Week 22: 05/24-05/30

Week 22

     05/24 - Today was the last day of my dad's time in Seattle. It was really great that he got to spend a few days here to help get me settled and see some cool stuff. For the last day, we headed out to Seward Park, a 300-acre park in the city equipped with walking and biking trails. It was a cool place and had some really tall trees, I think they are cedars. The park is a peninsula that sticks out into Lake Washington and has a view of Mt. Rainier. Unfortunately, my dad never got to see the mountain because he was never here on a day that was clear enough. If it's cloudy at all, the mountain becomes and invisible giant.
     05/25 - This have finally slowed down here in the Emerald City. Today is Memorial Day and instead of going out and doing crazy vacation-y stuff, we're finally taking a day to just chill out. Ryan and I got our stuff figured out at the apartment, unpacked and everything. We ran out to Target downtown and grabbed a couple more forgotten essentials. Today was also monumental because we figured out how the street names work; a first step in starting to act like a local.
     05/26 - Today was my first day at KPFF Consulting Engineers and it was great! The company is very large and very professional. I work on the 16th floor of a central downtown building, which is pretty neat. The staff are all very friendly and many of them are fresh out of their master's programs or have been working for only a few years. It should be a great job. My team leader took me and some other team members out for lunch as a sort of introduction. We went to a delicious Italian place called Il Fornaio, which I'll probably go to again sometime.
     05/27 - So, work is officially a thing so all of the crazy Seattle activity is gonna die down now a bit, which should let me catch up on this blog haha.
     05/30 - Sunny Saturday! Today I joined some people from the office (and Ryan) and we went paddleboarding at Green Lake. It was a lot of fun, I had never been paddleboarding before but it wasn't difficult at all to pick up. Green Lake park was cool too, there's a great bike/walking path around the lake as well as other park stuff.
     When we got back to our apartment we took full advantage of our rooftop grill, making some sweet food decisions in life:

Our view of Rainier from our roof!

Profound Thought: "It's much easier to remember thoughts in the moment, not two weeks after the fact"

Week 21: 05/17-05/23

Week 21

     05/17 - Today was my final day at the University of Illinois. I am a college graduate. It's very surreal. Last night I stayed at a hotel with my mom and brother, and today they and my dad and grandma attended my graduation ceremony. Before all of that, I attended Melissa's ceremony and got to watch her graduate with the College of ACES. At UIUC, the various colleges have separate ceremonies due to the large college size. The College of Engineering is so a large that they even split it up into two separate ceremonies, so, of course, I wasn't until Sunday night at 7:15pm. The weekend was extremely frantic and exhausting. I basically wore a suit for three days straight during the most humid weekend of the year, yikes. I'll be sure to get that dry cleaned before I leave Loves Park lol.

     I will never forget the people I have grown close to over my four years at UIUC. They have become like family to me and for that I am forever thankful. I'm going to create a Google spreadsheet with everyone's contact info that we can all keep updated. I hope this will help us keep in touch over the years and give us an address to send postcards! I love them all. I'm going to miss them a ton, hopefully I can manage to drag them all out to Seattle to visit.

     05/18 - After the craziness of graduation weekend it feels good to be home. Now it's time to pack strategically. When I packed up my room at school I made two separate piles for clothes, one for Seattle and one to keep at home, so clothes should be good. Otherwise, I have to make sure I have things like kitchen knives and my hammock. All a man needs, right? Hit the bank and yes, I got the suit dry cleaned, thank God.

     05/19 - Packed and ready to go! I will be taking two 45lb checked bags and a carry on bag to Seattle, plus a laptop. I was originally only gonna bring one large bag and Mail myself a box of goods, but it turns out it's cheaper to check that second bag. I'm excited for tomorrow's trip and hope everything will go well. Also, I made that spreadsheet I talked about, now I have to get people to fill it out.

     05/20 - SEATTLE Bound! The day has finally arrived to fly out to Seattle to begin my internship. My dad and I had a 7:00pm flight out of O'Hare. We got to the airport early and ate some Macaroni grill (lasagna). I am currently at 10,000ft up looking down on possibly The Badlands or something, everything looks rocky, hilly, and desolate, maybe we are already at the foothills of the Rockies. There are very few cities and lights below....Currently looking down on mountains! Finally!

     When we land the plan is to get out rental car and get to the hotel. My new roomie Ryan is already in Seattle at the apart,net, but we'll join him in the morning. UPDATE: Capt. Just came on intercom and said we are above Montana, so there we go. 1.5 hours left.

Where they throw fish!

