I've caught the bug.

I know I just posted recently, but I feel like I need to again.
So, on Friday, I finished class at 12.30 and came back home to eat and do some homework. I was sitting at my desk when Patrick (housemate) tapped something on my doorframe and said it had just arrived for me. I thanked him and took the tube, wondering what could be inside. When I looked at the return address I was even more curious - it was from Ms Smith (Cindy Smith - a family friend). I opened the tube and pulled out a thick roll of something. I assumed it was a poster and looked to see if there was a note - it was stuck inside the tube.
Well, then I saw the Hogwarts castle on the poster and I swear my mouth dropped open and My face probably lit up. I cleared off my bed to unroll it, and discovered not one, not two, but three large posters all rolled together. I was grinning like a fool and trying to decide where to put them (as well as wondering why, but that wasn't as important at that time). To get the note out, I had to start tearing apart the tube so I can't use that to store them, but that's ok. I finally got the bloody paper out and Ms Smith said that she wasn't going to use them and thought I'd really enjoy them. Maybe a slight understatement, but it's true all the same :D

Here's the one I decided to put up. (And if you look closely along the right in the corner of the actual room, you can see some of the 4500 nails that were in the walls. My mom and I took some out, but others we just painted over. There were so many!)
(Ok, maybe it wasn't 4500, but definitely somewhere between 40 and 50.)








So that was really exciting. Then Saturday came with the adventure I meantioned last time. Pastor Glen make a really good french toast, so I had some of that. I also saw the largest amount of cereal boxes in one location that I had ever seen - there were 18 or so with 5 still in the cupboard because there wasn't enough room. Everyone there agreed that the Robynes need some more cereal :]
I decided to go on the hike because I wanted to explore the area - it is really peaceful and beautiful. We walked along the creek and I got mud on my legs. When we got back, the bikers were returning from their ride - they went 18 miles or so. Three of the four were going out on another ride - this one 33 miles. Apparenly it's the Wabash River Valley Bike Day or something - there were aid stations and routes mapped out and a ton of bikers all over. The bikers offered to have me join them, I said that I definitely wouldn't be able to make it 33 miles - my longest was 5 at a time and 10 for one day (and that was actually in Cornwall - when I went to stay with a British family for a weekend). They offered up the tandem bike so I said, why not? So I was riding behind Pastor Glen alongside Alex Rouse and Dale McCoy - both Wesley-ites and both rather avid bikers (Alex just got back from biking across the country). It was going to be my longest bike ride ever, and my first time on a tandem.
And it was so much fun! Pastor Glen was steering, so I got to look around. Going up hills is pretty tough on a tandem, but going down is pretty much amazing. I had the spedometer and going down one hill we got up to 35 mph. We went out and back - so 16.5 miles and then we made it to the food station so we took a break before going back. Pastor Glen said that I did really well - and they all warned me of the bug. Once you go out on your first bike trip with those guys, you'll want to keep doing it. And I've definitely caught it - I want to go back out again and I really want to do Bikers For Jesus.
Wesley is a bike-friendly ministry, as Pastor Glen likes to say, and even more so because we have this thing called BFJ that Wesley does pretty soon after school ends. Basically, a bunch of people raise money and spend a week biking across some section of the country. I wanted to go last year, but I was going to London that summer so I figured that I should probably spend some time with my family and make sure I was ready to go across an ocean for 2 months... Well, I'm really hoping to be able to go this year. Like I said, I've caught the bug. (If you want to see what types of trips they've done in the past, click here.)
So I was feeling rather proud of my accomplishment and on an exercise high when I got back home to discover that I had recieved a package from my mom. That was exciting in and of itself, but then I opened it to find some lemon poppyseed muffins and an iTunes gift card. Yay new music! I took a shower (where I noticed that the mud and bike grease had concealed some mosquito bites O.o ) and had a quick dinner before I allowed myself to lie down on my bed and read. And it's a good thing I did, because once I was down I could tell that I wasn't going to get back up. So I just read for the rest of the evening - an excellent day all together :]
I thought I was going to be super sore today, but I'm not nearly as sore as I had anticipated. It was kinda tough to get moving this morning, but as I kept moving it got better. And my legs aren't the worst - it's mostly my back and shoulders from leaning over the handlebars.
Then tonight, after playing violin for the hymn at church (where I messed up quite a few times but everyone said they loved it. It's funny how that happens), I had club sports officer training. That was pretty basic - I already knew most of it. And mainly what they kept stressing was to make sure we turn in paperwork on time and have club members that are CPR certified. Good thing I already am :D
My next big adventure should be this weekend. Out first football game (as well as our first home game) is Saturday and then there's the Wesley canoe trip on Monday. Should be fun!
As a side note, they really messed up the football schedule this year. We have a home game over Labor Day weekend and then another one over Fall Break weekend. It should be interesting to see what the student section looks like...
Peace.
-Carlito
PS - I changed the comments setting so anyone can post one, if you are so inclined. If not, don't worry about this then :]

