hello december

only another week of classes and then finals week and then home! who's excited? this girl.

***

speaking of finals week, i am so upset with my finals schedule. my spanish teacher gave us the option of having either another unit test or a comprehensive final, so we obviously chose the former, which means no spanish final. my history teacher is giving us a take home test for our final, so i don't have a history final to physically go to, either (we're turning it in via email). sounds great, right? wrong. that leaves geography and math. which i don't mind. but my geography final is scheduled for monday morning and my math final is on friday. which means i'll be sitting around for three days with nothing to do. i could be leaving earlier. but no. i have to have a stupid math final on friday. grr.

***

and since we're on the topic of ranting about things of an academic nature, this paper that i have to write for history is just stupid. i worked so hard on the IA (internal assessment) in IB history last year. it was such an involved paper. and this paper that i'm currently working on is like a HUGE step back. plus i'm pretty sure my teacher's expectations aren't very high. i just feel like i got so far with my ability to write a paper last year and now that effort is being completely undermined by this stupid paper. ugh. i'll stop ranting now. sorry about that.

***

so this past weekend, we did some exciting and fun things. last week, kate decided she wanted to have an aladdin marathon, since between the two of us we have all three movies. so we planned that for friday. but we got it started kinda late, and by the time we finished The Return of Jafar, we were too tired to watch King of Thieves. so we've yet to actually watch that one. Return of Jafar is pretty low quality, by the way. in case anyone was wondering.

***

then on saturday, kate went home to house-sit her house while her mom showed dogs out of town and sam, danielle, and i went to this thing the newman center puts on every semester called coffeehouse. they had coffee and milkshakes (which were delicious) available to buy, and people who signed up as well as some of the a capella groups on campus performed. it was really good.

***

so looking ahead to next semester. i looked up all my books that i'm going to need, and not including three that i already have, i'm going to need eleven books. i'm taking six classes. and i need eleven books! it's going to be expensive, folks. if anyone knows of a super cheap place to acquire textbooks, please let me know.

***

that's all i have for this past week. i will most certainly be updating you again next week, since i'll have nothing better to do tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. (and not to worry, mother. i'll study for that math exam. but not for three straight days.)

on to november!

so here's the noteworthy things that have happened so far:

***

we registered for next semester. and it was so. stressful. classes that we needed were filling up really fast, and since we're freshmen we had to wait till the last couple days of registration. but we got overrides where we needed them and are now all enrolled as full-time students for the spring 2012 semester.

***

sam and i have been wanting to take up some sort of yoga or meditation or something, and one day fliers went up for a short course in meditation. so we went to the informational meeting, and the guy that was teaching it (one of the professors in the philosophy and religion department) is a little bit crazy. he's like a new-wave hippie or something. and the course cost two hundred and fifty dollars. $250! that's crazy. i can do that by myself for free. so we left.

***

since sam is our adopted fifth suitemate (he's over here so much since his roommate is really strange and creepy), he forgets some of his stuff here sometimes. i told him i was gonna give him a drawer, but then i realized i couldn't afford to clean out any of my drawers. then i had a brilliant idea. we have so much cardboard laying around, so i made him a box. there's a picture on facebook of him in it. since then, i've glittered it so it's really pretty. and it's pretty useful.

***

since we've all been really stressed out, we've been passing around a cold. kate had it two weeks ago, and she gave it to me, and the first day i started feeling better, sam and danielle started feeling sick. but luckily we're all going home.

***

speaking of which, i have never been so excited for thanksgiving. and i'm coming home this afternoon! see y'all soon!

so i had this really long and awesome update about october..

and then i accidently hit delete. so i'm gonna make this quick. er than i had originally planned.

***

halloweeen was fun. danielle was a mime, kate was ke$ha, brittany was nicki minaj, sam was the brawny man, alison was a lion, alli bearly was an 80's girl, and i made myself a pebbles costume. i even bought dog bones for my hair. on friday night, danielle, kate, sam, and i partied at the catholic newman center (not a religious event - not to worry). we dressed up and just hung out on satruday night, and on actual halloween we handed out candy to trick or treaters and watched young frankenstein and the original texas chainsaw massacre.

***

one of the campus organizations was showing hocus pocus that weekend, so there were posters all over for it, which were basically just little movie posters with the information for the showing on it. i wanted one. and so did sam. and so did brittany. and so did taylor down the hall. so after the newman party, sam, danielle, kate, and i went on a mission to find four hocus pocus posters (once an event is over, the ads are fair game). we were successful.

