Jan 31

I've finally managed to complete all of my blogs for January. Since I've managed to fall so painfully behind, I figured its only natural that my final resolution be to make sure that I never get more than a day behind with my bogs. Because lemme tell ya, its quite a kick in the can once you start racking up 4, 5, and 6 days worth of blogs. Writing them is never a hassle, its actually quite therapeutic. Its the finding free time each day to write it thats challenging. I never realized how go!-go!-go! my life is until I committed to this! Fear not fellow followers, between tomorrow and the day after I have a lot of free time on my hands and I promise that I will be completely caught up by then.. Girl Scout's honor. I really appreciate all of you taking the time to look at my blog it really puts a smile on my face when I see how many views I've gotten in a day. January's entries have made me feel both ambitious and stressed beyond belief. Trying to keep up with 31 resolutions is a bit of a stretch but even if I don't accomplish every single one every day, I've found that at least a few of them play a role in my life each day. 

Alas, it's time to say arrivederci to a month of resolutions, and welcome February with it's fitting theme: Love.

Jan 30

Sigma Chi hosts a formal every year called Pledge Dance which from my understanding is sort of a "last hoorah" for the seniors and a welcoming to the pledges. The pledges pick the theme every year and decorate the house according to that theme. They seniors are the only ones that dress up to the theme and everyone else just wears normal formal attire. Although the theme changes with each year, there is one thing that stays the same every time: the goldfish pond. Let me expand on this a little more.. Every year for Pledge Dance, 600 goldfish are purchased and put into a little pond. During the dance, the guys and their dates go up to the pond, reach in, catch one of the little fishies....and then eat it. Yes. Eat it. I know this is so inhumane and how this tradition started is beyond me but a tradition is a tradition. My friend Carter invited me to go to Pledge Dance with him this year and of course I accepted. I excitedly called my mom to tell her that I had been asked and then proceeded to drop the goldfish bomb. It didn't go over too well. I'm not exaggerating when I say that for the next four days leading up to the formal, there was not one day when I didn't get a text or a call from her begging me not to participate in the fish feast. Naturally every time this happened I talked it up more and more just to grind her gears (this is so fun to do), but honestly I was a little skeptical about it myself. Saturday night I went to the dance and a couple hours in Carter looked at me and said, "ready to eat a live fish!?"... I'm pretty sure thats the first and only time I'll ever be asked that question in my life so of COURSE I said yes. We each grabbed a cup of coke, walked up to the tank and spent about 3 minutes plunging our hands into the water trying to catch our slimy snack. Let me just note that I caught mine first. Fishing with my bare hands really might be my calling...  But thats besides the point. After you catch your goldie of choice, you lock it up in your fist and shake it so that it passes out. Wow writing this out really makes the reality of how awful this is really settle in... So after the fish has passed out, you count to three, toss 'er back, and take a swig of your coke. I honestly could not believe that I did it. What I didn't mention was that somewhere between the shaking of the fish and the counting to three I came thiiiiiiis close to backing out. But I said to heck with it, you only live once so eat the dang fish. Next thing I knew it was in my belly. And then another one was in my belly. And then another one.... and then one more. Yes, I ate four. The following day I did get a little queazy every time I thought about the murdered fish sitting in my belly. But I also couldn't help but laugh at the same time. Not because it was necessarily funny, but just out of awe that I was actually bold enough to eat four live goldfish. But thats what college is all about. In the short time that I've been at Purdue I've learned just about as much about myself as I have about the subjects I've studied. This stage of life is about being bold. Its about stepping out of your comfort zone and challenging yourself to do something that you normally wouldn't do. I've found that if you don't take chances, you regret, you don't learn, and ultimately you cannot grow. I want to spend the rest of my time here at school having as much confidence in myself as I possibly can and being bold. 

Jan 29

How cute are THEY? This is my pal Riley and his new pet puppy. Before I went back to school after Christmas break we stopped by their house to meet the newest member of the Boyle family. Riley is one of the bravest people I know and a huge inspiration to me. I've known this cutie since he was a little baby and have enjoyed so much watching he and his older brother grow up and become their own people. Unfortunately, in the past few months Riley has been through hell and back again. The fears he had to face were fears that even I, at 20 years old, don't think that I could handle with nearly as much composer and confidence and this little boy did. Every time my mom mom gave me an update on how he was doing, I would hear every time about how brave and strong he was being. Riley is only in 6th grade but by looking at his heart and soul, you would never guess. He's inspired me to embrace life and what it has to throw at me, whether it be a bad grade on an exam or an illness, and embrace it with confidence in the idea that things will work out, and with a smile (that kid is always smiling). Its amazing how many people walk in and out of your life that have incredibly inspiring aspects about them that we don't even realize because we don't necessarily take the time to notice them. For me, at least, inspiration is what drives my life. I also believe that every person you meet has something inspiring to offer you. If its there, being offered, and its free, why not accept it? This year and for the rest of my life I want to allow myself to be inspired by as many people as I can.. you should too.  