     Made it safe and sound to the hotel, too tired to do anything so goodnight Seattle!
     05/21 - Took full advantage of my first day in Seattle! We visited the apartment and met up with/picked up Ryan there. It's a nice place! First we walked down to the building I'll be working and checked that area out. Apparently KPFF is in the hub of shopping so that's convenient. Next we visited the Space Needle, which was really neat and not too expensive. Afterwards we walked on over to the famous Pike Place City Market where they throw around fish and put gum on the wall. We didn't actually see the gum wall yet but the market was sweet. It's only a few blocks down the hill from where I'll be working so I'm sensing fresh fish and veggies in my future. I'll just eat like a European and get my daily dinner each day on the way home from work!
     For lunch we grabbed some food at Anthony's Fish Bar, which was pretty decent fast seafood, though I know there will be much better fare in the city elsewhere. After the market we decided it would be good to get some essentials for the new apartment. Thanks to Melissa, I have a handy pocket notebook to keep track of my day and make the all-so-important "to do" lists that I've become a slave to. Using said notebook, I jotted out a list of items we needed to turn the apartment space into a home. We decided that the 'burbs would be the best place to get all our stuff, so we headed out to Rentfort, WA, first stop: Goodwill.
     So, at home and anywhere I'm a pretty big Goodwill junkie. I thrive on buying seemingly (and actually) useless items to clutter up my living spaces with the idea that it's just junk so if it gets thrown out, no biggie. What I've found about Seattle is that the Goodwill stores here are HUGE and loaded with treasures, real treasures, not just junk. It's a good thing I don't have a car here because that could become dangerous. Anyways, we went to Goodwill and got enough stuff to turn an empty apartment into a ten-week home. each of us got a plate, cup, coffee mug, and chair and we also picked up necessary pots, pans, and utensils...and a narrow table.

   


     Next we hit up Target for misc supplies to round-out our adventure. Finally, we ate at a sweet Rock n'Roll themed restaurant called The Rock: Woodfire Pizza and Spirits. The burgers were massive and the beers were delightful. That about rounded out the first day. It was exhausting but a lot of fun and I looked forward to the next day's activities.
     05/22 - Today was another adventurous day. We took the ferry to Bainbridge Island to check out what was over there. We found a quaint little town with some cool small shops. We went on foot but next time it would be good to bring a car. We stopped at a cool bakery called Blackbird Bakery. They had good treats and coffee. We also took a short nature walk along the water. I would highly suggest taking a ferry ride if you come to Seattle, it's the best way to see the Seattle skyline!
     When we got back to the mainland we visited Top Pot Doughnuts, it was really good. (ASIDE: Note that you can always find more details about Seattle in my other page). For dinner we hit up Pike Place Brewery, which I hope to return to enough times to try all of their in house brews. After that we went to Owl and Thistle Irish pub and listened to a pretty cool musical duo play some folksy songs. Finally, we ended the night at Fado Irish Pub around the corner and listened to some live music by a live Irishman...Long day...Wait, just kidding! After Fado we went over to the Triple Door to find out about live music in the area and ended up staying for a bit, listening to yer another live musical act. It was a fun evening and I'm glad I got to bar hop with my dad.
     05/23 - Day 3 of Seattle had less rushing around, but we still did some pretty awesome stuff. First we took the Seattle Monorail to the Folklife festival in the Seattle Center, followed by a walk through the EMP Museum (literally just walked through, didn't want to pay to see exhibits). The Folklife festival was pretty cool, there was tons of music to be found and a bunch of food/stuff vendors. Apparently this festival is completely funded by donations, making it the largest donation-funded festival in the country.
     Later in the day we decided on a whim to try and drive up Mt. Rainier. We didn't really think it through, and being cloudy it was not the greatest day to go. We started towards the mountain and took the wrong route (thanks Google Maps). The route DID take us the shortest path but it wasn't to the entrance of the park, just a random side road. Anyways, it was super cloudy and foggy as we got up into the foothills, so it didn't really make a difference, we couldn't see a thing. We did have a really fun time though driving through the fog. We got out a few times to breathe in the fresh mountain air and listen to the sound of silence. I took this picture that I thought was pretty neat:

Week 20: 05/10-05/16

Week 20

     05/10 - I've decided that this week I'll do away with any presumption that the only posted pictures are the weekly selfie. I like pictures I want to post several as they are required. Good day.

     05/13 - Update on my life: finals week sucks, but honey roasted peanuts are good. I've basically been living on naught but peanuts and coffee for three days, I may be insane.

     05/14 - FINISHED MY LAST FINAL EXAM AT UIUC!!! ....and it was awful. I was literally hot and bothered. The exam room was very warm, I was in a sweater, and it was tough, couldn't have been a worse last exam, but I'm DONE! It's Thursday. Time for the Illini Inn!

