Only In College...

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

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

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

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

being busy is a blessing

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

picture: me and my best friends :)

Feels Like Home To Me...

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

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

One of the Best Weekends Ever

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!

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...

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

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 :)