Freedom is so close I can almost taste it...

Words don't describe how ready for summer I am right now. Like seriously, I have one more paper to write and then it's finals. I had a really bad bug or flu or something that started Monday night and lasted until 3 yesterday. Skipping the two classes that I did because of that felt so rejuvenating.

Can you guys believe that with this post there will be 158 posts on this blog? I'm so happy with the success of this thing and I hope one day maybe we can make it 1,000.

I can't wait for the seniors this year to graduate. I really can't. And I've got to get this off my chest to you ladies. Last year on prom night when I was taking Julian home, he said to me, "I am definitely taking you to my prom next year." I then told him that he should not have even said that. Why? Because I'll remember it. Now that was a year ago and I can't really hold that against him, and I'm not. But, what bugs me is this: a few days ago we were texting and he brought up prom is in two weeks. So I asked if he was going and he doesn't know. The conversation carried on and he finally said, "I just need to find a date/group." Ouch. I asked if he had anyone in mind. "Not really." Ouch. No one at all? "No." Ouch. And Cassy and Kim have been telling me how he's having this real hard time trying to find a date. Ouch. I'm going to tell him what he told me last year and how he's making me feel like shit, but not until after prom. I don't want him to feel obligated to take me because I said that. And before these conversations I didn't care if he asked me or not. Yeah it would have been sweet and awesome, but that chapter in my life is done. But it's the fact that he said this to me last year, I take him, and now I'm fucking invisible.

Enough of that, that depresses the hell out of me.

Camping. If we're going to go, we need to start deciding because campsites get booked up pretty fast. I think it'd be nice to go somewhere in Wisconsin because their camping is so much better, and I want us to start going somewhere. If one day we're really going to travel to Europe, or even Disneyworld, we need to start somewhere. So why not camping out of state. The place I've looked at is Pattison state park in Wisconsin. Brooke mentioned Mirror Lake to me last week and I still have to look into that, but Pattison looks so gorgeous. Yes its a little far, near the border of Wisconsin and Minnesota, but if we're not comfortable going that far, how are we ever going to get to Europe? So, Pattison has these amazing trails, waterfalls. Ugh its sooooo pretty. Here have some pictures:

 

Pattison still has a good amount of availability still. No matter where we go, we will end up having to get two campsites because there can be no more than 6 people per site. But the sites are pretty cheap, $15 per night per site, so it'd end up being around $60. Then you have to consider gas and whatever food we buy to bring with.

 

I did a quick search on Mirror Lake, which is 3 miles outside of Wisconsin Dells. Generally, the Dells are campsites have a lot of hiking trails. But I couldn't find pictures on them so you'll just have to take my word. I quickly ran through their availability and if you ladies like this better, we need to book soon. Like very soon. No matter where we go, it will have to be a Friday and Saturday because a couple of you have school Mon-Thur. And the only weekends I found available where we could get two consecutive sites are the last weekend in June and the second and third weekend in July. So take a look at this. I haven't look at the cost of Mirror Lake yet but I can if I get responses. The only way I'm going to know what you guys are interested in is if you tell me. If I hear nothing I will just give up. So here's some of Mirror Lake:

 

The Dells' area is really beautiful and if we wanted too, we could drive over to another park and spend the day there. Wherever we go, we will have to purchase a parking sticker which I believe is $10 and is good for any parks during that day.

 

I think that's all I have for now. Please let me know. This takes time and its not something that can be planned a week in advance.

 

This is what I see every time I open my pictures on my laptop because I never deleted the pictures from my last nerd post and it honestly makes me smile every time I see it:

 

Au revoir

 

A Little Inspiration for the End of the School Year

Almost there!

Alex

I Just Want To Go Home

I really just want to sit down and cry. It's not that I'm swamped with projects and papers (although I do have one for Music Appreciation that is due May 9th) it's just that I have two and a half weeks left and I want them to be over with. Don't get me wrong, I love it here. The people are great, and I'm going to miss Connor like there's no tomorrow. I just miss home, my family, you ladies, and my dog. And I'm not even sure what I want to do with my life anymore. I want to do something that I am passionate about, and I don't know anymore if that is chemistry. I've been thinking, and Connor has been helping me brainstorm lately about what I could do instead. I've always found psychology fascinating, but I think I'm too emotionally unstable to be able to help others with their issues. I loved the anatomy class I took last year, so I've been considering becoming a coroner, the only thing is I'm 90% sure I will have to go to medical school for that, and I don't know if I can afford it. I've also toyed with the idea of becoming an English teacher, like you've been thinking about Marissa. I mean, I love books to death, and you all know how excited I get when we get into conversations about them, and it brings me joy to see others get excited about reading as well. And I like critically thinking about books. I used to hate it, but over the years I really began to enjoy it. They have a good program for people majoring in education here too. That was actually what Platteville was originally; an education and mining school. If any of you have any ideas, feel free to share in the comments please. Lord knows I'm open to suggestions.