     05/16 - Today begins graduation weekend at UIUC. This morning I went to the large convocation ceremony at Memorial Stadium. It was cool to see just how large the graduating class is and how the difference colleges compare in size. In the afternoon I went over to Melissa's graduation party at her family condo. Her family is loads of fun and they apparently turn every event into a tailgate, which is pretty baller. My mom and brother picked me up from there and we hung out to make up for a distanced Mother's Day. Even though we tried to make it about her, she ended up buying US a bunch of new shirts and food and things, thanks Mom! now I have a bunch of fresh dress shirts for my new job. Later we hung out at the Shack one last time with the Mass family and the gang. Sure gonna miss that place :'( I ended up staying with my mom and bro at the hotel they rented, they'll be attending the CEE stuff tomorrow.

Commencement at Memorial Stadium

Week 19: 05/03-05/09

Week 19

05/09 - Unfortunately, this was the only picture taken of me this week. Also, I'm not exactly sure of what transpired this week. There was a lot of HW to finish up due to it being the final week of actual classes. Steel II was a great class but man did it have some rough HW at the end.

Profound Thought of the Week: "Try your hardest to be photogenic. I have some pretty bad pictures out there in the ethos."

Week 18: 04/26-05/02

Week 18

     04/26 - So today my parents came down to CU to pick up most of my stuff. The rug is gone that tied the living room together, so that's weird. Also most of my bedroom is pretty stripped down. I packed up my large quantities of Murphy's logo glasses, a very large box. I finally took my parents to Black Dog with Melissa and it was a hit. If you don't know about Black Dog, you should. I would argue it's one of the best restaurants in the state of Illinois, definitely the best in town.
     04/29 - Murphy's Pub. I can't remember if I've talked about Murph's before, but I ought to. Every Wednesday for the past year I've gone to get their "Logo Glass" special. Basically it involves purchasing a branded glass of a different beer each week and getting cheap refills. The best part is you get to keep the glass! There have been a few flops, but many have been very cool. Some favorites are the Capitol Supper Club glass, a Stella glass with stem, a Two Brothers stemmed Domain Dupage glass, a Shiner Bock glass, a tall Budweiser glass, and a Revolution can-shaped Rebel IPA glass. Many of the beers themselves were crafty and wonderful. It's a cool tradition that I'm glad to have been a part of here. Many of us go regularly, but only I went enough to get every glass and the T-Shirt that was earned.  
     05/01 - We finally got to implement the big Aubra surprise party. After several weeks of designating tasks, gathering materials, etc., the kegger was thrown and it was a wild success. It was my first kegger and it was great. I did a keg stand, as is my right. We tried to help Dwi do one but he wouldn't hold himself up so it turned into waterboarding (beerboarding). Nobody died or got sick so that's a plus. This week we'll finish off the last quarter of a keg.

Profound Thought of the Week: "where did all the Sour Patch parents go?"

Week 17: 04/19-04/25

Week 17

     04/19 - I think I had an undeclared rule that I would only use true "selfies" as my weekly photo. Well as it turns out, I didn't take one this week, not a single one. BUT I did take this photo with this beauty. "Who is this person?!" you might ask. Well folks, I have a confession. I am dating Melissa. I have been basically sort of for a while (we never actually put a date on when it started). This is the very same Melissa I have referenced in the past, she who shares an interest in blogging. Anyways, spring break happened aaaaaaaaand long story short, the cards fell nicely into place :) Now I don't think this the the proper medium by which to pour out all my feelings. I know a lot of people do that in blogs but they ain't me. I'll leave you with this: I'm happy, we're happy, life is good.
     04/24 - Today is my good friend Aubra's birthday! 22! ... We've been in the process of planning an awesome surprise birthday party, but we can't implement said party until next week. I'm not afraid of this spoiling the surprise because honestly these words were not written on 04/24 but on 05/04. Yes, I'm behind the game when it comes to updating this blog.

Profound Thought of the Week: "There's no such thing as poor timing. Life is all about those moments in the present, and nothing is ever timed the way you hope or expect."

Week 16: 04/12-04/18

   

Week 16

     04/13 - I got a fellowship for Texas A&M! I still have to hear from Purdue, but this fellowship is a great deal and may be the deciding factor. The best part about it is that I get to pay in-state Texas tuition, which is half of the out-of-state cost. I'm hoping to know by the end of the week what my decision will be.
     04/14 - I caved and bought GTA V for the PC. I haven't really played video games since like November, and as such I was not going to get the game, BUT I decided to get it because my best friend Brendan always talks me into buying things basically. This is probably good considering he's going into professional sales. Also, I finally cut off my hair but I'm happy about how it turned out. I think I finally figured out how to talk to the hairdresser in such a way as to make her understand what I want it to look like haha. Next time I'll just bring in that ^^^ picture.
     04/16 - I didn't get an offer from Purdue, but I feel good because TAMU is going to be great! I officially accepted the fellowship and admissions offer, I'm soon to be an Aggie!

