Cross Cultural is Cool

This week has been a crazy one, that's for sure. With an unusually high number of meetings, papers, and random things that popped up in my planner, I am downright tired. But, it's almost the weekend!
One unusual thing that we had on campus this week was the cross cultural forum. Every year the people that went on cross cultural trips in May present to the rest of the student body in two forums. Forum is an event that we have every Tuesday where we have different speakers (usually from off campus) come and speak on a range of different topics. I was one of the presenters from our trip, and it was so much fun to take a look back at my incredible experience to Trinidad and Tobago and talk about it with my peers. It's great to hear about the other experiences too and see what my classmates did in May. I love the cross cultural aspect of our general education requirement. Here at Bluffton, you have to either take a foreign language or go on a cross cultural trip. Most students opt for the trip and in May we have students, along with a faculty advisor or two, depart on trips all over the world. This past May we had groups in China, Chicago, Germany, San Antonio, France, Mississippi, etc. They are all different in their focuses, but they all share a common theme - they are amazing! Most people absolutely love their 3ish week trips and come back to Bluffton with a changed view of themselves and the world. There are also a couple of semester programs - one to Northern Ireland and a new one to Pittsburgh. The people I've talked to that went on these semester study programs had wonderful times too. It's great to have these experiences and opportunities to do these things at Bluffton. I had an amazing time in Trinidad and it certainly helped me learn a lot about myself and the world we live in. I would go back there in a heartbeat and am so thankful to have had that opportunity. One of the most amazing things about my trip was the relationships that we built. We became great friends with several people in Trinidad and it's so awesome to see how God worked through us and through them during our time there. We also, as a group of 11, became very close and I would consider all of the people on my trip close friends. It's so awesome because I did not know any of them very well before we left and I'm so thankful for these new relationships.
Well, now that my cross cultural tangent is coming to an end, and it's 2:40 in the morning, I think I'm going to leave you now.
Here's to trips around the world,
Mary
pictures: a picture of our group in Trinidad, and one of my and my friends, Sara, with one of our friends from Trinidad

Relaxed

So, it's Sunday night at 12:43 in the morning and although being up this late is not at all abnormal for me, I'm staying up mostly just because I don't want this weekend to end. I am writing this blog, talking on the phone to Scott for a bit, and then I have to go to bed and be done with one of the best weekends I've had. Let me share...

This past week was nice because, as mentioned in my last post, it was quite a bit less busy than normal...excellent. Even though it wasn't quite as crazy as most weeks, I was still ready for a relaxing weekend when Friday came around. Friday afternoon Scott and I watched "Mr.Holland's Opus"... good movie, invest some time in that if you haven't already. Then one of the girls upstairs cooked all of us dinner - delicious! It was really nice to just hang out and enjoy some great food and wonderful conversation. We just hung around for awhile... some of the girls starting crafting and watching a movie, others worked on a little bit of homework... Friday night was well underway. I headed to Marbeck (our student union) to set up for Marbeck After Dark. This week we had a PlayStation night where we played DDR, Guitar Hero and Karaoke Revolution - needless to say, good times were had. I didn't stay the whole time because I wasn't needed to help cleanup, so around 11:30ish I went over to spend some time with Scott. It was so nice, we went on a long walk and had an amazing conversation. It is so nice to unwind after a long week with a beautiful walk around Bluffton at night with wonderful conversation. It's one of my favorite things to do - walk along holding Scott's hand and talk for hours. Sorry, that was more information than you probably care to know. Anywho, I eventually went back to my room and headed to bed... Friday = super great.

Saturday I got up and got ready for a date day with Scott. I made one of his favorite meals and even some "go ND" brownies (unfortunately the Irish still did not win, but hey, they played better in the first half, right?). After lunch we played games and enjoyed some time just laughing together. After that we watched the first half of the Notre Dame game together...it was really fun - being with Scott has helped me learn quite a bit about football :).

After the first half of the game Scott left and I headed to Findlay with one of my best friends to go out to dinner and just catch up. We had a much needed and great conversation about how we're doing and what's going on in our lives and it was just so awesome to catch up. We were roommates for the first two years we were here at Bluffton, so the past two years we've had to make more time to keep in touch and it was awesome to have dinner with her and reconnect.

When I came back home I just hung out here for awhile with two of my friends and we just talked a little bit and hung out together in the lobby. We then all parted ways and I headed back over to keep Scott company while he was on duty. We rearranged his room, played some Notre Dame football trivia and just hung out and watched tv.

