Amazing Break

Although I have found out I don't really have many friends at home anymore, this break, I realized how much my family and Mike's family mean to me. When I got home on Tuesday afternoon, my mom took Mike and I out for pizza. She always loves spending time with us and my brother. After going out for pizza, she and I went shopping for some Christmas presents. Whenever we go shopping together, we have so much fun and always break out into laughing fits over nothing. Wednesday, Mike and I went shopping, and he somehow got dragged into working with me at Aero on black Friday. We worked for 10 hours...it was a long day! We went back to his house to have Thanksgiving leftovers with his parents, aunt, uncle, and cousin. We pulled up in his driveway right behind his aunt, uncle, and cousin. As soon as we got out of the car, they came up and each gave me a big hug. Mike's family has always been so accepting and hospitable to me. Saturday, Mike and I went to Chicago with his little sister and one of her guy friends. He was incrediby like Mike which made the day tons of fun. We have this program at our school called Natural Helpers. Lisa went at the beginning of November. During it, you write a letter to someone who has helped you or you look up to. She wrote me a letter, mostly because she and Mike aren't really affectionate. It was great hearing how she thinks I have helped both her and Mike. This morning, Mike's mom even made me go along to look at the houses they are thinking about buying. Of course, throughout this entire break, I spent lots of time with my family, and they are always completely supportive of me. It was great spending time with both my family and Mike's family over break.

Chinese or a Happy Meal

When I was between the ages of about 6 and 12, every once in a while, my mom, brother, and I would meet Bonnie Coulter and her daughter, Megan, at this cute little Chinese restaurant. Before each meeting, we would stop at the McDonalds across the street to get a Happy Meal for me. I had never tried Chinese food and didn't want to, but I did want to be grown up. It was always weird having to bring McDonalds into the little restaurant for me. I would complain and throw a fit if they tried to make me eat Chinese food. I wouldn't even drink the tea they served. I would get so upset when they were all enjoying their food while I was eating greasy fries. Looking back, I wonder what I was thinking...blech! They were all so much older and sophisticated (at least, that's what I thought at the time). Finally, I got tired of being the immature little kid. I was going to be brave. I decided to try the Chinese food. Keep in mind that my daring behavior went only so far as to try sweet and sour chicken. Pathetic, I know, but it was a big step back then. After that fateful transition period, I started to eat more varieties of Chinese food and more varieties of food in general. Seeing the older, more sophisticated people eating things other than American food helped me see that different things are ok too. Now, Chinese and Asian foods are among my favorites.

This is a picture of Star of Siam in Chicago. It is my favorite Thai restaurant as of right now!

Spring Break Plans!!!

Ever since the middle of the summer, Mike and I have been talking about going to Tennessee for spring break. Neither of us want to go down to Florida for the whole party scene since there is enough of it here. We decided that we wanted to rent a cabin in the Smoky Mountains. We both love the outdoors, and it is beautiful down there! We figured out that for 4 couples in a 3 bedroom cabin, it would only be around $190 a person for the entire week. That's a good deal if you ask me. Everyone that is going happens to be more Mike's friend, but that's ok because I have known most of them since my freshman year in high school. The cabin is in the mountains and has a great view. There are games and everything. I am really just glad to get away from the party scene of the warm places. As much as I love laying on the beach, I love being cold in the outdoors! Squirreled Away is a cozy little cabin that offers things such as 6 decks, a pool table, a jukebox, air hockey, and a hot tub. So I think that $190 a night is a perfectly acceptable price to pay for a cute little cabin in the mountains!

Born Into Brothels

In the movie, Born Into Brothels, the children were revealed to anyone watching the movie. This includes anyone across the world with a tv and an interest to watch this movie. If you think about the movie in the way that the children's lives were "on display," then hopefully you'd say it wasn't fair. Personally, I don't think that I would want my childhood on display, especially if it was like these children's. If you don't think about their lives being "on display," then you see children who are open to help. The documentary may deceive you by making you think they love every part of being taped. We will never know for sure. Parts have been left out of the movie. As for parts being left out of the movie, I would hope that the children could ask Briski to leave a certain part out if they were really uncomfortable with it being seen. I think that she chose this brothel and this group of children for a reason. They trusted her and were eager to learn. In the end, I believe that the children were appropriately portrayed and ok being in the documentary because it ultimately helped them. I would deem this documentary successful in the sense that it made Briski look like a Good Samaritan and put the problems of the children out into the public in hopes to get support for her organization. The end left you with a good thought to donate to Kids with Cameras.

Wonderful World of Engineering

So, being almost done with first semester, I started thinking about how my classes were going. Oddly enough, I am happy with all of them except for Chemistry. I don't want to talk about that though. Engineering has turned into a class that I am very glad I decided to take. I have learned a lot, and even though I get frustrated a lot, I realize that it will be worth it in the end. My mom and I were talking this weekend about what I will be doing this summer. After talking with her, I am pretty sure I want to try to get a Co-Op position. It is a great program and maybe a good way to find a job for after college. We even went out and got a suit so I would have one for interviews. It's crazy to think that we will be out in the real world soon. Mike is a junior, and I always make fun of him for being old. he is finally starting to think about the fact that he will be on his own in about a year and a half. There are a lot of people his age getting engaged and married soon, which is even weirder. I definitely don't want to get married until I have a steady job and can support myself. Glad he knows that... Maybe that's just me trying to be independent though, I don't want to have to rely on anyone. Oh well, I guess college is a great time to find independence!

Health

Although we have been discussing the origins of our food lately, I have noticed that nothing about my eating habits has changed. I would love to eat healthy, organic foods. I'm sure it would make me feel better about what I was eating. Right now, I don't even have time to worry about drinking enough liquids! With life being so chaotic down here at school, food is the last thing on my mind. It is quite honestly the last thing I worry about when going about my day. Sleep and homework rank much higher! If I were at home, I would be eating much better than I do now. I would eat regular meals instead of at random times throughout the day. I'm sure some of the food would have been genetically modified, but at least it would be a home cooked meal. As for my relationship with food...I've always been picky, and now, I will probably think about what I am putting into my mouth before I do. Even if I think about it, I will most likely eat it anyways just because that's what I'm being fed in the dining court.

Home gets harder to leave

This weekend, I spent some time at home. Each time I get to go back, I become more and more reluctant to leave. It's relaxing to be able to have conversations with my family and not have to get off the phone due to an assignment or group meeting. I love sleeping in my own bed because I feel like that's where I should be sleeping. I love going home and hanging out with my mom. When I'm at home, I'm not stressed or worried. My problems are left here at school, and I always have a great time. There is no drama there that I have to worry about, and I just get to hear stories about other people's problems. I am already looking forward to this weekend because Mike and I are both going home even though we are leaving Purdue again on Tuesday. I can't wait until Thanksgiving. There is a good chance it is my favorite holiday although Christmas is a close second. The thing I am most excited about is having time off from school for more than two days! Oh, and of course, not having engineering is a plus!!!