I have been awake since 2:45am.
Looking over at my clock.. it says 5:13. Oh yeah. That clock needs to make it in my bag.
This was all done by Monday:
And the rest of the week was family, run club, scrabble, goodbyes, and ice cream.
See ya when I get there! (and when I get to Target.. I forgot to buy an internet cable.)
I apologize for the lack of postage.. but as all of you heading back to college (or already back by now) you know how NUTS the week leading up to the move is! I’m not saying that I don’t like trying to stuff my life in boxes.. (mmm, wait. Nope. That part sucks) but it’s stressful!
So stress aside – I had an amazing weekend at the Cabin! I just figured out the “captions” thing on the photos.. and am LOVING it! I’ll leave you guys to do the lookin’. 
Fillin up in Park Rapids.
Mi madre y yo.
The cabin! Taken from the dock.
![Breakfast Saturday morning. I get the big chair =]](http://runroamrecycle.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/dscn0483.jpg)
Breakfast Saturday morning. I get the big chair =
I definitely can't find a 13 miler filled with THIS in Minneapolis!
Hahah.. get em Grampa!
Trying to explain to g-pa the size of the carp in Lake Calhoun.
We were actually good at this.. crew team anyone?
A ring I bought at "The Wigwam". Only up north...
Smores. I'm pretty sure after like 8 I was feelin "the brick".
Readin' a lil Nancy Clark Sports Nutrition at night.
And mom steals the camera..
What summer's made of.
Wishing we had an extra week. Or month.
And life was good.
I have all of like 4 boxes packed. And still things all over that need to be pulled together and sent. And I work every day. Annnnd my glass has been a teeny bit less than half full the last couple of days as I rush around to get everything done. But it’s gettin there! Pourin just a little bit more into that glass..
Yet I sit here writing blog posts.. when I could be packing. Oops! Time to hop on it! Oh – btw – I try and respond to everyone’s comments.. but I’m starting to do it the “new” way that has been taking over blogs. I’ll edit the comment.. and leave mine! So check back to see if I answered!
Countdown to Boston: 6 days!
I wish EVERY day could start like this:
morning coffee + "Sneaky Pete's"
Shoes on and GO!
Unfortunately, today in Minneapolis is one of “those” days.. gray skies, drizzling rain, no sun in sight. Doubly unfortunate – this is my day off from work. My day’s off are usually filled with outdoor adventures, as I’ve posted about in the past, but today feels like one of those days when you just want to stay warm and dry. In memory of sunny days past, I will share with you a few photos of my adventure day off of work from last week Maybe it will be good karma and the sun will peak through..
goodies from aforementioned excursion
I’m LOVING the new green backpack by the way.. definitely a good buy! I haven’t gone back to Opitz at all this week because I feel pretty set for clothes. Today though my mom and I have to make a run to SpendAllYourMoney and gather up quite a few things. Supposedly though, they’ll ship it all straight to my dorm, so that’s good. It’s terrible how pessimistic I am about this, but I can just foresee something going wrong. I’m moving ALONE.. so that has already put me in the mindset of “this isn’t gonna work”.. “I’m going to be the only one doing this alone” (which is partially true – my 5 other suitemates all have family members helping out. BUT they’re all from the east coast, so it’s not an extra flight for them).. “things are going to get lost”.. “FIVE flights of stairs – are you freaking kidding!?!”.. you get the picture. What I need to be thinking is:
Hah – and if I can’t really get myself to think that, I can at least fake it! (I used to always do this for track workouts.. I’d tell myself all day “Yesss! I LOVE repeat 400s!”.. and by the time practice rolled around it really wasn’t that bad!)
OH! So you’ve all seen photos of my laptop. I got it at the beginning of the last school year, and I pretty much love it. It’s an HP Pavillion dv2000.. “special edition” (read: it has a super pretty design on the cover and insides.. I don’t know if there’s anything else that sets it apart..). When I got it I sprung (sprang? wtf..) for all the bells and whistles, and the 3 year protection plan, and the (.. you get the point) .. because I thought this was going to last me for a long time! But being the brilliant student that I am, I didn’t think ahead to the fact that DUH most design students are on MACs.
