Welcome to Clara Dickson

North Campus, Ithaca, NY

As many of you know, I took an RA position in Clara Dickson Hall this year, as the live-in advisor for the 70 freshman on my floor, particularly the 36 girls living on my end of the hall. Seem like a lot? Dickson is actually the largest dorm in the Ivy league, holding over 500 students. Now imagine move in day with just 1 elevator-- we like to call it "barely controlled chaos."

Although it required quite a bit of scrambling and frantic packing, I managed to get the phone call offering me the position on a Thursday, accept the position by Friday, and move to Ithaca for training by that Wednesday. Talk about a time crunch. But training is what gives you the chance not just to learn the rules, but also to get to know your staff and your building (Dickson took me a while to learn to navigate, I have to admit), and I'm really glad I was able to make it.

After the intensive week of non-stop trainings, staff bonding, and bulletin board making, the freshmen finally moved in and hit the ground running with orientation week. It didn't take long to settle into the flow of RA life, running programs and being on call every so often.

For those of you who don't know, "on-call" means the Dickson staff takes turns being the designated staff member in the building. You hold the on-call phone, which receives emergency calls from residents, and you walk around the building a couple times to make sure everything is in order. The biggest issue Dickson has to deal with is lock outs-- because there are so many single rooms in Dickson and the doors lock automatically, residents are always locking their keys in their rooms and having to call us to let them back in. So far, every lock out I've had to respond to has been someone who forgot their keys when they went to shower-- bummer for them, locked out in a towel.

Just a few pictures of the set up in my room-- it took me a while to get moved in, but I got there in the end.

Pictures and posters help with the painfully white walls

RAs get free microwaves/fridges. Also note the pirate flag-- a birthday gift. Last year, my suite mates had flags from their respective cultures, but since I'm somewhat of a mutt, I somehow or other ended up with a pirate flag.

I'm really enjoying the position, so much so that I've decided to come back senior year. I hope to be able to stay in Dickson, where I know my staff (many of whom will also be returning) and my advisor, but apparently they can't guarantee that. We'll see.

A Sconnie Summer

Madison, WI, Prairie Du Chien, WI, Elkhart, WI, Minocqua, WI, and Chicago, IL

June 1-August 4, 2010

I know I've been a bit lax about my posting, but my business has no real end in sight, I'm taking this opportunity to have a study break and reacquaint myself with the internet. But before I get to my photo-recap of my lovely Sconnie Summer, allow me to share the inspiration behind my blog title. It's an old fire side song from my days at Camp Black Hawk called "On the Loose" that I've always had a soft spot for. I posted it in the side bar of the blog, so take a peek if you're interested. I also headed it with my favorite picture from this summer-- it seemed particularly relevant.

Before I move on to the pictures, I have to give a nod to the one big part of my summer which I have no photos of. Some of you may know I took an internship as a communications specialist for the UW Madison Veterinary School this summer, writing articles, pamphlets, and press releases for the school. The internship involved interviewing a lot of really amazing scientists and compiling their stories for the Vet School, the university, and to publicize into greater media circles. For a look at some of the stories I wrote over the summer, I've put links in a box titled "Veterinary School Internship Portfolio" at the bottom of the page-- check it out if you're interested.

Now, for the good stuff--

Hillary, digging stuff out from under her bed. Packing up at the end of the year was an interesting process.

Melissa and a floor covered in boxes. We all seemed to have a lot more stuff that we realized.

World's Largest Brat Fest! Kate and I enjoyed the brats, music, and atmosphere, and I even came out of it with a t-shirt.

The Wisco-sonoran Brat Expiriment-- brats, boiled in beer and onions, rolled in bacon, then grilled. Sound delicious??

It was-- here's Jp taking the test bite.

The beautiful Elkhart Lake (at an ungodly hour of morning) for my dad, my aunt Anita, and Laura to compete in the Elkhart Triathlon.

JP wasn't so excited about the early morning-- he has that "You woke the sleeping beast" expression on his face.

Funny how his wife-- about to do an olympic distance triathlon-- looks way more cheerful.

My dad was even jumping up and down. Yes, that's him, waving his arms in the air at the back of the wetsuit-clad crowd.

We got treated to a beautiful rainbow on the drive down to our cabin in Prairie du Chien.

That same night, the sky cleared up just enough for one of the most fabulous sunsets I've ever seen. This picture was taken over the Mississippi River, looking towards Iowa.