Profound Thought of the Week: "Having applied for four schools but only getting a fellowship offer from one, I realized that 1) it was good that I applied to TAMU and 2) Not getting good offers from the other three schools made my choice much easier. Rejection can sometimes be a good thing."

Week 15: 04/05-04/11

   

Week 15

     04/05 - Happy Easter! I went to my great aunt and uncle's this year, as is the tradition. I got to see most of my family, which was good because I realized I may not see them for a really long time. I mean a really long time, like September. After Seattle I'll be heading to grad school someplace almost immediately, so the next time I'll be around is the first week of September for Kelly's wedding.
     04/05 - Still not certain about graduate school, but I know I've gotten into Texas A&M! It's in College Station, TX and has a top-ranked structures program. It would be very cool to spend about 11 months in Texas, so I just may end up going there.
     04/10 - Mom's Weekend. So this year my mom couldn't make it out for mom's weekend but I had a lot of fun hanging out with some other moms. On Friday night we all watched Katie's long-anticipated dance recital for her club Velocity Dance, of which she is the president. It's a Mom's Weekend tradition and something cool we look forward to each spring. Afterwards, several of us went to our favorite place on campus, the Illini Inn. Mel's mom (hereby known as "Sweater Momma") and Kathleen's mom (hereby known as "Liz") joined us in our not-so-drunken trip. Mom's Weekend is a fun time to hear about the "good old days" of college-age life from the mothers, definitely a fun perspective.
     04/11 -  Today we went to the Indian color festival of Holi, which celebrates good times and color. Our party consisted of me, Melissa, Sweater Momma, David, Aubra, Dwi, Jimmy, and some guy named Brandon I think... Anyways, it was a lot of fun throwing around bags of colored powder at each other and strangers, all for charity. There was also some stellar Indian food there, which I always tell myself to eat more of in life.

Profound Thought: "Family, family, family. I realize I do want to explore the country, but when it comes time to settle down and raise a family, I want to be near family. Also, remember to eat Indian food because it's yummy."

Week 14: 03/29-04/04

   

Week 14

     03/29 - Coming down from the Spring Break high, time to get to work. A big part of said work is finding a place to live in Seattle. I know it'll be tough but it's exciting too.
     04/03 - Jesus Christ Superstar. So, my neighbors have this long-held family tradition of playing and sing-alonging the songs from the musical Jesus Christ Superstar on Good Friday. The tradition started in the 80s with just their family and has since grown to included family friends, including my family. It's a lot of fun! The first time we went we didn't know any of the songs and thought the idea was "out there," but by the second year we went it became something I've looked forward to each year. Recently they've moved the event to a local cafe, Katie's Cup, in downtown Rockford. My dad and brother joined the musical ensemble this year with Alex and Steve. It was great fun and a cool way to reflect on Good Friday.

Profound Thought of the Week: "Traditions are interesting. They don't make any sense to people outside of them, but with a little bit of experience it's easy to pick up what's going on."

Week 13: 03/22-03/28

   

Week 13

SPRING BREAK HAS BEGUN! Below I have summarized the different legs of the trip. I may write out the full story someday, but I'm way behind on my blog posts, so for now you get a summary :p

First Leg: Memphis, TN

• Dates: 03/21-03/22
• Lodging: Felizita's (AirBnB)
• Food: Central BBQ, Brother Juniper's, Blue Monkey Bar
• Bars: The Tap Room (road frosty)
• Places Visited: Beale Street, Gibson Factory, Riverwalk, MLK Memorial, Arts District, Victorian Village, Graceland (just the sign lol)
• Highlights: The man with the shopping cart, eating a half-rack of ribs after 6 hours of driving, Kathleen "tripping in Memphis," David's new cocktail, lots of walking...lots, Lorraine Hotel was very surreal
• Quotes: "Walking in Memphis" (wayyyyy too much), "Watch your B's and W's kids" (me), "Tripping in Memphis!" (Kath), "I ordered a rum & whiskey, it's a bit much" (Dave)