Of course a school can’t say you’re REQUIRED to use a Mac.. but they “strongly recommend” it. Basically, what I read from the message was,
Please save yourself some face and save us the hassle of dealing with you trying to use a different system than everyone else. You will be the only one not using a Mac. So buy the Mac Macbook PRO. Now.
was white my only option? I wanted black..
Yesssir. So within the next day or so, this lil guy, + iWorks (already installed thank god) + Windows for Macs + a free touch iPod + a macbook sleeve should be arriving in the mail. So my question for all of YOU is this: who is on a Mac? Do you like it? Is it really different than an HP? Is it better/worse? Any design students out there using it? What do you think?
I’ve basically been against iPods since the day they were created, so I’ll most likely be selling this one as well. I sold the other Shuffle I won at that race a while back too. Anyone in need of an iPod? 
Wellll I think it’s time for me to move onto other things on my ToDo list (and yes – blog update was actually on there). I have RunClub with Team MED tonight at 6, and that BB&B excursion hopefully by 3! Not to mention all the other million and one things I need to do to get ready to move! Hope the weather is better for all of you out there! Enjoy the day.
Well since there is no FREE WIRELESS at Logan Airport, I figured I might as well begin writing my post.. since I have TWO hours until I board the plane to Chicago (hah – what a complainer!). My flight was delayed due to “bad weather” in Chi.. (light rain = bad? Really? Really really? OK.) so I will now have just 30 minutes to make my connecting flight from Chicago to Minneapolis. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that there are no more delays.. I have to work tomorrow!!
Anywho.. let’s do a lil breakdown of my trip in Bean Town:
Day One: got to watch some Olympic coverage on the plane (!!), love the “SaniSeats” in the Chicago Airport (although not their lack of free wi-fi), and of course my lover – Purel. Arrive, navigate the T over to Northeastern, check in, meet Lauren (one of the girls I’ll be rooming with next year, and my actual ROOMmate!!), a run on the Charles, little walking tour including JP Licks (!!), sleeeeep in a way hot dorm (thank god not where I’M living next year) with no AC or fan.
Day Two: early run on the Charles (out the door before 6am!), a day PACKED with orientation hoo-ha (do people actually use that word? I never have.. until now.), night at the Marino Center, sleep. ((That sounds like a low key, non-eventful/stressful day. WAY WRONG. After I got back from my run, between breakfast and the Marino Center at night there was literally at most like 15 minutes of free time. Most of the information sessions were just telling us things we already knew, which was expected, but they did a good job.))
Day Three: early run on the Charles with BRIAN (aka BigB on the Road – see blogroll!) plus a little solo adventure around the Fens, yet another jam-packed-non-stop day of orientation goodness until 3:00. I bought a NU Jacket!! Even though it’s like 85 degrees now, I remember what it was like when I was here in January. And that jacket was freakin’ cute. Check out from orientation ~3:00, take the T down to the Colonnade, check in, and explore the Pru (Prudential Center for all you non-Bostonians. I feel so official already), explore Newbury, explore Boylston, dinner from Trader Joe’s, remembering how much I LOVE Boston!
Day Four: Finally a day all to myself. Slept in as much as I felt like it, run on the Charles, lunch from Shaw’s, try out the fitness center/pool at the Colonnade, more exploring around town. Walked through Downtown, the Financial District, a touch of China Town, eventually made it down to the Haymarket area for a lil Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market. Consumed two huge McDonalds ice cream cones along the way (what the hell happened to size small!?), took the T back because by that time it was already 10:00! Oops!
Day Five: Rest day from running, took lunch from Shaw’s down to NU for a last goodbye, dropped off course descriptions and class syllabi (plural of syllabus. Hmm..) so this credit transfer can be straightened out (at the moment they’re not taking 2 of my classes! And 2 are “pending evaluation”. No way Jose!), talked with my hermana about how excited I am and she needs to come visit ASAP, got a last and final JP Licks on my last day (3 times in 5 days. Better than 4 times in 5 days like last January!), a last goodbye to Newbury, smoothies from Boloco, saw the Marathon exhibit at the Bos. Public Library (not as cool as I was expecting.. bummer!), annnnnnd back to the Colonnade to get my stuff to go. The bellhop told me there was no way in heck that I’d get on the T during rush hour with my bag.. little did HE know that I’m pretty capable of squeezing in the smallest spaces ever (can’t say the same about my bag..) and I made it just fine. Transferring onto the Blue Line was a bit of a hassle since I was way in the back of a car, and had to make it to the middle so I could get off on the left side. East coast people are nice though (despite popular belief from the Mid West..) and helped me out.
