What It's Like...

Farewell...

2008-05-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

Hi! Well, the time has come for my final blog posting. I graduate in three days from a wonderful place and I can't believe my time at Bluffton University is about to be complete. I know that I will always have support and a great community here, though, so I just know that's it's not goodbye, even though I will never actually live here again. For my final blog, I would like to leave you with a little advice from my own college career. You surely do not have to take it, but these are the things that provided such an amazing experience for me these past four years.

Get involved - being involved in campus activities has helped me to meet so many people and have an awesome social life. In having things to do outside of the class work, I have learned a lot about being dedicated and working hard for something I am passionate about. I have met some of my best friends through those organizations and wouldn't trade my involvement for anything.

Keep an open mind - I came to college and met people that were so different from me and those people have taught me a lot about life. Being too set in your ways and unwilling to learn from others can keep you from meeting a lot of wonderful people in college and experiencing some wonderful things. Staying open-minded from the beginning allows a lot to happen and a lot of growth throughout your college years.

Take risks and be willing to have fun on a whim. My favorite memories from college are those times when we just decided to take a random trip or do a random thing on a whim. Stay up late and talk with people, even if you have an exam the next day - laugh a lot and take chances that you may not have taken in high school.

Enjoy every moment - at times it feels like college is going to last a lifetime, but when you look back, it goes by incredibly fast. I cannot believe that I am graduating so soon - it feels like I just got here. Savor the moments and don't take it for granted - someday you may look back and wish you could do it all over again!

I hope you've enjoyed reading this blog - it's been fun writing it. I wish you the best in your college careers and hope you have as great of an experience as I did.

Here's to college,
Mary

Spring Has Sprung

2008-04-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

Hey!
Sorry it's been awhile since I posted... the end of the semester has gotten me pretty busy finishing up all kinds of papers and projects and whatnot. No worries, though, I am almost done with schoolwork for my undergraduate education... crazy!

I love this time of year on campus. Whenever the first string of warm days comes along the campus just wakes up and comes alive. I love walking around and seeing people laying outside doing homework or just chatting with friends, seeing people play catch or tennis or tennis ball golf (this game people play around campus - it's like golf only they hit a tennis ball and they have a course set up all around campus). It's great to just see people out and about being active rather than just hanging out inside because it's too cold.

Me and my friends have been no exception. We love laying outside just laughing and soaking up the sun. We've been doing that a lot lately since it's been warmer. The great thing is that we live right by a bunch of faculty and staff offices, so while we're laying outside our professors and other staff people are walking in and out just chatting with us. This is just another example of the kind of community that I'm going to miss when I leave Bluffton in a week and half. I love that we live in a place where we can just hang out in the sun and have our vice presidents come up and talk and laugh with us - the faculty and staff are so approachable here and definitely more of our friends than our superiors. It's such an awesome relationship adn something I'm super thankful for.

I love this time of year because you can just see the community on this campus and really spend quality time with people before the summer (and for me, graduation!) hits. I hope you're getting to enjoy the warmer weather as well.

Here's to Spring,
Mary

Down to the Wire

2008-04-15T21:45:00.000-07:00

Well folks, 1.5 weeks of classes and 1 week of finals left and I am a college graduate. yikes. I cannot believe that we are this close to graduation. It seems like just yesterday I was moving in as a first year student - and now it's time to graduate? My, how time flies. I know this all sounds cliche', but time really has gone ridiculously fast here and the memories I've made are ones that I will hold close for many years. I know that these have been four of the best years of my life and I'm not sure I'm ready to leave them behind.

On a lighter note, it's the end of the year, and that definitely means papers and projects galore. Me and my friends have been writing like crazy the past few days trying to get everything done and in on time so we can enjoy our last week or so of college. I just finished a 15 page paper and 20 minute speech, and now I'm one paper away from being done with undergraduate college work forever - wow. That's the first time I think I've really thought of that. It's a stressful time of year for everyone, but it's also such a fun time of year because everyone is trying to spend as much time with friends as possible... there have definitely been a lot of laughs and good times these past few days and I anticipate a lot more of those days throughout the next couple of weeks. I am looking forward to graduation because I know life after will be exciting, but right now I'm just working hard to embrace every moment I have left here.

Here's to good memories,

Mary

pic: one of my new faves of me and scott...

Another Fantastic Weekend

2008-04-08T09:52:00.000-07:00

Hi! So, I realize that always writing about my weekends may get a little boring, but they have just been so much fun recently that I can't help myself. This weekend was no exception.

On Friday I just hung out with my friends for most of the afternoon and evening. We just hung out in the lobby and chatted. Scott came over and we all played "Rock Band" together for quite awhile. One of my friends had her brother let us keep his Rock Band stuff for awhile, so we have had a great time playing with that and just enjoying some time together in the lobby. I haven't had as much time to play, but some of the girls have gotten really good at it - there's a Rock Band tournament coming up in a few weeks, so hopefully we can do well in that :). Then Friday night, Scott and his friends invited me and the girls to go to Denny's to become "lumberjacks." To become a lumberjack at Denny's, you have to eat the entire lumberjack breakfast off the menu, which is huge. I wasn't interested in beocoming a lumberjack, but decided to go anyways and one of my friends came along with me. It ended up that 30 people went to Denny's together. It was a total blast. Several people became lumberjacks, and the rest of us just had some random food, but well had a blast just hanging out and being together - we literally took up about half of the restaurant. The waitress and the manager just loved us and we all bonded together over the laughs (and lots of breakfast food). It was an awesome Friday night and definitely one of the best memories of college. I'm trying to embrace nights like that because I know that there just won't be many more before I graduate.

Saturday my Mom came over and we shopped most of the day, then Saturday night was Mother/Daughter night in the hall I live in. We played games, ate lots of good food, watched a movie and had a great time hanging out together and with our moms. It was so much fun to have them all around and we deifnitely laughed a lot. I had a blast spending the weekend with my mom - it was good to see her and spend some time with her.

On Sunday we got up and went to a nearby church to see our Shining Through ministry team sing. They were awesome and it was a great service. After that me, Mom, Scott, and Slurp went out to lunch then I spent the rest of the day just hanging out with Scott. Another good day.

It was just a fantastic weekend and it was great because I got to spend a lot of time with a lot of people. It's wonderful to get the chance to just laugh with people and enjoy my last few weeks of college.

Here's to another great weekend,

Mary

pic: all of the people that were already or became lumberjacks at Denny's

Chapel

2008-04-04T05:34:00.000-07:00

Hey!

So, Chapel this week was totally rockin'. I always love going to Chapel, but this week was especially great. We had a different kind of week at Chapel this week because we did not have a speaker... it was all Scripture reading and worship songs. We do that every once and awhile as the students really get a lot out of our time of worship. I love singing praise songs, so it was a wonderful time of worship this past Thursday.

As I may have said before, Chapel is not a requirement at Bluffton. We have it at the same time every week and there are no classes scheduled over it so every student has the opportunity to go each week if they choose to. I find this to be a great aspect of Bluffton's religious life. Everyone participates in the activities because they want to, not because they have to. Having to go, in my opinion, makes it lose some of its meaning and beauty. I love seeing peope worship in Chapel, attend BASIC (brothers and sisters in Christ) group meetings, Spiritual Life Week activties, Sunday Morning Worship, etc. out of their own desire to grow closer to God, not because the requirements say they have to attend a certain number of events. I definitely feel God move on this campus all the time and it's wonderful that we can share in a community that embraces that and encourages that. Even if it's just in the residence halls chatting with friends, most people are open to talking about your faith and are excited to work together to grow. And not everyone here is a Christian, and that's definitely another way we can grow here. Non-Christians are certainly accepted here and we can learn a lot from people that have a different faith. It's awesome how we can use this community in so many different ways. It's an amazing aspect of Bluffton and I have grown a lot in my relationship with God since I have come here.

Here's to the blessing of a faith community,

Mary

pic: our worship leader band playing at Chapel.

Lots of Friends

2008-03-31T08:59:00.000-07:00

So, it was a very good weekend - I hope I have a lot more just like this before I graduate. It was great because I got to spend a lot of time with a lot of people just chatting and laughing together - definitely my favorite thing to do and something I'm trying to soak up these next 5 weeks.

Friday was a crazy day, so I think I'll share that one in more detail... a few of us went out to the first home baseball game and watch the Beavers play. It was freezing out there, so Scott and I left early but it was nice to actually be outside. After that me and Scott just hung out with Slurpy (Scott's best friend) and one of their friends from home that came to visit. After that I was in charge of an MCB event called "1 versus Marbeck Center." It was a game-show type of game where students played against faculty/staff. It was a lot of fun and I love it when we can get faculty/staff involved. One thing I love about Bluffton is how the staff are so willing to get involved in games like that and just enjoy hanging out with students. There is not a hierarchy type of faculty/staff-student relationship ... it's like we're all peers and can do things together, which is awesome.
After that game was over, me and about 8 or 9 other people went to Steak-N-Shake. We didn't leave here until around 11:30, so we went and there was hardly anyone else there. We just got a big table and sat around and laughed a lot. I love it when those random trips happen because it's always a really random group of people that gets together. After Steak-N-Shake we went to WalMart to get a few things, then back home. I was only home for about 10 minutes when Slurpy called me and and I went to the Flying J with Scott, Slurpy and some friends. We had a great time again just hanging out and talking. It was hilarious because I was hanging out with people from about 3:00pm when my last class was over until about 4:00am when we got back from the J. I love those nights when there are just so many people around and so many laughs. I love random trips here or there because there are always fun memories that come out of that.

The rest of the weekend surely didn't fall short of Friday. I don't want to bore you, so I won't go into much detail, but I got to catch up on time with the girls, go out to dinner and spend the day with Scott, hang out with Slurpy and Scott, watch a couple movies and get a lot of random stuff done. It was a great weekend.

I'm really thankful that I have so many people to spend time with and laugh with. I can't believe that in less than five weeks I will have graduated from this place. I'm really going to miss it.

Here's to great weekends,
Mary

Enjoying Life

2008-03-25T22:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I just got back yesterday from my last college break ever. We got Good Friday and Easter Monday off and I am officially in my final stretch of college. Only 5 more full weeks of class and bam – here I come real world. This blog is seriously just my thoughts – I’m sorry, because it may be boring for you.
It’s been a roller coaster of emotion for me these past few weeks and now it has hit me how close I am to being done at Bluffton. Recently it’s become apparent to me that I have to take the time to enjoy where I am and where I’m going. I know that I am going to miss Bluffton very much, but instead of thinking about that all the time, I’m trying to just enjoy every moment here. When I worry so much about this being my last few weeks here, I miss those weeks and before I know it, they will be gone.
Although I’m going to miss Bluffton like crazy as soon as I graduate, weekends like this past one when I get to spend it with my parents, brother, sister, niece and nephew, I am reminded that life after Bluffton is going to be fun and exciting too. Being able to experience life in the professional world, living in a new city, finding a new church, making new friends, being close to my family and having the opportunity to experience life from a whole different perspective is something I'm very anxious for. I am trying to remember that I'm anxious for it, even though it’s very hard as I sit here in the lobby with my best friends laughing, playing “Rock Band” and having a great time.
I’m excited because even though one chapter of my life is coming to a close, I am really excited to see what is in store in the next chapter. As cliché and philosophical as that sounds, it’s exciting to open a new chapter. I’ve come to know and love Bluffton, it’s a comfortable place, but I know that it won’t take long for a new city, new job, and new life to become comfortable.
Here’s to enjoying where I am and where I’m going,
Mary

Weekend Recap

2008-03-17T20:40:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone!
This past weekend was super relaxing and really fun, so I thought I would just write a quick recap of that.

On Friday Scott and I hung out in the afternoon, then Friday night was Live Band Karaoke! This is one of my favorite events on campus and this was the third year in a row we were able to have it. We bring in a live band and they have hundreds of songs to pick from - you pick a song, then sing away with the band right there to back you up. Karaoke is always fun, but when you're able to sing with a live band, it adds a whole new excitement! They were here for about three hours - we had such a good time! I sung a couple of songs and had a blast listening to everyone sing. It was so great because there was a lot of people there and it was so good to see everyone having a good time.

After Live Band me and seven other people went to the Flying J truck stop - we go there a lot late at night because they're open late and it's fun to just go and grab a little something to eat and chat with people. So, needless to say, it was a really fun, but really late night.

I slept in on Saturday then spent the rest of the day just hanging out. Me and the girls here in our hall watched movies and laughed a lot, then later that night we went over and played cards with Scott and his friend. We were up late that night too, so we slept in on Sunday and then Scott and I spent the day together just hanging out and relaxing. We had some really great conversations, so it was a lot of fun and good to just get some rest.