The Torn ACL Club just got a little bigger :[

My first week of classes is almost over. And my Spanish book still has not arrived >.<
But anyway, it's been a good week. I think I'm going to have some good classes. I'm taking Intro to Financial Accounting, Intro to Statistics, Elementary Linear Algebra (which apparently isn't going to be very elementary - I call false advertising), Spanish level 5 and orchestra. So, basically 3 math courses, a language and music. Perfect for me :D
And I'm really excited for the music we're playing forthe Halloween concert. For this concert, we all dress up in costumes and so do the little kids that come to the concert and they get to have a costume parade during some of our songs. It's a lot of fun :] I still need to think of a costume though. But anyway, we're playing:
+Jupiter from Holst's Planets Suite (one of my favourite classical pieces - you should go look it up)
+the March from Superman
+Adventures on Earth from E.T. (which I still haven't seen that movie, though Andy told us a funny story - apparently when he saw it as a kid the cops making a barricade had all these large machine guns and when they re-released it recently they all suddenly had these really big walkie talkies)
+Some music from Up (basically when the house takes off and then some other parts - it's like a medley)
So yeah, some fun music. E.T. and Jupiter are kinda hard, but we have till the 30th of October. I'm excited :D
Last night was the first night of badminton and I definitely haven't played since May. Oh well, it was nice to get playing again. I'd forgotten how bloody hot it gets in there O.o Although, apparently they were closed for like a week and a half over the summer because it was too hot outside. I think they're still in a heat advisory now.
And I'm the oficial Treasurer now. We held elections in December so that the new officers could learn from the current ones, and then Vina (las year's treasurer) tore her ACL so she stopped coming quite as often (understandably) and I kinda took over for her then. But she still had to be the one to sign all the forms and stuff.
Speaking of ACLs, I swear that there's something in the West Lafayette air that makes people's ACLs turn to paper. Apparently now Rob Henry (our starting quarterback) tore his now too. I swore rather loudly when I read the link my dad sent me - good thing no one else was in the house :] He's joining quite the club though - Robert Marve (last year's starter) tore his last year along with Keith Smith (really good wide reciever, I still can't believe the NCAA didn't give him an extra year of eligibility - he only played like a game and a half last season!), Robbie Hummel (really good basketball player who actually tore his twice - once in the 2009-2010 season and then again in the first practice for last season) and a few others, including a running back, a women's volleyball and a women's basketball player.
There was an article in The Exponent (Purdue student paper) about it today - this is the fourth time the football team has had an injury in 2 seasons. Maybe it's the athletes' special food court...
But that's enough complaining from Carly. Back to last night, I parked in the wrong parking lot (there's the one that's right next to the TREC and one that's a few minutes' walk) and there's only one path going back and forth. Well, as I was leaving badminton last night, there was a skunk on the path. I saw it early enough that I didn't get too close, but it's a small path so I could really walk around it. After somewhere between 5 and 7 minutes, it finally found a way to dig under the fence it was trying to get through and I was able to pass. What was really good though, was my timing regarding the weather. As I was leaving orchestra, it was a really nice day. Then, walking into the TREC, I heard thunder. About 10 minutes after I got inside the TREC, I saw that the sky was rather green outside and the thunder was getting louder. Suddenly, there was a tremendous crack of thunder and it started raining - and I mean raining. It was loud - apparently there were bits of hail at one point (though the rain might have just been falling that hard). I stayed until about 10.30 or so, and when I was walking back the storm had moved on - it wasn't raining anymore - but there were still constant lightning flashes to the south. Pretty much perfect timing :]
