Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Moving Day

No, really! Erin In A Box is now updating on Tuesdays as opposed to Mondays. This is mostly due to the fact that my running schedule gives me Tuesdays off as opposed to Mondays.

So busy this week. Tests and papers to write. That and somehow I totally screwed up my knitting. I'm still trying to figure out how that happened. Really, it shouldn't be physically possible.

Running has been going well. New shoes are really helping a lot. My knees hurt a lot less and they're SO light! It makes me happy.

Been doing a lot of writing, some drawing lately. It's good to be creative again. The weather is slowly getting warmer, which is REALLY nice.

As for reading, I am of course devouring as many books as I can. Finished Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, and Red Mars. I adore anything by Wilde, Death of a Salesman is depressing by very good, and Red Mars was so wonderfully complex. I want to get my hands on the rest of the trilogy. I feel so bad since I got back to school from break and found that my brother had slipped in two books for me to read. I'm afraid I won't have time for free reading until summer and I've got at least four other books to get through then. Jim has lent me The Mind Hunter by John Doubglas and Mark Olshaker, I, Robot by Issac Asimov, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams, Who's Afraid of Shrodinger's Cat?, in addition to Mass Effect: Ascension and Mass Effect: Revelation both by Drew Karpyshyn.

I love you guys, but I honestly don't have time to read them! Over the summer I do plan on devouring plenty of good books though. And these are at the top of my list. Preferably on the beach in Michigan.

Got to go up and see the house this past week and it looks AWESOME! I can't wait for it to be done. Not sure when that will be, but by summer for sure. Plan on spending some long weekends up there with my friends and the Gang of course. Six weeks left till summer and I cannot wait. Plenty of relaxing, running, time in the sun, and hopefully going to the International Se Ren Kai Seminar in Boston. Waiting to hear more information about it, but I hope I can go. It would be pretty sweet.

I should be studying for my tests in History and Geology tomorrow. Please keep your fingers crossed for me! I'm going to need it.

Song of the Day: The Man Who Can't Be Moved by The Script

<3 Erin

Monday, March 21, 2011

Lavender

Okay, I have just a bit over thirty minutes to get this in before Monday ends. Technically.

Been so busy since going on break. Seeing people, date with Jim, job hunting, TRIPLE feature with Ashlyn tonight, discovered a huge stockpile of yarn this afternoon.

Ashlyn and I watched Paranormal Activity, Paranormal Activity 2, and Inception. It was awesome. Grand times were had by all.

I'm beat. Plan for the rest of the week?

Tuesday: Running with Bobert, visit CLS, turn in job applications, karate, maybe a movie.
Wednesday: Homework, making a few calls to school about things, going to class with Jim, running with Bobert
Thursday: Going to Michigan to see the house, karate
Friday: Running with Bobert, hopefully lunch with Emma, chilling with friends?
Saturday: Running with Bobert, seeing friends
Sunday: Head back to school.

Oh yeah, and I made it into the secondary education program. I'm really really excited about it, but I'm too tired to properly express it.

Song of the Day (evening?): (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay by Sara Bareilles

<3 Erin

Monday, March 14, 2011

Jasmine

NOT the Disney princess. It's a pretty white flower that grows on a climbing evergreen shrub. The plant (more commonly known as Spanish or royal jasmine) is originally from China and northern India but was brought to Europe by the Muslims when they entered Spain. It has a history of being used in teas, as an anti-depressant, to aid irritated skin, and aid with respiratory problems.

So I'm feeling much better! Only took a week to recover from that nasty cold. And just in time too. This past weekend was apparently visit Erin at school weekend! My friend Chris was passing through and my friend Hannah also stopped in! It was nice to see them, even if it was only for a little bit. Plus I got to go swing dancing this weekend for the UIUC Swing Society's "Vintage Affair" event, which was a blast. Pics are up on facebook if you want to check them out.

So far the weather is slowly improving. It's been very bipolar lately (no surprises there) but it's on the up and up. Supposedly this coming week it's going to warm up. I am SUPER excited.

Daylight savings has thrown me off, again. Curse you Daylight Savings.

Good thoughts go out to the people of Japan and all those affected by the tsunami that came after the monster 8.9 earthquake. According to the U.S. Geological survey, it's the 5th largest earthquake on record. The largest is the 9.5 off the coast of Chile in 1960. They're also saying that because of this ONE earthquake coastlines in the area closest to the epicenter jumped THIRTEEN FEET CLOSER TO THE U.S. COAST. Here are some pics from NASA of the Japan coastline before (top pic) and after (bottom pic). That's in addition to sinking Japan two feet lower, tilting the Earth's axis off by six and a half inches, and shortening the day by a few microseconds. Geology is cool man. Scary destructive, but cool. Again, good thoughts to the Japanese people right now.

