Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

I've been waiting on officially announcing this for a while, just because I wanted things to be more definite before I went to the trouble of trying to explain this to people. Here's the story:

A little over three months ago I was basking in the glory that was three weeks without homework (aka, Christmas Break). Suddenly, fun on December 25th turned to apprehension on January 6th. I did not want to go back to school. I don't think I've ever been so upset about going to school or felt almost physical pain in leaving people I care about behind. I realized something: I would not be able to do this for three and a half more years. Not while maintaining my sanity anyway.

And so began the frenzy of activity associated with applying to transfer to a different school and applying for scholarships to cover the cost.

I applied to Western Oregon University, Corban College, and Willamette University. After hurriedly completing my applications in three weeks, I visited Corban over Jan Term Break. I would receive acceptance letters from all of these school throughout March, but two of them would be basically off my list by that time anyway. After considering the disadvantages of going to school out in the boonies and receiving no scholarships or financial aid from the institution, WOU was off my list. After visiting Corban and learning of their strict co-gender visitation rules (members of the opposite sex are only allowed in each other's dorm rooms once day a month) and recognizing the lower academic standards of the school, that was out. So Willamette it is, apparently. Beautiful, expensive, academically challenging, diverse, expensive Willamette. They have great programs in everything I'm interested in. Their music program is even bigger and better than Whitworth's, even though Willamette is smaller! City bus passes are included in tuition, Salem is much closer to Portland than Spokane, and the weather probably won't include so much of this God-forsaken snow most of the time.

Of course, a lot of you probably know the other appeal of Willamette: Jared Nishikawa. Yes, boyfriend goes to school there. At Willamette, the likelihood I will see my boyfriend more than once a month is pretty high. I'll be able to have a normal dating relationship with him instead of one strained by distance. Yeah, Willamette is more expensive, but to be honest our relationship is a lot more important to me than money. I'd rather spend more time being poor while paying off school loans than more time being miserable being away from him. School and relationships are stressful enough without adding that extra baggage of being 404 miles away. Boyfriend and I talked and both agreed upon this. I've spent lots of time thinking, worrying, and praying and can't help but come to conclusion that Willamette is the best place for me now. So, paperwork has been filed and deposits have been made. After May 17th (my last day of finals) I will no longer be a student of Whitworth College, but of Willamette University.

Friends at Whitworth: I hope you won't begrudge me for abandoning you. Whitworth is a great school, I really believe that. It's been a good place for me to be this year, but now I have to be somewhere else. I love you all and hope someone will catch a virgin pine cone for me.

Friends Everywhere: I'm not sure if you'll all agree with my decision or understand, but either way I hope you'll support my decision to do what's best for myself. For those of you living or going to school closer to Salem, maybe this will give me the chance to see you more! I also love all of you and hope you'll keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I go through this rather complicated and stressful transfer process.

Death by Choir

After two ridiculous weekends of choir concerts (only one quickie left tomorrow night!) and finals looming mere days in the horizon, my stress level is reaching maximum capacity. I'm tired, anxious, and not just a little emotional. I've had about four, completely random nightmares in the last week or so, making even sleep worrisome. I think I may be clenching my teeth while I sleep as well, because my jaw has been quite sore the last day or so.

I honestly can't wait for finals to be over so I can just go home. Home to my town, my house, my bed, and the people who love me. Granted, I'll be singing in Christmas Choir at GSCC next weekend, so more singing, but it'll still be amazing to be back. At least the songs will be different...

Is it Friday yet?

Homeward bound
I wish I was
Homeward bound
Home, where my thoughts escaping
Home, where my music's playing
Home, where my love lies waiting
Silently for me
- "Homeward Bound" : Simon & Garfunkel

A Penetrating Experience.

1. I told my parents about it before I did it, so I'm not a rebel.

2. I did research and visited the place beforehand, so I'm not stupid.

3. I'm not going to start wearing revealing clothes to show it off, so I'm not a tramp.

4. I did it for myself and nobody else, so I'm not a slave to peer-pressure.


Oh, also:
5. It's cute, so...it's cute!

I've got you under my skin
I've got you deep in the heart of me
You're so deep in my heart, that you're really a part of me
And I've got you under my skin
- Michael Bublé, "I've Got You Under My Skin"

P.S. - Yes, it hurt.

I'm Sorry, Professor, My Roommate Ate My Homework.

So, I've been in college for nearly three weeks now, and here are the highlights:

I only cried once due to academic overload the first week of school. Sweet. I mean, for me, that's quite an accomplishment.