So basically I’m in love all over again and I can’t wait till I get back out here. It has been hard for me to stay committed to being excited about moving to Boston – I only have one year secured at NU, and after that things are up in the air. Financially.. I’m scared outta my mind. But being here made me feel like it’s worth all the doubts and fears I have.. and what I get out of it will be WAY worth it.
I didn’t take as many pictures as I thought I would.. and I’m just realizing I’m not in ANY of them! But I don’t really do the whole hold-cam-in-front-of-face-CHEESE! thing.. so there you go. I love Boston. I Love Northeastern. I’m pumped about Architecture there. I’m pumped about my roommates and suite. I’m pumped about being a Husky (and not a Gopher!). I’m pumped about the Boston Marathon. I. CAN’T. WAIT.
..at my home away from home! I hopped off the T this afternoon around 2:30, hit Au Bon Pain, and MAN it feels good to be back! I’ll be staying on campus at Northeastern tonight and tomorrow night, and then Tuesday and Wednesday night I’ll be at the Colonnade just across from the Prudential Center! Thursday night will be spent on the plane. Gotta love those red eye flights… NOT!
I already went for my first run along the Charles (and found the path just fine this time! Thanks Brian & Teddy!), plus a walking tour which included a JP Licks stop!
Expect a monster post with tons of pictures, plus a bonus post with my favorites from the Sky Mall mag
..and NO, I don’t mean in the way that it seams everyone else has been talking about. I don’t need a diet cleanse after the 4th of July weekend (although, there were some yummy delicious things involved!).. I’m just kind of at the point where I just need a life cleanse.
Hah – wow. Could I sound more dramatic? I’m not trying to be.. but hopefully putting this in writing will be a good step in moving forward. (And because I do everything in photo form.. it will of course be accompanied with pictures. Some of which may be irrelevant.)
Everyone has bad habits.. whether we admit to them or not. And if you don’t like the words “bad habit”, lets just say there are some things we could all do better at in life – I have my fair share of those things. Maybe this should be Phase 2.. because Phase 1 would have been like recognition and claiming responsibility or something along those lines.. but I didn’t think of that till now, so too bad. Here are the things I’ll be workin on for the next… while.
1. Sleeping. I’ve accomplished all of my new years resolutions, except for getting back on track with a decent sleep schedule. I used to go to bed after the sports on the local news, and ever since 2nd semester last winter I’ve been staying up until like 12:30 or 1:00.. or later. And then waking up still at 7:00 because my body is incapable of sleeping past sunrise. I’ve had to reset/change my sleeping patterns before due to a new job or a different class schedule.. and for some reason this last effort has efficiently FAILED. Work on it.
2. Letting go of my mom’s relationship decision. I have no say in who she dates. Why she dates them. What they do. When they do it. I don’t get to pick if she choses to get married again. My parents aren’t getting back together and I know that. Missing our family 4 and wanting it back are two different things. I can miss it, but they’re not getting back together. I may not love my mom’s boyfriend, but I love my mom. Work on it.
3. Letting go of my own relationship non-relationship stress. After my last relationship ended I was really enjoying being single.. but to be honest I’m not exactly feelin’ that right now. I’m torn because I want a relationship, yet at the same time I only let myself get to a certain point before I close myself off and don’t allow one to develop. My outlook on relationships has been jaded, and I don’t know how to get around that. And especially considering my current situation – I’ll be leaving in two months. That’s not time to start anything serious. But I don’t know that I’m enjoying being on my own. Aah! God knows what’s up, and he’s got a plan, so I need to leave it to him and let life take it’s course. Work on it.
(This photo is from 4th of July 1 year ago when I was up at my bf’s grandparent’s house on Lake Michigan. It was so much fun! We’re still friends. 
)
4. Stay excited about going out to Boston. I do love the school. I do love the city. I love architecture and I know I’m passionate about it. Every now and then though, I remember that we can’t really afford it, and I’m leaving behind a full ride at the U of MN. And then I remember that I’m going to be hundreds and hundreds of miles away from my home and my family. And then I think about how much I’ll miss the lakes, and how bored I’ll be running the Charles (I clearly have my priorities figured out). I need to find a way to stay excited about this, because if I don’t go now, I never will. Work on it.