***

the ke$ha poster alison got us for our birthday is now hanging up in our bathroom, as kate bought a frame for it.

***

i rearranged my side a while back. i had mason and sam help me bring my bed down a notch so now i don't have to use my ladder. which i'm a huge fan of. :)

***

danielle and i bought healthy food at walmart. apples, baby bananas, and baby carrots. the bananas started to get brown, though, so i made (egg free) banana brownies.

***

there was a rock-opera version of phantom of the opera one night in october. it was so strange. there was a silent film in the background, and then there were people in the front singing and dancing. it was a bit distracting. sam, danielle, and kate told me not to base my opinion of phantom off of that experince (i've never seen it before).

***

that is all i have for now. i will update you about november shortly.

test time!

as you probably guessed by the title, i've got some tests coming up. i had one in geography today, and tomorrow i have one in history and another in math. so the only class i don't have a test in is spanish. but don't worry. i've studied. :)

***

in other news, i manifested another grilled cheese. i'm getting good at this.

***

we had our conjoined birthday party last weekend. it was lovely. we made two cakes, egg free so that sam could have some too. he said it'd been a long time since he'd had cake. he gave us all several hugs. :) we had to go outside to blow out our candles so we wouldn't set off the fire alarms. we hung out, played games, danced a little. it was a fun night. and we got each other birthday presents. brittany wrote really funny notes to all of us. kate got me a lightsaber (because that's what i told her i wanted), and danielle got me a huge bag of m&ms, orange(!) socks, and a picture frame. kate just happens to have the same picture frame, which is funny because kate and i have realized that we're pretty much the same person anyway. so at some point we'll have the same picture frame with a picture of us in it. :)

***

so, i hate doing dishes. like, a lot. it sucks. we don't have a kitchen so the closest place to wash them is the bathroom sink. but doing it that way, i have to wash everything individually. one by one, i bring in my cups, forks, plates, spoons, et cetera to be washed. it is so tedious. i cannot stand it. ugh.

***

that's all i really have for you this week. all i've really been up to is homework/studying and the party. so...see you next week!

sorry about that...

it's been...two weeks? sorry i haven't updated you. we've had a lot going on, what with homework and birthdays.

speaking of birthdays, mine was not so bad. glee, new girl, and raising hope all premiered that night, and afterwards we went to kum & go to get some ice cream :)

kate's birthday was three days before mine, which happened to be a saturday night, so we all decided it would be fun to dress up like ke$ha. (we didn't go out and party like that or anything. all the frat boys were busy with rush week, so there weren't any parties to be had.) so, if you've been appalled by my new facebook profile picture, never fear. i haven't gotten, in ke$ha terms, $leasy. we were just hangin out, having fun.

brittany's birthday was on the twenty fifth, but i was out of town for that. the taylor swift concert was the twenty fourth and it was INCREDIBLE. in. cre. di. ble. oh my goodness she is fantastic. :)

while i was home this weekend, i traded in my shorts and the fans for my sweaters and thermals. it's getting a bit chilly here. but so far the weather is actually really nice when it's sunny and the wind isn't blowing so hard (it was ridiculous yesterday. the wind nearly blew me over it was so strong).

we made a walmart run last night. and in addition to getting more juice, i purchased an assignment book. so now i can be super organized with all my homework. speaking of organization, i've already used up a whole pad of post-its. (i still have two more - not to worry). they come in so handy. the shelf that's attached to my desk is really useful as a post-it board. danielle, sam, kate, and myself all make use of the post-it ledge. never in my life have i ever written so many notes-to-self.

throughout the week, i write things down that i want to talk about on here in my planner. and i have written down from last week a miracle that i created. that's right, folks. tori smith manifested a grilled cheese. they day before said incident, i was just saying how the cafeteria food is only mediocre and that i would love to have a grilled cheese. (i was not in the dining hall when i made this comment, mind you). the next day at lunch, what is a featured item in the entree section? grilled cheese. amazing, right?

that's all i have for now, i do believe. have a happy beginning of october tomorrow!

a change in the weather..

