busy bee

Hey, I am sorry I didn't write yesterday and to be honest I don't have much time to write today. Everything has been going really fast, in a good way though. Yesterday I had a lot of classes, 4 in total and one was 3 hours long!! Any way, my professors here are so great. I can already tell that I am going to learn so much from them. I am learning ideas and concepts that I have never learned before in a style that is new, and it is all so wonderful! I love to learn and i love to be inspire, these professors are so inspriring. Actually a lot of the people here are inspiring, my friend nina speaks three languages and is learning a fourth, a girl in my class wrote a novel, people have traveled all over the world and are full of amazing thougts ideas and stories. I know that Dickinson was the right choice now, so many people to learn from who share a lot of similar values and what not. There was a tour coming through the campus today with students who were looking at the school for next year and I just went up to one mother and told her.. "this is a great place" It is the truth and I wanted her to know that, she was like so pleased and asked me all of these questions and stuff, it was fun! Today i only had one class, it was a spanish discussion class with a foreign exchange student from Spain. She was so nice and I liked it because we basically just talked in spanish, something I am relatively good at. In the morning I went for a run, it was a perfect morning for a jog, the sun was peaking out but it was stil a litle chilly but the air felt so fresh. I have exercised almost every day I have been here, which makes me feel good. The athletic center is beautiful and free to use at any time!! Any way, i went in to carlisle today and went to the bookstore and then to Lu Lu's which is the arts and crafts store I found in town. I talked to one of the owner and she asked me if I would want to teach a scrapbooking class there!! Can you believe it! I haven't scrapbooked since I have been here but they have the workspace and tons of old antiqued paper and cards and buttons. Just beautiful stuff(although maybe not my style??) It is a very classic and traditional look. Anway, they have tons of beeds and a work room!! Which is great! I already have a beading date next week with a girl from my dorm to make some things. Everything was relatively well priced too! Anyway, i really should get to bed since i am waking in about 7 hours for my frist class!! I Can't wait for the weekend!! Happy Friday!!!! I am going to eat in town with some friends and then I dont even know about tomorrow night. I hear there is a Toga Dance Party.. i figure every college student has to go to at least one toga dance party, why not tomorrow!!?? haha... thanks for reading! I will update some pictures and stuff this weekend when I have more time! Have a great weekend! *Vanessa

lazy tuesday.

Today was sort of more relaxed for me. I didn’t have any classes which was really nice. I got up and got a TB shot from the health center here, I need one in order to do community service with kids. Then, I had an “official” phone meeting with both of my parents to discuss my phone issue. I think we figured it all out. I was so like matter of fact, I had researched all of the options and called all of the phone companies with details. I was totally informed when I switched my cell phone service from T-Mobile to Verizon. I love t-mobile at home, but the coverage here is minimal and the coverage with Verizon is all over. This way I can talk in my dorm room, in any other building and I can use my cell phone as a reliable source of communication. Anyway, so then I took my bike out for a little exercise. It was a beautiful sunny hot day but I just went for a 15 mile bike ride, nothing like my dad of course. It was nice to get fresh air and all. So anyway, I had lunch back at school, Corina and I grabbed a bag lunch and ate before a trip to the library. The library here is sooo nice. I can’t believe it, actually I am in the library right now, it is a wonderful place to work. No distractions and so many resources! Any way, so I finished most of my homework for tomorrow. Nina came over to my dorm and we goofed around for a bit and then Mary Grace came over too. Hily stopped by, she is such a sweetheart. She is a twin and I have a heard time telling them apart from far away. She lives right on my floor! Last night, I played apples to apples(the board game) with a bunch of people including Hily, I love board games and there was a big game going on so it was a lot of fun. I went to an info session about the choirs at Dickinson and then I met up with Mary and Nina again for dinner. They are the two people who I have spent most of my time with here. They are really great, we laugh a lot, and get along well together. There is a Flaming Lips (a very cool sort of indi band, they have some really good songs) concert on Thursday in a town like an hour away and we really want to get there.. but there isn’t really any way. It is a bummer, but Nina is determined to get there. I have classes early Friday morning anyway. Anyway, so now I am just sitting in the Library finishing up my homework, and yes… dinging around on the computer. I am not sure what I am going to do later, probably hang out with the girls on my floor again. Maybe watch a movie or play another game! I already feel so independent here. It is like I am a whole different person, yet with a lot of the same qualities. At home, I feel like so much of who I am is about the people I love and spend my time with. Here it is really fun to figure out who I am without all of that. It is quite liberating actually. Anyway, well I switched into a creative writing class so tomorrow is my first class of it!! I will have to share some of my writing with you guys up on the site! Anyway, ‘till tomorrow.
*Vanessa*