I love weekends like this at college. It is so much fun to just hang out and have nothing to do. Live Band was a blast, then the rest of the weekend was just full of great times spent laughing and catching up with friends. I love those days when we can just watch movies and be lazy college students. I am trying to soak up these times, knowing I only have a few more weeks to do that...

Here's to lazy weekends,

Mary

pic: a friend singing at Live Band Karaoke

A Beautiful Place

2008-03-14T08:05:00.000-07:00

So, Bluffton is definitely a beautiful campus. I love all of the trees, the way the sidewalks gently wind through the campus and the way everything is laid out in a way that makes it feel like a nice little community, not a crowded campus with thousands of people crammed together. There are so many times at Bluffton when I sit back and think "wow, this place is gorgeous." Those times are especially present when the leaves are changing in the fall or when the snow falls and blankets the campus. With that said, my favorite spot on campus is the bustling residence hall lobbies. Last night Scott and I were sitting in the lobby of my hall doing a puzzle (that is going to be amazing, by the way... I will post a picture when we get it done) and before we knew it, there were 5 other friends that just popped in to chat and ended up staying for a long time. We talked about everything from doing puzzles to the recent May Day/Baccalaureate Speaker elections to the concert many of us had just attended on campus. We laughed together and just caught up on life. And the other day... I was putting up a bulletin board in my lobby and ended up in there for a couple of hours watching some tv and just being with people...and later that night some difficult situations were talked through in the lobby. I love the way of the lobbies... there's no doubt that laughter will happen and people will connect. Not all residence halls have happennin' lobbies - some of them are quieter and those fun times just happen in everyone's rooms. Due to the nature of where I live, the lobby is generally the hang out place, but that's not true everywhere. But, no matter where your "lobby" is - people at Bluffton love to be together and have deep discussions, light-hearted discussions, and everything in between. I had no idea that college would connect so many people. I have gotten to know people I never would have expected because of random movie nights or chat times in the lobbies or in my friends' rooms. I love the connection people are able to make to each other and I find the most beauty on this campus in that. The community here is unmatched and unlike anything I could have expected or even understood before I got to campus, but it's by far my favorite thing about college life. There is so much physical beauty on this campus, but I find the real beauty in this community and the connections made in the lobbies, rooms, classes, and just walking on the sidewalks. What a beautiful place.

Here's to finding the beauty inside,

Mary

pics: a few of the random hang out times...

Spring Break!

2008-03-10T08:13:00.001-07:00

Well, Spring Break '08 has come and gone... good times. It was a pretty eventful break and I had a lot of fun. I was here Friday night and Scott and I just went out to dinner and hung out since we were just about the only people around! Saturday morning we got up early and headed to his house to meet up with his sister and the three of us headed off to North Carolina. It took us about 11 hours to get there, but it was fun to see that part of the country because I had never really travelled out east before. The mountains were beautiful and it was fun to see the mountains. We got to North Carolina and just spent the next few days hanging out with Scott's brother and sister-in-law. We rode around the area, visited Duke and UNC, did a little shopping, went out to dinner, and even spent a day on the beach! The water was too cold to actually swim in, but we stuck our feet in. Scott and I took about a 3ish mile walk on the beach too, which was one of the highlights of the trip. We had a good time playing games and just soaking up some sun on the beach. On our last day there, Scott and I just played cards and we made dinner for everyone, which was fun. On Wednesday we made the long trip back home and settled in for a few days at home. I spent Thursday and Friday just hanging out with my parents - did a little shopping and just relaxed. On Saturday I headed back to Scott's house for a wedding. It was fun to catch up with his friends and just dance and have fun at the wedding. I was there until Sunday morning and I headed back home to spend the day with my family and finally came back here last night. It was a great break because I got to spend it with a lot of different people. Everyone seemed to have a pretty good time on random road trips and times with family and it was really fun to just come back and hear about all my friends' breaks.

Now that I'm back from break I feel like I need to hit the job search really hard - graduation is just around the corner and I have a feeling it is going to sneak up on me! I'm sure right now for you you're feeling stressed in the same way about choosing a college, but don't worry, it will all come together. There are a lot of questions that need to be answered for you to make the right decision for you and my advice would be, don't be afraid to ask those questions. Admissions counselors are there to help you on your college search and there is truly no such thing as a dumb question. Don't be afraid to call your counselor at the schools you are looking at and ask them whatever is on your mind. Getting these questions answered is very important and whatever is on your mind is important to those schools. Wow, that was a bit of a tangent...

Anyways, I hope your Spring Break was great if you've had it, or I hope you have a fun break to look forward to if you haven't had it yet. Soak up those times with family and friends... life is moving pretty fast.

Here's to Spring Break,

Mary

p.s.: check out that second picture... I got all my hair cut off!

Being a Kid...

2008-02-28T23:48:00.001-08:00

So, I'm trying to not just write about what I do in my daily life at Bluffton because, to be honest, that gets boring for you. But tonight, I just can't help but write about playing in the snow on Monday. Wow, what a good time. Playing in the snow at various points in my college career have been some of the best memories of college and Monday was no exception.

It had snowed a lot around here and it wasn't super cold, so it was that sticky kind of snow that was perfect for snowballs, snowmen, snow angels, sledding, and all sorts of other snowy activities. Well, Scott came over to help me film my audition tape for "Don't Forget the Lyrics" (don't worry, I will let you know if I get on!) and all my friends were around when he suggested playing outside. Of course we were interested. Me, Scott, and two of my friends went outside and immediately became little kids again. We rolled up giant snowballs to make a ginormous (I learned from Jeopardy that "ginormous" is actually a word these days... it was recently added to the dictionary) snowman. Some of Scott's friends came over and helped out a little bit too and we made one awesome snowman. Then we saw someone sledding, so we went over and ended up snowboarding and sledding with him for quite awhile. After that we rebuilt our snowman because it had gotten knocked over, and finally called it a night after being out in the snow for a couple of hours. phew, what a good time.

It's funny how college kids can become little kids in a matter of minutes. It's so nice to just let go of all of the job, midterms, papers, projects, meetings, stress and just not worry about life for awhile. That happens a lot in college and it's something I'm so thankful for. I started thinking about things and just realized that all to often people get so caught up in busyness and forget to have fun sometimes. I never want to be "too old" to go and play in the snow or go sledding. Those activities can go a long way and really improve the quality of life. I don't like the thought of getting too caught up in the hustle and bustle that I don't have time to slow down, so I'm trying to make time to slow down and realize that the important things in life aren't the things that I sit and work on at my computer - it's things like going outside and playing in the snow with friends.

Here's to remembering to be a kid again,

Mary

Advice

2008-02-25T13:33:00.000-08:00

Hi!
So, I realize that you did not ask for my advice, but being that you may be reading this as a high schooler looking at colleges, I figured I might as well talk to you a little bit about picking a college. It's hard. I will be the first to admit that - you get what seems like hundreds of things in the mail, each saying that their college is the best - big, small, private, public, close, far, etc. There are so many factors that seem to go around in your head and trying to sort thorugh it all is difficult. To add to that stress, there are family members and friends that all have their opinion on where you should go. My first piece of advice is to calm down. It will all come together in due time and you will end up at a good college. Trust me. And if you don't like where you end up, it's not the end of the world - people come in and out of colleges all the time, not just as first-years.

My advice for picking a college would be to first narrow down the major factors. Do you want a big school or a small school? Do you want to be close to home, or move far away? This is crucial and will make a big difference in what mail you keep and what mail you toss away. Having the entire college spectrum out there to look at is overwhelming and narrowing it down to a small or a large school that is close or far can help a lot. After you make those decisions, decide what is important to you. Is it important that it's a Christian institution? Is it important that they have a leading program in your intended major? Do you want there to be Greek life on campus (fraternities and sororities)? Are you looking for a certain athletic program? Figuring out the answers to some of these broad questions can prove to be helpful early in the college search.

After you answer some of these "big picture" types of questions, visit, visit, visit!! Visiting a
college campus allows you to really get a feel for what the school is like and experience the campus atmosphere. To be honest, all schools look pretty great in their admissions brochures - that what those things are for... but visiting a school gives you the chance to talk with people and learn more about what makes each place unique. If you enjoy your visit, plan a time to spend the night on campus with a student. Living in the residence halls is a huge part of college life, so staying on campus for a night can really give you a taste of what that is like.

Don't be afraid to apply to several schools - there is certainly nothing wrong with that. Once you apply you can check out what kind of scholarships or other financial aid you may receive and what colleges you are accepted to. If you're accepted to several schools, great! This is a great time to visit a few more times and visit with more people - talk to professors in your intended area of study and learn as much as you can about each institution. Once you make your decision, you can put your deposit in and start planning what color sheets you're going to get.

Picking a college is a big decision, but it doesn't have to be stressful. Start early to ease that pressure, and let it be fun... visit lots of schools, talk to lots of people to get a good feel for each school and what it has to offer you. Try and savor each moment of the college search - it's not something you do every day for the rest of your life, so remember that it is exciting.
Here's to picking a great school for you,
Mary

A Shoutout

2008-02-21T13:45:00.000-08:00

Howdy!

Well, I am back on campus after being gone for a couple of days. Scott and I went to Indianapolis to see my brother and sister and their families and also to go to a job fair. We had a blast hanging out and catching up with my family! My niece and nephew think Scott is their new best friend, which is really fun. I loved hanging out all day just relaxing with them. Then on Wednesday we had a job fair in downtown Indy. It was a total bust - there were only 12 companies there so we didn't have much luck, but it was an adventure nonetheless and we had a great time. We came back to Spiritual Life Week here on campus with great events happenning. The speaker is Tony Campolo, and he has been a very impactful and wonderful speaker, so it's been great to hear him speak a couple of times the past two days. I won't say too much about SLW, it's amazing, but I'm thinking someone else will write on that, so I don't want to repeat too much.

I am going to devote the rest of this blog to two of my favorite professors. This seems lame and a weird thing to write about, but hey, good professors deserve a good "pat on the back" of sorts. Dan Fultz, my academic advisor and my professor in several communication classes, has made a big impact on my life and certainly on my college career. Bluffton is an amazing place because your professors are not only your teachers, but they quickly become your mentor and friend. There have been a lot of situations in college where I was unsure about what to do next and Dan has been right there to listen and help me out. He's great at giving his opinion and helping to present a different perspective, while still letting me make my own decisions. I have appreciated him so much and expect to keep up with him when I graduate.

Another professor that I have appreciated in college is Bill Lyons. Bill is a business professor here and I have had him for two courses I have taken for my business minor. Bill is a little abrasive at first and I wasn't always sure how to handle his classes and expectations, but I quickly got to know him and learned more from him than many other professors. He teaches in a very practical way. The projects we do for him are often somewhat time-consuming, but they teach us skills we will hopefully use in our careers down the way. His practical application is motivating and he does not just teach right from the textbook - he teaches us stuff he knows is useful and we will find helpful in the coming years. Dan and Bill have both inspired me in my time here at Bluffton and I am just so thankful for the way Bluffton encourages those relationships and the classes are set up in a way that makes them small enough to where we can get to know our professors and they can get to know us and mentor us. I feel like this is one aspect of Bluffton that is pretty unique, and something I cannot imagine college without!

Here's to good professors,

Mary

pic: so, I don't really have any pics of my professors, so these are just some random ones of fun times

Opportunities

2008-02-17T20:37:00.001-08:00

Hi!

This past weekend was pretty long and definitely different than the normal weekend at Bluffton. We had the opportunity to participate in conflict mediation training here on campus and I was urged to participate in it by the director of residence life since I am a Hall Director. I knew that it would be really valuable for me to go through the training, but I will admit that I was not looking forward to it since it was a little over 20 hours of training over the weekend. It was 4 hours on Friday night, 10 hours on Saturday, and 8 hours on Sunday... phew! I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was excited because I have been through some similar training in the past and had a lot of fun with it. Luckily three of my really close friends were in the training too, so we knew that we could get through the crazy weekend together! It was a lot of information really fast, but it was exciting at the same time. Bluffton is working to help with restorative justice across the surrounding communities and it was nice to learn some of the tactics used to facilitate mediation among people in conflict. The trainers came from Pennsylvania and are very well versed in performing these mediations and teaching on this topic, so it was great to have them there to share with us. There were times when it was really long, but the time went quickly overall and I am genuinely excited to have this knowledge under my belt. The weekend concluded with one of our professors coming and talking with us about how we could use this on campus and in the community as well as ways that we could alleviate tension and hardship on campus. It was great to have a casual, yet serious conversation with a professor and feel her heartfelt hope that she could hear our concerns and do something about our feelings. I am so thankful for opportunities like this on campus... I may never have been able to go through something like this if Bluffton hadn't made this available. Weekends like this one make me feel better prepared to face the real world that is approaching very quickly.

