November 26, 2007
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
That's right...Thanksgiving is over, the Christmas decorations are being put up, and the radio stations have started playing 24/7 Christmas carols. There are only 30 more days until Christmas, and there are only three weeks left in the fall semester. The semester has really gone by fast! However, I'm excited for Christmas break and my J-Term study abroad class.
Let's talk Turkey
Thanksgiving break was great. I left St. Thomas on Wednesday afternoon after class and pulled into my driveway four hours later. It was great to see my parents, my brother, and (of course) my dog! She didn't leave my side all weekend...and she was quite sad to see me go this morning. Whenever she sees me with my suitcase, she knows something is up. But anyway, Thanksgiving day was spent with my extended family at my aunt and uncle's house. I have twelve cousins (all guys) so we have a pretty big crowd. We watched football, had a great meal, and went out on the annual Thanksgiving hayride. It was a little chilly this year, but well worth it.
Friday and Saturday my family and I decorated the house with Christmas things. We didn't do much shopping, although my parents did a little Friday night. On Saturday night my girlfriend and I went to see a really cool Christmas light display. A guy in Crooks, South Dakota decorates his house with lights that go along with music. Cars line up for blocks to see it, and he collects donations for a children's foundation. It was so cool, I attached a video of it, courtesy of KELO-TV, the station I worked at this summer. You can watch it by CLICKING HERE. He has about five different songs, but this video only shows one. Still, it is really cool! I think Flash player is required.
Back to Reality
Today (Monday) I drove back to school in the morning for afternoon class. It was nice to be home and have a break, but it was also nice to get back. I just have to keep pushing through in my classes for three more weeks!
Have a great week!
Shane
Posted by Shane at 09:27 PM » Want to read or post comments about this? »
November 19, 2007
One down...two to go
I love short weeks, this one in particular because it is Thanksgiving time! Monday is over and I just have class on Tuesday and one morning class on Wednesday and then I am hitting the road for Pipestone for a nice break. It is hard to believe that once I come back to campus after Thanksgiving, there will be less than a month left in the semester! Crazy...
Saturday was Fall Junior Visit day here on campus. Lots of high school juniors were on campus hearing from students, profs, and staff about what St. Thomas can offer them. I got to sit on a student panel with one of my friends and it was fun to answer questions and share a little bit of the St. Thomas story to some future students. I also had my study abroad orientation Saturday afternoon. If I was excited before I went to orientation, then I am ESTATIC now! The course sounds amazing and the things we will get to see and do are out of the world (well, maybe just out of this country....cheap humor). I finally got to meet everyone else who is taking the course. Everyone seems to be really nice and I think we have a good group dynamic already.
Tomorrow I have to give a speech in my public speaking class and I have a quiz in math. After that, I am pretty much home free. I really don't have too much to work on over break either so that is really nice!
This will probably be my last blog before Thanksgiving so have a great holiday everybody!
Shane
Posted by Shane at 06:30 PM » Want to read or post comments about this? »
November 13, 2007
One week...
...'til Thanksgiving break!
Hey guys, how is everyone doing? Hopefully you are getting as excited as I am about Thanksgiving. It is one of my favorite holidays. Family and food...what more could you ask for? I haven't been home since September so I am really looking forward to getting back to Pipestone to see my family...and my dog! Bailey Jo is her name and she is a Weimaraner. You can see a picture of one by clicking here. This isn't a picture of Bailey, but most dogs in this breed look alike. She is wild and crazy and will be very excited to see me...I hope! I haven't blogged in a while, so I thought I would tell you about what happened last week, and what I have on the agenda for this week.
Last Week
Last Wednesday some friends and I went to see The Lion King at the Orpheum Theater in downtown Minneapolis. It was an awesome show! My friends and I took the St. Thomas shuttle to the downtown Minneapolis campus, ate dinner at the Minneapolis campus, and then walked three blocks to the theater. You can't get much better then that! Everything from the costumes to the choreography in the show was great. It was a really fun thing to do to break up the routine of the week.
On Friday we taped our second edition of Campus Scope. The director and producer just finished polishing it up so when it is out online, I will be sure to set up a link to it here on my blog so you can check it out! After we taped Scope, my girlfriend came up to the Twin Cities with some of her friends and we went to see Comedy Sportz in Uptown Minneapolis. It was hilarious. I have seen Comedy Sportz four times now and it is always funny. Sometimes they come here to campus and do a free show for students. I hope they do that again soon!