Other than my quarter-life crisis, nothing too crazy has happened besides today being Connor and I's six month-aversary. We celebrated yesterday because he has to work today. We made mac-and-cheese and had a picnic outside, then watched movies last night. It was fun and relaxing.

Oh! I cut my hair. Yup, I finally did it. Whacked ten inches off on Wednesday. I'm not able to upload a picture, so you will just have to wait to see it. But, if you simply cannot wait, text me and I shall send you a picture. Connor and I went together, and he got his cut too. The lady cut his way shorter than what he wanted, so he's not happy with it, but I still think he looks handsome. :)

I suppose I can post the music now.

Here's one from Panic! At The Disco. I'm starting to get into them now. This video is strange, but not in a creepy way, just in a dream-like way, if you know what I mean. Actually, I kind of wonder if they weren't on something when they made this video...

I love John and Hank Green, so here's a song off of Hank's album that will be released sometime early May.

This next song is off of Paramore's newest album, and I think it is my favorite song by them.

This next song is off of Ingrid Michaelson's newest album. It's a homage to Robert Palmer's music video for his song "Simply Irresistible". At first I was a bit confused, but after watching Robert Palmer's video, I realized she was just doing a gender-swap thing. Anyway, I like this song.

Alright, well, I think I'm going to grab some food and do homework outside since it's pretty nice out today, so I shall talk to you all later.

Love,
Sara

I'm happy

Yes, even though I've been pretty bummed about VanNest's retirement and the theater going to hell and the legacy wall possibly being painted over, I'm happy. I've had this group project that I've been working on in intro to theater and I've honestly been having a blast with my group. On the second day of working together someone in my group say, "You know, we've been working on this project and i don't think any of us knows each others names." We all guiltily agreed and thus spent the next 45 minutes talking about anything and everything. Yesterday we discussed the rugrats theory that all the rugrats were just a figment of angelica's imagination because of some bizarre events. I honestly haven't had this much fun on college grounds yet and being involved with all these people make me happy.

You may be asking, why is she publishing this post close to 1am geez get a life go to bed. Well I have spent the last two or three hours not working on my speech i have to give monday, but in the chatroom on the nerdfighters website. And these people are great. They are all so hilarious and helpful and welcoming and it makes me happy to meet people like this on the internet. No no no didn't give out personal info, I'm not dumb. But anyway going to go to bed. Goodnight world

Marissa's Arm looks like an appetizing Turkey Leg

G,
So what has everyone been up to?! Nevermind, I know: school, work, and boyfriends (well for those that it applies to) I really dont have much to say, i mean i got to see you guys on Friday and told you all i had to say. Hmm. Well im craving another one of those passion orange strawberry slushies. It was amazing. Hey Marissa what was that snow cone thing you had and that we attacked you for called? Im also craving one of those. Sorry, i just ate but i really really want something cold. So that wind today, im driving down mulford and wow is that wind horrible, it literally pushes my car around. That is one reason i love to drive my parents suv. Ummm. My team in intro to engineering got our robot, one that we have to program to follow through an obstacle course, to do it perfectly once. There are just some minor details we have to tweak. Other than that we are close, and far ahead of the rest. I cant think of anything else.
bum
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Oh wait i watched Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters and Pirate Fairy !!! And they are absolutely amazing!!!!!!!! I think i found my new favorites. Then again is still havent watched Divergent, so that could easily change. I cant believe this school year is almost over!!!
I just thought of another thing. So my bro and sis are playing baseball/softball. And are they improving. My sister is struggling a bit but she will get it soon enough, she just has to keep practicing and she will be one of the best. She truly has great potential. And she better too, she has a bat to practice with now.  My brother on the other hand, you gotta watch out when he plays. My dad is helping him control his throws, because he threw lots of rainbows. But yesterday, i saw him throw: he has both speed and accuracy. Its as if he was born with the skill. HE has the making of a pitcher.
Well enough for today.  Im going to try and convince Marissa once again to let me eat her arm. No you are not fat, just edible :) Now that i think about it Marissa you are mentioned in the post title a lot. Well one more wont hurt you.
TTYL

Bottled Water

Here it is straight: it’s just not good to drink bottled water. And there are several reasons accounting to that. I’m hoping this post will inform you at the least (possibly convince you to cut back). If you don’t want to know click out now. I’m hoping to get some pictures to upload on here too.

