Search results matching tag 'family'

Veterans Day

BUCathryn — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:21:00 GMT

"Every evening that the sun sets on a tranquil town; every dawn that a flag is unfurled; every moment that an American enjoys life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - that is their legacy." - President Obama at the Fort Hood Memorial

First of all, a big thank you to all of our service men and women, and my deepest sympathies to those who have lost loved ones.

I try not to shy away from serious topics, but I often do. I get choked up easily, so suffice to say I've been a little distraught since I heard about the Fort Hood shootings last Thursday. But today is Veterans Day so I'm going to put on my big blogger pants and talk about the veterans I know.

Both of my grandfathers served in World War II. My grandfather on my dad's side was in Germany during the Battle of the Bulge, part of a unit that was moved prior to a deadly German advancement. I'll have to admit, I don't remember a lot of the war stories. But I do know that my grandfather knew a lot of German (his parents being German immigrants to the US), so he had a few stories of some ... interesting interactions. Also, my great uncle was in the Navy and he was on a ship that dropped amphibious assault vehicles during D Day.

In my senior English class in high school, I was introduced to a book by Tim O'Brien called "The Things They Carried," a compilation of short stories about his experiences serving in the Vietnam War. It's hard to describe how the book makes you feel. Something about the twisted truth in "How to Tell a True War Story" tries to explain it, saying that at the end of a true war story, you shouldn't feel "uplifted." At the end of O'Brien's book, you don't. At any rate, it's an anti-war book and a really intense look at soldier life. I recommend it. Get some tissues.

Lastly, this was part of my daily New York Times email: Lives During Wartime.

Busy Bee

BUCathryn — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:55:00 GMT

The best thing to do when you have 50,000 other things to do is to make a blog post. Yay!

This week has been a whirlwind of excitement and adventure. Monday through Wednesday, us P1s went through the gauntlet of revealed cluster two scores. Some hit harder than others, and many with surprising results. Especially for me. But we're all in the same boat (cue The Lonely Island), so everything is peachy. :)

Thursday was our White Coat Ceremony. We had wonderful speakers that really made us feel welcome into the COPHS program, and sort of put everything in perspective. Classes might be whooping us right now, but we'll get through it. I'm grinding my teeth right now as "We're All in This Together" from High School Musical starts to play. I've never even seen that movie.

My family took me out to dinner and my mom stayed with me this weekend for mom/daughter times. Saturday, we went to the Crowne Hill Cemetery, which I know sounds weird, but it's actually a really interesting place to visit. There is a gigantic, thigh-busting hill where the J. W. Riley (of Riley Children's Hospital) memorial is located, and you can see the entire city! There are also veteran memorials, and a Gothic cathedral that looks like it's from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

All in all, a fun weekend! I'm exhausted now and slowly realizing that I have way too much piling up. The PAWS Event Missin' Your Mate is on Tuesday, and I hope a lot of people will come and talk about their long distance relationships! I also have an immunology quiz and piles of subjects to study with the knowledge that clusters are right after Thanksgiving break.

Now that all of the leaves are fallen, it's time to be reminded of the way campus looked at the peak of fall!

Robertson Hall, admissions and more!

The observatory! For as much as I love space, I've yet to go in there. I can see a great chandelier at night though. Looks awesome.

My favorite spot on campus--the Bell Tower. :)

A canopy of color!

Scholarship Breakfast

BUCathryn — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:44:00 GMT

It's Wednesday! Time to post about the weekend!

I was notified about a month ago that I was awarded the Loren and Sue Woerner Pharmacy Scholarship. I was aghast. I didn't know you could win a scholarship without actually applying for one. In fact, I didn't believe it at first, and neither did my parents (look at their faith in me!), but after some phone calls, we found out it was true!

Upon arrival, I discovered that the Reilly Room had never looked fancier. Not even during perspective student events. I mean, we're talking silky table clothes and napkins folded into flower shapes and stuffed into mugs with centerpieces and adorable fliers with Blue II's wrinkled face on them. Short digression: please look through Blue II's Flickr page. It's the most adorable thing on the Internet.

Unfortunately, Mr. and Mrs. Woerner could not make it, but I totally understand since they live on the other side of the country. I spoke with a CVS Pharmacist whose scholarship recipient couldn't be there because she was on rotations, and Dr. Andritz, the Dean of COPHS. There were some great speakers and a wonderful piano performance by one of Butler's very own piano majors.