Second Leg: Gulf Shores, AL

• Dates: 03/22-03/27
• Lodging: Cove 117A via Young's Suncoast Vacation Rentals
• Food: Pasta, bagels, Bahamas Bob's, beggs
• Bars: The Hangout, Bill's by the Beach, Pink Pony Pub
• Places Visited: The beach for dayyyyys, the pier, Pier 33, gift shops
• Highlights: morning run/walks on the beach, hours of sunshine, poolside fun, bubba kegs, Superman kite, aloe, eat when hungry & sleep when tired, night naps, mermaiding with Mel and Katie, our puppy Jeff, Dirty Dave dancing, no responsibilities whatsoever!
• Quotes: "Pierre 33, trece tres...expecto patronum, they'll never know...a little bit of wingaurdium leviosa and I'll just float on away" (Jeff), "I'm too hot...hot damn," "PB&J with salsa, not very great" (Katie), "I think I'll just pee my pants, I'm going to shower later anyway...are you sh$&$;$($ting me" (Kath&me), "Wait, does everyone here think I'm gay?" (Dave), 

Third Leg: New Orleans, LA

• Dates: 03/27-03/28
• Lodging: Plaza Suites Hotel
• Food: Daisy Dukes, Cafe du Monde, chicken shack
• Bars: Pat O'Brien's, Bourbon Street bars
• Places Visited: French Quarter area: St Louis Cahedral, Bourbon St., Preservation Jazz Hall, Oak Alley Plantation
• Highlights: everything was pretty awesome, I want to return. The plantation was neato.

Future Javan: if you decide to make this trip again, stop by Memphis for food but keep on going to Alabama, it's the place to be. I'll probably write out the entire trip somewhere, as many details as I can remember. It could fill a small book though so it may or may not make the blog.

Profound Thought: "Things don't always happen the way you expect, but be hopeful and you just might  be delightfully surprised :) Also, swimming pools are a great invention and should be frequented from time-to-time."

Week 12: 03/15-03/21

   

Week 12

     03/16- The week is winding down to Spring Break! I got lucky in that I have a front-loaded week. After Tuesday I'll have nothing to do until post-break. That allows me to finalize much of the planning for the trip.
     03/18 - There are still four days till the trip but I've already packed. All of my luggage is black somehow, down to my tripod and baseball bat. I probably over-packed but I don't really care, we'll make it work.
     03/20 - My bro turned 20 today! He's pretty cool. I mailed home his present because I can't see him in person this year. I sent him a Sons of Anarchy blanket. It's pretty large and very soft, all good things. Tomorrow we leave for the trip! I'll push my 21st post to next week's post so I can encompass the entire trip in one post....also, I discovered I can semi-pull off the man bun, but it's not a suggested look.

Profound Thought: "It's really not that hard to plan a trip with people, you just have to do it and hope people will pay you back."

Week 11: 03/08-03/14

Week 11

     03/11 - Got some sick shorts for Spring Break! Decided that shorts were necessary for a beach trip so I picked some up while I was browsing the 'ole Ragstock in town. I also left with bandanas, a Chief ring, and ended up getting a hat at Urban for Kath. Which leads me to an early profound thought...
     03/13 - Hey, so remember that interview I had last week? Yeah well after a week+ of anxious anticipation I found out I got the job! Whoooo hooo! I talked to my parents and people and I'm about 95% positive I'll take it! This weekend I'll talk with the company on the phone to work out some details. I'm excited! Seattle here I come!
     03/14 - Meet my man Simba. Simba fell into my care when my brother Jonah was born. Basically, people noticed that the new baby was getting a lot of attention so my mom's friend Lisa bought me Simba. He's been my main homie ever since. I only recently decided that he might enjoy college life so I brought him back with me the last time I was home. Long live the king!

Profound Thought of the Week: "Sometimes, a sale price is a good enough reason to buy someone a present."

Week 10: 03/01-03/07

Week 10

     03/02 - I got an interview! I will be doing a phone interview with KPFF, an engineering consulting firm in Seattle, WA. The summer internship would be an awesome experience! Time to get my game face on. It may be very premature, but I've already looked at the trip to Seattle if I drove. It would take 30 hours, I would drive through Minneapolis, visiting my cousin Kelly there, then through Fargo, visiting my cousin David there (as well as any Fargo movie/TV gift shops). From there I'd have a long driven through North Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, and Washington. I would totally turn it into a massive road trip, complete with visiting and camping at Yellowstone and other National Parks on the way. .... I may be ahead of myself, but I don't care.

     03/05 - The interview went well! We talked for about an hour about the company and the internship and my past work experience. The position would entail me working in the Structural Engineering team at KPFF. Along with the other interns, I would be involved in a real-time bridge or building project doing real design work. He said the interns are treated like entry-level engineers, so that's awesome. I am now really interested in the opportunity. I was told that there is just one internship position and that he'd call or email me next week! Wish me luck!

