Camera-less Tales

My camera is done.
 pooped.
died and gone to camera heaven.

I can't say I blame it, It was quite old and used.
The battery was held in with duct-tape and I had to manually open the lens.

I've been wishing and hoping for a new camera for quite some time, but things keep coming up, hopefully some time soon I'll be able to replace the darn thing.

Life doesn't stop when cameras are broken.
I think they charge straight ahead at full speed actually!

Here at NJC Things are winding down for summer, which means,
projects due, study guides handed out,
week night are booked full of parties, contests, spring plays, concerts, and talent shows.
 Awards, Banquets and dinners for special groups.

My camera went ca-put at the beginning of all the craziness, Easter Sunday.

Jeb and I along with our friend Drea went to a local church, then came back to Herbie to grill steaks, asparagus, and potatoes for our little Easter feast. 5 other boys joined us at the covered pool table for a potluck style dinner. I must say it was pretty fun. Lots of laughter. Drea and I made some no bake jello pies for dessert. Then all of us took the rest of the afternoon pretty easy. Relaxing, napping, and watching movies. I loved it!

Monday was the long lived annual Dowis Luau (the girls hall next door) and the Herbie banana split party. We for the second day in a row filled our belly's with grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, then indulged in the long make shift rain gutter banana split. That is when, the whipped cream started flying. I mean soaring and splatting right on faces, clothes, hair, and everything else in between. I exited early, but the sight was one to see.

Tuesday Jeb, Sydney, Drea and I walked over to the Hays Student Center to have dinner with the ag department here at NJC. We watched a slide show of pictures, witnessed skits about all our teachers, and the most important part was,

JEB WON EQUINE STUDENT OF THE YEAR!

needless to say I was so proud of him! He didn't seem phased by any of it, just sat there, his normal easy going self. Which is so handsome on him. :)

Last night was a pretty eventful night which was a nice break.

But I still wish I had a camera :(  Boo

Hand.Me.Down(s)

One of the best things about my extended family is that they are all very giving in one way or another. Growing up my two sisters and I would [LOVE] seeing big trash bags in the back of one of our 3 girl cousin's cars. It was like Christmas, Birthday, and Back to School all rolled up into big black trash bags.

NEW CLOTHES!!

NEW SHOES!!

NEW PURSES & BACKPACKS!!!

NEW CRIMPERS, CURLING IORNS!!!

NEW PSOTERS, PICTURE FRAMES, NEW BLANKETS!!!

In reality none of the above was new at all. But no one in the world could tell me and my sisters that.
Who cares if they didn't have price tags on them?
Who cares if the jeans were already worn in?
Who cares if there was no box or plastic we had to rip through to get our new accessories?

To my sisters and I everything in that bag was "so cool!" "So pretty!" "I CANT WAIT TO WEAR THIS TO SCHOOL!" (Even if whatever it was was two sizes too big.)

For as long as I can remember my cousins have been very giving to my sisters and I, there are still a few items that I have and don't have any intention of parting with anytime soon!

So last week when saw the e-mail saying I had a package waiting in the mail room from "Stover" I could not wait!

Another one of my favorite parts of having girl cousins is that if you write a cousin a letter and send them a colored picture, you will get one of each back. My mom would always let us each pick out something to put in their care packages before she sent them off to their colleges.

 I absolutely love getting care packages and mail from my family it makes my whole week.

Every stinkin time!

So, back to my recent care package… (I bet you all can guess what was in it!)

My cousin Leanne sent me a shoe box that her and her friend Mindy had painted and spruced up for Leanne to put all of her wedding ideas, clippings, and odds and ends in. I love it. There was some US Mail wear and tear on it, so I fixed ‘er up, added a few more decorations to the outside and put it to good use.

There are plenty of other fun hand me down examples between our moms and all us cousins, way too many to write on this little blog.

I am very thankful for my family, especially the talented, loving, creative women in it.

Dorm Wars 2011

There have been a few days that are hinting at spring time and summer up here in Sterling, which have lead to spring fever and some mischief here in Herbie Hall.