Saturday = absolutely wonderful

Today (Sunday) I just got up and me, Scott, and Jill went to church and then came back for lunch and homework. I worked on getting some advertisements done for MCB and then Scott and I hung out and just talked for a bit this afternoon. Then me and Melisa had a floor activity for all of the girls here in our hall and we made an organic/vegetarian dinner for everyone. It was really good and helped promote our campus-wide theme of environmental awareness. After dinner we all hung out and watched tv and definitely laughed a lot. After that I just got some random things done like laundry and homework and also spent a lot of time laughing with the girls :). Unfortunately the gallon challenge didn't work out again tonight - It looks like nobody wants to compete against Scott...but I'm sure he'll talk more about that in his post. Sunday = really great.

I'm feeling really relaxed and ready to get through another week of amazing life at Bluffton. I love this place so much and love the people that it has brought into my life. I love my friends, I love Scott and I love who I am when I'm in this place. I really love Bluffton, and hope you check it out and learn to love it too. I feel like everyone deserves to have this place in their life.

Here's to wonderful weekends and love,
Mary

pictures: me and Scott with the brownies, me and Anna having fun, and Ashley enjoying her organic dinner :)

Answered Prayers

God answers prayers, that's for sure. The last three weeks of school have been busier than I could have imagined. With my internships, activities, classes, etc. I often felt like I hardly had time to breathe. I was not ready to start this week, feeling exhausted already when it was just Monday. Then, God came through like He always does :). I had my internship cancelled one day this week, two classes cancelled, AND a long meeting cancelled! woo hoo! I was finally able to catch up on homework and other random things I've been putting off. It felt so good to get a paper done days early, get an internship project that's been lingering on finished, and most importantly, have more time to sit on the futon in my room and laugh until my stomach hurt with my friends. Needless to say, it's been a good week. It should be a nice and relaxing weekend, too. Friday afternoon I'm hanging out with Scott (it's a tradition :) ), then dinner with the girls and Marbeck After Dark. Saturday I've got a little date day planned for Scott, then the Notre Dame game is on - the verdict is still out as to whether or not I'll watch that with him ;), then dinner with one of my best friends. Sunday, church and chill, I would assume. Sounds like a wonderful weekend to me!! I hope you're feelin' good, readers. Remember to breathe, and if it feels impossible, make sure to pray about it - God will find you some time in your busy schedule :)
Here's to answered prayers,
Mary
picture: random one of me at Marbeck After Dark last week. good times.

Crazy Awesome Weekend

So, I feel kind of lame because I feel like every Sunday I just write about my weekend. Honestly, though, I love weekends at Bluffton so I always feel the need to write about them. This weekend was no exception, of course :).
Friday was good because for my only class of the day we went on a field trip (yep, there are still field trips every once in a while in college) to a radio station in Findlay. It was fun because we got to see how a real radio station functions and I feel like we were able to learn a lot from that. After that I just came back and hung out with Scott all afternoon. That's how we roll... Friday afternoons together. It's good - we usually just watch a movie or go on a walk or something. This was a big week, though, because we watched Dirty Dancing (one of my favorite movies) together and I totally owe him one for that... it's a total chick flick. So anywho, we hung out for awhile, then I went over to Sara's room because me and the rest of the girls that went to Trinidad for our cross cultural trip decided to make shirts for Mike, one of the guys that went with us on the trip, to wear for him at the football game on Saturday. It was so much fun because we just spent the evening listening to old music, laughing, and making some totally rockin' shirts for Saturday. Then after that I set up, ran, and cleaned up Marbeck After Dark, which was a total hit this week. We had the "MAD CASH GIVEAWAY" with all sorts of games. I was in charge of playing people at rock,paper,scissors and that was so much fun. I basically played tons of people in that game for a few hours. Good times :). We were really excited about the way that event turned out and are pumped about how MAD is going to go this year. After that me and the girls went over to play some cards with Scott. We had a good time playing cards until 2 in the morning. After that we had to leave the hall because of "open hall hours", so me and the girls decided to make a crazy late night run to McDonald's, which is always a good time. After that we just sat around and talked for awhile. Phew, that was just Friday.
Saturday I got up and went back over to Sara's where me and the girls all got our hair ready. The guys decided to join us too and we got all dressed up for the game. We all went to the game together and had a really good time cheering on the Beavers. We lost, but it was so much fun. We got to see Mike after the game and talk with him for awhile and I think he really liked it that we made him shirts. After the game I went to Findlay for dinner with two of my best friends and we had some awesome conversation and it was just so great to spend some quality time with them. When we got back Scott and I went on a walk, then we watched a movie together. Have you ever seen The Untouchables? If you haven't, think about checking it out - good stuff. After that we talked for a long time and went on a drive to talk some more. Saturday was wonderful.
Today we got up and headed to St.John's Mennonite for church. It was "college day" and our campus pastor, Tig, gave a really great message. After that Scott and I headed home to my house and spent the day with my parents and my niece and nephew. It was nice to spend the day with them and catch up. I hadn't seen them in quite a while, so it was really good to just hang out all day at home. We came back and it was time for another gallon challenge (with milk this time) for "Sunday Night Event Night" but it ended up not happenning because Scott was the only one that was ready to try and drink the milk, but we hung out and talked for awhile, so that was good.
So yeah, totally rockin' weekend folks. I love Bluffton :)
Another week, here we come...