     03/06 - Unofficial has arrived; officially. Now, as a senior, Unofficial has become much more of a symbolic gesture than an opportunity to get completely plastered. This is only my second celebrated Unofficial, but it is also my last. (Freshman and sophomore years I was a good boy and visited home). A big part of me feels like I missed out on a lot freshman and sophomore years but, the past two years have been so great that it cancels out I think. This year, my friends and I planned it out to a tee. We started out with pancakes, mimosas and Irish coffee at the Shack at roughly 9am. I went to class from 11-2 then headed over to Mel^2 for healthy and unhealthy snacks and Irish car bombs. Finally, we ended the night at my place with Shamrock shakes, gummy bears, and cheesy potatoes, David really enjoyed those...all of them. Nobody went to crazy, which is always good. My neighbors got raided by the police, which is always good. That's about it.

Profound Thought of the Week: "It's never really about the booze, it's about the friendships"

Week 9: 02/22-02/28

Week 9

     02/25 - Tomorrow is the career fair. Ahh! So today I'm hardcore polishing shoes, prepping my resume, and researching companies. This week's post should have a professional photo, which I'll take later tonight or in the morning.
    02/27 - The career fair went well I think. I talked to about 9 companies, many of them out-of-state. Hopefully I'll get a sweet internship.
    02/28 - So my brother, Brendan, Big Sic, Bleck, and some kid named Geary decided that because they couldn't be here for Unlfficial next week, that they would stop by UIUC for a night. It was quite the night. We had a lot of fun just goofing around and acting like stupid boys, reminded me of being home. Also I met I some Swedes and tried to explain how I'm Swedish slightly, they weren't having it.

Profound thought of the week: "Internships are a great way to explore the country, you may as well be available for travel while you're young and have no real responsibilities."

Week 8: 02/15-02/21

Week 8

     02/19 - Spring Break plans are well under way. We have booked a place with someone in Memphis named Felizita, who sounds cool. It'll be good to have a local's advice when picking out places to see and eat. In Gulf Shores, we got a condo across-the-street from the beach, which is baller. Now we just have to figure out the New Orleans leg of our journey. Oh, and "we" officially consists of myself, David, Melissa, Katie and Kathleen. "Walking in Memphis" will become the trip theme...
     02/20 - First of all, shout out to all my pears! Secondly, shout out to my friend Melissa's blog for giving me a shout out earlier. So many shout outs, so little time. Finally, it may behoove you to know that I've never used behooved in a sentence before and it may be the wrong context. Also, the Spring Break Clan (hereby known as SBC) has officially booked our paradise getaway. Below are some pics I stole from a website: <insert stolen photos>
     02/21 - Home sweet home. I thought I'd make a trip home to see my parents and such. I won't be  back for Spring Break so I thought I'd stop in. It's been a good couple of days, I got to see my grandma and cousins. On Saturday night I enjoyed going to Neighbors bar to watch a local band The Steevie Nicks perform. The band members are all old friends of my parents so it's cool to see them play. Right now I'm watching the movie Avatar on TV, which is a good movie even thought it's basically a remake of Disney's Pocahontas.

Week 7: 02/08-02/14

Week 7

     02/09 - So if you look you'll see that I recently added a "Project" and several "Recipes" to the blog. I've finally reached a point in my "Song of Fire and Ice" books that I'm PAST the TV show. This is a big deal because it took like 3000 pages to reach this point. I'm now in the 4th book but I've heard that the 4th and 5th books cover the same general timeline but from different and new perspectives. This is bothersome because when the new season of the show comes out in April, it's quite possible that I will see content from the 5th book though I'm technically "ahead" in the 4th book. Because of this, I must either not watch the show...or read really really consistently for the next two months. When I was younger and had nothing to do reading a 1000+ page book per month was no biggie, but that's not quite the case anymore.

     Twice now at the gym I've opted to make my cardio session of exercise one in which I read whilst on the exercise bike. If I make a habit of this I just may get through both books in time...