So March Madness is here! Hopefully the Fighting Illini will make it a decent way through the tournament, if not to the top. Go Illini! And failing that, Go Duke.

Running is doing all right. Again, I took time off because I was sick. Bad run today, I started cramping halfway through and my ankle jumped the "Let's make this run miserable" bandwagon and started to hurt. How very inconsiderate. Soon I'll start my official training for the half marathon! Woo hoo!

So apparently I was wrong and I should know about the secondary education program at the end of March. So in the next two weeks. This sucks. I want to know!

Reading for this week is once again Red Mars and Hard Times. I'm loving Red Mars because it's so complex and interesting. I'm hating Hard Times because Dickens goes on and on...and I hate all the characters. I understand there are some people who like his work and I'm sure other works of his are fine, but I don't ever want to read them. I might implode out of boredom.

Knitting again tonight! Still working on that baby blanket and I started on the gloves for my friend Ashlyn. If you're able to see my ravelry account, the gloves for Ashlyn are titled "Burnt Magnolias" and the blanket is titled "Morgan".

FUN DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK! The new season of Doctor Who begins April 23rd. I'm so excited since I'm finally starting to get attached to Matt Smith (the new Doctor) and they filmed in the USA for once! I'll get my bow tie, fez, and sonic screwdriver!

Spring Break Countdown: Four Days!!

Song of the Day: Telphone by Lady Gaga featuring Beonce (Don't judge me. It's a fun song.)

<3 Erin

Monday, March 7, 2011

Rose

"That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet..."

Oh Shakespeare. Roses have been a favorite flower of mine for a long time. They come in so many different colors and sizes. Also I've been on a Doctor Who kick and the first companion I got to know was Rose (with Nine. You never forget your first doctor!).

Remember how last week I said that school had calmed down? Oh, that was silly of me to say. I'm right back at it, with tests and papers and midterms all before the break. Honestly, it's nuts. Plus I'm going to talk to a bunch of my TA's/Professors about recent test scores so I can try and improve.

Still adjusting to the pixie cut. It's so weird...I've got super short hair now. Super short hair is cool though.

This past weekend was fun, but I got slammed with one hell of a cold. I do not approve at all. So the past few days I've been off of running, but otherwise I've been so good about it! But the weather is getting nicer. Still cold and gross (Hello typical Illinois weather, how are you?), but improving every day. Daylight hours keep getting longer and longer. I can't wait.

On the knitting front, I've finally finished my most recent project, which is my mom's scarf! Huzzah! I'm still working on a baby blanket for my cousin, which is taking longer than usual because A) it's freaking huge. 123 stitches across. B) I had to rip parts out which was annoying. C) when attempting to ball the yarn, it conspired against me to create a huge knot of doom, which took almost an hour to try and untangle. Not okay, yarn. I'm thinking up next will be a hat and of course, a pair of gloves for my friend Ashlyn. The knitting circle is talking about a bar crawl. I'm all for it, although I'll pass on the drinking. I'll just take my knitting thank you very much.

Debating making a shirt for my two races over the summer. One ten mile race in May and one half marathon in July. If I do it, what's going on the back is "Go until it hurts...then go a little farther." Thank you Master Dunne for the saying.

Finished Neuromancer last week. I thought it was good, but confusing. I had a real problem with not knowing anything about the world I was put into, which sucked. Still, a good read. Up next is Red Mars, which so far is pretty good. In the first thirty pages there's a murder, so I'm all for it.

Still waiting to hear back from the secondary education program. They did say I should know before Spring Break, so that leaves them less than two weeks to tell me. Fingers crossed!

Over all, a pretty kickin' week. On deck for this week: A paper due on Thursday, 200 pages to read in Red Mars, 200 pages to read in Hard Times by Charles Dickens, and a lot of other readings to do. That's right kids, I might have to read the majority of two novels in less than a week. And let me tell you, that text is pretty small.

Spring Break Countdown: T minus 11 days

Song of the Day: Sweet Caroline by Niel Diamond (we're getting classic this week)

<3 Erin

Monday, February 28, 2011

Lilac

Well, it's almost March! This is the last entry of February. Wow, I know the month is shorter than most, but still, that went by very quickly. Spring is on the way!

Lilacs are one of my favorite flowers that bloom in spring. They're very fragrant, which is really awesome. You can practically smell them from a mile away. Surprisingly, lilac is sometimes used as a substitute for aloe for skin conditions such as sunburn or rash. Most commonly it's used as a fragrance since it has such a strong smell.

School has calmed down for a day or so, which is nice. I get a little breather. That and being able to go home was FANTASTIC. I loved being able to see all my friends and stuff. The nice thing is, in three weeks I'll head home again for Spring Break! Wow! I know Jim and I were talking about him coming to get me that Friday, but we'll see.