 

A few weekends ago, our friend Drea went home to visit her family for her mom's birthday and came back to her room being T-Ped.

   (I just might add that Drea actually stated this war back in February. She scared the crap our of Sydney and I one night by sliding a pipe flag under our door and swiping it back and forth really fast. I had just gotten out of the shower and was doing the "applying lotion while keep my towel on" dance when I heard this flapping noise coming from our door [I thought it was a bird or bat to be honest.] I tripped over the back leg of our futon and practically ended up in Sydney's lap, who was doing some homework on her laptop at her desk. Needless to say, revenge was in order!)

A week after Drea's little prank Sydney and I got her back! She was on the phone in our room, so while she was consumed in her conversation I snuck into her room and crammed myself into her closet cabinet. A little while later Sydney asked to borrow something from her room, and when they came into Drea's room, Sydney told her she needed to look in the mirror (located inside the cabinet) to fix her hair before they left. She opened the door and BOO! she screamed, jumped and told us how mean it was. [Revenge was sweet!]

The next week was spring break so we took a break from the pranks. But the first weekend we were back, Sydney and I didn't waist anytime to start up the prank war again. (See pictures above.)

I was in Greeley the day Drea found her new decorations and Sydney was visiting some family for the afternoon. But when we returned we found this.

She ripped apart all the paper we used in her room and spread it out all over our room! I was a pain to pick up all the little pieces, I'm sure that when we move out we will still be finding more.

Last week, some of the boys that live on first floor threatened us with some water balloons, so we went to Walmart and bought water guns. Needless to say it turned into an all out water fight. (It was way fun!)

I am sad to report, that the days of old are long gone. Sydney recently was talking to her cousin who went to NJC almost 10 years ago, about the water fights that they had, and that they would use their mattresses to slide down the stairs. Filling the washing machines with WAY to much dish soap so they would overflow with bubbles used to happen on a weekly basis.

Friends of Jeb's told him about how they use to sneak beer in in their laundry baskets and toss the bottles out the window so they wouldn't get caught.

***I'M SORRY IF THE FOLLOWING OFFENDS ANYONE***

Now, if you have a water fight, you get a sanction (a strike, you're put on academic probation for 30 days, and you have to do campus community service.)

If you remove the mattress from your room, you get to buy the dorm a new on (even if you put the old one back.)

If you mess with the laundry room at all, they lock the doors and shut it down for at least a week, and as a dorm you get fined.

If you have beer, any other alcohol, or the empty bottles (In the back of your truck, holding your change) you get a MIP (minor in possession) which involves the police.

If you have too much to drink one night and think you can get a ride back to your dorm to sleep it off, think again.

 If you come back to the dorms after drinking, stay quiet, don't caught any disturbances, and walk to your room or have a friend help you to your room RA's or Hall Directors can come and knock on your door and have you do a blow test and again get an MIP from the police, take part in alcohol counseling and write a 2 page paper why drinking is bad.

If you are over 21  and have been drinking, you still have to take the blow test, and if you blow anything you have to still write the paper.

If an RA knows that you have consumed alcohol and doesn't report you, they are fired on the spot.

If you remove a screen from any window it's a $50.00 fine.

If you get caught with a coffee pot, candle or any kind of skillet or open burner it is also a strike and could get you tossed out of the dorm.

I am not much of a drinker, plus I'm still under age, I just think that the dorm should welcome students back not call the police on them. I know of students who sleep in their vehicles in the middle of winter because they were drinking and don't want to get caught.

I realize that the rules are there to protect us and keep us out of trouble. I also realize that NJC is a dry campus that doesn't encourage drinking (Particularly underage drinking), but I think the campus should be a safe place for us to be, and if someone needs a place to sober up, I think Old dorm stories are for sure going to change. No more water fights, mattress surfing, or pranks played on one another.

I know NJC has plenty of reasons for why they enforce the rules they do, and I know I am no expert. I am a college student, not a teacher, director or part of any sort of staff. (I'm really just venting)

To be honest, I don't regret the water fight at all and this prank war isn't close to being over!