First off, it gets expensive. Think about it. You are paying for something you could get out of your faucet (or drinking fountain for those of you away in college). Investing in a nice BPA free water bottle and using the water that’s free to you can save tons of money. Water is a public resource and what most people don’t know is that bottled water corporations take this free commodity and sells it back to us at a higher cost. That’s right, more than fifty percent of the bottle industry’s water is actually tap water taken from public resources. From what I’ve read and watched in documentaries, there are technically no health hazards in tap water. Purifiers waste a lot of water, but if you don’t like the taste of tap water a purifier is still a better choice than bottled water.

This is on a smaller note and would need its own post to cover all the details on why this is bad, but bottled water uses a lot of resources. Each year 74 million gallons of oil is used to create the plastic bottles. 74 million gallons! Another post for another time.

I love you guys, I really do. I mainly made this post for this paragraph right here. BPA is plastic. Traces of bisphenol A, in a case study tested on thousands of American adults, could be found in 95% of all tested. Traces of plastic. During the process of making bottles (and all other plastics) not all BPA gets locked up into chemical bonds. This excess BPA leaks into the liquid and is swallowed. Human studies of people with concentrations of BPA have been linked with cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and liver enzyme abnormalities. It also acts as an endocrine hormone disrupter, meaning it messes with your hormones. Even low level exposures of BPA can have an effect on your health. And it was only just in 2012 that the FDA banned BPA in baby bottles and children’s drinking cups. My professor said that the cheap BPA free water bottles that are sold at Five Below, Wal-Mart, etc. still contain traces of BPA. However, it is still usable. You can get rid of this small amount by washing the bottle and then leaving it full of water for a day or two. Leaving it sit in the sun will be even better. Dump the water out, wash it again, and you’re good to go.

BPA isn’t just in plastic bottles. BPA is in a lot of plastic food containers and bags. I’m covering bottled water.

The amount of people who litter, disgusts me. Look at this:

 

 

This next one is really disturbing so I want to warn you of what it is. It's a dead bird cut open to see its stomach and what it has eaten. If you don't want to see it.... scroll fast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Great Garbage Patch of the Pacific Ocean. Ocean currents pick up plastics, and whatever isn’t eaten by birds ends up here. I feel like this doesn’t need much of a further explanation because this is disgusting. And it just has to stop. The reduction of water bottles would greatly help. There’d still be plastic and junk here, but there would be less of it.

I’m not saying to stop drinking out of plastic bottles completely. I understand if you’re on a trip, or out busy, and you need something to drink and just pick up a bottle of something. But I am trying to look out for you. I honestly haven’t had a bottled anything in a couple months now. At least I think it’s been that long. I don’t know, time has sort of blended lately. Anyway, the point is I’m not going to drink from a plastic bottle unless I have no other option. I never used to drink bottled water even before I knew all this. I never understood the point of wasting money on it if it magically comes out of my sink for free. Yeah, I’d get a bottled pop every now and then, but I’d only get water if I had too. But I see people every day, especially in my choir class, who drink constantly from plastic bottles and I’m thinking “why?”. If you want further information feel free to comment or text me. Also, if there’s something else you’d like to be informed about, leave it in the comments. I’d be happy to make a post on it. Actually, leave a comment anyway and tell me what you think about all this.

Mainly used my textbook Principles of Environmental Science 7th edition by William P Cunningham and Mary Ann Cunningham, notes from my professor, and the documentary Tapped. (We get these random pageviews and I just wanted to stick credibility here to be safe.) Also, here is a trailer that pretty much sums up the documentary Tapped and its worth checking out if you have the time.

 

Over and out.

Hello boring

Well hello there. I meant to post last week but I'm still as boring as usual. Just busy with school and all that fun stuff. This is going to be pretty short. However, I will immediately start working on a post informing you of bottled water.

 
I wanted to update on the Strasburg high school elective class I posted about a while back. The one where the booklist was challenged in an elective course. Well, the teacher won! Teenagers at that high school will be able to read those wonderful books! I don't know if anyone other than Sara and I sent letters, but overall the teacher received over 1,100 letters from Nerdfighters. Now that's impressive. And it make me wonder if the parents petitioning ever expected 1,100+  teenagers from across the country to rally against them. I like seeing people come together like this and I'm actually doing my persuasive speech on making a difference. That groups like the Nerdfighters can make a difference in the world.
 