Oh, remember how I said I was cutting my hair over the weekend? Yeah, so I totally cut it short. Like, pixie cut short. It's really cute! I'm still adjusting to how little hair I actually have...I keep thinking it's tied back in a ponytail! I'm on the fence if I want to keep it short like this or let it grow back to where it was. We'll give it some time and see.

Running is going well and I'm back up to speed (no pun intended). Ran three today with all negative splits (which means each mile was faster than the one before it) which was really good. Still, I'm very tired right now. Definitely want more sleep tonight.

Knitting circle tonight! Is it super lame that I enjoy knitting this much? Probably. Do I care? Most certainly not.

Still reading everything and anything for class, but Jim has been so kind as to loan me some good books when I have free time. First up will be Mind Hunter, which is all about criminal profiling. I'm a sucker for stuff like that, which is why it's getting read first. Next will be Douglas Adams' The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul, which is sure to be...interesting? Keep in mind, this is the man that brought us Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. There's also Issac Asimov with I, Robot. And lastly is Who's Afraid of Shrodinger's Cat?, which seems to cover a lot of the basic ideas discussed in sci fi.

So tired. Need to write a few quick essays and then reading for homework.

Song of the Day: I've Got the World on a String by Michael Buble

<3 Erin

Monday, February 21, 2011

White Patchouli

I think for the next month I'll put the title as flowers. I have a perfume that has white patchouli in it. Patchouli has a more musky smell, almost woody. Very pleasant and calming and supposedly helps reduce stress.

This week is going to be nuts. Lots of tests and papers to write, but I'm going home this weekend! And one's already down! Kinda nervous about it (history exam first thing in the morning. Not fun) but I did the best I could.

Honestly, friends, NEVER let me stay away from home for six weeks again. It sucks. SO BAD. So this weekend I'm headed home and going sledding. I'm also doing something crazy and getting my hair cut short. More on that next week when I actually cut it. Also going to see the musical at my high school. Finally, time to relax and enjoy the weekend again.

Since I have been so stressed lately I'm trying some things to help relieve stress. Aside from getting more sleep, I'm experimenting with aromatherapy. I've got a little candle that smells good and has some smells that are supposed to help with stress, so we'll see how that works. At any rate, the room smells nice as opposed to traditional college musk.

Physically I'm feeling much better. Appetite is back, although running is still not quite back. I'm going for three miles after class today, so we'll see how that works.

I've been reading up a storm for class. In the past week I finished Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Ursula K. LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness, and started William Gibson's Neuromancer. Austen was okay, I liked Pride and Prejudice better. DADoES was pretty good and some of you might recognize it as the inspiration for the movie Blade Runner. I really ennoyed Left Hand of Darkness, although it was really weird. So far I'm not crazy about Neuromancer, but we'll see.

It's raining today. I like it better than snow, but I'd much rather see sunshine. Oh well. Soon it will be nice out again. In the mean time I get to wear my rain boots with matching rain boot socks. Thanks Mom! They're super cozy.

Song of the Day: How Sweet It Is by Michael Buble

<3 Erin

Monday, February 14, 2011

Sunshine

HOLY COW THE SUN IS OUT AND IT IS NICE!

Thank you February, for making the 14th nice and pretty.

Okay, updates. First and foremost, I haven't been feeling well for the past couple weeks so I finally went to the health center to get it checked out. Worst case scenario was mono. Fortunately it wasn't mono, but they weren't able to find anything definitive either. The doctor I had suggested it might be acid reflux but I had a hard time understanding him since he had a very thick accent. We've got an appointment to go back and redo the blood work in early March, but hopefully I'll be better by then.

In the meantime I'm busting my ass over school. Lots of papers to write, lots to read, and tests to take. But at the end of these two weeks, I'm going home and some friends and I are going snow tubing! Huzzah!

Knitting has been going well. I learned cable knitting and made a pair of fingerless gloves for myself. Someone told me that it's impossible to see my ravelry account without making one yourself, so I'll go back to listing the projects here.

Green scarf for Katy B. - DONE!
Blue and white striped hat - DONE!
Black lace scarf for Mom - In progress
Pink/Blue/Purple blanket for Morgan - In progress
Black fingerless gloves for Ashlyn N. - On hold
Blue fingerless gloves for me - DONE!
Black Hat for Bobert - On hold

Running has been on hold for the past day or so since I've been sick, but hopefully I'll be able to go back soon. I miss it, but I'm just so weary that I can't get the energy to go. Which is super lame.

My sister Jessie stayed the weekend with me, which was a blast. We wandered around campus and watched some good movies (Breakfast at Tiffany's) and lots of the Food Channel. Next year I get to visit her wherever she ends up. Bwahaha.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone. This is usually the part where I say something about Jim, but you know what? I think I'll just tell him how incredible I think he is myself instead of letting him read it on a public blog.

Song of the Day: Can't Help Falling in Love redone by Ingrid Michaelson

<3 Erin <3