Fun Before Finals...

Happy Thursday everyone!!

I hope you are all having a wonderful week!! At the moment, I'm actually still in bed watching reruns of my new favorite show, Roswell, on Hulu and snuggling with my cat, Whitey, before I go down for breakfast :) I'm back at home, having finished my fall semester on Friday, flying back to New York around 9pm.

To tell you the truth, it has been a stressful couple of weeks. As anyone who has ever taken finals knows, it's a bunch of studying, worrying, feeling like your head is going to explode, and for me, eating a lot of Goldfish (my favorite study snack- hey, everyone need one :) I think what has been wonderful is the amount of support each student receives, not only from their friends, but from their professors, directors of programs, and hey, even the lovely SMC custodians!!

Kate, KK, and Mike at MikeCheck!!

Before finals start, however, there is a lot of stress relief offered by SMC, which for a worrywart like me, is truly a dream. The weekend before finals, SMC Res Life put on Stress Free night, where students can get massages, delicious food, henna tattoos, and receive little study bags full of highlighters, flash cards, and even a cute little stress relief quote :) That Friday, my friends, Kate, KK, Mike, and I went to see the annual Mike Check Christmas concert. Mike Check is our male acapella group on campus and literally one of the biggest acts on campus- a must for any SMC student is to go to one of their performances, they're amazing!!

Me, Kate, and KK at Mikecheck!! Adore these girls so much :)

Kate and I, being our silly selves, while waiting for KK!!

On Saturday, I went out with the VITA team to Anna Lester, one of our SMC campus ministers and my SMC mom's home to bake cookies and relieve stress. My friends, Maura, Po (her real name is Katie, but her nickname is Pocahantas, Po for short, since she was that for Halloween :) Tracy, and Kate, were driven by none other than Mr. "Feliz Edmundites" himself, our friend, Jon. It was literally the funniest road trip of my life- I don't think any of us could stop laughing the whole trip there and even had a sing a long to Last Christmas by George Michael... oops I mean Wham, I think!! Once we got to Anna's we realized something...

Anna and her family lived in an actual log house. Totally like Abraham Lincoln, but a lot more high tech and with plumbing. Aka: coolest moment ever!!!!! I've always wanted to visit a log house!!!!

VITA Team 2011-2012 :) Kate, Po, Me, Tracy, and Maura Mouse!!

It was so cozy and nice and all wonderful things!! I met Anna's husband, Jeff and became bff's with Anna's sons, Andrew and Nathan, who are the cutest little things in the universe. We all baked fresh, homemade cookies and then went sledding on the hill by Anna's home. Okay, so... I wasn't very big into sledding as a kid. You might even say I didn't do it too often. What can I say, I'm not too adventurous with those things haha!! Anyway, so of course everyone ganged up on me during the last run (so called friends, pssh!!) so I of course succumbed to peer pressure (I can't say no to a 6 and 4 year old!!) and sledded down the hill. It was so nice that Po (love her so much!!) and little Andrew went with me down the hill. I'd like to re-enact this scene for you right now:

Po, Me, and Andrew getting ready to sled!!

Po: Alex it's going to be okay, we're just going down the hill!!
Alex: grumble grumble Po, if I get killed, I'm never talking to you again!!
Po: Alex, if you're dead... you won't be able to talk.
Alex: Oh tomato toemato. Let's just do this already.
Andrew: Alex you can do it!! I'll hold on to you.
Alex: Awwwwwww :)

1,2,3... GO!!

Po and Andrew: Weeeeeeeeeeeee!!
Alex: AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!

Looking back, I have to admit, it was really so much fun and I'm glad my friends made me do it. We said goodbye to Anna and her family, heading back to SMC to get ready for the comedian. The wonderful Student Association presents a comedian, free for students, each year, because hey, everyone needs a good laugh before finals!! Last year, we had Nick Cannon, and this year we had the Office's David Koechner. He was absolutely hysterical- a perfect way to end a great day :)

Even though I was so stressed during finals week (I'll talk about that in my next blogpost) I am just so lucky to go to a school which offers these amazing experiences to me. These little things meant so much to me and helped me relieve a lot of my stress before finals :)

I was going to end with a stress song that I absolutely adore, but I think I'm going to save that for my next blogpost. I'm actually going to leave you with my new favorite Foster the People song. My suitemates and I are absolutely obsessed with them, always having sing a longs to their songs in the car :)

If you have any questions, always feel free to get in contact with me via Formspring, Twitter, or email- I'm always happy to help and hear from my wonderful readers!!

Until next time, I send you my very best wishes,
Alex :)