the first two weeks.

So I've been emailing some people about my life. I thought I should probably fill the rest of you in! Sorry that it gets a bit detailed. This was basically a way for me to let Mom know all about my life so that she wouldn't ask me how things are going each day!

So let's see, I guess I'll start from the beginning.

(Week 1)
On Wednesday when I first arrived at Redeemer, I pretty much unpacked and headed to bed. I was pretty tired and not in the mood to "re-meet" people that I did not know too well. I came a few days early because I was a student worker!

The next morning I had a meeting to figure out how yearbook registration was going to work (I am the yearbook editor this year) and then set up the yearbook table, got yearbooks from the office upstairs and such. I got back to the dorm and Lauren (Cookies), one of my dorm mates had arrived. The reason she was allowed to come early was because she was on "mission control" which is a group of people that plan 1st year orientation.

So on Thursday night, we both went to the communal supper that was prepared for students who came early because of work (RAs, HAs, Yearbook, Mission Control, Student Senate, etc.). There I was able to reconnect with Katie and Elizabeth, and Nathan and Brandon. They are all RAs this year.

The next day (Friday) was the first registration day, and it was a bit crazy. I registered at 8:30, and immediately afterward, had to begin handing out and selling yearbooks. It was nice being there though as I could see everyone who came on campus. The managing yearbook editor (deal with the money, finances, ads, etc.) was able to come early too and help me out, so that was great.

Along with being a yearbook editor, I am also an HA, the person in the dorm who is responsible for devos, chore schedules and peace keeping. After registration on Friday, I met with Sharon (my HA "boss") and some other HAs to go over what our expectations were for the year and get some HA paperwork done. We had dinner and after that, watched some movies.

On Saturday, I was able to relax a bit and get a few more yearbook things straight (I have been sending SO many emails!). I also finished setting up the dorm and my room. That night all of the 'workers' again had dinner, but it was a semi-formal, which was nice. After dinner, everyone who was already on campus from our "group" went out to Montana's to celebrate Brandon's birthday.

The next morning was Sunday, and Elizabeth, Katie and I decided to go to People's Church (the pentecostal church that they normally go to) and we had to walk to the bus stop to make it to church. I really liked it there, so I'm thinking about going again next week. I just felt very refreshed after the service.

After church, we went to Elizabeth's house (she lives in Hamilton) for lunch and the three of us spent the rest of the afternoon chatting and watching chick flicks.

So Monday was a lot like Friday and I was at registration again. I also managed to squeeze in some groceries. For dinner, we had an all-school Welcome Back BBQ.

On Tuesday I caught up on some more yearbook business, something that I learned will keep me very busy this year. I had my night class that night. It seems like it will be okay, but not terrific. It is history after all, but the prof seems great!

Wednesday I had a psychology class and an art history class. Art history will be pretty boring, I can see that already, but my developmental psychology class will be terrific! I can hardly wait to get started! We will learn about all different aspects of development (physical, cognitive, emotional, etc.) from conception to early adulthood. It will be so much fun and our prof. is fantastic and really easy going. She reminds me of someone like Mrs. Metzger. At night a few people got together in our dorm and we played catch phrase for a couple hours. A lot of fun!

Today I had another psychology class that I will absolutely love as well. It is all about learning and behaviour modification. We will learn what events etc. in childhood affect adults and why. We will also learn how to read and change others' behavior and other cool things (like how to tell if someone is lying). I am so excited!

In about an hour, I go to my art class that is a 3 hour drawing studio, it should be pretty good, I just hope that the workload isn't too much. Tonight we are having a potluck between the 3 dorms that I am HAing. I made chicken pot pie last night for it, so I hope that goes well too.

(Week 2)
Friday went pretty well. I had a couple yearbook meetings and since then, I have been on top of all of my yearbook stuff. I have already picked a cover, font and have decided on how many pages the book will have and where everything will go. Tomorrow I have a yearbook display and will be on the lookout for staff. I have made and printed out application forms. Oh, and I now kind of know how you felt when you had to clean out your office at work. The yearbook office had papers and junk from the past so I spent a couple afternoons putting most of the office in the recycling bin and moving all of the old yearbooks (from the 80s on) into the library. Yearbooks are heavy. I moved about 20 boxes...each box is about 50 lbs. Now that all of the organizational work is done (except for figuring out the budget and hiring staff), all the fun is about to begin!

On Saturday, I did some homework and then helped Lynette (who is an orientation leader this year) with the LAUNCH Olympics. It's pretty much an afternoon of messy games and a tug-o-war in a mud pit. It was a lot of fun! After a very much needed shower, we went to the Decade Dance which was also a lot of fun. Only this year they had it inside (last year, the neighbours didn't like 80s music blaring at 11pm) so it was really hot and we only stayed a couple hours.

On Sunday I went to People's Church again (the Pentecostal one). After church they had a corn roast and hot dogs/hamburgers and ice cream. It was nice to hang out with a lot of the Redeemer crowd and have free food.

Monday was pretty typical. I got some yearbook stuff done and finished some reading for my classes the next day.

Tuesdays this year are going to be very busy for me. I have only 3 classes, but 2 of them are three hours long. After the long day, we hung out at the dorm and played a sweet game that is similar to "Telephone" only it is with pictures and comments. Kind of hard to explain...probably one of the funniest games I have ever played.

Wednesday started off pretty typical, but around 5pm, I went to an art store with some girls in my art class to pick up art supplies ($180 later...ouch!). After that, some of us from the dorm went out for appetizers at Montana's. We had a fun time...it took us 10 minutes to eat, but our server kept flirting with us. Afterwards we had devos and cleaned up the dorm. I also went to Bulk Barn and picked up tons of M&Ms. I won't tell you how much they cost, but they will almost fill one of the Beppe soup jars. I worked on some yearbook stuff while a few of us got together for a movie.

Kristen's arm started hurting and by the time we went to bed, it was really swollen (even though it had been on ice) and she could barely move it. I said, that she could call it, and I'd bring her to MAC if that's what she wanted. She was in a lot of pain, and she's pretty tough, so I knew that this wasn't too minor. So at 12:30 we headed off to MAC.

Although the ER was empty, we ended up waiting until about 5:30 before we were seen. Once she was looked at, she was sent off to X-ray (no wait at all!) and once we knew she didn't have a break, she was told just to keep taking Advil and put heat and ice on it. Kind of a waste of a night...but, guess who I saw in the ER...Dr. Stephens...the Dr. who did my second surgery. I recognized him right off the bat and Kristen thought that was pretty cool. I didn't say hi because he looked pretty busy, but it was neat none-the-less. I also found out that knowing the general layout of the hospital comes in handy when I bought us breakfast at 6am.

So I got to bed at about 6:45 this morning and then woke up at 9:30 (you know me, I can't sleep during the day). I missed my 9:30 class (but I have notes from someone) and was able to make it to my art studio at 2pm. Halfway through art, the power went off all over Ancaster. I didn't know this until I left art class at around 4pm. See, the art room has skylights and unlike most classes, really does not need power to run. I headed home only to find that we were not allowed into Aug. Hall for safety reasons (power surges or something), so we hung out for a couple hours outside, kicked around a soccer ball and chatted until about 5:30 when the power came back on. It was too late to start supper (because some people in our dorm have night class) so we got a pizza from the school. Yum!