Then, when I got back to Aldersgate, Seth asked whether I had anything in the freezer - apparently there was a bunch of cookie dough and mozerella sticks in one of the freezers downstairs. I said they weren't mine, but I'd take them if they weren't anyone else's :] It turned out that they weren't anyone else's, so Seth and I had a midnight snack :D There's a reason I scheduled my classes so that I wouldn't have any early classes on Thursdays - I start at 10.30 :]
Today I turned in a job application at the Tippecanoe County Public Library - pretty much the perfect job for me :] I really hope it works out.
Thinking of books, I'm really excited for November to come. In 2003, this book called Eragon came out. I really don't remember how I first heard about it, but I really liked it. then the sequel, Eldest, came out in 2005. In the Author's Note at the back of that book, Christopher Paolini said that the next book would be the last book - it's a trilogy. So, when Brisingr came out in 2008 I was really excited to finish it. However, as I got closer and closer to the end, I was really starting to wonder how it was going to end - I was running out of pages and something near a miracle was going to be needed to wrap the story up. Then I got to the end and it said that the fourth would be the final book.
So now I'm rereading the books - I made the mistake of not rereading them before reading Brisingr and I was confused for a lot of the book and wound up having to go back to the others to look things up. But yes, now that I'm rereading them I can't wait for the final one :D I only brought Eragon with me, thinking I could ask my parents to bring Eldest at Parent's weekend (where we're playing SE Missouri State, which is actually where my cousin Melissa went to school :D ) and then I could get Brisingr at fall break. Well, I didn't account for the fact that, coupled with how fast I read, I wouldn't really have any homework or anything to do (my first assignments were assigned either yesterday or today) so I finished the book. I debated whether I could wait till parent's weekend to read Eldest, and so yesterday I went to the West Lafayette library to check it out :D (Before you start thinking that parent's weekend is really far and therefore my decision makes so much sense, my mom is going to come down the 16th, which is a Friday, to play badminton with me and then my dad and brother are going to join us for the game on the next day - the 17th. Three weeks. I could survive, but I'm chosing not to ;D )
After the library, I had to get some tupperware and carrots so I can have my refried bean tacos, so I went up to Marsh (grocery store). I went in planning to get tupperware, carrots and sour cream. I walked out with what I planned, as well as some pop tarts, Halloween cake mix (I'm planning ahead :] ), Batman and Scooby-Doo fruit snacks (yay for being 19 year old and being sad because the Disney fruit snacks aren't on sale, and so setttling for the Batman and Scooby-Doo ones :D ) and a Tangled colouring book (I was walking down the plates and napkins aisle looking for tupperware when I saw it. Getting the colored pencils when I was at Target with my mom was definitely a good decision :D ). I know I'll eat it all and it was all on sale :]
Tonight is our first house dinner - we have a house gathering once a week to talk and bond, rotating who cooks for everyone and who does devotion. Tomorrow is badminton again, and then Saturday I'm going over to the Robynes' (Pastor Glen and Pastor Lana) for breakfast and a hike or bike ride with Wesley people. That should be fun - they live west of campus near a creek. I think that'll be the farthest west of campus that I've ever gone - normally I'm on camous or east of it.
Peace.
-Carly B

Why are bulldozers driving past my window at 7am?

Welcome to my blog :D I don't promise anything by way of daily postings or super interesting stories, but hopefully you'll still enjoy it all the same.
Well, I'm all moved in here at Aldersgate. My room is green and I've gotten a few compliments already :]
I like getting mail (wink wink ;] ), and my new address is:
401 N Salisbury St
West Lafayette, IN 47906
I went to dinner and got to hang with Kim for a while tonight - it was really nice to see her again. She's in Wiley again this year. We both had to get our books, so we went to do that. One of my books is on backorder (I think this has happened to me every sememester so far O.o ). It's my Spanish book too, and I usually need those ones pretty quickly so hopefully it comes in soon.
This post is going to be pretty short - I have a praise team meeting at Wesley (the church I go to - Wesley Foundation) in about 30 min. Tomorrow's the new student welcome, so I think that we're going to have a Mega Band to start the year off with a bang. Should be fun :D
Peace.
-Carly