     02/10 - Looking back through the past couple weeks I realized that I've already mentioned my friend Kathleen twice, but nobody else, which is annoying because everyone deserves a spot on this page. As to not play favorites and to bring some interesting lists into this blog, I will now list all of my close college friends in the order and circumstances in which I met them:

1. John - my first roommate, who I decided I could live with for an additional two years. I never had to worry about him doing anything stupid, which is exactly what you want in a roommate.
2. Brad - my freshman year next-door neighbor who has that "Brad Reputation." His freshman roommate peed all over his room and he's my go-to for video game advice. I feel like he also basically introduced me to the next few people on here, so I owe him that.
3. David - also a neighbor at Newman, I think mostly we met from having physics together but we hung out a lot at Newman obsessing over film and Walking Dead. So naturally we've lived together at bropartment for two years.
4. Aubra - I met her through Brad I do believe, but it's hazy because we all kind of hung out all at once. Instant friend, completely dependable. Also, easy to scare with zombie makeup.
5. Will - also met through Brad at the same time I think...he's especially hazy because you never quite know where he is or what he's up to. He's the oldest in my grade so naturally he became the rum-runner for everyone.
6. Katie - Katie came around at the same time as the previous two, we all hung out in the Lewis Lounge a lot (lol). All jokes aside, Katie is basically my main nigga and we have a super-chill-hipster kind of connection.
7. Kathleen - For the past four years I've associated Kathleen with Katie so I assume I met her at the same time too...but it may have been slightly after. Regardless, Kathleen redefined for me what it means to be busy with homework, idk how she does it. If I want a good laugh, I turn to Kath.
8. Melanie - I met Melanie at the same time as the bulk of the group, probably through Katie or Brad. I was confused when she went to China for a semester because I don't think anyone told me. Now she is gonna kill terrorists, so that's cool.
9. Andy - Now I think I remember I met Andy at some point late into freshman year through John probably because they share a major. Basically we all did HW together in the caf till like 3am daily. When it was time to choose an apartment, Andy, John, and David were the obvious choice of roommates. As a musician, he's the John Paul Jones to my Jimmy Page.
10. Kelly - Kelly, Gail, Matt, and I suffered through TAM together in our freshman/sophomore years. Kelly is also a structural engineer so we continue to joke around about the hell that was: TAM. Also we both like Seinfeld and that somehow comes up way too much.
11. Peter - I didn't actually meet Peter at Newman but he's a structural engineer so I think we met in classes like sophomore year then I realized he was a Newmanite. He's the only person on this list that I know for sure I could not out-drink. I might live with him if I go to Texas.
12. Dwipayan - So I'm fairly certain Dwi was blackout drunk when I met him. He kept trying to sit in a chair in the caf but was failing at it hardcore. I remember thinking he was hilarious and one of the most cheerful people ever, both drunk and sober. He moved into the bropartment senior year after John moved out and has been spreading insightful wisdom ever since. Dwi is the only other person I live with who consistently likes spicy food and vegetables.
13. Melissa - I met Mel like first semester sophomore year maybe, definitely at the Newman caf. At first I was confused as to who she was exactly because Aubra and Katie seemed to know her very well but I had never seen her before. This past year especially we've come to rely on each other for advice and support, definitely someone to have in your corner.
14. Kevin - So one of the instances in which I was eating lunch with Aubra, Katie, and Mel this character showed up and launched into a fantastical story of a seemingly ordinary encounter. After about the third time this happened I indirectly realized he and Mel were dating. At first I guess I just thought he was the local storyteller stopping by to spread his stories. 
15. Marylynne - So one day John showed up with a girlfriend and that's the story of how I met Marylynne. Since then she's probably spent more time in my kitchen than anyone else has and I would definitely hire her as a babysitter someday.
16. Tommy! - So Tommy! always has an exclamation point after his name, as far as I'm concerned. I know for sure when I met Tommy! because it was Mom's Weekend 2014 and we were all with our moms at the Shack. At the time he was just Katie's new beau and now he's a part of the family. If I ever need a pep talk before a run or major decision, or if I just want to engage in a rap battle, I'll go to him. He's the only person on this list who didn't live at Newman (maybe?).

So, apart from Tommy!, literally all of the people on that list lived at Newman for at least two years. It's a hell of a place. Also, to those of you on this list, correct me if the circumstances are not correct. Though freshman year felt like yesterday, apparently my memory isn't what it once was.

     02/13 - So yes, as you can see in my picture for the week, I finally shaved after like 6+ months of a well-trimmed beard. I don't really like how cold the world is now but I'll keep things in line until post-career fair mumbo jumbo.

Profound Thought of the Week: Sometimes a selfish quest can lead to a selfless act. I stopped by a store on my way home one day to look for some sales/stuff that I could buy for myself. I didn't really need anything but I felt like spending money. Well when I went in there I ended up getting nothing for myself and leaving with a gift for someone else, something to brighten up their day/week/life. If I hadn't have had that "selfish" desire to spend money on myself, I wouldn't have bought the gift.

Week 6: 02/01-02/07

Week 6

^^^So I didn't realize that the volume buttons on iPad take a picture when camera is open...this is what happens, candid this week.

