Adventure Weekend

Boy was it an adventurous weekend! (don't worry the experiences were well documented) It was also a long weekend and I am T.I.R.E.D. that what I've learned since I came to college- no one ever sleeps and you're always tired.

Friday Bryce took me up to the 3rd floor of main hall. It used to be dorm rooms but they have since shut it down. Everything was locked up there but we were on official school business so we had keys. Next on my list is to make it to the 4th floor (that ones super secret!)

The news of the week was that I got an appointed position in Student Government! Give it up for the Secretary! (thats me) This means I have meetings Wednesday nights after golf that I need to dress up for. If you're keeping a tally thats 3 times minimum every week I dress up (Friday Forums and Sunday) so I really needed some church clothes. So did Jill so her and I made the trip out to Roanoke so we could do some shopping. She had a 200$ budget from her mom. Mine told me to try and find a cheap maxi skirt (still love you!). Jill and I went straight from the mall to a local concert for a great family band. They are called The Hunts and they are amazing and their lead singer is also really attractive.

After the concert we decided we had not had enough fun for one day and got dressed up to walk around W&L's campus to taunt the frat boys. (sidenote: drunk frat boys throwing up in bushes= not a turn on) After the taunting we headed to a truck stop diner that is open 24 hours a day and made it to bed before 3AM.

Saturday was the humdinger! Here on the east coast there is a thing called Pumpkin Chunking (I have been informed it is actually called Punkin Chunkin) were you take a GIANT cannon type thing and launch pumpkins at 400 miles an hour 4,000 feet. It fantastic. So some kids from the Astronomy and Physics classes went up and I got to join them.

 That tiny little dot is the pumpkin (they actually ran out of pumpkins and that is a water filled 10 lb soccer ball) (I weighed it so its legit)

 Can you see the ball now?

 Here is a side angle. See how it gets all deformed its going so fast.

 See how the circled portion has white behind it? Thats the ball exploding over 4,000 feet away from us.

 Here is a viedo. The sound doesnt even begin to do it justice it was SO loud!!

 This is my new favorite thing. Its a pumpkin spice steamer. or as Jill and I call them PSS's. Pretty much her and I have drinken too many PSS's in the past week. But they are SO good. Its literally fall in cup. (don't burn your tongue it ruins the taste of fall a little bit)

This is the secret view out the front balcony on the third floor.

-ALC

Who I Am

I use to be a Toro, actually I still am, and will forever be a Toro. But now I am also a Southern Virginia University Knight. And I am pretty proud of that title. You should all just call me "Alyson the SVU Knight"

Today in church I became the "Relief Society Activities Committee Chair" and I am pretty excited about that too. We are going to have some rocking activities if I have anything to say about it, and I do- I'm the committee chair. Everyone is going to want to come to 5th wards activities!

I am also a cheerleader. I cheer on my roomies while they do homework, or myself while I try to not watch TV and study. More officially I cheer on the SVU sports teams. After 9th grade I didn't think I would cheer again and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to cheer here. The girls (and guys) on the squad are awesome and so supportive of each other. We have really bonded and more often than not you can find me with one of the cheer girls. 

This is me at the Volleyball game (which we totally kicked butt at) on Tuesday!

I am also a new member in some committees. Like the Honors Committee and the Communications Committee and I applied to be on the Service Committee.

Despite all the fun things I am involved in I am also a student and try to do my homework.

I am a friend too! The little gang of 4 we have created drove out to Roanoke to go to the mall and we had so much fun!!

I am also the greatest campaigner ever, (this is my set-up for the campaign fair).

I am not however, the Freshmen Class President as I hoped. All is well, I am so thankful for all of other activities I get to be involved in here! And I will run again in the Spring!

Most importantly I am having fun! so so much fun!

-ALC

Some Views from the Weekend

Here are some pictures to show you the view from Weekend 2.

(like how I rhymed that?)

(also the pictures are not in order, I could get them in order but it would take a lot of work and I can't quite keep my eyes open...)