I'm also excited about the next couple of days... Scott and I are going to Indianapolis on Monday night thru Wednesday for a job fair and he has an interview. I am anxious to really get out there and see the job search happenning. I'm also very excited, though, to see my brother and sister and get to spend time with them and their families. I really miss them since I haven't seen them since Christmas, so I'm sure we'll have a good time.

I just feel very blessed by the opportunities I have.

Here's to those opportunities,

Mary

pic: me and Scott after we won FIRST PLACE in "the couples game" (so yeah, there was only one other couple in the game, but we were still proud!)

An Adventure!

2008-02-15T09:56:00.000-08:00

Hey Friends!
This week has been an adventure! I love this aspect of college - it seems like no matter what happens, everyone can view it as an adventure, whether it be the floods that hit campus or just a random trip to Wal-Mart. We had one of those adventures this week. In a building attached to our little residence hall there was a natural gas leak, so they were worried that the gas would seap over into our part and be unhealthy, so we had to stay in a different hall for a couple of nights. At first hearing we were all bummed because we didn't feel like packing up a couple of nights worth of stuff and moving to different halls with friends, but then we decided to just make it an adventure and have fun! So we all treated it like a giant slumber party and had a good time. It was good to move back into our hall, but we had a good time on our little adventure for a couple of days. Again, it's so fun to see how we can make an adventure out of a not-so-exciting situation.
Yesterday was a great Valentine's Day! I just had a normal day during the day with a great surprise in the middle - Scott got me roses! It was my first time getting roses, so that was super exciting. Then in the evening we went out to dinner with some friends at a Habachi grill - it was my first time t one of those too, so we definitely had a great time there. It's been a really busy week, but great overall! I don't have the group pic form V-Day yet, so I will post that next time. Until then, have a great weekend!
Here's to adventures and Valentine's Day,
Mary

Family

2008-02-11T15:20:00.001-08:00

Hi,

This weekend Scott and I went to my house for a relaxing weekend away from campus. I hadn't been home since Christmas, so I was excited to see my parents and hang out at home for a few days. We went home on Friday and just went out to dinner and hung around all night. Saturday we went shopping for a little bit, then played a game and watched a movie with my parents and Sunday was just church and relaxation. As you can tell, we really didn't do much, which was perfect.

For me, one of the hardest things about coming to college was leaving my parents. I am the youngest, so my brother and sister had already moved out and are married and although I see them fairly often, I knew that not seeing them wouldn't be too hard because I don't seem them everyday anyways, but I am really close to my parents and not seeing them everyday was going to be tough. Luckily I only live about an hour and half away, so it's an easy drive if I just want to go home on the weekend. I wasnt' really sure what to expect when I came here as far as homesickness goes. There are times when it is hard and I really miss my family, but it's amazing how the people at Bluffton pull together and form a family. Just like I miss my family at home, when I'm there I miss my Bluffton family. There are people from so far away here that only get to see their families on breaks (f that! some international students go years without going home), but I know that they can still feel that sense of family here and that seems to be what makes it bearable from them to be away from home for so long. Homesickness comes and goes, but my advice would be to not be too afraid of that when you go to school... you'll find family there too! The weekends are some of the most amazing times, and I love being here with my Bluffton family to enjoy those times too.
Here's to family, no matter where it is,

Mary

pic: me and my parents

Prayers and Adventures

2008-02-07T10:28:00.001-08:00

Hi!

Well, excitement has once again hit Bluffton's campus. Yesterday another flood hit this area as we have had crazy rain/snow/freezing rain the past few days. We woke up on Wednesday and were unable to get to our classes on our "normal route" because one of the bridges that crosses a creek that runs through campus was totally under water. We found ourselves having to walk the long way around campus to get to our main academic building, Centennial, and our student union. It's funny when those kinds of things happen at college, though, because everyone seems to see it as a sort of adventure. There aren't many complaints or negative comments about having to walk different, longer routes, rather everyone is like "oh my gosh, did you see the creek!? it's crazy!" and it seems to be the talk of the campus for the whole day. It's amazing to me how, when you're in college, the little things seem to become the biggest adventures.

Big events like this also bring out the amazing community we have at Bluffton. While the flooding on campus wasn't horrible and there didn't seem to be much damage, many of the students immediately thought of the neighboring communities and how they are having to deal with the flooding. This summer, right before school started here, there was a major flood that hit this area and caused a lot of damage in homes and businesses all around. Bluffton even had a little bit of damage to the science building and many homes in the village had a lot of trouble. The prayers went out as soon as we saw water everywhere on campus because we knew that the people around here were suffering. I love the way the Bluffton community comes together in the face of hardship. It comforts me to know that no matter what happens, people will be there to comfort you, pray for you, and just be there with you when the going gets tough.

Here's to adventures, prayers, and amazing community,

Mary

pic: a picture of campus during the first flood right before school started.

Faculty/Staff Relationships

2008-02-05T21:28:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends,

Sorry it's been awhile since my last post - it has been crazy around here! Fun has been the name of the game, though. Last week me and one of my best friends worked a lot on a special presentation we were set to do on Friday night. You see, this weekend was the LDP retreat. LDP stands for Leadership Development Program and is a program designed for the leaders on campus to grow closer together and work on their leadership skills. Groups such as the Resident Advisors and Hall Directors, MCB, Student Senate, and the leaders of several other campus organizations are in LDP and it's always a lot of fun to get together. Ths winter retreat has always been my favorite LDP event and during the winter retreat are things called "showcases" where people just put together random stories, dances, songs, etc. to perform for their fellow LDPers. LeeAnne and I have gotten really close to our assistant dean of students, Mark, and put together a dance for him. We made shirts with his face on them, made posters, and choreographed an entire dance as a funny "tribute" to him. We had such a good time preparing for it and he and everyone else seemed to love it at the retreat. He has encouraged us so much to grow in our time here at Bluffton and it was great to do something for him, even if it was a little silly.

Then, on Sunday I went with some friends to have lunch and play "Rock Band" with our director of residence life. We had a great time chatting with her and playing video games in her basement! It was my first time playing this game and it was a blast - I didn't really ever expect, though, to play it with her!

These two events of this past weekend remind me of how unique Bluffton is. The relationships that students are able to have with their faculty and staff members are amazing. I get to have lunch or dinner at my professors or faculty member's house, I have played video games, done dances and hung out with faculty/staff members, have their cell phone numbers for if I ever have a problem, etc. I just love that community that is fostered here at Bluffton and am so grateful for all of the relationships I have built here.

Here's to good relationships with the faculty/staff,

Mary

pic: me and mark, the guy we did the dance for!

Growing Up

2008-01-27T19:38:00.000-08:00

This weekend was formal... always a great time. We all got ready during the day, headed out to dinner, then to formal to dance the night away. Formal in college is probably a little bit different than you might think. In high school, Prom is always such a big deal and it's so much fun to get all dressed up in formal dresses and tuxedos. I loved Prom in high school, that's for sure, but formal in college is very relaxed. Most of my friends all wore casual summer-ish dresses that we got for a low price on a random shopping trip. There are some people that wear old Prom dresses and things like that, but it's nice to just go to have fun, not just for the dress :). Formal is a great example, I think, of a change a lot of college students, including myself, have gone through. I only went to one of my Proms in high school, but even that was such a big deal because "you have to go to Prom." It's hard because there is such a social pressure to have the right date, the right dress, go to the right restaurant for dinner, etc. It almost seems as though people go to a lot of events in high school for the simple fact that your peers make you feel like you have to in order to fit in or be cool. Pressure like that fades a lot in college. People do things because they want to, not at all because people make you feel like you have to go. Everyone that was at formal bustin' a move was there because they wanted to have a good time and dance with friends. I think that college is a lot more fun because of that. Don't get me wrong - I loved high school a lot... it was a blast and definitely four of the best years ever, but since then I have had 3.5 even better years here at college because me and my friends do things that we want to do and things that we think are fun, not just things that everyone else is doing. I love that, and am so glad that it's part of growing up, and part of college. Man, I really love this place.

Here's to doing things YOU want to do,
Mary

Overwhelmed? Me too :)

2008-01-25T06:49:00.001-08:00

So, I was thinking this morning about the job search. Yikes. It definitely makes me a little nervous. How will I find a job? How many resumes will I have to send out before I get an interview? Will I find the right job in the right city? So many questions seem to be flying around in my head, and I'm trying to keep telling myself that it will all come together the way it's supposed to - I just hope me and God are on the same page! I started thinking about how the job search and the college search carry some of the same questions with them. I'm sure right now you're wondering which college will be right for you, how you will know which one you're supposed to go to and whether or not you're going to be happy and successful there. I know that just like I see thousands of job postings on websites, you see thousands of schools out there - all look weirdly similar, but very unique at the same time. My advice, though, would be that somehow one of those schools will stand out to you. Whether they have the right community, are just the right size, offer the best classes for your major, etc., something will make a school pop out from the rest (I hope this happens with my job search too!). I remember being in the place where I had no idea which school was right for me. I had thought for a long time that I would end up at Bluffton, but was that what I wanted, or what my family wanted for me? I made the decision for myself that Bluffton was right for me, and that will happen for you too. The college search can be very overwhelming, but trust me in saying that your decision will come with time. You'll know where you're supposed to go and I hope that you'll be as happy wherever you choose as I have been at Bluffton. I hope you do come and visit Bluffton, though, because I have a feeling you see that spark here (i might be a little biased, but oh well!).
Hang in there - it'll all come together.

Here's to big decisions,
Mary

Long Weekend Recap

2008-01-21T16:48:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends!

Well, it was a three-day weekend, and that always makes for a great time. Friday during the day Scott and I just hung out and relaxed after a long week. Friday night was Marbeck After Dark and we did a dance workout. Me and my friends have been known to do the Paula Abdul dance workout on a regular basis, so I decided to bring that to MAD... we had about 7 people do the workout together, and we even wore some awesome sweatbands. It was a really great time just laughing and getting a good workout in at the same time.

Saturday I slept in, which was really nice. Scott came over and we just chatted while I straightened my hair, then me and Carol went out for dinner and a movie. We went and saw "27 Dresses" which was super cute and then went out to dinner. It was nice to catch up and chat it up for awhile. After we got back Jill and Scott both came over and we all just hung around not really doing much. We watched another movie, played some video games and just relaxed.

Sunday morning me, Scott, and Jill got up and went to church in Pandora (a nearby town), then it was time for a Sunday afternoon nap (those are the best!). Sunday night Scott and I went out to dinner, watched a movie, and did our devotionals together. It was one year since our first date, so it was fun to look back at the past year and just spend some time together.

We had today (Monday) off because of Martin Luther King Jr. day, so that was really nice. Scott and I took a little road trip, then pretty much just hung around with the girls the rest of the day. I worked on my resume' a little bit (which is really weird), but mostly just enjoyed the extra time off. Back to classes tomorrow...

It was such a great weekend - these weekends of movies, chatting, and just being lazy are so awesome and one of the things I'm definitely going to miss about college life.

Here's to three-day weekends and good times,

Mary

Nerves Are Overrated

2008-01-18T12:35:00.000-08:00

So, I remember being really nervous about college classes when I was in high school. "Yikes," I thought, "I'm going to writing and reading all the time." Let me be honest with you... college classes aren't that bad. Sure, they're different than high school, but I really wouldn't say that they are all the bad news people make them out to be. College classes generally consist of lots of reading, a project or paper or two and maybe a test or two. In the lower level classes there are usually a few more assignments, but they are smaller, less time-consuming tasks, and when you reach the upper level classes, it's usually just two-ish papers and maybe a test. The work is generally very applicable and you get much less "busy work" than in high school... everything is assigned to help you understand a concept, theory, or practice better. The work also tends to come in waves... there will be a few weeks of the semester when it feels as though every class has a paper due and you're super far behind on reading, and then there are weeks when there's hardly any homework to be doing at all. It's great to be living with friends at college, though, because everyone has those weeks where homework is crazy and me and all my friends will work on stuff together, and then when we all have those low-homework weeks, we hang out and just spend quality time together. I really enjoy classes in college alot because you take courses in your major, which you choose, so you are learning about things that interest you and will hopefully prove to be beneficial in the future. My favorite class in college has been Interpersonal Communications because, as a communication major, I found the class to be very interesting and something that I will use in years to come when I have a career in the communication field (hopefully!). Basically, my point is: don't be nervous. It seems like you've heard "well, just wait till you get to college... those are some hard classes," your whole life and really, I find college classes to be a lot more interesting and it's more exciting to go to classes that you're interested in. Nerves about college classes are overrated and unnecessary... trust me on that one.