Jan 28

I love my friends. They're so stinken versatile! If you think about it, having friends is like having every single type of Barbie. They make you happy, you have fun with them, they're there if you're upset and need someone to distract you, they let you draw tattoos on them (sometimes), and you can talk to them. Not to mention, there is always at least one that wants to go work out (Sporty Barbie), run to Target or the mall (Malibu Barbie), help you with homework (Career Barbie), listen to music (Retro Barbie), eat food (Ken), shave (Shaving Ken)... I think you get the picture. But above everything there always seems to be one around when you need one. Coming to college I've made so many new best friends. Some of them I honestly don't know how I've managed without knowing them before meeting them here at Purdue. It always scared me when people told me that its rare to stay friends with the people you hung out with in high school. I always wondered why that was and I came to college determined to never let that happen. I have 5 of the best friends I could have ever asked for from high school that I am still just as close (if not closer) with as I was in high school. My friends Katy, Amy, Debbie, Lauren and Elizabeth saw me through all of high school (two of them have stuck with me since elementary school) which included some of the biggest up and down moments of my life. I just don't see how anyone who was as good of friends as I was with these girls during high school (the most "dramatic" four years of your life), could ever let that friendship die out. I'll admit that it is definitely a challenge. Between the five of them and myself we are at 4 different schools and all have our new and different lives. Its weird to think that the people that they have become best friends with, aren't necessarily people I even know a thing about. We're no longer connected by anyone but ourselves. Between completely different class schedules, work schedules, sorority schedules, project schedules, exam schedules, and daily routines, you can imagine how difficult it can be to figure out a time when a phone or Skype call time works out. The truth is though, I love these girls to the moon and back and I know that no matter how long it takes for us to get ahold of each other or see each other, when we finally do its always as if no time has passed at all. Its the same 'ol same 'ol and I absolutely love it. As always I want to make sure that I try my best to always keep in touch with these girls and never have to tell people that its impossible to stay in touch with your high school friends.

Jan 27

Bah-dah-bah-bah-BAAAAH ...  Mc'ripped off. Let me just point out that the fry box on the left is a medium fry. The one on the right, that my friends, is the new Mighty Kids Meal fry. I think I may be over exaggerating when I say that there were 12 fries in that thing. Poor Carlee. Since I've signed up for the mini, I've been unusually good about my fast-food intake. This was only my second time that I've eaten McDonalds since I've been in training and man, it was so worth getting. Unfortunately I was the one who ordered the medium fry and Carlee's meal was the one that unexpectedly came with the small fry they appears to have gotten hit by a shrink ray. We took this as a sign that we probably should not be eating Micky D's during this time. February 1st is just around the corner (okay its today but we're pretending like I wrote this the right day) and that is when our training is going to be kicked up a notch and the spring break/mini marathon eating habits commence. Starting on the 1st up until spring break, I want to eat as healthy as possible. At least 3 meals a day and healthy snacks in between. And lots of water. This is gonna be stretch so we'll see how long this one lasts...

Jan 26

This is m'snack box. Its endlessly full of all of your sweet tooth's desires. I like to think of if as Mary Poppin's carpet bag.. Only its a box instead of a bag and covered in newspaper instead of carpet. Actually I'm lying about the "sweet tooth's desires" part... Its actually currently full of trail mix, Special K bars and maybe one or two candy kisses. I haven't exactly filled 'er back up since I've been back from winter break. My motivation to make Kam's Snack Box came from a mixture of boredom, an insane about of food scattered in and on my desk, and feeling bad for my clean roommate (aka my fake secret admirer, Clare) having to stare at my food mess 24/7. Remember when I said that I have a problem with getting rid of things? Yeah that goes for boxes too. This was a great way of getting rid of at least one of the ones I racked up last semester. I love arts and crafts and I remember being a really happy camper sitting in my room making this last year. I was looking at my box yesterday and started wondering why in the world I don't get crafty more often. When I'm at home, I'm constantly churning my boredom into creative projects. I like how the keep me busy and I love the outcome (most of the time..). I have decided that next time I go home I'm grabbing my painting supplies and lugging them back to Purdue with me. Its time for me to break my habit of turning to Facebook when I'm bored and do something that isn't a complete waste of my time. I'm going to make a jar full of options of things to occupy my time with when I have nothing to do. If you have any suggestions of things for me to stick in my Jar of Boredom.. please let me know! 

Jan 25

Senior year I got runner up for biggest bed head.. I consider this a proud accomplishment. I had a conversation the other day with some of my friends who went to private schools about school uniforms. I remember freshman year of high school I tried my best to look as primped and stylish as possible pretty much every day of school. This is when looking your best was very important. Sophomore year was the year that I started to experiment with my style. I started throwing together items of clothing that normally ended up looking like what I would imagine a blind person's outfit would look like had they picked out the outfit on their own. Sometimes my outfits looked hip... other/most times, not so much. This is when being an individual was very important. Junior year was when I finally started to settle into my own personal, more calmed down, style. However, I do recall that after two or so weeks into the year, 3 out of the 5 school days I was sporting a sweatshirt or leggings. This is they year when everyone starts to become really lazy. My wardrobe senior year was a whole different animal. My outfit consisted of sweatpants or leggings,  a t-shirt, and a hoodie. Any my infamous hair-do that almost made me win biggest bed head was me rolling out of bed after sleeping with my hair wet (this made it extra curly) and throwing it back into a low bun without being brushed, smoothed out, etc. To help give you a better idea of what this looked like, imagine, if you will, a person with their hair in a bun and then having a pillow fight. And then maybe rubbing a few balloons on their head. This was the year that everyone starts to not give two cakes what anyone thinks about them. Last year I managed to break my obsession with sweatpants and move on to wearing jeans but unfortunately I did a poor job of shedding the t-shirts and hoodies. After doing an unhealthy amount of shopping over Christmas break I told myself that I have to start ditching the sweats and putting my clothes to use. So far I've done a pretty good job and have yet to wear a pair of sweats to class. I'm hoping that I can keep it up for the rest of the semester so that I get in the habit of looking presentable when I go forth into the real world.