5. Being a better person all around, to everyone. I feel like I’ve been more irritable/fake with people than I used to be, and that’s NOT ME. I’ve still kept my promise (to myself) about not talking about people behind their backs, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking just as (if not more) bitchy thoughts them (whoever “them” happens to be at the moment). It didn’t use to (used to?) take a conscious effort to be a legitimately nice person to everyone. Despite how much I gritted my teeth, I could always find the good in someone, and remind myself that God made them too – we’re all human. Maybe I’m just irritable because of the major sleep debt I’ve been in? Maybe more sleep will help? I sure hope so. Work on it.
I’m only going with 5.. because I feel like more than that and I’m being over ambitious.. I like setting goals in smaller steps. Plus, everything is better in odd numbers (flowers, candles, cookies) (OK I lied.. being the 3rd wheel SUCKS).
I honestly have no clue where this post is headed, and what a future follow-up post will be, but there you go.
I’m flying out to Boston on Sunday (wayyyyy early in the AM), and I’ll be there through Thursday. (Or Friday – take your pick. My flight gets in at like 12:08 in the morning on Friday.) I’m SO EXCITED! Sunday/Monday I’ll be staying in the dorms on campus, and Tuesday/Wednesday I’ll be staying at the Colonnade Hotel. I’m not sure which one I’m more excited about – the Colonnade is pretty sweet!! It’s right by campus though, so I’ll be getting used to commuting from “home”.
I had my highest mileage week.. um, ever.. last week. 72! Unintentional, but felt fine. (And please [do I even need to say this?] – no anonymous “you shouldn’t run that much” comments. It won’t get posted, and you’ll be wasting your time.)
(There’s a ME in there.. running at Harriet. I love these photos.)
My mom’s BF is coming.. TOMORROW. For 2.5 weeks. Please see above for my feelings on that.
(bahhaaha.. kidding. Hope mom can take the joke.)
Well, I’m gonna have to sign off here folks. Time for a shower and my bathroom cleaning/laundry duties for the night. I apologize for posting so infrequently, but I’ve been working every day (look forward to a very photographic TF post coming soon!), + running, + friends and family, + prepping for Boston, and I just don’t have a ton of free time. Be back soon!
Gomer arrived on May 13th just after 5:30 pm. My love for this little guy is pretty extreme.. like so extreme I better not have one when I have real kids, because I’m pretty sure it’s a sin to love your garmin more than the children you give birth to. (*edited to add.. Gomer IS my garmin. Yes. I named him.)
I’m gonna keep this post short and sweet, because really.. what can I say? Oh.. here’s something: someone earlier was like “Wow, you’re loaded! You got the 405!” Nope. Not loaded in the least. It’s not like I had a Garmin 305.. and just wanted the new model. I’ve never had a gps, much less a decent watch (although I actually kinda love my $15 Target one..) and I was saving up for a LONG time for this! THENNN my Honda decided to fall apart [again] and I had to put $970 in to that. Goodbye Garmin. 
Luckily.. I’m having this going away party deal.. and as a “going away” present.. my dad decided that if a Garmin was what I really wanted, than a Garmin is what it is! My parents went together on it.. and I am very very thankful. My life is officially complete. (More complete than just being a Gold Star member at CostCo.)
All my fellow little wristed runners – don’t get your hopes up. The 405 is actually not a lot smaller than the 305. It just looks way nicer. I stole my buddy’s 305 once for like a week and had a blast playing with it.. but I gotta say the 405 is super cool, especially with the touch sensor ring around the face. I haven’t tried out the little virtual running buddy yet.. but trust me – I’m taking him DOWN.