Here's to being over your nerves,
Mary

The First Week Back...

2008-01-14T12:19:00.000-08:00

Well, the first week back proved to be amazing, as expected. I am pumped about this semester because I am just so much less busy than I was last semester. I am still involved in all of the same activities, but not having the two internships that I had last semester has freed up so much time. I also have an easier course load, so that's been great.

This weekend was a great one. On Friday MCB had "The Office" Marathon and Lock-In. We showed the entire 3rd season of the tv show "The Office" and people could spend the night in Bob's place if they wanted. The event lasted from 10pm on Friday night until almost 8:00am Saturday morning. The whole time we were there I just kept thinking "only in college..." which always makes for a good time. I love that we stayed up all night watching a tv show and spent the night in Bob's when our beds were a 5 minute walk away! Me and about 8 or 10 other people stayed the whole time - I will admit that I slept for awhile though... there were lots of people that didn't get any sleep at all, so I was glad I had the chance to lay down and sleep through a few episodes. Scott was one of those "stay up all night" people so on Saturday we pretty much just hung around and did nothing all day. We napped, watched a movie, and just hung out. We went out to dinner and to Wal-Mart, then we went and talked at the park for awhile. We had what we like to call a "life pep-talk" where we just talk about life after college. We set some goals for ourselves with jobs and stuff and we're anxious about what 2008 will bring for us - it's exciting stuff.

On Sunday my roomie and friend, Hannah, spoke in Sunday Morning Worship, which was awesome. The rest of the day I just hung out and watched the Colts lose... which was a bummer. After the game me and my friends went shopping and made dinner to take to Lima where one of our friends that graduated lives. We spent the evening there and the five of us just caught up on life and laughed a lot. It was a great way to end such a fun weekend. I am so thankful that the last 3.5 years has allowed me to make such amazing friends. The relationships I've built here are unlike anything I could have expected and I am so blessed with such wonderful people in my life.

I loved playing games, watching movies, watching lots of "The Office," catching up with friends and just spending time with my friends and Scott all weekend. It was so great.

Here's to good conversations, tv shows, and "only in college" events,

Mary

pics: me and LeeAnne at "The Office" lock in and me and Scott at the park

Well Hello!

2008-01-08T20:50:00.000-08:00

This is my nephew while working on some Christmas cookies

Well, here we go! I cannot believe that we are a couple days into second semester. It’s just crazy how time has flown and no matter how many times I tell myself, I still just can’t believe that I am in my last semester of college. It has been an amazing 3.5 years and I can’t wait for this semester to see what memories it will bring and what adventures I will go on.

Christmas break was amazing. I spent a lot of time traveling and got to see a lot of people. I started break off at home for just a day and we got a major snow storm – me and my parents stayed in and just watched football and laid around while we watched the snow build up outside. After just a day the roads were safe enough to drive on, so I went to Indianapolis for about 4 days to spend time with my brother and sister. I had a great time hanging out with them and my niece and nephew, and even got to spend an evening with Scott and his friends that were down there visiting some people. It was a great way to kick-off a three week break. After my time in Indy I came back to Bluffton for a couple of days because I was the hall director on duty, but my mom came with me and we just had a good time hanging around here. When we got back home my brother, sister, their families and Scott all came to our house and we had Christmas. It was wonderful to spend the weekend with my favorite people! After everyone left me and my parents just spent Christmas Eve quietly – going to church and checking out Christmas lights. I went to Scott’s house on Christmas and was there for a few days hanging out with his family and friends. After that we went to St.Louis to have Christmas with my extended family. We had a good time meeting each other’s extended families and spending time together. We got back home and were just back for one night before we headed off again. We went to Northern Indiana to spend New Years with some friends and we spend the night up there and had a blast celebrating and just hanging out with friends. After that we just watched a bunch of football and Scott and his friends headed back home. From there I just had a couple of days left at home and then I came back here. It was so awesome to travel around and spend so much time with family and friends. It was such a great break and a much needed rest after a crazy semester.

This is my brother, dad, and uncle playing the Wii

I am so excited about this semester and I feel like it’s going to be a great time to soak up our last few months at Bluffton. I’ve only been back for a couple of days and I know it’s going to be less busy and so much fun.

Here’s to great breaks and promising semesters…
Mary

Finals Week

2007-12-13T11:06:00.000-08:00

I love finals week. I was so stressed about all of the stuff I had to do for this week last weekend, but now it is all done and I am just relaxing with my friends and getting to spend a lot of time with my friends and Scott before we all go our separate ways for a nice three week break.

Monday of this week I went to a Christmas party with all of the other hall directors at our director of residence life’s house and we had dinner and a gift exchange. It was so much fun to just take a break and laugh with some wonderful people. Monday night and I worked a lot on all of my papers and my radio documentary that was due this week.

Tuesday was a lot of fun – Scott and I had a date day where we went to lunch, then on a long walk and went to the park and the movie store. Then we watched a movie and just hung out until dinner. It was such a nice and relaxing day right in the middle of all of the homework that had to get done. Tuesday night I went to another one of my professor’s houses for a Trinidad reunion party. It was so great to get the cross cultural group back together and laugh about all the good times we had this summer on our trip to Trinidad. I love getting together with this group – we always have a lot of fun. Tuesday night was also the finals breakfast. At the end of each semester there is a finals breakfast where faculty and staff come and serve the students breakfast at 10pm… it is so much fun and a great way to see a lot of people and take a break from the exams and stuff due during finals week. Yesterday I just finished my last paper (woohoo!) and just hung out most of the day. I had a final in the morning, but all I had to do was listen to radio documentaries, which was no big deal. Scott and I hung out a bit in the afternoon, then I spent the whole evening just hanging out with the girls. We laughed a lot and had a great time bonding. I also had the MCB Christmas party last night (most of my friends are on MCB too!) and that was a great time. We had a fun gift exchange and played games for a couple of hours. After that me and some friends went and looked at Christmas lights and came back here to just chat for awhile. Today is another lazy day just like yesterday. I literally have nothing to do today except go and hand in my paper. So, basically I’m just hanging out all day, which is so great. I love finals week because there is just so much time to catch up with people. It seems like it would be stressful, but it is really such a great week.
Anyways, I think that’s about it for now. I’m really excited for Christmas break… lots of family time with my family and Scott’s family and lots of traveling, but it will be an awesome break. I will try and post a couple of times to keep you updated!
Here’s to hanging out and loving finals week,
Mary
Pic: me and Scott at the park during finals week

Serving

2007-12-11T23:55:00.000-08:00

So, last weekend was a little stressful, but good overall. There's always a lot to do when it's the last weekend before finals and this was no different than in previous years. On Friday I had a bit of a freak out session as I realized that I had 4 take home finals (three papers and a radio documentary) to do in less than a week! Scott and I had the chance to hang out quite a bit this weekend, though, and he helped me to realize that everything always gets done, and all of this stuff will get done too. (As I'm writing this, I actually have three out of those four things done and am working on the fourth!) Despite having a lot to do, me and the girls I live with had the chance to do some great service this weekend.
Me and the girls got up early Saturday morning to head down to Cincinnati to work at a food pantry/homeless shelter. We drove down there bright and early at 6:30 in the morning and met some of the other girls that went down Friday night to spend the night at Carol's house. We left from Carol's house and worked at the shelter for about 3 hours and it was a really great experience. We had such a good time chatting with the people coming to the pantry and working to help keep it running smoothly. We took the shoppers around and helped them to pick out items because not all of them could read or speak English and weren't sure how much food they were able to receive from the shelter. Some of the girls are social work majors and even got to go around with the shelter's social worker and learn about their processes. We also sorted clothing and books, got a tour of the homeless shelter and talked with a lot of the regular volunteers. It was so neat to have the opportunity to do that and we were blessed by the people there. We took a lot of food down to donate to the shelter and we were so happy to be able to do that. It is amazing how doing something like that can really change my perspective on things. I get frustrated with myself when I complain about little things, then realize that having food and shelter are basic needs that not everyone has and I should be thankful for that. I feel as though we were helped by being there more than we could be of help to the shelter.

After we left there we had lunch at Carol's house and headed back here in the evening. The rest of the weekend most of us just hung out or worked on homework, but we were definitely touched by Satuday and the people we met that day.
At Bluffton there is always a lot of service opportunities and it's a great chance to grow and definitely learn a lot. I am so thankful for those opportunities and was blessed this weekend with the chance to learn and grow so much from our time in Cincinnati.

Here's to serving, and almost being done with the semester,
Mary

pic: all of us at the pantry/shelter

stress!!

2007-12-09T15:39:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the major delay in this posting... it was supposed to be up last Thursday and I am just getting around to it. Don't worry though, I'm going to write one both today and tomorrow to catch you up on life at Bluffton!

Last week was pretty stressful. This coming week is finals week, which is awesome. It may sound like it would be stressful, but it really isn't - all that is going on is finals and Christmas parties - there are no classes, no meetings, etc., so it's actually a really awesome week full of time hanging out with friends and just being lazy (and maybe a little bit of studying too!). So, since this week is finals week, that means last week was the last week of classes, which is always a really stressful time. All of the papers and projects are due so everyone is always scrambling around trying to get stuff done. I have no tests during finals week, which is really nice, but I have a lot of papers due. I freaked out at the end of the week last week realizing how much I had to do and wondering how it was all going to get done. Everyone was kind of in that same boat at the end of last week, but luckily this weekend has been nice and productive (I will write more about this weekend in my next post!). It's weird being a senior because there are so many more projects and papers, but very few actual tests (at least in my major) so it's kind of a crazy feeling to feel this switch in things to do. It's nice to feel things winding down, even though I still have a paper and major project to do - I should have plenty of time to do that this week.
One of my close friends has three tests tomorrow, which is just crazy. They are her three hardest classes too, so she's going to be studing like crazy tonight. Most people are on study/homework lockdowns in their room today just to get caught up.
As stressful as it is, I love this time of year on campus because everyone is just getting so pumped for Christmas break. There are Christmas lights and little trees up all over campus as everyone is ready to head home on Friday for a three week break.

Well, on that note, I feel like I should get back to homework.

Here's to stressful weeks and homework (and finals week - the best week ever - being here!!),
Mary

Christmasy Weekend

2007-12-04T23:43:00.000-08:00

Well, only about a week and a half left until Christmas break – man, this semester has flown by. I just can’t get over the fact that I am almost in my last semester of college… it’s just crazy.

This weekend was another really great one. Friday night me and my four best friends went to Jill’s house for our annual Christmas gathering. We have done this since freshman year and have a blast every year. We go to Jill’s house, her mom cooks us an awesome dinner, we decorate their tree, have a little gift exchange, then just sit around and laugh all night long. This year was no different in that we had an amazing time. I love these girls so much and we have been through a lot together the past four years – it’s so awesome to be a senior and have great friends that have been there through it all. We had a great time talking about memories and good times over the past four years and were all up late laughing together. I came back to my room on campus to sleep because I am the Hall Director on duty this week, so I couldn’t sleep off campus, but I went back in the morning. We just hung out some more all morning, had lunch at Jill’s, then came back here to get cleaned up for a fun evening.

Saturday night we went to the Dayton Bombers (minor league hockey) game with MCB. There was about 23 people that went and we had such a good time cheering on the team. We were even on the giant screen in the middle of the rink… being on a jumbotron has always been a goal of mine, so that was really great. After we got back Scott and I just hung out for a little bit and relaxed.
Sunday we went to Sunday Morning Worship, then Scott had a Christmas date day all planned out for me. It was such a great time – we made Christmas cookies, delivered them to random people, ate and had great conversation at Common Grounds (the local coffeehouse) and watched “Elf”… one of my favorite Christmas movies. It was a wonderful day of Christmasy things, and getting to spend the day with Scott was great. We’re so busy right now that it was really nice to just get to hang out for a day.

So yeah, needless to say, it was another “best weekend ever.” I’ve had so many of those this entire semester… I love it! Life is really great, and even though it’s busy with finals and end of semester projects, I am surrounded by amazing people at Bluffton and feel so blessed to be here.
Here’s to wonderful weekends and wonderful people,

Mary

Picture: a few of me and the girls at Jill’s house for our Christmas gathering!

Stress!

