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."