A little ego boost for me: I found out my 6 mile loop (which as you might have seen, I do quite often) is actually 6 and a HALF miles. I usually never wear a watch when I run, but on the rare occasions that I did, I’d get done with the run and think I felt great, but I’d be like “damn.. that’s actually a pretty crappy time.” I knew I slowed down since I used to race 5Ks.. but I didn’t think I had slowed down that much! Well.. adding in an extra half a mile brings my pace down quite a bit. Order is once again restored to the world
Non running related.. I’ve been working quite a bit. I picked up an extra shift tonight, and it’s a good thing I was there because it was BUSY! Not surprising though, it was freaking gorgeous out today. I’m kinda in the mind set of ‘I’ll take all the hours I can get’ because I’m going to be in debt for the rest of my life after transferring to Northeastern. Right now.. I have a full ride at the U of MN. Well the U must see a lot more potential in me than NU because I’m not getting anywhere near that kind of aid from Northeastern. Anyways.. if I didn’t like my job, that might be a problem. Luckily, that’s not the case – I’d marry my job if I could. (Yes. I realized that analogy doesn’t work. But it’s late. Give me some credit )
One of my [hot] professors came into work today [with his girlfriend].. and joked “you ready for that final Saturday?” Only it wasn’t a joke. And I have ONE FINAL left on SATURDAY at ONE FREAKING THIRTY in the afternoon. Seriously.. who does that? And WHYYY are there so many couples at work?! Damnit anyways.. I always regret breaking up with (insert name here) when it gets to be summer. No one likes being single in the summer. No one, as in ME.
Holy smokes.. this last week has been flippin ridiculous. Good and bad. I’m in serious sleep debt, but that’s life. I got a lot to cover, and a little time, so lemme get down to business.
First things first: I decided. I’ll be transferring to NORTHEASTERN! I seriously didn’t make my decision until about half an hour before I had to make the phone call.. I was that on the fence about it. Just trying to process all the options was really draining on me (and on my mom too). There were nights when I couldn’t sleep, and my mom would come down at like 3 in the morning saying “Well what if we did this_____.” But really – I’m happy with my decision. (Except for the part where I’m drowning in debt until I’m 85.. that still blows.) To add some icing to the cake, I got a voicemail Wednesday morning “extending me an invitation” to the Honors program! SO EXCITED! Aside from smaller classes and amazing professors.. you also get to live in the Honors LLC which is suite style dorms We get our own little kitchen, bathroom, and lounge room!! I. Can’t. Wait.
Secondly.. prom was great. I had a really fun time with James and all my old high school friends. We all took pictures at the Sculpture Gardens, went to Buca for dinner (huh?? Yeah.. that clearly wasn’t my planning), and then Grand March.. dance.. after party.
There were TWENTY TWO people in our group!! That made dinner super fun And some good dancing..
Hahha.. I definitely felt very high school.. but hey – that’s what prom is for! Dancing definitely passed the time. The last prom I went to.. my date was LAME and didn’t dance AT ALL. Oop.. no, I lied. He’d dance the slow songs.
So after the dance we went back to my house to change quick before the after party. When we came up to the door.. it was wide open. Which was weird because we never leave our door open. Much less unlocked. James joked “like it even matters.. you live in such a safe neighborhood!” but I know it doesn’t matter WHERE you live. Our house was broken into once before like 10 years ago.
We walked through the porch and into the house (porch door open too..) and right on the rug in front of us was my purse and my moms purse.. everything strewn on the floor. It took a second for me to realize what happened.. credit cards – gone. Cash – gone. Both my mom’s cameras – gone. The scariest part is that my mom had been home when it happened.. asleep on the futon upstairs. The TV was on and there’s no way the person could have not heard it. Aside from me just being super pissed.. I’m SO thankful she was OK.
We canceled all our cards and stuff.. but the lame ass still used mine to fill up with gas in St. Paul.. then make a stop at Cosetta’s (an Italian grocery store.. wtf?).. and go on a little shopping spree at Walmart in ST. FREAKING CLOUD! Gotta say.. the guy works fast.
I was supposed to run the Minnetonka Half Sunday morning, but by the time the police left and I got back from the after “party” (which I only went to for like an hour).. my car pool would have been coming in like 2 hours. PASS! My friend biked with me while I did 14 Sunday afternoon.