2007-11-29T12:53:00.000-08:00

Well, it is a stressful time of year around here. With only a little over a week left of classes, all of the papers and projects are coming due and everyone is feeling like it's crunch time. I have tons of stuff to do and my to-do list seems to be getting longer. With my PR internship I am writing a newsletter so I've been doing interviews and writing stories like crazy all week - it's definitely made for some late nights, but I am turning a draft in tomorrow, so that's exciting! For homework I have three papers, a documentary, and presentation to do in the next couple of weeks, then it'll be time for Christmas break and I think I will definitely be ready to relax. In the midst of all of the stuff to do, there is still time for fun, though... Me and my roomate have spent a lot of time with our computers together on the futon this week both just writing away - it's always more bearable to do homework with someone else! I'm excited about this weekend, too, because Friday night is Christmas at my friend's house with all my best friends, Saturday we're going to a Dayton Bombers Hockey Game with MCB, then Sunday Scott and I are having a date day, which will be a great time to relax and hang out. It will definitely be a great weekend and a nice break from all the work being done this week.

I've also been working on advertising for MCB because we have a big "Winter Wonderland Weekend" coming up next weekend and it's a weekend full of fun MCB events. We have a trip to Toledo to see the zoo lights, a trip to Fort Wayne to go shopping and a night where we watch "A Christmas Story" and do crafts and eat cookies - making the advertisements for it makes me even more excited! There are lots of fun things to look forward to in the next couple weeks before we go on Christmas break!
Here's to stress and excitement,

Mary
picture:me and my friends from last year's Christmas gathering at my friend's house (wow, my hair has gotten a lot longer since then!)

Thankful for... Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T21:47:00.000-08:00

My nephew enjoying a birthday cupcake...

Thanksgiving Break was wonderful. That pretty much sums it up! I guess I didn’t realize how badly I needed a break until I was sitting at home relaxing. It all started Tuesday evening… I was the last one out of our residence hall – I checked everyone’s rooms and locked everything up for a few days. I went over and hung out with Scott for a little bit and we had dinner together, then I headed home. Tuesday night I just hung out with my parents. Wednesday me and my Mom shopped most of the day – we had a great time looking for some new clothes, eating at my favorite restaurant for lunch, etc. Me and my mom are pretty close and she doesn’t get to shop much when I’m not home because my Dad generally isn’t up for it, so it was a great day hanging out with her. After that we went home and me and my parents just hung out and watched t.v. I got up Thursday and had quite a happy thanksgiving. I went to Scott’s house in the morning and had Thanksgiving with his family. It was great to meet the extended family and get in some good chats with his cousins. After we had some quality time there, we headed to my sister’s house for Thanksgiving with my family. When we got there my whole family was there and the rest of the night we celebrated Thanksgiving and my niece’s 1st birthday.

My niece and nephew playing with some new toys

It was so much fun to just hang out and relax with my family and Scott. Friday morning I woke up and went shopping with my sisters and mom. We hit some good early bird specials and definitely got in some good laughs. After that we surprised my sister with a birthday lunch out with our entire family and a couple of her friends. It was really fun to surprise her and again, we laughed a lot at that meal!

My brother and Scott getting in an arm wrestling match after lunch

After we had lunch and hung out with my dad and brother for a little bit, Scott and I headed back to his house. We helped his mom and sister decorate the Christmas tree and it was really neat to be a part of that with his family. After we hung out with his family for a little bit we went to Slurp’s (one of Scott's best friends) house and met up with a bunch of Scott’s friends for a night of fun. We played Euchre, picture telephone, a game called “who,what,where,when,why” that we play pretty often, and just hung out and laughed a lot. It has been so much fun getting to know his friends and they are some awesome people to hang out with, so that was a blast. We just got up Saturday morning and had lunch with Scott’s family then I headed home. Saturday I just helped my parents with some yard work then me and my mom went to a movie. Sunday I just got up and went to church, then helped put up our Christmas lights (my family goes crazy with those!) and then headed back here to Bluffton. When I got back Scott and I went to dinner and WalMart, which was fun and tonight I’ve just been catching up with the girls and getting ready for the next three weeks to finish out the semester before Christmas break!
It was such a wonderful and relaxing break. I got to spend a lot of time with amazing people and am so thankful for everything in my life! I hope your Thanksgiving was great! Aren’t you excited to be in the Christmas season? It’s the most wonderful time of the year…
Here’s to great family, great friends, and great breaks,
Mary

yep, another one...

2007-11-20T07:41:00.000-08:00

Me, Anna, and Hannah at the LDP dinner

Well, another fantastic weekend has come and gone. On Friday night me and Melisa (the other RA in our hall) made Thanksgiving dinner for everyone. I did that last year on my floor too and it always goes over really well. We made a big turkey and all the side dishes to go with it… it was a huge success! We had a lot of people eating and had a great time just enjoying good food and chatting away. After dinner I went and helped organize Marbeck After Dark… we had a euchre tournament this Friday and that was a lot of fun! We had over 35 people participating, so it was definitely a good time. After that I just hung out with Scott and we just relaxed… Friday = super good.

Me and some of my senior friends at the LDP dinner

Saturday was a pretty lazy day. On Friday night me and my best friends decided we were going to have a “nasty college student day” on Saturday, so we got up and went and got fast food for lunch and just laid around all afternoon watching a football game (sleeping in, getting gross fast food, and laying on the couch is what constitutes a “nasty college student day”). We had a great time just hanging out and catching up on life. After the game was over we all did our hair and nails and put dresses on to go out to dinner. 5 of us girls went out together and we had an awesome time. We went to Findlay and enjoyed some delicious food while being all dressed up and having some serious girls talk – always a good time. We love having “girls day” where we can just have fun doing random things. After we got back I went over to Scott’s and we watched a movie and just hung out all evening. Saturday = excellent good times.

Me and the Hamburgler doing the soulja boy dance off at Midnight Madness

Sunday was yet another good day. We got up and went to Sunday Morning Worship, then had lunch with a friend who graduated last year – it was good to catch up with him. After that me and the other Hall Directors decorated for the evening’s festivities (to be explained in a couple of sentences…). Then I just hung around all afternoon with my roommate working on homework and other random stuff. Sunday evening was the LDP dinner. LDP is the leadership development program and all of the leaders on campus get together every once and awhile and do things together… it’s always a great time. Sunday night was the annual holiday dinner where we all get dressed up and enjoy a nice dinner together. It was awesome to hang out with some of my favorite people on campus. Sunday night was midnight madness, which is basically a big pep rally for our basketball teams – I got to be Bucky the Beaver at midnight madness, which was a lot of fun! (Check out Scott’s blog for more info on that…). So yeah, Sunday = super great.

Me and Hamburgler with one of my best friends, Carol

Obviously it was another great weekend. And to top it all off, we leave for Thanksgiving Break today, which will be a great chance to relax!

Me and Scott at Midnight Madness

Here’s to random fun times on campus,
Mary

by the way: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Another Best Weekend Ever, and Growing Up...

2007-11-14T09:52:00.000-08:00

Seriously, these weekends have been out of control. This weekend was amazing. Scott and I spent time at my house and went to the Notre Dame game on Saturday. We, needless to say, had a blast. I am not going into too many details because Scott covers that in his blog and since I'm sure you all read both of our blogs, I won't go over that again. Dinner and a movie at my house Friday, tailgating, game, and relaxing Saturday, and hanging out, friends, and more good conversation Sunday... you've got yourself one awesome weekend. I'm just so thankful for so many good times!

Scott and I have been talking a lot recently about the future... where will we be in a year? Graduation, leaving here, going where?, jobs, resumes, relationships, etc. So much to think about and it's just so crazy to think that we're at that place in our lives. Me and my friends have been talking a lot about it too as me and one of my best friends, Carol, have the same major and are looking into doing similar things in the future. I just can't believe that it's a reality to be polishing the resume and handing them out at job fairs. We are going to a conference dealing with public relations (the field I would like to go into) on Friday and our professor told us to take resumes to hand out... what? It's so exciting to be at this stage, but it's a little scary at the same time. It's going to be so hard to leave Bluffton, but the thought of having a "real job" and living in an apartment or house and making it outside of the Bluffton world makes me super anxious. So many things to think about, and so many things to look forward to. Life is so good.

Here's to more good weekends and lots to look forward to,
Mary

pics: me and scott at the game and me and my brother tailgating

Crazy

2007-11-09T12:07:00.000-08:00

It’s been a pretty crazy week and I’m ready for an amazing weekend. You ever have one of those weeks where you feel like no matter what you do, you just can’t catch up? I had one of those weeks. It wasn’t homework (though I did have a paper due), rather it was just a ton of random things to do, Hall Director tasks to finish, etc. It’s Friday afternoon, though, and everything is done and I’m ready to head home in a couple of hours and kick off what I’m sure will prove to be a great weekend. Weeks like this make the weekends so much sweeter! The great thing, though, is that even when I have a really stressful week, I am surrounded by people that help me through it. I live with my best friends and they are always there to give a hug and listen to a rant about how much I have to do. The beautiful thing is that we are all so busy that we understand each other and are able to relate completely. One of my favorite things about college life is how everyone is always around – whether it be in the halls, around the table at lunch, or just a random hug on the sidewalk, it is hard to get too down because so many people are right there to pick you right up.

Scott had a pretty crazy week, too, so it'll be nice that we can just relax and have a good time together this weekend. We're going to my house tonight, to the Notre Dame game tomorrow to tailgate and watch the game, and back home to my house to relax Saturday night and Sunday. We might not have voices after the game on Saturday, but that'll be a good problem to have. It’s going to be so much fun – I will definitely have lots to tell in the next post!
Here’s to people who pick you right up,

Mary

pics: I wasn't sure I showed you my new car yet :)

Best Weekend Ever (yep, another one...)

2007-11-06T12:21:00.000-08:00

This was our view of the field... woo hoo!!!

So, I keep writing about my weekends and I want to label every single one of them “best weekend ever.” Basically, things have been totally rockin’ and will continue to be for a while.
This weekend started off in a great way on Friday. Scott and I hung out and watched a movie. It was nice to unwind after a long week of school stuff. Then we went out to dinner with some people and that was nice. 7 people went total, but me, Scott, Slurp, and Hannah went in my car. It was really fun – we ate at Chipotle in Findlay and boy, do I love that place. Good stuff. On our way home we stopped at Cold Stone for some dessert. Friday night was Marbeck After Dark so I just hung out and played games and stuff. I love being on MCB (our activity planning board)… sometimes I just sit back and watch people having a good time at events and it’s just so awesome. Yay MCB.

Anna, Hannah, and Becca are all bundled up... it actually snowed a little bit at the game!

Saturday my parents came with their RV and we tailgated along with Becca and Jill’s families. It was so much fun to sit around and chat, have some great food, watch the football game, and just hang out. They stayed for quite awhile, and we ended up watching the Notre Dame game in the RV on Saturday evening (you can read Scott’s blog for more info on the Irish). After that Scott and I had a late dinner together then we just hung out a little bit until I went back and did the Marbeck After Dark thing again for Family Day. Quite a few families came to play games, so that was cool. Me, Scott, and Dan (the MCB advisor) just talked most of the night and it was fun to just chat it up. Scott and I went to WalMart after that and he changed his bulletin board while I just sat there and kept him company. Wow, it seems really weird that Saturday was just this past weekend… it seems like so long ago. Probably because Sunday was so awesome…

Here is a shot of the guys playing football in Hannah's backyard... so much fun!

We got up Sunday morning and 32 of us all headed to Cleveland together to go to the Browns game. First we went to Hannah’s house and had lunch there – her parents are so awesome and it was so much fun to just eat some home-cooked food and enjoy some home time. After lunch the guys played football in the yard and we just sat around for a little bit. Definitely a perfect Sunday afternoon activity. After Hannah’s house we all went to the Browns game together. It was an awesome game (the Browns won in overtime!) and so much fun to be there with my best friends! We had such a good time cheering on the Browns, dancing in the stands, and laughing a lot. We got back late Sunday night just in time to get ready for another week. This weekend was completely amazing. It was so much fun to get to hang out with my family, Scott, and my friends so much. We had such a good time and I am just trying to soak up every minute of these awesome times.

Scott and I having fun at the game!

This week is a little crazy, but not bad… I just have lots of random stuff to do. I am so pumped for this coming weekend though because me and Scott are going to the Notre Dame game! Woo hoo! Cheer on the Irish for us on Saturday, and watch for us on t.v.