And the food? I had to be Sherlock Holmes to determine what it all was. Now that's fancy.

It was such a great experience! I feel so lucky to be a scholarship recipient this year.

Thanks for taking this picture, Dr. Andritz!

The weekend can't come soon enough!

BUCathryn — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:01:00 GMT

Today's entry will be a menagerie of topics that will change so fast it will BLOW YOUR MIND.

Clusters: Round Two. Complete. I came out fully intact with the only casualties being some lack of sleep and a tiny bit of hurt pride. That just happens. Four tests in less than a week is always a humbling experience. That's why there's Broad Ripple: Home of the Fanciest Gosh-Darned McDonald's you will EVER happen upon. Diane and I traveled there on Sunday, the day of the hardest fighting in the war on midterms.

If only I remembered how, I could tickle those ivories something proper. (I had to hold my drink so you knew it was a McDonald's.)

You've never seen ketchup dispensed like this. They even had to label it so as to not confuse people who would otherwise think it was triple filtered water.

The fire alarm went off when Diane and I were dining. Someone said the trashcan out front was on fire. ... I call shenanigans.

So what have I been doing to detox after exams? Absolutely nothing. It's been wonderful after over two weeks of nonstop action. Oh! There is one thing: if you have some time and you love Harry Potter, I think it's important for your life that you go to Youtube and search "A Very Potter Musical." As someone who hates musicals, I highly recommend it. It's one of the funniest, most entertaining things I've seen on Youtube in a long time.

Today I went grocery shopping and bought a pumpkin to carve tomorrow with my pharmacy buddies Lindsey and Kelsey. Speaking of pharmacy, we picked up our white coats today for the ceremony next week! I made sure mine fit all right, so now it's hanging on my door to get the wrinkles out. When I tried it on and looked at myself in the mirror, it was like my wedding day or something. Oh Cathryn, hush. Anyway, no pictures yet, because that will be for the ceremony NEXT WEEK. No spoilers!

Back on topic. This weekend. My parents and brother are coming up on Friday night! Saturday morning I am attending a scholarship breakfast with them, then I don't know where we'll go. We've exhausted a lot of the fun touristy things in Indy, like the art museum (IMA) and the State Museum. I could give those another go--they're really fun. :)

Saturday night, my boyfriend Curtis is coming to visit me! I had some Halloween plans, but they got canceled, so I think we're going to eat at Yats over in Broad Ripple! (Is it still considered Broad Ripple? I don't know). Then, after that, I have this chocolate Halloween House to build, so we will probably engage in that and watch one of our favorite movies, Shaun of the Dead.

Best of all, Saturday at midnight, it will be November 1st. And on November 1st begins ... NaNoWriMo.

And that's why Thursday and Friday need to get out the way!

My Family Basically Rocks…

StephF — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 04:58:00 GMT

So one thing that I absolutely love is my family. I have a somewhat large family...not ginormous, but not tiny. It is just right. :) In my immediate family it is just my sister and I, but my mom was the youngest of four and my dad is the middle of five. So, since all of my aunts and uncles had kids, and then some of them have had kids, we have a pretty good sized family! Most of my family lives near my hometown, but I have a few cousins who live here in Indy with their familes, and a few other aunts. uncles, and cousins are scattered all over the US. Having family that lives near here has been pretty great though, because they both have little kids, which means babysitting opportunities for me!!! So far, I have only babysat for one of my cousin's kids, but I am going to see the other family this weekend! I really enjoy babysitting for my family, maybe it is just because all of my cousins have adorable kids! But it has been really nice having some family here just in case I ever need anything, and it is kind of cool that one of my cousins who lives in the area met his wife when they were both students here at Butler. So when I was thinking about coming to Butler, I talked to his wife, Missy, and she filled me in on all of the things to do before I came here and where to live and all. :) It was rather helpful!!!