The View of my Birthday Crown

 The View of my new Optical drive! Which means I can watch DVD's on my laptop! Redbox here I come! (no really there is a redbox 5 minutes away everyone walks to.)

 Extra Credit: This is the view of my Astronomy test. If anyone can tell me what Dr. Knudson's acronym stands for you win a prize.

 The view from Jonzzey's the school cafe. Can you see that sign?

 The view of the flower pots around school.

 The View of all the doors on campus, particularly this one into the girls dormatory

 The view of my bedroom wall with my birthday decorations sent all the way from home!

 The view of me.

 The view of my FINALLY decorated headboard thing.

The view of what students will be eating this week on campus.

 The View of my notebook

 The view of my eating cake at my surprise party

 The view of free pie at Waffle House at 2AM. and Pattie

 The view of the first letter of my name in the fence.

 Another surprise party view!

 View of the walls on campus, like this one. At 1

It was a pretty great weekend, with absolutely beautiful views.

-ALC

P.S. not pictured is a view of me at the hospital on Sunday after a friend had some seizures. She is okay now, it was an adventurous Sunday to mark an adventurous week! Voting is Thursday!

Weekend #1

Is anybody else surprised that even though I have not been going to this school for more than a week my weekend is already jampacked? I'm not I'm beginning to think life is just jampacked all day everyday!

Friday was convocation here at Southern Virginia: If you haven't ever heard of convocation that's okay because neither had I. Pretty much it is just the opposite of Graduation, and here at SVU it is a BIG deal. On Friday afternoon everyone got dressed up and met at the gym. All the faculty came out to pomp and circumstance in their robes and we had some speakers talk about the upcoming year. It did not get me out of any classes but it was still a really neat experience.

After convocation I went to the library and studied (pretty much I have decided the wifi in my dorm doesn't work EVER. I only go 3 places- the library, the cafeteria, and my bed) then at 5:00 I had a meeting for the new golf team! We have our first official practice tomorrow and I am so excited! I have missed golfing- also my dad says the golf team is a really great place to meet boys. At 6 we had a "Welcome to Institute!" dinner. Where they played games and tried to get more people to register (don't worry I did that back in like June). Then right after the Institute dinner I had to run get ready for our first pep assembly! I remembered all my cheers, didn't drop my flyer, and did my backhandspring without breaking my neck. All in all I would call it a very successful assembly! Then I went to bed because it was already 11.

The Saturday morning I got to go (bright and early) with some of the student government kids and help at a local BV fair type things to honor the heros of our lives. (I thought this was in honor of Constitution Day but that is actually on the 17th not the 7th)

After that I went straight to the first football game (we lost) where I got super sunburned- but was finally NOT cold! You would've thought the AZ girl would have remembered sunscreen but that was not the case. I look like a lobster. 

By the time I got home from the very long game it was time to go setup for the Annual Southern Virginia University Welcome Back Dance! My roommates got roped into helping (we actually had a total blast) and after the dance we came home to watch a movie together.

I hope every weekend to come can be as fun an filled as this one was!

-ALC

What I Learned in My First 2 Days at Southern Virginia

1-Don't plan on the sun waking you up. This here isn't Arizona and there is barely a sun in the middle of the day let alone in the morning. Here on the east coast they have a thing called fog. It causes the air to be cold and the visibility low.

2- If I ignore the parking lot I have a really great view out my window. Actually I'm on the other side of the room. But if I get up and invade the zones of both my other roommates and look out the window and THEN ignore the parking lot- I have a really great view.

3- Always be ready for a pop quiz. Even on the first day- this is college people! It is never too early for a pop quiz.

4- There are 60 rooms in my dorm building called the loft. 3 people live in a dorm and I think almost every dorm is occupied. So there is roughly 180 people in my building. At about 3:00 all 90 of those girls connect to the wifi and it is SO SLOW! long story short. The library has super fast wifi and no one tries to bother you.
      Also. The library has more comfortable chairs and a coffee table to prop my feet up on. AND a charger for my phone. It does not have a charger for my laptop which is almost dead. Or an elevator and it is 3 levels.