Wow, this blog is getting long – so much greatness takes awhile to talk about!
Here’s to really really wonderful weekends,
Mary

More Than Just Watching The Show

2007-11-02T10:34:00.000-07:00

Grey’s Anatomy is quite the phenomenon on this campus. The show has obviously taken the nation by storm as the past three seasons have been enormously successful, and the Grey’s craze is no different here on campus. Every Thursday night people (mostly the ladies on campus) gather to settle in with their blankets and best friends for an hour of drama. For most, though, the Thursday night rituals are less about the show and more about time to hang out with the girls. Me and my friends love the show, there is no doubt about that, but while meetings, homework, and other commitments take us from our rooms all during the week, Grey’s is the one time where we know we will all be together for a precious hour of time together. We have cried together, laughed together, and been in shock together at the show and in a weird way, I feel like it has brought us closer as a group of friends. It’s just something that we all use to take our minds off the stresses of daily life and I truly cherish Thursday nights with Grey’s and the girls. College is so awesome for things like that – we all could watch Grey’s by ourselves in our rooms at home, but when we all live steps away it is so much more fun to watch it together. Oh college life…

Here’s to Grey’s night,
Mary
picture: I didn't have one of grey's, so just a thumbs up for grey's night

Blessed

2007-10-30T07:48:00.000-07:00

This weekend I went to St.Louis to visit some family and go to a cousin’s wedding and another cousin’s baby shower. It was a great weekend with my family and I had a good time hanging out with them. On Friday I headed home, then we went all the way to St.Louis and got there pretty late – just in time to visit for a little bit and go to bed. On Saturday we got up and went to my cousin’s wedding which was early for a wedding, so we had the rest of the day to visit with lots of family members and had a good time catching up. With them being in St.Louis we don’t get to spend much time with them, so that was nice. We had the baby shower on Sunday morning and headed out in the afternoon. Since we left so late we didn’t get home until about 9:30, so I ended up just staying at home on Sunday night. I came back here to Bluffton Monday and am working on getting into the swing of things again for another week.

While I was making the long drive to St.Louis I had a lot of time to think and just realize how blessed I am. Sometimes I feel like I get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life and forget to thank God for all of the wonderfulness in my life. Sometimes I can’t believe how amazing my life is and am just so thankful for everything. I have people to love, people who love me, strength to get through the long days, activities to keep me busy, and countless other blessings in my life… I’m just amazed sometimes at how cool life is when you sit back and realize it. I’m going to work on realizing it more often. I would recommend taking a little while and realizing your blessings – it’s a feel good thing.
Here’s to blessings,
Mary

Pictures: some blessings in my life… scott, my best friends, and family (this particular picture is my niece and nephew playing in a toy box)

2007-10-26T07:44:00.000-07:00

I love Chapel at Bluffton. Every Thursday at 11am we get to take a break from classes, meetings, and stress and enjoy a time of worship with friends. I love Chapel services from the worship music to the speakers to the fellowship. Today we had a different kind of service – we had it in Bob’s Place (a place to hang out in our student union) instead of in our recital hall, Yoder, which is where it usually is. It was a great change of scenery and nice to see Chapel from a different perspective. The Chapel Planning Committee even had lunches for everyone after the service so we could all hang out and enjoy some time just hanging out together.
At Bluffton, Chapel isn’t mandatory at all, which I think is a good thing. The people that attend Chapel and other religious life activities on campus are doing so because they WANT to, not because they are required to. I have grown a lot in my faith during my time at Bluffton and I know that it is because I have made the decision to do so, not because I have been forced to. I’m so thankful for that on Bluffton’s campus and glad that I have the chance to talk with so many different people about their faith and really learn from them.
Religious life on Bluffton’s campus takes on a lot of different forms. We have Chapel every Thursday and Sunday Morning Worship every other Sunday (this is to encourage students to get out into the local community and attend local churches), spiritual life week each semester, BASIC (Brothers and Sisters in Christ – these are small groups that meet approx. once a week and take on lots of different forms.. some are set up like a Bible Study, while others are more discussion based. These are led by faculty or staff members) several different ministry teams and various other activities and events to go to. The religious life on Bluffton’s campus is strong and something that I feel like has enhanced my time at Bluffton in a major way. I would recommend considering what type of religious life you want to look for on a campus, as it can be a big factor in your college experience.
Here’s to growth,
Mary
Picture: some of the people on the Spiritual Life Week committee from last Spring.

Best Weekend Ever (another one...)

2007-10-23T15:55:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Wow, I am writing to you after an absolutely amazing weekend. It was one of the best weekends of my 22 years of existence... weekends like this past one don't come around too often.

Scott and I did just about the same thing this weekend, so him and I tag-teamed what we're talking about in our blogs, so make sure to read his blog for more details on different things...

On Friday there was the Homecoming parade, which was a lot of fun. Most of my friends were in the parade for one reason or another, so it was fun to have so many people getting ready for it at the same time. Scott and I were in it because we were on Homecoming court and after a mix up with the cars and the weather, we eventually got to go through the parade and it was a lot of fun to see so many parents, professors and friends along the route.

Friday night my parents were camping with our RV at a nearby campground, so me, Scott, and about 20 friends went there for a campfire. It was so much fun to hang out and laugh while making s'mores and sitting around a fire. I love hanging out with my family, and I love hanging out with my friends, so this was the best - everyone at once! It was a really relaxing night and a great way to spend Friday night of Homecoming weekend.

Saturday was a very exciting day. My parents, brother, sister in law, sister, brother in law, and niece and nephew came to Bluffton for Homecoming coronation (this is the ceremony where they crown the Homecoming King and Queen) and the game and it was so great to have them there. As you read in Scott's blog, I was crowned Homecoming Queen, which was definitely a surprise to me and so much fun. We had a great time hanging out at the game and it was such an awesome afternoon. (sorry, I'm realizing that I'm overlapping more with Scott than I am intending too... I just get so excited to talk about such a great weekend!)

After the game and afternoon festivities we all went back to our halls and got ready for the TOGA themed Homecoming dance. I absolutely love the dance every year because it's a great way to get everyone together to laugh and dance the night away. Me and my friends got all decked out in our togas and were ready to hit the wonderfully decorated Commons (the Commons is our dining area, but with the decor you could hardly tell it was a cafeteria!) to dance like crazy. I had so much fun with Scott and my best friends just laughing and enjoying our last Bluffton Homecoming dance.

After a crazy Saturday we slept in on Sunday and did a little bit of homework and then I got ready to go out with Scott for my birthday dinner. It was so nice to go out to dinner and to the coffee shop and chat with him. It was definitely a great birthday date. Then to my complete and total surprise, when we were going to my room to get a movie to watch, I walked into my lobby to about 20-25 people yelling "SURPRISE!" Scott and one of our friends, Sara, threw me an amazing surprise birthday party. I had NO idea they were planning it and it meant so much to me to have so many people there celebrate with me. It was an incredible way to end an incredible weekend.

I am definitely still on cloud 9 after such a great weekend. Parade, campfire with my friends and family, lunch with my family and scott's family, coronation, game, dance, date, surprise party... I don't really think a weekend can get much better than that!

Life is really great :)

Here's to memories and weekends that will last a lifetime,

Mary

lots of pictures this time... here they are, from the top: me and scott at the campfire, my friend Becca roasting marshmallows at the campfire, me and Thea (the sophomore attendent) at the homecoming game, me and Scott before coronation, me and my friend Carol after coronation, my friends LeeAnne, Carol, Jill, and I at the TOGA dance, and finally my friends Carol, Anna,Hannah, Ashley, and Hope at the surprise party!

Homecoming Week!

2007-10-19T07:19:00.000-07:00

It has been a fantastic week at Bluffton. It's Homecoming Week and there have been so many great activities going on.
Monday we had the block party and that was tons of fun. We all just hung out and had dinner outside, cookout style. It was awesome to see everyone out of their rooms and playing games, listening to music and just hanging out together. Tuesday we had "Are You Smarter Than a First Year?" which was good times. Scott hosted the game show and they had four people be the contestants. The Homecoming committee had also chosen some first years to be the "students" and it was played just like the game show on tv "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?" Then on Wednesday they had a pep rally that including painting posters for the athletic teams at dinner. I wasn't able to be there, but it seemed like it would be really cool because at the pep rally they introduced the fall sports teams. Thursday we brought in Chris Carter, an illlusionist/mind reader to perform and he was SO AWESOME! He performed for about an hour and half and totally wowed the crowd. It was so great because Yoder was packed with students and everyone really had a great time watching him.
We're all really looking forward to the weekend. I won't divulge too much information about that yet, but come Sunday, I will have tons to write about, including stories about the parade, game, and dance! woo hoo!
Here's to a super fun Homecoming Week,
mary
pic: me and my friend, Carol, before the dance last year. This year's dance theme is "TOGA!" I will be sure to have lots of pictures of that for you in the next post...

MCB

2007-10-14T21:08:00.000-07:00

Well, this weekend was the annual MCB retreat. I've been on MCB (our activity planning board) on campus since my freshman year and it's been such a great thing for me. I love seeing people have fun, and MCB is the perfect group to be in for that. We plan activities for the campus and we have around 3 activities every week. They range from bingo, to dodgeball, to giant dutch blitz, to drive-in movies. It has been such a great way for me to meet so many wonderful people and have a blast. It's kind of weird that it's my last year on MCB, it's definitely something that I'm going to miss a lot when I leave Bluffton.

Every year we go on a retreat to bond as a board and also to work on planning some events for the coming months. This year we went to Ashland (Northeast), Ohio and had some rockin' good times. We worked on planning some events for Spring semester, ate out a couple of times, took a 7 mile canoe trip, hung out at our chairperson's (and one of my closest friends) house, did some fun mixers and energizers and definitely laughed a LOT! We're a smaller board this year, there are only 10 of us, so it was so neat to bond and get closer. Some of my best friends are on the board too, so it was great to spend a weekend off campus with them. I laughed so hard that I had tears running down my face multiple times, which is my favorite! I had never gone canoeing for a long trip before, so that was fun and a new experience... we only almost tipped over 3 times, but never did (thank goodness - the water was freezing...).
We came back today and all settled back into the school routine. Lots of people worked on homework, but I was lucky because I had so much last week that I don't have much this week, which is great. So, I went over to Scott's and just hung out and watched football (actually, he watched football... I slept) then just hung out with the girls tonight. I'm really excited about this week because it's Homecoming week, so there are tons of great events going on before the game on Saturday - I will definitely have lots to write about next time.
Here's to fun retreats and homecoming week,
Mary
picture: people having fun playing dutch blitz at an MCB event.

Stress!

2007-10-11T23:12:00.001-07:00

Hi Readers :)

Well, the past couple of days have been quite stressful. Everyone came back from Fall Break on Tuesday, which was great - it was good to see everyone again. I knew that I had a lot of stuff due at the end of this week, but didn't think about the fact that we had Monday and Tuesday off, so I put homework off, thinking I had a whole week to do it when in reality I had a couple of days. Needless to say I've been up late the last couple of nights, but writing this blog is the last thing on my agenda for the day and I am pumped about that. I just finished a paper and I'm feelin' good.

Stress about homework, activities and other random things in college seems to come and go. Sometimes it gets really intense and sometimes it feels like I'm just chuggin' along without any stress at all. I feel like my stress level this week was pretty self-induced. I mean, several of the things I had to do I've known about for a long time, so I should have been working on them for awhile, but I've just been procrastinating a lot recently. oh well, the life of a college student :).

I'm pretty excited about this weekend. Our activity planning board, MCB, is having our annual retreat. It's a mystery trip, so I'm not sure where we're going to end up, but I'm sure we'll have a good time no matter what. I have had the opportunity to be on MCB all four years of my college experience and I've loved it. It's great to be able to plan events for the whole campus and watch people have fun.

Next week is Homecoming Week! woo hoo! I am so excited about that and we have some great things happenning on campus. I will surely have lots to write about next week :) In the meantime, try not to be stressed, life is too short for that :)

Here's to no more stress,

Mary

picture: this is a random one, but when we get stressed, me and my friends tend to do weird things like dress up and take pictures... here's the outcome.