I got into Women's Choir and love it. (The dresses aren't even that ugly!)

I went around and hugged random people for an Intro to Sociology project.

I had a guy tell me I look like Kristin Bell.

I got A's (48/50 for Core and 49/50 for Intro to the Christian Faith) on my first two official college papers.

I bought the new John Mayer CD, Continuum, and adore it. There are so many amazing songs on there that totally fit me right now. Brilliant.

I joined lastfm.com, so if you want to check out what I've been listening to, pop on over.

If you include the 301 pages I had to read over the summer, I've read 1,597 pages since school started.

I will end up having read 5,267 pages (including the summer reading) by the end of this semester .

Hmm, nothing else terribly amazing going on, except that, while doing some research on doves and pigeons...

Okay, that probably could bare further explanation. In Core we had an interesting/enlightening lecture on Genesis 15 and the and God's covenant Abraham. I had some question for Dr. Beebe after the lecture about a few details, such as why Abraham didn't cut the two birds (a dove and a young pigeon) with the other animals. We had learned in class that the other animals were cut in order to "cut a covenant" as was the custom of the time in that region, but didn't talk about why the birds were left untouched. I talked to Beebe for a while and discovered that there is no definite answer he could give me, so I ventured to do some research on my own as to the role of doves and pigeons in animal sacrifice in the OT, as well as their symbolism. So yeah, if anyone is interested I can e-mail you what I found and subsequently deduced, but that is so not the point right now.

Anyway, I was researching pigeons and doves and somehow stumbled upon the Ig Nobel Awards. "The Ig Nobel Prizes are a parody of the Nobel Prizes and are given each year in early autumn — around the time the recipients of the genuine Nobel Prizes are announced — for ten achievements that "first make people laugh, and then make them think." Organized by the scientific humor journal Annals of Improbable Research (AIR), they are presented by genuine Nobel Laureates at a ceremony at Harvard University."

Basically, I spent (/wasted) a good hour cracking up over these awards. Here are just a few of my favorite recipients:

Mathematics, 1994:
The Southern Baptist Church of Alabama, mathematical measurers of morality, for their county-by-county estimate of how many Alabama citizens will go to Hell if they don't repent.

Medicine, 1998:
To Patient Y and to his doctors, Caroline Mills, Meirion Llewelyn, David Kelly, and Peter Holt, of Royal Gwent Hospital, in Newport, Wales, for the cautionary medical report, "A Man Who Pricked His Finger and Smelled Putrid for 5 Years."

Literature, 1999:
The British Standards Institution for its six-page specification (BS-6008) of the proper way to make a cup of tea.

Chemistry, 2000:
Donatella Marazziti, Alessandra Rossi, and Giovanni B. Cassano of the University of Pisa, and Hagop S. Akiskal of the University of California (San Diego), for their discovery that, biochemically, romantic love may be indistinguishable from having severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Astrophysics, 2001:
Dr. Jack and Rexella Van Impe of Jack Van Impe Ministries, Rochester Hills, Michigan, for their discovery that black holes fulfill all the technical requirements to be the location of Hell.

Literature, 2001:
John Richards of Boston, England, founder of The Apostrophe Protection Society, for his efforts to protect, promote, and defend the differences between plural and possessive.

Economics, 2003:
Karl Schwärzler and the nation of Liechtenstein, for making it possible to rent the entire country for corporate conventions, weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other gatherings.

Public Health, 2004:
Jillian Clarke of the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences, and then Howard University, for investigating the scientific validity of the Five-Second Rule about whether it's safe to eat food that's been dropped on the floor.

Medicine, 2004:
Steven Stack of Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA and James Gundlach of Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, USA, for their published report "The Effect of Country Music on Suicide."

The Ig Nobel pize cermony for 2006 is scarce days away, so I'll be posting the best of this year's for your enjoyment.

When you're dreaming with a broken heart
The waking up is the hardest part
You roll outta bed and down on your knees
And for the moment you can hardly breathe
Wondering...
"Dreaming With a Broken Heart"

Pain throws you heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
No, it won't all go the way, it should
But I know the heart of life is good
"The Heart of Life"

Oh it's taking so long I could be wrong, I could be ready
Oh but if I take my heart's advice
I should assume it's still unsteady
Oh I'm never really ready, I'm never really ready
I'm in repair, I'm not together but I'm getting there
I'm in repair, I'm not together but I'm getting there
"In Repair"
- John Mayer