1st Day of classes ( a lot of firsts)

My first day of classes today!! hoorah!! It actually felt pretty good to have a real purpose and a real place to be. My first class was Spanish, I was a little nervous after not having taken spanish for 3 months over the summer. Everything went just fine though. My teacher seems like he tries to intimidate you but deep down inside he is actually really sweet and really funny. I think the workload for that course should be fairly manageable. There are a lot of online assignments, which I think are a good idea because that way you don't have to waste paper by turning stuff in and you don't have to worry about leaving stuff back in the dorm. Then I went to my education class, I actually really enjoyed this class as well. Basically, we learn about different ways to teach and different ways a student can learn. A huge component to this class is doing service work out in the community of Carlisle. I can choose to help tutor at the special eds program at the high school/middle school, an afterscshool tutor program for kids with learning disabilites, or take care of children aged 1-kindergarten. I am not sure which one I am going to do yet, they have a thing next week where someone comes from each place to explain about what you would actually be doing. Then I have my freshman seminar, the teacher for this class is by the way SSOOOO COOOL!!! And she will be my academic advisor all 4 years and dickinson. This class is about social inequality and poetry in the United States, it sounds sooo interesting and I am so glad to be taking it from her! I had lunch with Mary Grace, Nina and a friend from my floor named Hily. Then I went to my last class of the day, Greek and Roman Mythology.. in theory I would really love to know those ideas at somepoint... but I would not stay awake through any of that class, so I've already discussed in detail with my advisor and she recomends i trade it for something else!! So, I dropped that boring class and enrolled in a creative writing class!!!! HOW FUN!!!! I can put some of my creative writing up here! How great!!! Anyway, i spent the afternoon walking into Carlisle.. we found a local organic foods store that we stocked up with healthy snacks. We just searched around for all the shops. Then we walked to Walmart... i know, its terrible.. don't support huge industrial stores that don't treat the makers well. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of other options here. THere is a target! It is just a farther walk, and in theory, they are basically the same thing. We had dinner at the Quarry which is a little Cafe type thing on campus that is really really cute. You can enjoy outdoor seating, or inside seating on cozy couches with a fireplace. There is a pool table and sort of like tavern on the upper level and darts and a ping pong table in the basement. Here is outdoor seating...


Anyway, I chatted with Mia and Matt tonight, two people who were extrememly close to me at home and it feels really weird to be so far away from them. It is weird that you can still feel so close to someone even though, in reality you are so far away. I think it will continue to be a challenge to stay close with people from home while maintaining friendships here. Hopefully, it will be easier than it seems. I think that even though we may not talk every day or tell each other every detail... when we do talk, it will feel like nothing has changed. I miss my family a lot. I have been talking to them a lot, trying to figure my cell phone. Anyway, I am really tired tonight.. luckily.. NO CLASSES TOMORROW!!! How nice! Just for me, my schedule just worked out that way. Anyway, goodnight guys... hope to hear from you soon! *Vanessa*

Sunday morning, rain is falling.