5- Do not be late to Provost Sowells class, or cheer. Actually just don't be late to anything.

This is what I have learned in 2 days and SO much more. Its amazing how many names you can learn in a few days, and classes, and schedules. My brain hurts- it had a long summer off. But I am excited to be back!

-ALC

P.S. I added an email subscriber to my sidebar. This allows you to enter your email and to be notified when I post a blog. This way you will never miss a thing! Subscribe at your own risk.

My New Residence

I would love a pen pal, or just a letter, or whatever. But people have asked me and you know it IS my birthday month :) so I posted my address over here -----> In the sidebar!

Welcome to Southern Virginia University!

I made it!

It took 3 days and 3 shopping trips but I finally have everything I need for my dorm and have unpacked all of my suitcases!

My ward was just switched so now I meet at 1:00 (which I am SO bummed about) so I have plenty of time to blog on Sunday mornings.

      Here's an orientation recap:

My orientation group, group 10, is good. We have about ten kids in our group and 4 of them aren't LDS which is surprising to me because it is an LDS college. Both of my roommates are in my orientation group as well as another girl I graduated with at Mountain View. In orientation we spend a LOT of time talking about the honor code. We also toured campus.

      Here's an extra-curricular activities recap:

I joined the cheer squad. We had our first practice with just the freshmen yesterday and then cheered at the first pep assembly that afternoon. I also joined the golf club. Dad and I went and saw the course but have not met with the team or coach yet. I also signed up to run for Freshman Class President. I am hoping I can break this little losing streak I have going on. If not I will join a stuco committee.

      Here's a little party update:

There was a party I went to on Friday night and then was invited to a little after party of sorts with some of the older students that were there. Then a few of us went back to one girls apartment and watched a movie. I had a blast and stayed out way too late.

      Here's a boy update:

On campus right now are only the freshmen boys and a few older boys that are leading tour groups. Also in town you can find many a man in full uniform from the Virginia Military Institute. The boys I have met (all 5 of them from my orientation group) were not potential boyfriends. I'm holding out for the upperclassmen to get here on Monday.

      Here's a dorm update:

My dorm room is big. People kept telling me that and I never believed them but it is really huge! We have a gorgeous view and I can't wait for fall! To get to my dorm I have to hike up a very large hill and an even larger set of stairs (which I also fell down yesterday) (don't worry no one was around) as such I come up here as not often as possible. I got my desk all set up the way I want it and am glad at the way it turned out. The 3 of us share one bathroom and I always have to pee at the same time one of them is in there. So far I have always gone to the bathroom in the lounge bathroom outside my hall. My roomates are super nice! They should use vibrating alarms instead of loud ones that sound like fire alarms. Also we should all get in the habit of using headphones. I have yet to explore my whole building I have been so busy, But when orientation is over I am going to go explore!

      Here's a photo tour courtesy of my mom's photog skills.

 This is my bed. I am farthest from the window near the bathroom.

 Here is the dorm. Before I am unpacked.

 Our bathroom.

 My desk- pre unpacking

 This is the back of main hall. The short building to the left is the cafeteria and the building to the right is the student center. It has a little cafe and a game room. It also has the mail center and the bookstore. And the dance hall which is where the cheer team practice.

 This is the front of main hall.

 Here is me in front of the Knight statue (we are the Knights)

 Institute building/ward building/dorms behind it

 My dorms. The Lofts

 The view from Buena Vista

 The SAC. This is where everything happens.

 The cheer team

 Dad and I in town. (see what this humidity does to my hair?)

 My closet. And people said my clothes wouldn't fit!

 My desk, and I

 Room 312

 My fridge stocked with food because it is so expensive to eat at the cafeteria

My bed. Welcome to Southern Virginia University

-ALC