This weekend one of my cousins is being baptised, so a bunch of family is all coming to Indy to go to that, and my cousin Audrey is even coming down from Purdue to visit me first! So she will be here in the morning, and I am planning out our day a little bit....:) We shall start out our day with the world famous Alpha Phi Saturday brunch, then I am not so sure. I want to take her around town and campus, but I have lots of homework....so now I'm thinking that we can go to a cool place to study or something possibly (like Panera, or a coffeehouse)...which some people do all the time, but I have never done before. So tomorrow I might just be all intellectual and artsy and such....we shall see! Then we will probably go out to eat for dinner, and maybe go to SGA's movie they play every weekend, because this weekend is The Ugly Truth!!! That really excites me....because I have wanted to see that movie for awhile....:) Then on Sunday we will go to church with all of our family, and then have lunch all together! I am really excited to see everyone, because it has been awhile since the last time I saw them all, and Thanksgiving just isn't close enough of course! So I am really looking forward to this weekend's activities, even though I should just go in a window & cellphone signal-less room for the entire weekend so I can get things done. So here is a photo of me and some of my family at my graduation....don't they look like awesome people??

Fall Broke

BUCathryn — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:34:00 GMT

Get the title? Get it? It's like a pun. Past-tense for the sad realization that not only is it Monday, but clusters start Friday and will go until Tuesday. :(

I had a great time at home! Despite my biochem's teachers best effort to convince us that fall break is for studying before midterms, and no one is supposed to go home, and we should study in the library, yadda yadda, I totally ditched campus and went on many an adventure. I came back with a plaid biker jacket (oxymoron, right?), groceries, and a shelf for the pantry. Because right now our food is sitting sadly in a box in a big mess.

Like most stories, fall break is best told through visual aids.

First things first: got my hair cut! Now I look less like a hobbit from Lord of the Rings!

Next, I did some shopping and I ended up with my friend at Half-Price Books.

I never knew Frice Books sold Cords and Azines.

Half-Price is one of those many stores where you go in not looking for anything in particular, then you leave with 3 books and 2 CDs. And you even left behind over a dozen things you also really wanted to get. Although usually when I'm there looking for school books or a DVD I want, they aren't there. That's some sort of law of physics I'm sure.

One of my favorite things at Half Price is the romance novel clearance section. I can't go into any more detail, but let me just tell you that there are some literary works of gold for only a buck.

My boyfriend Curtis and I had a date night to celebrate being together for four years! We got Indian food and braved the "Sweetest Day" crowd at the mall, then we went and made pumpkin spice lattes with our own cooking skills.

Smile, Curtis. SMILE!

So to wrap up the weekend, Curtis and I had a bout of Rock Band. I'm getting decent at drums. I'm kind of a big deal. ;)

Carry on, my wayward son. Carry on.

It's a little blurry, but you get the idea. I'm multi-talented and I have a great Alanis Morrissette impression.

Hope everyone had a good fall break! Good luck with all of your papers and mid-terms and the like. I'll be in the library until next week.

Rabbits, rain, and other things that start with R

BUOlivia — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:45:00 GMT

As I said in my last post, it's been pretty much constantly raining since I got home in Richmond for Fall Break. It's also been fairly cold. As in, I did not bring any clothes home because I flew and did not want to check a bag, so I'm wearing my little sister's sweater and jeans. Lucky we're both the same size.

Now, there are several things I could have done today. I might have gotten ahead on my English reading. I could have worked some more on my schedule for the spring semester. I could have practiced my ailing Welsh. I even had the exciting opportunity to vacuum my room. Instead, I sat by the fire with my pet rabbit, Pebbles, and read for about two hours straight. It was amazing.

I finally got the video embedding to work! But if you still cannot see it, go here.

Besides making a video to highlight a small fraction of the wonderous aspects of my rabbit, I went with my family to eat lunch. Bento boxes and machi! It was great.

I'll be heading back to Butler soon, though: My flight leaves tomorrow. I'll be sad to leave behind my family (especially my younger sister, whom I've barely seen since she's sick with the flu) and my beautiful rabbit, but I know I'll be thrust straight into production week of the Student Choreography Showcase. I have a feeling my schedule is about to explode with business, but I will try to fill you in about Student Choreography in the coming week. It should be awesome!

But not quite as awesome as my rabbit.

My day at the airport: the world grows smaller every day

BUOlivia — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:14:00 GMT

Fall Break! I'm typing this in the lovely town of Richmond, Virginia. If you want to know more about this totally awesome place, you can watch this video my parents showed me the other week, which is pretty much the bee's knees.

Anyway, it's been raining lightly/misting/sprinkling ever since my plane touched down on Wednesday night. "It's a London fog," my dad told me, in a shaky, faux-Ulster accent.