Here's to friends, football games, and freakin' sweet conversations,
Mary

picture: us at the game with our decorated selves and Mike, the guy we were rooting for.

A Senior?

I don't want to be a senior. Sure, when we came that was all we were trying to get to. Senior year, man, the best year of college. That's the thing, though, is that I am confident this year will be magnificent, but that's what makes it so hard. Walking around this beautiful campus, laughing with my friends, hearing people laugh in the residence halls, going to the Flying J at 1:00 in the morning...and just like that, in May it's all over? "Are you going to have to start looking for jobs?" Hannah (my roommate, who is a sophomore) asked me. "Yeah... in January or so I guess I will." what? Can I be a lifelong college student? I mean, wow, college without the classes would be even more fun!
I try and look at the positive, though, so here's my attempt at that. In the words of Scotty D, it's so hard because it's so good. It is going to be so hard to leave this place because the years here have been so good. It's funny because as I'm writing this, "Stop This Train" by John Mayer (my favorite!) came on... it's all about not wanting to grow up. "Try to keep an open mind, but I just can't sleep on this tonight." Man, he knows my mind :). Anyways, the memories I have made here have been unlike anything I ever could have imagined. It's like a 9 month long sleepover every year! I have met the most amazing people in my time here and cannot wait to see what is in store for the next 8ish months. I'm going to try and soak it up... create memories that I will cry about leaving in May, but will laugh so hard about when the tears dry. It's not going to be goodbye, right? Just "see ya later." This is probably the first of quite a few posts for the year concerning this topic, sorry about that :). If you're a senior in high school, you might be feeling the same way - high school is fun too. Just know that you have a lot to look foward to in college :).
here's to memories that last a lifetime,
Mary

picture: me and my best friend, LeeAnne. We've made some awesome memories :)

Only In College...

College life is so awesome. This has been an absolutely amazing weekend for several reasons, and it has made me realize how much I love living this life. Friday night I hung out in Marbeck playing Dutch Blitz and laughing with my friends (read Anna's blog for more information on that!) then I came back and had a heart to heart for with my best friend, LeeAnne. We talked about stuff for hours and it's just so awesome that we can put on our pajamas, walk across the hall and have a heart to heart. We decided on Friday night that we were going to be "nasty college students" on Saturday, so we slept late, didn't shower and headed to Taco Bell for lunch. After that fine dining experience we came back and just did homework and other random stuff for hours while still in our PJs :). Around 3:00 we finally decided to shower and get ready to go out with our friends. By 4 we were transformed into presentable people and we picked up 3 of our best friends and headed out to dinner in Findlay. We went to our favorite restaurant and had an awesome dinner catching up and laughing a lot. After dinner we went to a friend's house in Findlay and had dessert and laughed until our stomach's hurt. In the three years we've been together we've managed to create more memories than we know what to do with, and remembering all of those memories create a lot of laughter. When we got Bluffton I went over to Scott's and we hung out for awhile, then a friend came that graduated last year and we had a great time catching up with Dan and hearing about life in the "real world." On Sunday Scott and I went to church and met lots of friends there, then we came back, had lunch, and hung out all afternoon. We had a great time and I continue to be amazed by our relationship. I'll spare you all the mushy stuff, but that's another great thing about college life, if you have a boyfriend/girlfriend here, it is so nice to be within walking distance of them :).