Fall Break

2007-10-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

Well, it’s Fall Break here at Bluffton and it’s been a good one for me (so far... there’s still another day left!) Being the residence life staff member on duty for this break, I’ve had to stick around on campus, but it’s been solid. On Friday Scott and I took a random trip home to my house to surprise my parents, sister, niece and nephew. It was a lot of fun to just hang out with them, especially since I don’t get to see my sister very often and she happened to be visiting on Friday. After that we went out to dinner, the pet store, and back to Bluffton. After that I watched some tv with Katie here in our hall, then visited some girls across campus and ended up hanging out a little bit more with Scott. Saturday was a really lazy day. I got up and went to lunch with Scott, then we spent the day just hanging out. It was good because we had some really good conversation and the day went fast as we just talked away. I went out to dinner with one of my best friends, ran some errands, then headed back over to hang out with Scott and listen to Notre Dame beat UCLA :). Woot! On Sunday Scott and I headed to his house for a family reunion, which was fun. It was good to meet more of his family and spend a day off campus (it is Fall Break, after all :) ). When I got back here I just hung out with the girls a little bit and went to bed early. Today I went back home for the day and shopped all day with my mom. I am on Homecoming Court this year, so I had to get some new clothes, which is always fun. It was good to spend the day at home and get in some quality time with my parents. The big excitement of the day was that I had to take my car in to be fixed and found out that it is pretty much dead. The repairs would cost more than what the car is worth, so I have to buy a new car in the next couple of weeks. I brought my Mom’s car back here to drive for a little while, but I can’t keep it for long because she will need it back. So, now I’m on the hunt for a car. I was planning to buy a car about this time next year after I have a job and steady income, but due to my car’s death I have to figure things out to do it now. It’s a little stressful figuring out the money, but I’m excited to get a new car. Since my parents bought my first car, I’m kind of excited to actually buy one myself… I feel like a grown up :). To finish out Fall Break tomorrow I think I’m going to sleep in and then work on homework so I’m not too behind when we go back to classes on Wednesday. I think that’s about it from here, but I hope you’re doing great, readers :).
Here’s to Fall Breaks and new cars,
Mary
picture: this might seem like a random picture, but it makes complete sense... as I'm writing this I'm watching the Indians game, and this is me and Scott at the Indians game last April... holla!

Excited

2007-10-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

So, I am excited. At the beginning of this week I was pretty bummed beause I had another cold and was just feeling really overwhelmed (it probably didn't help that I was up until 5:30 in the morning on Sunday night :) ). But then I stopped and thought about it, and I have no time to be feeling down - I have way too many things to look forward to in the next few weeks. Let me share :)
This weekend and Monday and Tuesday are Fall Break - so, no classes! Since I am on duty this weekend for my hall I won't be able to go home overnight at all, but it's alright because some fun people will still be here, so I will have a lot of people to hang out with. It will just be nice to not have classes on Monday or Tuesday. So that's awesome. Then, next weekend I go on a retreat all weekend with MCB (the activity planning board on campus) and that's always a good time, so I'm pumped about that. Some of my really close friends are on MCB too, so it'll be nice to hang out with them. The next weekend is Homecoming which will be amazing. My parents and brother are coming over for the parade on Friday night, then we're having a little bonfire with my friends. On Saturday there is all sort of excitment. My sister and her family are coming so my whole family will be here as well, which is always so much fun. Saturday we will all eat lunch together, then coronation (where they crown the Homecoming queen and king), then the football game and the dance. I'm so pumped about Homecoming weekend!!! It's going to be blast. The Monday after Homecoming is my birthday, which is always exciting, and the weekend after that I am going to my cousin's wedding in St.Louis, the next weekend my family is coming for family day and we're going to the Browns game, then the next weekend me and Scott are going to tailgate at a Notre Dame game! PHEW! wow, from now until Nov.10 it's basically going to be nonstop fun. I am so excited. If you have made it to this point in my blog, thank you. I mean, it's probably not really fun to read about everything going on the next few weekends in my life, but you, devoted reader, are amazing :) I don't have great pictures from this week, so the picture is just one of my roommate packing to go home :). This is a scene common around campus today as everyone is heading home for Break!! Have an amazing weekend, and I hope you have lots to look forward too :)
Here's to excitement,
Mary

Only In College...

2007-10-01T21:06:00.000-07:00

So, the past few days I've done a lot of fun things - all things that, as they were happenning, I thought "this kind of stuff only happens in college." Let me explain.

This weekend was great. I had a really stressful week last week, so it was so nice to have a relaxing weekend. Scott and I spent Friday together just hanging out. We took an adventure to Van Wert (about 45 mintes away) so he could go to his bank, which was fun, then we just kind of hung around and relaxed - perfect Friday afternoon activities. Then Friday night was the Root Beer Keg Party! PALS (peer awareness leaders), a really great organization on campus, has this event every year and it is so much fun - basically it's like a big dance party and they have kegs of root beer there. It was so much fun to dance all night with my friends and Scott - we definitely laughed a lot and Scott even won a brand new iPod to top the evening off. After the party me and the girls just hung out and laughed a lot. Root beer keg party, laughing until the wee hours of the morning with friends... only in college :)

Saturday was a totally wonderful day. I slept in and then went out for lunch with two of my friends here, Hannah and Anna (hannah is my roomie :) ) and we had a good time riding with the top down in Hannah's jeep. After that I was just kind of lazy and didn't do much...caught up on facebook, watched a little bit of the Notre Dame game, read a little bit, etc. Then in the evening I got ready and Scott took me out for a great date - we went out to dinner and a movie. yay! It was so great to just hang out with him. We discovered a great new restaurant, saw a great new movie, and had super great conversation - yay for great dates :).

On Sunday we got up and went to Sunday Morning Worship, then it was homework day. Reading, reading, reading all day long. Luckily there was "fall fest" in the middle there where student organizations set up booths and we go and have fun - I made cards and had my face painted! This was the kickoff to Spiritual Life Week. But anyways, back to the homework... It was my fault, really... I have had a PR project that I have known about for about 5-6 weeks now, and just decided to start on it yesterday. It was a long book review, along with a presentation and handout. Not too bad, if I would've started on it earlier. Luckily both Scott and one of my best friends, Carol, also hadn't started on their projects, so we were all up late. We were chatting as we were doing our projects and wondering why we had waited this long. We all went on a McDonald's run around 2 in the morning, and Carol and I locked ourselves out, so we had to call one of our friends to come and let us in... sigh... it was a long night :). We finally turned in around 5:30ish in the morning. dang. that's so late to be up! Oh well :). About an hour later I got up and went to a breakfast to thank the building and grounds staff here - needless to say, that's kind of a blur rom being so tired. Then I went back to bed for about another hour and half before I got ready and tackled a long Monday. Only in college would we stay up until 5:30 in the morning doing a project, then go through the whole day on 2.5ish hours of sleep. I love it :).

Tonight was one of my favorite events of the year, "Battle of the Airbands." It's a competition that is held every year during Spiritual Life Week (a week devoted to spiritual life activities - it is such a great week and I look forward to it every fall and spring!). My first year here me and my friends won the competition and then sophomore year we just sat back and watched. Junior year and this year me and one of my best friends MCed the competition. It is so much fun to have a part in that and make people laugh. Only in college is there a competition based solely on airbands, and how well they dance and act like they're really in a band :).

So, overall it's been a crazy but amazing couple of days. This feels like the longest day ever, having not slept much and had a full day, but hey, I'd by lying if I said I didn't love living the college life.

Here's to late nights, root beer keg parties, and airbands,

Mary

picture: me and scott at the rb keg party, me and my friend Jill at the rb keg party, and three of my friends competing in the airband competition.

Cross Cultural is Cool

2007-09-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-23T21:42:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-21T08:07:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-16T19:59:00.000-07:00

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?

2007-09-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-09-10T20:30:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-09-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

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 :)

One of the Best Weekends Ever

2007-04-22T19:54:00.000-07:00

This was one of the best weekends of the year here at Bluffton. The weather was beautiful, and spending time with my friends and Scott was amazing.
It all started on Friday afternoon. Scott and I went on a walk to the park and just had a good time talking and being together. It was nice to enjoy the sunshine and start the weekend off in a great way. After that me and my girlfriends all went out to dinner. We don’t get to spend as much time together as we would like to because we are all so busy so it was awesome to just get a chance to enjoy a night out together. We then came back to campus and headed over to the PALS Luau which was an awesome dance with a Hawaiian theme. PALS (Peer Awareness Leaders) did a great job of decorating Bob’s Place to look like a Hawaiian island. We had a blast dancing and just hanging out. After that me and a bunch of friends went over to visit Scott since he was on duty. We spent the rest of the evening playing cards and laughing. And, that was just Friday…
On Saturday I got up and was excited about Riley Creek Festival, which is one of the best days on campus. Riley Creek Festival (RCF) is a big festival on the lawn on campus. There were a bunch of student booths set up with everything from “make your own Hawaiian lei” to “make your own rocket” etc. There were also bands playing and huge inflatable games, like a giant obstacle course, slide and mechanical surfboard. We ate lunch at the festival, then spent the day in the sun having a good time with everyone. Me and a friend then made a trip to Findlay to get some random stuff, then back to RCF. After that was over, me, two friends, and Scott played Euchre, then had dinner and made a trip to Cold Stone Creamery in Findlay. After we got back from that, we laid out on the lawn to watch a drive-in movie that was the wrap up for RCF. What a great Saturday :). I spent the rest of the night working on a paper, and nursing my sunburns!
Today I woke up to another beautiful sunshiny day! After sleeping in, I went over and played games outside with Scott and a bunch of other friends. We played catch for hours and just soaked up the sun all afternoon. I came back and went to a dinner for the communication department, then I had a floor activity. We had a “mocktail party” where we served non-alcoholic cocktails and listened to music and played games. There were over 30 people that came, so we had a great time. It was an awesome way to wrap up my year of floor fun. Tonight Scott and I are going to go and look at stars on this clear night, which should be an amazing way to end what has been one of the best weekends I can ever remember!
I hope your weekend was amazing as well :)
Until next time…
Mary
pictures: me and a friend at RCF, and me and Scott at the Drive-In

Want to Have a Block Party? OK!

2007-04-15T20:29:00.000-07:00

This has been another amazing weekend here at Bluffton. On Friday Scott and I went out to dinner and for a walk in the park, which was a great kickoff to what ended up being an amazing weekend. On Friday night I was on duty and me and the girls had fun just watching some stand-up comedy and taking random pictures.
Saturday I went out to lunch and shopping with two of my best girlfriends and we had a good time laughing and just enjoying some time together. On Saturday evening I planned a surprise date for Scott. We did some of his favorite things, watched some Scrubs, went out to dinner, watched a little bit of a documentary on Notre Dame football, hit up the coffee shop and watched his favorite movie. It was so nice to just unwind and laugh with him. We had a good time talking and just enjoying time together.
Today was a super busy day! All during the day we had a retreat with the new Marbeck Center Board. It was wonderful to get to know the new board a little bit better because we spend so much time together planning events for the year. We planned “Welcome Back Week” for next August and we have some awesome things going on – it makes me excited already to come back in the fall!
This evening was a big event for our residence hall! We had a block party for our hall (and the rest of the campus was invited to come too!) We blocked off the section in front of our hall and had a cookout, door prizes, corn hole, twister, a cake walk, ring toss, and cards being played for a few hours tonight and it was so fun! It’s great to take a break from homework to enjoy some outdoor activities as we prepare for another busy week. As the end of the year comes it gets crazy with homework and preparations for next year. The block party was a blast and a nice end to a great weekend.
Until next time,
Mary

Going By So Fast...

2007-04-09T20:37:00.000-07:00

Three and a half weeks left? Are you sure? Coming back from Easter Break it seems crazy that we only have a few weeks of classes left, then we take finals and call it a year. This year has absolutely flown by and I cannot believe that I am going to be a senior next year. A girl on my floor my first year that was a senior told us that every year goes faster and so far she has been exactly right. College is so much fun and flies by in a way that I can hardly put into words. I am going to work hard to soak up the next few weeks and gear up for what is shaping up to be an amazing summer.
The day of graduation me and 10 other people are leaving for Detroit and flying out the next day for 3 weeks in Trinidad. This is for our cross-cultural trip for our general education here at Bluffton. Some students choose to take a few classes of a foreign language, but the majority of students on Bluffton’s campus take the trips. In May students from Bluffton will depart on trips all across the world. There are trips to China, Trinidad, Mississippi, etc. this year and everyone is anxious to see what kinds of experiences we will have as we head into another culture. I know that Trinidad is going to be a life-changing trip and I cannot wait for that. We have been waiting for it for so long, I cannot believe it is only 4 weeks away!
Life is crazy on campus these days. Everyone is in crunch time for papers and projects that will be due in the next few weeks. We are all itching for the summertime and ready to take a break from classes. It will be a busy last few weeks, but exciting at the same time.
I hope you are doing well, too. Come and visit Bluffton – it is an amazing place!
Until next time,
Mary

Baseball

2007-04-01T12:01:00.000-07:00

This past Friday was the first baseball game of the season for the Bluffton Beavers. It was wonderful to hear that the men were going to have a season and be able to play after the tragic bus accident 4 weeks ago. On Friday everyone was anxious for the game and ready to show some Beaver spirit and go cheer the boys on. Scott and I went out to the field and met some friends about 45 minutes before the game and it was already packed. There were students, parents, community members, media, and other supporters all over the place as the team took on Mount St. Joe for an emotional opening day. It was amazing to see so many people cheering on the team and honoring the memory of the 5 players that were killed in the accident. After a few words and a prayer from President Harder, the game began and it was awesome to hear the crowd after every play the Beavers made.

