Stress.

It tends to lurk about in dark corners, just waiting to pounce and slam into you like a big brick wall.

Welcome to college finals...

So before you cue the scary music and horror movie sounds, they really aren't THAT bad. Sure, you may have to do some more work than you are used to, or give up going out on a Saturday night like my roommates and I did, but it's one week out of your whole year, then you go HOME SWEET HOME for a whole month of NO WORRIES!

Monday was our last day of classes, and Tuesday was what they call "Dead Day" around here. This day is the calm before the storm. I ate the BEST breakfast I have had in a loooong time at Cafe 222 with some of my friends. Any time you are in the downtown San Diego area, definitley make a stop over there and try the French toast. Afterwards, we enjoyed relieving our stress with therapy dogs that USD had brought in. We got to cuddle and pet them, and they were so sweet! The rest of the day was spent studying in the library until that night, when Finals Feeding Frenzy took place. Frazzled USD students pigged out our cares away with FREE Chipotle, Pizza Hut, Fiji Froyo, Chick-fil-A, and Krispy Kremes. The night ended with SNOW that RHA had brought in for the Winter Wonderland celebration. There was sledding, snow ball fights, cookie decorating, and pictures with Santa. A night to remember for sure before the stresses of the week took over officially.

The rest of the week has passed by in a blur of study guides and text books for the most part. My one surprise is that we got a new roommate! Our room is a quad, and we only had 3 people in it. Our fourth roomie just moved in, and despite the chaos of moving, she is all settled and we are so excited for a new addition! Nothing like making new friends again and again. That's one of my favorite parts of college! Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to take advantage of the 70 degree December weather and perfect my tan by the pool while studying before heading back to Colorado's Antarctic conditions....

Happy Holidays everyone!

Rain, Rain, Come and Stay

So this week was a dreary one. It started out on Monday morning. I awoke to the sound of rain pattering against my windowpanes and wind rattling the palm trees around. Now, all of this made it very difficult to get out of bed and go to class, but I did. And I also got soaked in the process. I do have to admit that it was kind of exciting to have some weather that even remotely made it feel like winter here! I proceeded to call my friends back home in Colorado and tell them about how freezing I was. Their reply? "Avery, it is ten degrees here. TEN. What is it there? Sixty? That is shorts weather!" Though I am very excited to head home for the holidays in ONE WEEK, I am not looking forward to dealing with sub zero Antarctic conditions after developing a very thin skin here in San Diego.

This week was relatively low key, as it was the last week of classes before finals begin! Tuesday I saw a fantastic Tara Donovan exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art. It was amazing the things she does with straws and styrofoam cups! The rest of the week was spent enjoying the cold(er) weather by bundling up in sweats and staying inside.

This weekend was a lot of fun. My precept class was invited by our professor to go out on Friday. We ate some AMAZING deep dish at Lefty's Chicago Pizzeria and then followed it up by an improv comedy show. It was a good night spent laughing with people that I had not previously hung out with outside of class. Saturday, some of my friends and I ate dinner at Rico's, a Mexican food where I spent less than $5 on the most amazing enchiladas north of the border. We then drove around the horse race track at Del Mar's Holiday of Lights. A ton of animated lights were set up, and we ooohed and ahhhed at the glittering displays and then took pictures with Santa. Sunday I finally attempted to get down to work and start organizing my notes to prepare for the finals to come. This will definitely be an interesting week as I learn how to study for my very first college finals! Let me leave you with a bit of holiday cheer and wherever you are, stay warm and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmastime is here...

Christmas has exploded. It has taken over our room. Christmas is draped all over the ceiling in 50 feet of red & green paper chains, on top of the refrigerator in our poinsettia plant, decking the walls in strings of bright & colorful lights, and filling up the corner in our REAL Christmas tree. Yup! Standing at about four feet tall, draped in lights and dripping with glittering ornaments, smelling like childhood excitement and fresh pine is OUR TREE! Christmas comes but once each year, and because my last two finals fall on December 22nd, I do not get to enjoy many of the pre-Christmas festivities that usually happen at my house. To brighten our moods, my roommates and I decided to go all out, pulling out all the stops for Christmastime in our dorm room.

This week was pure chaos. When I wasn't adding to the Christmas decor that was filling up our room, I was constantly moving about, studying, or at some meeting or other. Monday was full of practicing my persuasive speech for my public speaking class. Because I had just gotten back the night before from spending five days with family for Thanksgiving, needless to say, I had a LOT of work left to do on it. Ten pounds were lifted off my shoulders after I presented it (nearly) flawlessly (I hope!) to my class. I then got to study study STUDY for my Christianity test on Tuesday. I took a brief break and attended my weekly Intervarsity community group bible study, where we are continuing our series on prayer. I absolutely LOVE community group. It is a wonderful gathering of people. I always feel much better after I go, relieved of stress. Tuesday took the stress of my test off my shoulders. I went into my professor's office before the test, and he really helped me out with learning about the terms that I had questions on. It is also really interesting to just talk to my professors and hear about their lives and what they did before they decided to teach. Wednesday was the large group meeting for RHA, and we began to brainstorm a ton of really fun events to put on for our dorm including the upcoming door decorating contest. Already I am watching the competition build! On Thursday, I went to the bookstore's Christmas sale. I got to munch on cookies while I picked up USD sweatshirts at 25% off for Christmas presents. That night I went to Intervarsity's large group meeting, where there were prayer stations set up all over the room. I chose the drawing one, and just relaxed to amazing worship music as I lost myself in drawing my feeling out onto paper while practicing a different form of prayer than I am used to. I came back to my room and watched the best Christmas movie of all time, Elf! On Friday, I went to the Mecha Club's Salsa Night with a few of my friends. It was so fun! I tried to learn how to salsa with my two left feet and discovered just how fun trying things you NEVER EVER thought you would do can be! We ended the night by replaying Elf while making more Christmas crafts. (Catching onto the theme here?) I hung many 3D snowflakes from the ceiling. Saturday was a much needed day of rest. After coming back from brunch at eleven, I continued to spend the rest of the day holed up in my room in cozy sweats (yes, it can get chilly here at times!). I did some homework, took some high quality naps, and watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall with one of my roommates before we were finally dragged from out our cave at seven pm to get some Chipotle! MMMMMMM there is nothing that compares to a delicious burrito bowl with some guac! I finished off the night with some Fro Yo and cosmic bowling before finally getting back into bed for much needed sleep.

Now, Sunday deserves a paragraph of its own! I woke up early this morning to take a run in Tecolote Canyon, which is right below campus. The fresh, slightly chilled air felt amazing in my lungs and refreshed me inside and out. After that, my roommates Sarah, Emily and I headed to Sarah's aunt's house for a day filled with Christmas baking! We turned up the Christmas mix and sang along as we baked and baked and baked for about five straight hours! The products of this sugar-love fest include: holly crispy treats, toffee, Funfetti cupcakes, brownies, and sugar cookies. I even got to make a spaghetti dinner! I absolutely LOVE the kitchen. Cooking and baking are definitely my forte. It was very nice to spend some time in a house with a family. I miss mine so much after being away from them for a while. College really makes you realize how much you really do love your family, friends, and being home. It makes finally being able to GO home that much better. Two weeks and two days til WINTER BREAK! Until then, time to get studying for those finals! AH!