for a while. Next morning I met Shanda at Kohl's and we shopped a little. I had another gift card to use there, and only ended up buying capris (which I needed) so I still have some credit there. Then she and I had Subway for lunch, and I came back and did some homework. Did two more Spanish quizzes online, and wrote my cover letter and redid my resume for my org. comm. class. Jake came to visit for a while in the evening, then ditched me for some guy time with his buddies :P I had a nice quiet night to myself. Went to bed, was woken up by stomping upstairs neighbor, pounded on the ceiling, fell asleep again, woke up at 1:45 because guys decided to play basketball in the wee hours (basketball hoops right outside my window), turned up my fan, put in ear plugs, fell asleep again.
Woke up at 9:45 and took a shower, got ready for church (Palm Sunday), went to church, then came back.
Jake then came at about 1:30 pm and took me on a picnic!!! He got homemade wheat bread, really good ham and pepperjack cheese all from Toucan Market, and we drove to the campus park. He brought a blanket, spread it out, and made us both "gourmet" ham and cheese sandwiches. Along with the sandwiches were Doritos, oranges, pudding and iced tea. It was sweet :) We laid out in the sun on a blanket for nearly two hours. Later I got more homework done. Now I'm working on figuring out what classes to take next semester. I'm going to wake up at 5 am (that's when classes open for registration) to register online so I can get the classes I want. I could probably sleep longer than that, but I never want to take any chances (I do this every semester)

Thoughts...

I deleted my post from yesterday because I was in a really terrible mood and probably should not have written those rantings down on "paper." My blog can be found on Google, and some people will Google you to see what you've written about them. So (if you happened to read that post) I apologize for the bitter tone and continuous rant. Sometimes ranting is just needed.

I have seven papers left to write for this semester. Seven. In five weeks. Some of them are smaller papers or "opinion" papers, so that makes it a little better. But some appear to be stress-inducing.
I'm not sure how this Costa Rica thing will work out. It's going to be more expensive than I originally thought because in order to receive school credit, I have to take the super intensive course for two weeks which is over $200 more than just the regular intensive course (which I was originally going to do), plus for school credit you have to pay $70 per credit ($210) and pay two weeks for homestay ($300). I still have to go talk to the study abroad people and see if it goes directly toward school tuition for the fall, and if financial aid covers it. So I have a few options:
1. I can do the super-intensive course for two weeks to get school credit and pay one way or the other even though it's a lot of money,
2. I can do the regular-intensive course for two weeks and pay more than $200 less, but probably not get credit,
3. I could just go for a week just to get the experience and it would be much cheaper (plus, if I don't get credit, I wouldn't want to pay a whole lot...I want my money's worth dang it!), and I'd have an extra week in the summer to just relax,
4. I could not go at all this year, and maybe go sometime after graduation and after saving up some money. I wouldn't get credit and it wouldn't come out of my college fund (since I'll be out of college), but I'd still have the experience.

I have to talk to the study abroad director to see if I absolutely have to take the super-intensive program to get credit, and what my options are for paying for it, and talk to my parents to see if my college fund they have for me would be put toward this trip. As of now, assuming I must take the super-intensive program for credit which would be expensive, I am leaning toward just going for one week to get language experience (and do the super-intensive course), which would still probably be covered by my college fund because it's school-related (although no credit). However, that credit would be really helpful to get out of the way if I want to minor in Spanish. Sigh... But really, one week without school credit is much cheaper. I'd like to save some of my money for the future!! Man, getting school credit abroad is expensive!