But I'm not here to tell you about the weather in Richmond. I'm here to tell how the world shrinks a little every day. The stages of reduction:

I found, through idly comparing stress levels in the Butler Starbucks, that I was taking on the same flight as one my dance friends! My cousin drove us both to the airport on Wednesday after ballet class.
Once at the airport, we saw two junior dance majors having an early dinner. We joined them.
After they left, and we were contemplating our plates of French toast, who should show up but another sophomore dancer? "Over here!" we yelled, and the three of us had dinner together.
We went to sit at our gate. As I was adjusting my luggage, I saw a familiar head... A sophomore dance minor. She was on our flight too, and was actually in the row in front of me. Funnily enough, she had even told my roommate the day before that she could give me a ride to the airport if I needed one...

So we all flew back down South together. There's something about plane rides that inspire confidences, a complete sense of camaraderie. We shared some Indy style popcorn together. Carmel and cheese. I highly recommend it. Here's a picture of us as the plane touched down in Charlotte.

And now you know how the airport basically served as a Butler Ballet reunion.

Pretty soon, you'll need a time machine to read this

BUOlivia — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:19:00 GMT

I'm just going to give you a quick update, and I might delete this post once I've written a proper one. Hence the title.

Though I rather like the title, so maybe I'll leave this up and the title will be completely nonsensical.

Anyway, I'm busy. So so busy. Sunday was fairly crazy. I:

Went to buy food for the Sigma Rho Delta (honorary dance fraternity--I'm the pledge trainer) pledge ceremony
Had rehearsal
Had a Sigma Rho Delta officers' meeting
Went to Mass
Had lunch after Mass
Freshened myself up
Set up and attended the pledge ceremony

And that was just on Sunday! This afternoon has been dedicated to my Global and Historical Studies paper and exam. And I need to do laundry before I go home for Fall Break.

Fall Break!

I'm extremely excited about Fall Break because:

I get to see my family. Duh.
I get to catch up on my homework.
I get to tackle some of my long-term projects, like the annual Butler Ballet self-assessment.
I get to snuggle with my bunny, Pebbles.
I get to sew new pointe shoes.
I get to bake bread and cook... things.

Well, it's back to the paper for me! I have thirty minutes before I have to go to meeting number one of the night. Then meeting number two. Then I can relax. (Relax = finish my paper and study for the exam I have tomorrow.)

But my rabbit is adorable and I love her a lot and here's a picture.

Leaves are Changing!

BUCathryn — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:53:00 GMT

Time to talk about the weather!

Don't you hate it when you're at a party and you're the person who doesn't know anybody--or even worse, you're at some neighborhood function and everyone still thinks you're 8 years old--and you can't come up with anything to talk about so you cop out and say, "Man, craaazy weather we've been having, right?"

That's how I'm feeling about my life right now. Hence this blog post starting with the weather.

I was driving to work today and the leaves are starting to change! Fall is by far my favorite season out of the year, although the whole "cooling down" bit needs to slow down. I remember last week I could see my breath walking to my 8 AM class. And no, Mother Nature, I did not bring a coat to school yet, so this just isn't fair.

Fall break begins in less than 24 hours! I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow because 5 inches is just too long. :) I can't decide if I want to go with the length that's in my current profile picture or if I want to try something a little different. Curly hair is sort of... tricky to style. You basically get one style (curly) in different lengths, and my hair doesn't straighten without a big fight so I hardly ever bother with it. I digress.

I have to indulge in one of my guilty pleasures on DVR since I missed the season premiere two weeks ago. No, it's not House or Grey's Anatomy or anything. It's--The Clone Wars. Okay, the secret's out. Not only do I like Star Wars, but I also religiously watch a children's cartoon. It has a parental warning for violence, that makes it mature enough for a college student, right?!

As usual, fall break is my four days at home to throw together a Halloween costume. This year, I'm planning on doing Sherlock Holmes in honor of the new movie coming out this Christmas with Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law as Holmes and Watson. I'm excited. Everyone else is grumbling saying it looks "stupid" and "not Sir Arthur Conan Doyle-y enough." Okay have you seen anything with Downey Jr. in it lately? It's going to be great. Anyway, I'll post some sneak peak pictures of the costume after I get it together!

My project for break, courtesy of my friends Kaitlin and Amy from back home:

IT'S MADE ENTIRELY OUT OF CANDY!