it's chilly! well, some days - scratch that- most days, it's pretty sunny and the weather has been super nice. today it's rainy, which is moderately disappointing since it's not a nap day. otherwise, i like rainy days. but, more important in weather news, THE FANS HAVE BECOME UNNECESSARY. that's right, folks. we don't have to have both fans constantly on. i've actually unplugged the big fan and cannot wait to get it out of my way. (hopefully i'll be able to get it into my car to take home.) and we've only used the window fan probably four or five times (for a relatively short duration in comparison to them being on all the time) since we got back from labor day. woo hoo!!

two of my high school best friends came up from columbia this past weekend to visit. they brought me an early birthday cake and orange soda, and i showed them some of the finer things in kirksville: the farmers market, pagliai's pizza, and walmart. they really liked it here. they said that the people at truman are a lot nicer than the people at mizzou.

between me and kate and danielle, we have probably every disney movie ever made. and we brought them all back with us when we returned from the labor day vacation. we've been meaning to have a disney movie marathon, but we could never pick a movie. but on sunday night, we finally decided on hercules. we sang along to all the songs. we'll be continuing the marathon this weekend. kate's birthday is saturday and she wants to watch the little mermaid. i'm so excited!

that's all i have for you at the moment. have a great week!

also, happy early birthday to my dad! his birthday is tomorrow :)

labor day week recap

greetings.

so this past week...not too exciting. here's what did happen:

naptime. kate and i have dubbed tuesdays and thursdays as Nap Days. yesterday it was difficult to fall asleep because we waited too long. but what normally happens on nap day goes something like this: i go to class. kate goes to class. we come back. we eat lunch. we get some homework knocked out. then we take a nap. then we get dinner and do more homework in no particular order.

but yesterday was different. there was a poster sale on the mall, you see. and we went to it. and i am so excited because i got a breakfast club poster and a punny communist poster for just under twenty dollars. they are now proudly displayed on our walls (and on my facebook.)

did i mention that i'm excited?

the weather. oh, missouri weather. before labor day, it was WAY. TOO. HOT. for ANYTHING. even being inside. it made us tired. but now, it's jacket weather. i'm quite a fan. it should stay like this for a while.

my geography class. i thought it was a fifty minute class, but my professor was always going over by like twenty minutes. so i looked at my schedule. it is actually an eighty minute class. surprise!

so i suppose you want to hear about my super awesome labor day weekend.

and as i'm sure you've heard the trip down was not super great. (and for the record, the ride back was better but i wouldn't say it was a super-jolly-happy-fun-time.)

so i have decided to instead focus on the good things that happened between the car rides:

• got my toenails done
• saw my bosses
• saw my family
• tie dyed my white shirts
• didn't have to climb a ladder to get into bed
• saw two of my high school friends (one of which is one of my very best friends ever who i miss quite a bit)
• ate at waffle house for the first time
• saw jacob, emily, and einstien
• got tickets to taylor swift!
• ate real food (and was full)
• took a real shower.

as you have probably gathered from those last two bullet points, the food here is not completely terrible, but it's definitely not taco night at home. and the shower..well, it's small. and the shower head is not so great, as it sprays in about five different directions. and the shower curtain is constantly attacking. so it's not a good environment for shaving your legs. but not to fear. i am no longer a prickly monster.

that is all i have for now, folks. :)

...and now the real work begins.

sorry. i meant to post yesterday, but it was rainy and we were all tired. kate and i (she's one of my suitemates) took a nap on our carpet. we both had only one class so we got some homework done, and then were too tired to keep going after a while. so we slept for an hour and a half. it was a good day.

but today it's super hot. and it will be tomorrow, too. ugh.

anyway, since i last updated you, some exciting things have been going on. during truman week, they had major day, which was a time set aside in the afternoon/evening to meet some upperclassmen and the faculty of the department you're majoring in. so we had some question-and-answer with the upperclassmen while the professors went to get some food, and once they brought it back, we just kinda mingled about while we ate. and i got to talk with the amish/menonite (i don't know if i spelled that right) and women's studies professor. he has an amish beard. and he's pretty nice. i felt right at home with the history department :) although, they did say that we write more papers than the english department does...i'm not a huge fan of paper-writing.

