Well, 6 tests done, one to go and I haven't studied hardly at all for the test I have tomorrow morning. But I just don't care anymore, okay okay I do somewhere down inside I'm sure. However, at the moment, pshaw, who really cares.

There's soo much stuff gone from the room it's feelin' a little empty. My mattress is on the floor as my loft is gone, the futon's gone, the fridge, microwave, my books most of my CD's and DVDS are already gone. The stuff from my desk drawers are either packed up or already gone.

It's hard to believe that there's one more semester already gone and done. Where in the world did time go?!?!?!? I mean SERIOUSLY PEOPLE!!!!! Time like got up and ran away. It's rather sad.

I'm tryign not to think about having to say good-bye to everyone in 3 mos 28 days for 10 1/2 mos. that's a long time dawg.

But no I'm not going to think about it, there'll be plenty to do and think about before I get to that point. Like oh say, getting my Visa, money belt, and other odds-and ends. Packing, working, having fun, getting rid of stuff, applying for loans and such. I'll be in debt quite a bit more after next year and I'll still have like a year and a half left after that but I know that it'll be more than worth it.

Anyway, as I sit here on my mattress that sits on my room floor next to my monitor and desk,, trying not to melt from the heat I wonder, how many of you could I meet up with sometime this summer? Okay actually I'm thinking more along the lines of "hm, I'm kinda hungry, I wish I had a baguette and some Laughing Cow cheese and some more of that Morraccan food Dee-Dee made us for dinner. Just not the mosquitoish atmosphere that came with it, I can do w/o that. OOOO I wanna go swimming.."

And I could go on and on and on but I'll quit before you're all competely asleep..................or before I put myself to sleep for that matter. I have some studying to do yet!!

So hope to see you all this summer. Ttyl

Btw Eric and Carrie, I'll be flying into chicago August 29th from Cedar rapids about 2:30pm and will be catching the 6:07pm to Paris from there, but if at all possible I'd love to see you two at the airport, if even for like a half an hour. Keep me posted!!! I'm just givin' ya a heads up cause I know how busy you two are.

Burned out

Yeah you got it. I am burned out, run down, have no brain cells left, motivation gone. Kaputz, ziltch, zippo.

I want nothing more than to just curl up and disappear for the next week and  a half. Forget that book, forget those 2 essays and forget those 7 tests. I'm throwin' in the towel.

Or at least I'd like to. Then I remember that I need to do well on these things to keep my good grades and that deflates my whole attitude for the "Going down" of anything academic.

At least the end  is very near in sight, time-wise. cause I am totally and completely turning to mush all while still trying to stuff more into my brain turning it into a more "jello like" substance.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have Jello for brains. Thank you and good night.

Well I made it through one of the longest and most stressful weeks of my life last week. It was good to be able to end it with a nice weekend at home for Easter.

So only 3 weeks to go and I'm gonna be kind of sad when it comes to an end because there are so many awesome people that I knwo up here that I won't be able to see when I come back a year and a half from now. But that will enable me to meet even more new people.

I think it's finally really starting to hit me regarding next year. 10 months in France, away from friends and family-except for my uncle who will be teaching abroad in Germany and my cousin who will be in europe with the Navy. It'll be a real stretch and test for me to get me out of my comfort zone. It will also be a very very big stretch for me cuisine wise.

Let's face it, I'm a picky eater. I've gotten a better since I was little but I can still be incredibly picky when I want to be. I only recently figured out that most of it is due to certain food textures. For example, Peppers, tomatoes, onions, olives and mushrooms. I am going to force myself to try the new foods when I'm over there. Actually I really want to try snails. I've heard they really aren't that bad tasting.

The other thing I'm worried about is speaking a different language day-in and day-out. It's a bit of a daunting thought especially since all my classes will be in French also. But God never gives you more than you can handle so I should be able to do this right?

It's all several months off, so there's no real need to be fretting about it now. But it's all really begining to set in and it's more than a tad overwhelming for me. The months to come will be interesting.

Oh but I did purchase my plane ticket a week ago. I leave CID August 29th and fly to Chicago where I will then get on the same flight as a friend from my French class and we'll then fly to Paris together. From there we'll have to catch a train into Angers where I will be studying and living. I won't know 'till like 2 weeks before I catch my plane who my host family will be. Of course I won't know who they are until I meet them anyway so it doesn't really make much of a difference.

I'll let myself freak out after I've gotten my Visa and the paperwork I'll need to bring with me to get my Carte de Sejour otherwise known as a Residency card. Which unfortunately part of getting the Carte de Sejour means getting groped by a French doctor. Which I'm not looking forward to but C'est la vie.

Ooo did I tell you I'll be going to the Truth Project conference today and tomorrow? It'll be awesome, I think God wants to use it to prepare me for next year and mentally equip me. I'm super stoked.

JUST PUT ME OUT OF MY MISERY

Okay so I don't know about the rest of you but I am on the brink of completely losing it. I have to literally fight the clock these next 4 days to get everything done I need to for classes. Add study abroad ongoing logistics that I have to stay on top of constantly and you have what I like to call, a potion not even a self-respecting swindeler would take to his firm partner to garner the cash while the partner was stressing.

Now if you ask me that's pretty bad. So why have I taken it? Well lets just say, my options were little-to-none and I was thrown this plate cause my professors thought it would be funny to watch me squirm. "Do the worm dance" they said. "But there's no music" I said.

And then they tied my limbs to pullies and made me dance anyway and as part of the fun I have to figure out how to get out of the ropes by pure thought alone.

Ladies and Gentlemen, This, apparently, is war. Anyone got any black and white camo I can borrow?

The ONLY good news, Easter weekend baby.

Sunny warm weather is more than enough to keep me happy. Not even the race against time I'm in to get stuff done can bring me down!!!! Not today!!!!