The double-header on Saturday was great too - again, there were a lot of people there to cheer on the baseball team as they split the games with Mount St.Joe.

I was once again awestruck at the support that is out there for our school. We all thank you so much for the prayers and support through this difficult time.

This weekend has been an awesome one - watching baseball, hanging out with friends and Scott, and enjoying this beautiful first day of April - life is good. And, the St.Louis Cardinals play their opening regular-season game today too! I love baseball, and it's been all around this weekend. Go Bluffton, and Go Cardinals!

I hope life is treating you all well too - enjoy the sunshine :)

Until next time...

Mary :)

Best Weekend Ever!

2007-03-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

This was one of the best weekends ever! It was jam packed full of fun. I love college life.

On Friday I hung out with my boyfriend, Scott, for the afternoon – we just watched a movie and hung out. It was nice to just unwind from the week and rest up for what would prove to be a busy weekend! Then I watched Grey’s Anatomy with some girls since we missed it on Thursday. We always have a great time just being together and watching the drama that is Grey’s Anatomy. It’s less about the show, and more about just being together as friends for us – what a great time!
Friday night was LIVE BAND KARAOKE! Me and another friend, Hannah, planned this event for our campus and it came off wonderfully. We hired a band called “the Hootennanies” and they played while we sang! We had over 150 people come to the event and we were all singing and having fun from 10pm-1am. It was awesome to see people laugh and have a good time. It was wonderful to let loose and just sing our hearts out! After that me and 5 friends went to the Flying J truck stop where we go late at night a lot of times and we just laughed a lot. It’s a random place to go and talk late at night that's less than 10 minutes from campus and open 24 hours a day.
On Saturday I slept in then went around and enjoyed the excitement of having lots of little kids on campus. This was "Little Sibs Weekend" at Bluffton, so there were lots of people with little ones running around. My hall was having a big volleyball game, Student Senate had a putt-putt course, MCB has a rock wall, etc. It was awesome to see people hanging out with their little sibs and having a good time.
Then I got ready and me and Scott went with another couple to Fort Wayne where we met two other couples that Scott knows from home. We had a nice dinner out then went and played games at my house. It was so awesome for the eight of us to just have a good time together and I got to know some great new people. We got back to campus really late and Scott and I just hung out for awhile. Then, it was time for round two of the Flying J! I went again with three of my friends to catch up on the events of the day for everyone.
This morning I got up and went to Church with Scott and two other couples at a Church that I hadn’t been to before. It was a really nice church and a great way to start this beautiful day. The rest of the day I’ve just been out walking with friends and enjoying the sunshine. I went with my fellow hall staff members out to dinner to bond as we approach the end of the year.
Tonight I’m going on a couple of more walks to enjoy the crazy warm weather! Woo hoo!
Overall, I think I could say this was the best weekend ever! I love being with friends and Scott and meeting new people and walking outside and playing games and laughing and enjoying the sunshine, and, and, and...
I hope you’re enjoying sunshine too.
Until next time – make sure you smile a lot :)
Mary

Through Good Times and Bad...

2007-03-19T10:56:00.000-07:00

Hello :)

As I am sure many of you have heard, our campus went through a terrible tragedy on March 2nd when a bus accident carrying our baseball time killed 5 students. Let me first say that we greatly appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers - this campus has felt the tremendous support that has been shown for us and for that we are forever grateful. It has not been an easy road, but Bluffton is on its way to recovering and we, as a student body along with faculty and staff, have banded together to get through this hard time. I am so thankful for the way Bluffton's community can pull together and be there for one another...I am honored to be a part of this campus. We went on Spring Break the day of the accident, so everyone went home and processed everything alone, then we came back on Sunday to be with friends and begin the greiving process. We had a memorial for those who lost their lives on Monday night and from then have continued to process all of the emotions. Being on such a small campus, we all knew the men on that bus in one way or another and this tragedy has hit this campus hard, however we all know that together we will get through this and live in a way that will honor those who are no longer with us.

Through good times and bad, the people of Bluffton come together. There is no way I could have gotten through this without the love and support of my friends. Since we have been back from Spring Break we have gotten together and laughed and cried. This past weekend was so awesome because I was able to just relax and have fun again. Me and my friends went to one of our friends houses and had a St.Patrick's Day dress-up competition (it was like we were 7 again!) and had a blast. It was one of those moments where we all felt the love and support that we had for each other and knew we would never had to do anything along - what an absolute blessing. I have included a picture from our crazy St.Patrick's Day fun :).

Until next time,

Mary :)

Dance Party

2007-02-25T16:13:00.000-08:00

What is it about college that makes people want to dance? I think it's the confidence and unconditional respect that people have for each other. There's that rhythmic beat in each of us, but often times people are too embarrassed to bust a move. College, though, brings out that inner dancer in all of us. This became very apparent at the MCB Mardi Gras Party last Tuesday. Beads, masks, food, and all, we danced the night away for hours while celebrating "Fat Tuesday" in Bob's Place. We had so much fun just letting loose and forgetting about homework for awhile. We were all dancing together and whether or not we would be classified as "good dancers" , we just laughed at each other and had a blast. It's amazing how much people grow into themselves while in college. For me, high school was a time where I really thought about my moves and what people thought of me. In the dance realm, that often meant settling for a little sway back and forth at PROM. College has finally taught me, though, that being myself is so liberating, and in the dance realm, that definitely means dancing like no one is watching! I love having fun with friends, and for me and my friends, dancing is a great way to laugh and enjoy each other's company.

Spring Break is only a week away, so campus is buzzing with excitement. This has been a fun weekend of hanging out with friends and attending random campus evens like the "Penny Party" a carnival type activity that drew a ton of people to the gym - what good times :)

Until next time... dance like nobody's watching :)

Mary

Oh What a Weekend

2007-02-19T11:50:00.000-08:00

How amazing was this weekend? Sooo amazing!

It started off Friday night with a trip with MCB (the activity planning board on campus) to a Dayton Bombers Hockey Game. It was so fun to ride down there with about 30 students and watch a great hockey game. Me and one of my friends bought these foam fingers and really got into the game, making it even more of a great time.

Saturday I went to a comedy day that the radio station put on. For like 3 hours I watched stand up comedy and ate pizza with friends - such a great time! Saturday night I went out for dinner and coffee and had a blast just hanging out and talking. I love getting to know people better and college is such a great venue for that. There is so much time to just talk with people and learn who they are what they are about. That is one of my favorite things about college - the opportunity that is there to really get to know people. After dinner and coffee, me and another friend just sat up and "girl talked" all night, which was fun, of course.

On Sunday I pretty much just hung around all day, playing in the snow with some girls. We had a blast - the snow really brings out the "little kid" in us. We just went sledding and jumped around in the snow all afternoon...what fun! Then in the evening I went to dinner and walmart with a friend.

This was pretty close to the perfect weekend! I got to hang out with people all weekend long and it was so nice to relax and enjoy being with friends.

Have a great week!
Until next time,

Mary

CRUSH WEEK CRAZINESS!

2007-02-14T13:55:00.000-08:00

Hello!

Happy Valentine's Day! Or, as we are saying in my Residence Hall... Happy Crush Day! Our Hall Association started what we hope will become a Bluffton tradition, CRUSH WEEK. We have been selling orange and purple Crush sodas to people that can send them to whoever they would like on campus. They write a cute little tag, tell us if they want purple or orange, and today was delivery day. It was fun delivering them to make everyone's days! I love little things like Crush Week that make Bluffton so fun. We had a little dance party in my room after they were delivered and we sang Mandy Moore's "Crush" into Crush soda bottles...how fun :).

It's been a crazy, but fun past week and a half. I had the LDP retreat this weekend, which was for all of the leaders on campus. It was a blast to just hang out and have fun with other people at a camp nearby.

I am super pumped for a fun upcoming weekend too - out to a hockey game in Dayton, and fun with people all weekend long! I'm obviously in a "low homework load" time right now, which is nice. Homework kind of comes in waves... it stinks when there's a lot, but it's so nice when there's not much :)

The talk of campus this week has been the Winter Blast '07! It's been crazy walking through campus in the blizzardy conditions. Everyone is working on staying warm and dry, but it's been really fun watching everyone play in the snow.

Stay Warm,

Mary

Staying Warm...

2007-02-05T12:36:00.000-08:00

There is no doubt about it - it is downright COLD outside! Bluffton's keeping it warm with activities though. This week is Spiritual Life Week and there are tons of great things going on. Tonight we're having some worship time with coffee and cookies, we're having some worship stations around our student union later in the week, we also have card making, movie watching, and a whole lot of fun. There is a Spiritual Life Week each semester and they are always a ton of fun. I love the religious life aspect of this campus. Everything is voluntary, which for me, makes it so much more powerful. Students are participating in religious life activities because they WANT to, not because they have to. I have grown a lot in my faith here at Bluffton and this community does an amazing job of fostering that growth. There are so many different ways of getting involved in the religious life activities on campus, it seems as though there is something for everyone. It's just one more amazing thing about Bluffton...

picture: last year's Spiritual Life Week Committee.

Until next time,

Mary

Formal!

2007-01-28T10:09:00.000-08:00

This weekend was formal, which always proves to be a great time hanging out and dancing with friends. All morning all of us girls were getting ready and doing each other's hair. Half the fun of dances like this is getting ready all day with friends. Then, 17 of us went together to Findlay to eat at Max and Erma's. We were there for quite awhile waiting and stuff, but it was a great place to eat, and we had a good time having dinner. After that we headed to the dance. It was such a good time to dance the night away with friends. Formal is always such a blast - I'm already excited for next year!

This morning a group of us ventured out onto the snowy roads for church. We went to see Shining Through, which is the musical ministry team here on campus. They did a program at a church not too far from campus. It was such a powerful performance, and I love seeing friends perform and worship together.

This has been a great weekend. I love weekends on Bluffton's campus...there is always something to do! I love just experiencing life with wonderful people and Bluffton's campus is so awesome at building that community of people to live together. What fun!

Until next time,

Mary

We are going MAD!

2007-01-20T22:43:00.000-08:00

Marbeck After Dark (MAD) has officially kicked off on Bluffton's campus. A committee of four (myself included) have taken the initiative to start a Friday night program oncampus. Marbeck Center Board (MCB - the activity planning board on campus) often has events on Friday nights, but the four of us (all MCB members) have commited to having events going on from 10:00p.m.-2:00a.m. every single Friday night. Events include things like Euchre tournaments, crafts, movie showings, open mic nights, giant dutch blitz, etc. This week we had an open mic night, along with a dutch blitz tournament and giant dutch blitz! There were at least 60 people there having a blast all night long - a great turnout for the first MAD ever. These events are free to students and a great way to take a break from studying on Friday night and have fun with friends. Fun is never hard to find at Bluffton.
Here is a picture from the loft of everyone hanging out at MAD.

I also love that first time that this beautiful campus is blanketed with snow, so I wanted to share :).

Until next time,
-Mary

A New Beginning

2007-01-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

Well, we're all back and ready to begin a new semester. What will classes be like? Will I join anymore activities? What adventures will me and my friends embark on? All exciting questions to ponder...

So far classes are wonderful. Now that I'm a junior I feel like I'm really getting into the exciting major classes and getting to the gut of my communication major and business minor.

Life in the halls is a blast this time of the year because nobody has much homework to work on as classes are just beginning, so everyone has time to hang out and just enjoy being together. The picture you see is one of some friends playing Yahtzee! It's amazing living with friends so close, it's like one big long hang out session :). That's one of the best things about college... you live with all of your friends!

Until next time...

Mary :)

It's Christmas Time, and Time for a Carol...

2006-12-14T15:19:00.000-08:00

Hello!

Here I am, done with finals and very ready for a lengthy 3 week Christmas Break! Overall, this semester has been absolutely nuts but fun nonetheless... so many good things are happenning on this campus :).

Break should be fun, some time at home, some time at my sister's with my niece and nephew, and some time in St.Louis with my extended family. I am very ready to watch Christmas movies, look at the Christmas tree, read a Christmas book, and do a whole lot of Christmasy nothings :)

Every year me and my friends here at Bluffton have a Christmas gathering where we have a nice dinner and decorate my friend, Jill's, tree. It is always a good time, and I've included a picture of myself with a nice ornament with the tree in the background.

Until next time with good tidings of comfort and joy,

Mary