A fish boil at the cabin-- everything tastes better when you're the one that lit the fire under it.

I dabbled in a little tree climbing at the cabin, but didn't have all the equipment I needed to take advantage of the fabulous cottonwood in the yard. Next time...

A bald eagle landed in the tree right above our deck, literally 15 feet above us. I don't think we would have even noticed him except that he started screeching.

My dad and I explored the water lilies and scoped out the eagle's nest by kayak. We were rewarded with a peek at some baby birds in the largest nest I have ever seen.

One of my projects for the summer was buying and repainting a new bookshelf for my room, which of course involved a massive reorganization of my books. As they piled up on my floor, I came to the conclusion that I own A LOT of books.

For the Fourth of July, Melissa and Tahra joined me in Mineral Point. We made a cherry pie completely from scratch (and we made it in style-- note the aprons).

It turned out fabulously-- picture perfect AND delicious.

We joined in the traditional Mineral Point parade, brat boil, pie sale, and concert, but we were rained out of the fire works at the end of the night. The thunderstorm provided a different kind of light show.

Kate, Nim, and I went up to Kate's cabin in Minocqua for a weekend. I think Nim got the whole sun-bathing thing wrong here... pretty sure you're not supposed to cover up with towels.

Me, chopping veggies for a stir fry. We did a surprisingly good job of fending for ourselves when it came to food.

Kate introduced me to my first time making bread from scratch-- it was easier than I thought it would be, and it came out delicious.

Tahra invited Melissa, Robbie, and I to visit her in Chicago. Here's Tahra and Melissa playing in the fountain at Millennium Park.

The famous bean-- who's entire purpose in life is for tourists to gather and take pictures. Which we did.

And of course, summer wouldn't be complete without horses. Cowboy spent the summer going English, complete with some dabbling in dressage. Now that he's all of 6 years old (scary!!), he has a new spring in his step, and took to the flashy arab trot quite nicely-- if only I had time to show him.

European Adventure-- Traveling

Day 0: Escaping the States

Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

Ithaca, NY, New York JFK, London Heathrow

After spending all morning running around frantically getting my financials in order ("No, see, you can't freeze my accounts, I'm leaving for EUROPE tomorrow."), I hopped on the bus for New York City. When the bus pulled into the port authority terminal and the driver started yelling, "Everyone out," I had the interesting realization that I would have to go take a little adventure on the New York City subway system if I wanted to actually get to JFK. Luckily, I am the sort of traveler who leaves myself plenty of extra time, so even after the subway shenanigans (in which I did not get lost at all), I arrived at the airport with enough time for a quick dinner before hopping my overnight flight to London.

Imagine spending all day in a bus, then underground, and finally taking a glass elevator up and up and up until you are above NYC, being greeted by a spectacular sunset. It was a great way to end the US part of my travels.

Day 1: A Night in France

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Lyon, France

I had a good 6 hour layover in Heathrow, so I took the time to exchange some money, get some real food (and some Cadbury chocolate), and buy another book for the road (Dorian Grey, as I was nearly finished with Please Don't Come Back from the Moon). My second flight was much tinier and much shorter, and I touched down in Lyon, France before I knew it.

Countryside on the way in to France. When the mountains appeared on the horizon, I honestly thought I was flying in to the Swiss Miss hot coco can-- they were huge, perfect white peaked mountains, almost not believable.

I gabbed a bus in to the city center and found our hostel for the night. I asked the receptionist if he spoke English, and when he said no, I dove right in to my first real French conversation. He kept offering to carry my suitcase to my room, and when I kept refusing, he just said, "Fine. You'll see." Turns out the spiral staircase to our 6th floor room was more like climbing a mountain than climbing stairs.

At their widest point, each step was wide enough to fit 3/4 of the length of my shoe. I really thought I would fall and break a few bones at the least.

I met Haley on the bridge over the Rhone River (very romantic), and we walked back to the hostel, where I climbed the stairs for the 4th time that night. With an early morning coming up, we were quick getting ready for bed.

The bridge where I met Haley. Although I would love to see more of Lyon during the day, it sure was beautiful at night, all lit up.