     02/01 - Super Bowl Sunday...or should I say, Katy Perry Sunday. I hosted a party, but we all mostly just wanted to watch KP. Well, actually we just wanted to watch Kathleen watch KP. (For those of you who don't know, Kathleen loves Katy a bit too much...) But yeah, it was good "last college Superbowl" for us all.
     Anyways, I'm kind of liking not being swamped with homework, go figure. Rather than pursue a job or research, I've decided I'm going to look into getting grad school scholarships and contacting people at ALL the schools I've applied to. That way wherever I go I (hopefully) already have something set up. We'll see what happens!

     02/04 - Let's see...So I clearly need a shave and haircut though I'm not really ready to act/look like a professional yet, is that immature of me? I think if I start getting into that mindset I'll be better motivated to apply for all those scholarships and such. If I look the part I'll be ready for any random research or job interviews that may pop up....

     02/07..so yeah, haircut didn't happen this week. What DID happen though is I finally got around to working on one of my mini construction projects: The Bike Trailer. If you head on over to the "Projects" page I posted some initial designs and work pics...also, I've decided that it would be good to pursue research this semester after all, so I'll contact some profs about that.

Profound Thought of the Week: Be an encouraging person. It sounds stupid but really, so often I've found that even the smallest words of encouragement can go a long way. Most people, myself included, tend to just say nothing or say little when someone is going through a hardship because we don't want to give off the wrong impression or be "embarrassed" by it. It doesn't really make sense to withhold encouragement.

Week 5: 01/25-01/31

Week 5

weeeeeek five

So I decided to leave that ^^^ up there.

     So, you can probably tell by now that there is no real theme to any of the photos I post of myself...maybe I should've been consistent, but nah.
     I've also also decided that since I love to cook so much (because I love to eat so much), I'm going to put my recipes on this blog so I don't have to try and find the messy greasy paper pages they are most likely written on. So I'll add a page to the blog. Don't expect any sort of order or sorting as of yet, it'll begin as just a place to scribble ideas. When I get around to typing them, I'll start with:

1. "Beer-bread" Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
2. Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (optional walnuts)

     I'd also like to get a page started of "inventions/projects" that I've done...cause I like to build stuff, mostly useless stuff but it's something to do.
                                                            ....actually I just looked and the photo theme is "eyebrows"

Week 4: 01/18-01/24

Week 4

     Week four, back at school and loving it. I think I was a little socially deprived last week. I'm all for being a lone wolf, but it feels great to be back with my pack. The big news this week is that our friend Kathleen is back from England so it's been cool hanging with her again. Otherwise, it's just nice being around everyone. I'm going to make it my goal to live the hell out of this last semester.

     Time to make a senior bucket list? I've never been a fan of "bucket lists" in general, but I still wanna do some stuff. For starters, I think it would be cool to try and spend some one-on-one time with each of my friends here before we all go separate ways. It could be grabbing some drinks or food, but I want it to be something cool. We'd just have at least one deep convo about life and the future and our plans after school. I'll probably make a page on here about it with pics with each person. "Friend dates" to look back on lol. Maybe I'll even take notes about each person's plans and such so we can all look back like ten years from now and laugh at ourselves.

     Steam tunnels are on the bucket list, as well as climbing to Follenger rooftop. Also, there are these two awesome trees on the east side of the Illini Union that would be cool to climb and hammock up high...
     First week of class was pretty uneventful, which was good. It may be a super chill last semester unless I get a job or some research to do. If not, maybe I'll get around to finally building that canoe in the shack basement....umm

Profound thought of the week: "if you want to feel like a celebrity, take a very long trip then come back...friends will flock to see you/hear your stories."

Week 3: 01/11-01/17

Week 3

My final week at home was a pretty solitary one, I enjoyed enough Netflix to last me a while. On Sunday I watched the Golden Globes and it reminded me of all the films and TV I wanted to watch, so I made a list.

Movies: American Sniper, Bernie, Whiplash, St. Vincent - Murray, The Imitation Game, Birdman, The Theory of Everything, Big Eyes, MockingJay, Selma

TV: House of Cards (finish), The Newsroom, Homeland, Ray Donovan, Archer, Parks and Rec

I've alredy seen a few of the movies and I'm deep into Homeland and House of Cards. I got pretty antsy to get back to school, and it's good to be back now.

It was good to spend some time with my parents, just the three of us hanging out...but I'm glad I'm not an only child haha.

Deep Thought of the Week: I realized this week that mankind is not meant to be stagnant....at least me. I mean more than just the work required to survive, we are designed to keep ourselves busy. It was very weird not working this break, the first time I haven't in years. I guess I have an inherent need to be doing something productive with my time.