Let's see, what else has been happening.... I finished Paper Towns last week AND I AM SO EXCITED FOR THE MOVIE THAT I CAN JUST PICTURE THE BLACK SANTAS NOW.
 

I have played a schizophrenic's hallucination, a figment of someone's imagination, and now I'm playing a dog... Can't I just be normal? We had to write a script for my intro to theater class and three were selected, we were put in groups, and we have to perform the script... my group got this one about two dogs and I was the only one who's actually memorized lines before so I had to take a bigger role... I'd rather do a courtroom drama again -_-

Ummm I think I'm done. Peace.

MARISSA EATS FISH LIPS

I'm in an extremely weird mood right now. Like, I'm listening to rap. I don't ever listen to rap. What is happening to me? I think I might be getting sick. I'm so confused. Honestly, I think I'm just trying to motivate myself, and at this point it's not working, so I'm trying new things that I don't usually do to see if that will work. No, I'm not trying new things like meth or starting a crazy orgy, so calm your nips. Actually, I think I'm going to change the music. It's starting to annoy me.

So, today I watched part of Platteville's softball game against Whitewater. We were losing pretty badly by the time I left, but it made me miss softball even more than I already have been. We seriously should play a pick-up game over Easter break sometime. MARISSA WE WILL KIDNAP YOUR ASS AND BRING YOU BACK TO ROCKFORD SO THAT YOU CAN JOIN IN ON THIS HAPPINESS. It also made me wish that I would have just tried out just to see if I could have made it on the team, because the pitcher's looked hittable and I figured fielding wouldn't be too different than what we went against. Anyways....

For my birthday Connor and two of my other friends, Ashley and Thomas, baked me two cakes, one chocolate with peanut butter frosting, and one red velvet, and then invited a bunch of people to celebrate. They also got me a lab coat and dyed it pink for me. It was super sweet of them and I couldn't stop thanking Connor for putting it together. Honestly, my biggest fear coming to college was that I was going to be alone and I wouldn't find any friends, but I am so touched that these people cared enough about me to put this together when they've only known me for less than a year.

On Monday I register for classes for next semester, and I'm looking forward to taking these. I'm going to take physics 1, statistics (unfortunately Calculus 3 is not required for my major. I was actually really wanting to take that), organic chemistry 1, intro to crime scene, speech (one class I'm not looking forward to), and I am planning on taking cello lessons as well. I figured it would be kind of fun and something new and different.

I'm not sure if any of you know, but Connor is majoring in chemistry with an emphasis in pre-pharmacy, but in order to get an actual pharmacy degree, he is going to have to transfer to UW-Madison in a couple of years. He doesn't want to because he likes it here and and already made friends and everything here, but he wants the degree so he is going to have to transfer at some point. This is going to sound really bad and selfish, but I really don't want him to transfer. If we are still dating at that point (which I hope that we are) I'm going to miss him by the boatloads. I mean, I have a friend whose boyfriend is going to UW-Madison, and she has already told me that when that time comes, when she goes to visit her boyfriend she will take me along to visit Connor, which was super sweet. And of course we have cellular devices that will allow us to keep in touch, but it just won't be the same. I love being able to walk two minutes and meet up with him and just hang out. Like I said, this is really selfish and I shouldn't be worrying about it because it's a few years down the road and who knows what can happen in that time, and of course this is his education we are talking about, but I just don't want to see our relationship fall apart because of the distance. The same goes for this summer. It's only three months, but a lot can happen in three months. I know I'm being stupid worrying about this because I should be focusing on school and getting through this semester, but we've grown so close to each other that I just don't want to see our relationship fall to pieces. I suppose whatever happens will happen, but still.

Anyway, I suppose that it's video time!

So, here's another one by Twenty-One Pilots. Like I said, I don't listen to much rap, but I do like this song.

I don't remember if I've ever shown you guys this song, but it's so cute I just love it so much.

Okay unfortunately this next song doesn't have a music video, but oh well.

And last but not least:

Alrighty, well, I suppose that's it for now. Until next time!

Love,

Sara

I'm board as wood, so have some pictures to inspire your next trip around the globe.

look! girls like us! in Ireland!

polar vortex here in the windy city

 

Alex