Hockey Season Wrap Up

Just a little wrap up of the hockey season-- I know most of you aren't that interested in hockey, so here's a story in pictures:

We finally got the cinnamon sugar pretzel we'd been dying for since the beginning of the season. Why did it take us so long?? We decided we could only get it between periods if they were winning, and for some reason the concession stand was always out by then. But it was beyond delicious, and worth the wait.
I made bear mittens to match my bear hat-- they're great for pounding against the glass. The first time I wore them, we arrived insanely early, and came across Colin Greening (captain) playing soccer in the hallway, and Patrick Kennedy sitting in the stands listening to his ipod. I think they were lucky. By the way, for you bear hat skeptics, I have already made an sold one, and have orders for several more.
Hillary in her jersey (a birthday gift from me), getting ready for the game. It rained all the way there, and we spent the game soaked and cold, but still happy.

We said goodbye to 5 great players on senior night. Because name/number/position of each player would be boring, I'll add an interesting tidbit for each and let you draw the conclusions. #15: Captain and forward Colin Greening (great leader), #24: Forward Brendon Nash (always smiles), #5: defenseman Justin Krueger (danced to the German anthem), #28: Defensive forward Joe Scali (scrappy player, very Italian), and #30: Goalie Ben Scrivens (best goalie ever, loves the fans).Hillary caught a puck tossed out at the end of the period-- she made a very impressive pounce for it and beat out the competition. She then got it signed by Scrivens, the goalie.

Europe Headlines Update

So, just some quick updates (no pics yet, sorry) on my Europe Extravaganza:

Travel: The bus to NYC, flight to London, 6 hour layover in Heathrow, flight to Lyon, bus to the city center, and walk to my hostel added up to quite the travel time. To top it all off, Haley and I had to get up at 5:30 the next morning to catch a bus back to the airport and hop a plane to Spain. I was exhausted, to say the least.

Spain--

Day 1: Got there mid-morning, spent a lot of time searching for our hostel with our suitcases in tow. Once we found it, we walked bag-free around some of the shopping areas, then tried (and failed) to get in to the Palaccio Real (Royal Palace).

Day 2: Slept in a bit, then found churros con chocolate for breakfast. Spent most of the day at Museo del Prado-- a lot more exhausting than you would think. Got lunch from an alimentation (grocery store), and diner from street venders. Changed hostels to an International Youth Hostel-- much busier, and we slept in a dorm rather than a private room.

Day 3: Woke up early to head back to the Palaccio Real, which was now open. After touring around, we hopped the metro to the big flea market that happens on Sundays-- very, very crowded. Spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in the Retiro park, then went to a flamenco show at night.

Day 4: Went to the bull ring in the morning, then walked around and did some souvenir shopping before catching the metro back to the airport, a plane back to Lyon, and a bus back to Haley's place in Chambery. I was glad I wasn't the one who had to get up for class the next morning.

More on Chambery to come, stay tuned...

Bucket Hat

March 9th, 2010

My new hat! I knit this from some of my christmas yarn, which was a fabulous silk-alpaca blend. The buttons were a lucky find-- they came as extras with one of my button-down shirts, and just happened to look perfect on the hat. I finished it just in time to have a less-wooly hat for the beginning of spring and my trip to Europe.  Details of the project, and the pattern as a free download, can be found here.

Chili Fest

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

Ithaca Commons, Ithaca, NY

On this beautiful, only moderately cold Saturday morning, Tahra, Hillary, Melissa, Robbie, Illika and I headed down to the commons to take part in Ithaca's annual chili cook off.  We sampled everything from the dragon's breath spicy chili, to the belgian chocolate and paprika chili, to Thai chili.  

For some reason, one of the booths had set out sour cream, shredded cheese, and chocolate chips as the chili topping options.  So, of course, we had to give it a try.  It pretty much tasted like candy in chili.

This chili was a blend of spices, pinto beans, tomatoes, and LOVE.

But of course, that's just the "chili" part.  There's also the "fest" side of things.  This included several radio station booths, a guitar hero contest, karaoke, and a mechanical bull.  In spite of the very, very public setting-- a whole crowd was milling around just to watch people make fools of themselves on the bull-- I could pass up the opportunity to check mechanical bull riding off my life goals list.  A little public embarrassment never hurt anyone, right?

The bull was surrounded by a nice, cushy inflatable arena.  The bull itself was insanely slippery, made of shiny hard plastic. It didn't have to get going very fast for most people to just slide off the side, which was probably a safety precaution.

Hillary and Tahra both participated in a contest that one of the radio stations was holding-- dance by yourself, with everyone watching, for a minute.  It's amazing how many people were unwilling to do this, even for a $10 gift certificate.