on another note, there is this one building that is REALLY far away from all the others. i think i may have already mentioned it. but i have two different classes there, so i have to go there every day. and with all that walking, i get pretty tired. i think i'm getting used to it now, but the first few days were ridiculous. my legs started hurting. but they're better now :)

my only tuesday/thursday class starts at ten thirty. so the first day that i had it, i didn't really know what to do with myself until then. because i'd gotten used to waking up around eight, but what was i supposed to do for two whole hours before i had to go to class? i ended up reading a book and lurking on facebook. but it was a strange feeling, not having to be anywhere till halfway through the morning.

i clean a lot more here. i shed a lot, and at home, it's only me in my room, so it didn't really bother me to have hair all over the floor. but here, there's me and danielle and kate and brittany and we've been having friends over a lot and i've been swiffering about. also, i cleaned the bathroom sink on my own accord. and i've been cleaning the shower. and washing dishes. and i did laundry once already, too. it's ridiculous. but please do not expect this behavior when i come home. going home is going to be like vacation, and who cleans on vacation?

speaking of having friends over, we've* been making friends with people in our section of the hallway. we're friends with our SA, clay; left-handed daniel (he has a dry erase board on his door and left fun facts about himself before we actually met him, left-handed being the first one, hence the prefix to his name) and his roommate anthony; and sam who lives next to daniel and anthony. he plays guitar and ukelele and is also in my history class. he used to be a walmart greeter. we've also been known to hang out with kate's friend allison, and brittany's friends duncan and autumn. we hung out with my friends kayla and cortney and their neighbor alyssa once, too.

and speaking of kayla! on saturday, she and i went to the farmer's market. it was the cutest thing ever. we didn't buy anything, just scoped it out for future reference, as we'll be going back. and then we went to this place downtown called pickler's famous, and it's like an old-timey-ish ice cream shop, but they also have burgers and hot dogs. and upstairs they have a little lounge area with board games and whatnot, and upstairs from that is a little theater where they show movies on the weekends. it is the cutest place ever. if and when you come visit me, we have to go there.

anyway, i think that's all i have for now. i'll update again next week :)

*in reference to anything related to making and/or hanging out with friends, the term "we" will generally refer to kate, brittany, danielle, and i, unless otherwise specified.

truman week

hi.

i've decided to post on tuesdays because i only have one class those days.

today, of course, is different because it's truman week. (or freshman week. they've scheduled a bunch of activities to keep us occupied till classes start on thursday.) i do have one class that started this week and that's world history one. we've already had a couple homework assignments which weren't really super hard, but they're all about ancient history, which i haven't talked about in school for five years or so, so i've had to rely on the textbook a little bit.

speaking of books, when people say books are expensive, they really aren't kidding. books are really expensive. i did have some money left over from my student loans, though, so once we get that reimbursement, it'll be like i didn't have to pay for them.

even though we're pretty far north in missouri up here, it's still really hot. especially today. it hasn't been so bad this week, but today is rather warm and we had a campus tour this afternoon. it was slightly less than fun. i mean, i learned where some useful offices are, but walking to all the different buildings was awful. as soon as we got back to our room (our building has no air conditioning) i turned both fans on high, left the lights off, and put on more deodorant.

so my roommate is really nice. her name is danielle and she's from illinois. her birthday is today. her family sent her a package, which included a hershey bar for me. :) that was nice of them. my mommy made a card and bookmark that i'm going to give her later. also my suitemates are really nice. they are brittany from saint louis and kate from jefferson city. i get along with them all rather well.

as far as the bathroom situation goes, it's not so bad. except showering somewhere that's not your house...having your bare feet touch that shower floor...even though it seems pretty clean...i don't think i'll get a fungus or anything...but that doesn't mean i'm a huge fan. i think i'll get used to it though.

oh, yeah. when i lived in lee's summit, everything was really close. i could just hop in my little car and be there in under five minutes. in kirksville, everything is still relatively close, but it's all walking, so i have to actually leave fifteen minutes before i need to be to class. this is new for me. but i'm getting used to it.

this is all i have for now. i'll update you more on classes starting next week :)

welcome, welcome, welcome

hello.

i am tori.

and this is like your newsletter from me at college.

i am not capitalizing my sentences. i am tired and it takes less time if you don't have to worry about hitting the shift key.

so i'm not sure how often i will be posting here. perhaps once a week? we'll see.

anyway, i don't really have much to say tonight. i still have a decent amount of cleaning and packing and reading and stuff to get done.

and i'm rather tired.

so...yeah. that's all for this little introductory post.

feel free to comment on here. i'll get back to you in a relatively timely fashion.

:)