Sunday night was the gallon challenge. Oh dear, this is definitely one of those "only in college" type of things. Last weekend Scott, his best friend Eric, and lots of the girls here in our hall talked about whether or not it's possible to drink a gallon of milk in an hour. Well, that led to "Sunday Night Event Night" by Scott and Eric. To kick off the events they had the pre-game to the milk challenge - "who can drink the most water in 20 minutes." Scott, Lauren, LeeAnne, and Carol all participated and Scott took home the gold with a full gallon in 18 minutes. Such a champ :). It was so much fun because there was about 10 people there watching while they were doing it. Such a random thing that was so much fun. Honestly, I ran away right when they started drinking the water because I cannot handle seeing people throw up, and I had a feeling that was going to happen! But, I kept Hannah on speed dial and just kept calling to see how it was going. Scott's going to write more about that in his blog, so make sure to check that out, but all in all, I just love the college life.

Here's to things like the gallon challenge and heart to heart conversations,
Mary

pictures: me and two of my friends before dinner in Findlay and the four partcipants in the gallon challenge with their game faces on

being busy is a blessing

Oh, what a week! This was one of the busiest weeks I have had in quite a while. With my two internships, classes, meetings, and lots of random events, I have been running around like crazy this week. Needless to say, I am ready for the weekend.
I am doing two internships this semester, one in Lima (about 20 minutes from Bluffton) for a marketing director at a credit union there and another one that is for my advanced public relations class here at the PR house on campus. I am excited about both as marketing and PR are the two areas I am thinking about going into after college. For the one here on campus I am going to be writing press releases, working on a newsletter and brochure, doing a communication audit for the religious life office, amongst other things. For the one in Lima I am going to be working with their website and also doing other random jobs around the office. Both are giving me a great real-life experience that I'm hoping will be very helpful in the future.
In addition to the two internships I have had tons of meetings and things going on this week. Everyday I've been going pretty nonstop so I am anxious for this weekend! On Friday I don't have a whole lot planned, but I am anxious to lay on the futon with my favorite movie playing! There is also a girl here right now that graduated last year and was my hall director, so I'm very excited to do dinner with her and catch up on our summers. On Saturday I am going out to dinner with my four best friends! We are so excited because we haven't had a lot of time to all get together since we've been back and I'm so ready to laugh with them. We're going to dinner in Findlay, then hanging out at Jill's house because she lives there in Findlay and we love to see her parents! On Sunday there is Sunday Morning Worship, then I think me and Scott (you should read his blog too!) are going to spend some time together. Sounds like a wonderful weekend to me :).
College can get really busy sometimes with classes and meetings and stuff. If you're involved, there's lots to do, but those busy weeks are so worth it. Being involved on campus is so important and such an awesome way to meet people and make memories. It's such a blessing to be busy - so much fun to have and people to get to know.
Until next time,
Mary

picture: me and my best friends :)

Feels Like Home To Me...

Welcome back, Beavers!
I’ve been here for a few weeks for Hall Director and Resident Advisor training, but students have just been here for about a week. The first week of classes and coming back to the residence hall living has been great! Everyone is feeling really busy as meetings are getting scheduled and class syllabi are being handed out. As everyone works on getting into a routine the overwhelming feelings will subside and the rhythm of life in Bluffton will fall into place.
The excitement of the first few weeks was the flood that hit this area. The campus was under water when we woke up on August 21st. The Bluffton campus pulled together and was a refugee site for evacuees off of the highway and our brilliant hall chaplains kept people in good spirits while the football players put sand bags around our flooded science center. The water went down on our campus by the next day and people went on with retreats and meetings and preparations for class. The surrounding communities are still struggling a lot to rebuild their lives and Bluffton is working to support them in whatever ways we can.
This weekend was great and so much fun for the first full weekend on campus with everyone here. Friday night MCB had Bob’s Place all decorated and ready to watch “Pirates of the Caribbean.” We had a great time with a lot of people just hanging out and watching a great movie. On Saturday we all went to the Beaver football game and cheered on the Beavers. Saturday night me and a lot of my friends went over to another residence hall to play games with Scott and some of the other guys from that hall. We spent hours laughing and playing cards and having a good time. After that we just hung out and talked for awhile, which is always a good time. On Sunday me and Scott and our friend Eric went to church in a nearby town then we spent the day just hanging out and watching movies and enjoying awesome Sunday conversation. Sunday night I just hung out with the girls and Scott and Eric came over and we had a great time just laughing and hanging out. This weekend was totally amazing and full of great conversations with some absolutely wonderful people. I just can’t believe I’m a senior, and realizing that has made my relationships even more important to me than they already were. I am coming to the realization that this is the last year I will be able to stay up until 2am with my best friends living next door, so I’m working on soaking that up as much as I can.
Until next time friends,
Mary

pictures: our campus under water from the flood and me & scott at the football game :)