I made a teeny bouquet of flowers (yes.. that’s a shot glass) for my madre. We’ve both had a rough week. Speaking of rough – today was my last class for the semester. I have this big project for my Arch Studio due today at 4:00. I’ve literally been working on it all day, every day, for over a week. Around 1:00 today when I was in the studio, I had to accept to myself that the amount of work I had left to get done would take more than 3 hours.. no way around it. Our teacher said he’d rather we turn in a stellar, 100% best effort project on Monday, and be marked down half a grade, than turn in a shitty/unfinished project on Friday and probably get more than half a grade off anyways. I’m trying to be OK with the fact that I’ll be turning in on Monday, but it’s hard. I feel super defeated.. especially since I’ve been working SO HARD and SO LONG on this. It’s not like I procrastinated or something, and now I’m stuck dealing with the consequences. The fact is – there is just more detail than 3 hours worth of work. So I left the studio, and drove home.
I’m about to go for a quick run to clear my head. Today is my first day back at work for the summer (psh.. it’s only like 62 degrees here..) and I’m working 5 till close. I’m really excited to be back! Just kinda down about the project..
I’ll leave you guys with some good eats. Ignore the fact that this looks florescent.. it’s freaking amazing. It’s vegan stuffed cabbage rolls smothered in sweet & sour sauce and it’s freaking fantastic. I don’t get time to make this often.. but when I do I make a lot so I can freeze and have it for like a week straight
And last but not least, this GINORMOUS box of splenda. 1,000 effing packets!!!! This will last me until I’m about 25.. going with me off to Boston next year. I have no idea why we bought it at COSTCO.. but hey.. fake sugar doesn’t expire. We’re good to go for a lifetime.
I apologize for the novel.. but that’s what happens when you can’t post for forever! I can assure that my posts will be more frequent now that school’s over. (Well.. not quite. I guess I have to turn in my arch project on Monday, and then SATURDAY the 17th I have one last final. Who does that?!) Ahhh. Time to run. Thanks to everyone for all the support in making my decision and the rough last week!
Can’t ask what would Jesus do.. because that’s a no brainer – San Diego is a Catholic school with the most amazing church on the West Cost. AAAAHH I wish San Diego never called me back.
Had a good 9 mile (7 tempo) therapy run. Ali biked with me. And I’m eating cold chik’n nuggets. And I’m late to a meeting for one of my final projects. Time to fly.
Since I wasn’t stressed out enough already this week with the semester coming to a close (FAST).. let’s throw THIS in there just for kicks. (Please sympathize with my tone of desperation, but that’s most definitely where I’m at.) Any advice, suggestion, personal opinion, or words of wisdom are all welcome with OPEN ARMS.
So I’m all set to transfer to Northeastern right? I’ve already heard back from all my schools.. weighed my options.. Northeastern is #1 – hands down. Yeah it sucks that they’re giving me basically no financial aid, but it’s where I really want to be. Of all the schools I got in to and visited, this was by far my favorite, and it seemed like the place I could most see myself calling home.
There had been a problem with my application to San Diego early on.. they hadn’t gotten an official transcript, even thought it was sent officially and sealed. So I sent it again. I assumed they had at least gotten the 2nd one since they had all my other stuff. Well apparently they STILL didn’t get it .. but they didn’t tell me that until it was too late. My application was considered incomplete and they closed my file.
Wellll after a lot of back and forth between my counselor and San Diego, they reopened it. And they want me. They really want me. Or at least the money they’re giving me would make me think that. Here’s where I’m so stuck.. and don’t have time to be stuck.
Total Cost of Northeastern: $48,500
Academic scholarship: $15,000 // Loans: $4,500 // Work Study: $2,200
Leaves me to pay: $26,800
Total Cost of San Diego: $49,000 (not sure if this includes travel..)
Academic Scholarship: $17,500 // USD Grant: $22,750 // Loans: $3,500 // Work Study: $3,200
Leaves me to pay: $2,050
So that looks like a pretty clear decision. But.. the two schools are SO different. AND San Diego doesn’t have architecture, and even though I was 2nd guessing that to begin with, that would be a major, major change. And since I didn’t get this call from San Diego until TODAY.. I HAVE NO TIME. Deadlines are May 1st, which is TOMORROW. USD is giving me an extension to make a decision, but I’ve already sent in deposits at NU, and I’m already so effing stressed right now, and I seriously want to just cry or scream or run really far my head hurts so bad.
I know ultimately the decision is “up to me” and I’ll “know what feels right”. But I don’t. If money were not in the picture, I would say Northeastern hands down.
It was actually a really amazing day today. Until the sky fell. I ran a lot. This is Lake Harriet at sunrise (not my photo. Thanks to Chris Deba.)