This Week
This week is busy again with classes and school work. The end of the semester is fast approaching and professors like to pile on the work towards the end. Oh well, it's the reason I'm here...right??? This coming Saturday is Fall Junior Visit Day here at UST. Lots on high school juniors will be here on campus getting their college searching experience started. I will be giving campus tours and sitting on a student panel. It is great being able to answer questions and share stories about St. Thomas to 'future Tommies'.
Later that day I have a study abroad meeting for my J-Term class to SOUTH AFRICA! I am so pumped for that! I will finally get to find out what we will be doing, how we will get there, and most importantly...WHAT TO PACK! It should be an amazing time.
Well it's getting to be about that time, and I have some homework to work on yet before heading off for the night. Take it easy everyone.
Shane
Posted by Shane at 09:39 PM » Want to read or post comments about this? »
November 07, 2007
Oh I just can't wait...
...to be king!
Sure, it's a cheesy way to start by blog, but I really can't wait! Tonight I am going to see The Lion King in downtown Minneapolis. Box Office and Expeditions here on campus sold 50 discounted tickets to students yesterday, and, well I didn't get down there in time to be one of the lucky fifty. However, my friends and I wanted to go so bad that we just ordered tickets online for a little bit more. They are still reasonability priced, plus we can take the St. Thomas shuttle to the downtown Minneapolis campus and walk to the Orpheum from there, (it is like three blocks away) so that saves on parking. I will let you know how the show went later in the week.
Adventure to Best Buy
Last night I went with a friend to Best Buy because she needed to get a new computer. She spent last year abroad and when she returned to the US, her computer was damaged in the flight. We found a good one, and afterwards decided to celebrate by having dinner at Chipotle...you can't go wrong there!
SCOPE!
This Friday we are taping our second installment of Campus Scope. Everyone has been working really hard and there has been a lot of news going on campus lately, both positive and negative. It has definitely been busy for the life of a journalism major, but it is nice to be able to report on actual issues and get the word out to the St. Thomas community. When we stream it online I'll set up a link to it again here on my blog, because I know you are all just dying to watch it!
Planning out next semester
Registration for next semester starts here next week. I am busy trying to plan out what I want to take and how I want my schedule to work. A great thing about college is you decide when you are in class. If you want to sleep in everyday, you can plan your schedule accordingly, although you might find yourself being up really late!
Well I have to get back to work, have a great Wednesday.
Shane
Posted by Shane at 09:48 AM » Want to read or post comments about this? »
November 04, 2007
What a weekend!
Hosting some future Tommies
Hey everyone! Hope you had a good weekend. My weekend was full of activity. Today I am just taking it easy, doing some homework, and watching the Vikings; but Friday and Saturday were busy. I started out Friday hosting a couple of guys who were here for "Tommie for a Day Overnight Stay" through the admissions office. We had a pretty fun time. We started out by meeting all of the prospective students on campus for those two days at dinner in Scooter's. After that we went to a movie that was playing on campus, then went to my friend Lindsey's room to play some Nintendo Wii. All in all it was a pretty good time. Saturday morning they both left but not before checking out the bookstore to get some "essentials" like UST t-shirts, of course!
Satruday afternoon
Saturday was the last home football game of the season, and the last performance for the pep band this semester. The game was really close, in fact it went into DOUBLE OVERTIME! The crowd was excited and everyone was on their feet, but in the end we ended up with a loss. Oh well, it was fun to watch anyway. Now the pep band has to wait until basketball season to start playing again. We will probably get together sometime before that though to have a party or something. The pep band is a really fun group!
Post Halloween Party
Saturday night my friend Lindsey had a post-Halloween party. No costumes, just scary movies and LOTS OF CANDY! In fact, we had so much Halloween candy we probably didn’t eat half of it. Lindsey lives in Selby Hall which is an apartment style res hall. We watched "The Number 23" and "1408" in her living room and we all got sick eating Halloween candy. It was okay though because we got an extra hour of sleep today. Whoever thought of daylight savings time should be a saint!
Today
This morning I went to Mass, ate brunch in the caf, and went to go get some coffee at Coffee Bene, a coffee shop about a block off of campus. My friend Jill was working and she asked me if I would blog about my coffee purchasing experience. Well, there isn't much to say except I ordered my coffee without whip cream and she didn't like that too much. Now I am just watching the game and casually working on some homework before everything starts all over again tomorrow. Thanksgiving break is only two weeks away and I am really looking forward to that. I haven't been home since September so it will be nice to be back in my hometown for awhile.
Well this blog is already way too long, so I better stop. Have a great week!
Shane
Posted by Shane at 12:28 PM » Want to read or post comments about this? »