So today was kind of a rainy sunday, it was pretty nice. I didn't get up this morning until 10:45!!! It was nice though because I start classes tomorrow so I wont be able to sleep in for a while. Anyway, so I decided to go in to the city of Carlisle with a couple of friends from my floor. We found the cutest cafe place! They had panini sandwhiches that were so good! I had just a cheese panini and it was sooo delicious! A really nice cafe too, wireless service, cute little window seats.. it was really cute. They have the most beautiful churches in Carlisle, and just shops in general. Here are a couple of pictures of the town..



These are some of my friends... Morgan, Katlin, Tiffany and Emma! They were so nice to come in to town with me!


So I am sort of nervous about my classes tomorrow, I start off at 8:30 with Spanish, then I have a poetry class right after, then a class for education. Three in a row might be tough, but I am excited to just see what all of them are all about! I have lunch and then I have my last class after lunch of Greek and Roman Mythology. Anyway, I am done by 1 o clock!!! I am probably going to have loads of homework, I dont know so I am planning to go to the library with some friends to work. I have met a lot of really sweet girls but I have gotten really close with 2, Mary Grace and Nina who are both from my orientation group. We have been hanging out a lot and it has been really nice to get to know new people. I can't wait to meet even more friends!!




This is Mary(left) and Nina(right)

Well Goodnight my friends!!! wish me luck with my first day of classes and I shall talk to you soon! Thanks for reading! *Vanessa*

A tour of my room!

So I really like my room, it feels really cozy and nice... i hope you will like it too!! Here are the pictures!!



This is the closet space, i am actually surprised at how much room we have.. I was expecting a lot less. We have a closet and a chest of drawers and I have a lot of storage under my bed too. I realy like my shoe holer thing, I think its cool.... Anyway, sorry the picture is sideways but you get the idea.




This is my desk area, it is perfect for doing really anything. It actually has so much space, but I can still decorate it with pictures stuff for now, once all of my books are in my possession, I might need to clear it for books, we will see. I put up the bulletein board that Lindsay and katherine made me for going away! What a nice gift!! It looks great in my room. Then I have the fabric thing that Mia brough me home from guatemala, I love having it here too.. it makes me feel like she is right with me. I put up some of my favorite pictures, I am not sure how well you can see them, but I just love black and white!




This is just extra storage stuff too, I like my bins that say "storage" on them. I have just like towels and stuff, and then Food and silverware and cups.. just for stuff in the room. On the way top i have sweaters and stuff that I am not going to wear for a long time, my winter jackets and hats and mittens and stuff.



So this is basically my sleeping quaters. I have really comfortable jersey knit sheets, a soft down comforter and a really nice quilt. I love my posters next to my bead, they make me feel like home. I slept a lot in this bed last night, i slept like 9 whole hours, which was needed because have had two full to the max days of orientation and what not. Tiff (my roomate) was so cute in her bed last night, all curled up and cozy. It was really sweet.

My First Night in my dorm room.

So my first night actually in my college dorm!! how weird, I will definitly post pictures of the room and everything, but not right at the moment. Today was really sort of overwhelming. We had event after event of stuff to do, we had to just like move everything in to the room then we had to meet with our orientation groups. I really liked the girls in my orientation group. There were 5 of us total, Mary Grace who is from North Carolina, Nina from Rhode Island, Sarah from, i don't remember but she is really in to theater and singing and we want to try out from the same choirs. Then Dianna who is from new york. They were a great group of girls to get to know on the first day, they were nice to have someone to sit with and to just have someone to hang out with.

We had a "signing in" ceremony today, where we actually sign our names in a book and then we sign out our names when we graduate. It is a tradition that has been going on ever since the school started having students in the late 1700's. It was amazing to think about all of the people who had walked those steps. Our core funder of the school was Thomas Jefferson so his footprints are all over our campus. The man who started our school, Benjamin Rush was a signer of the declaration of independence and did many wonderful things for our country. I sort of felt like becoming a part of this college was like becoming a citizen of our country. I just feel like so many people who changed the United States were in the exact same place that I am now. It is sort of powering, I have the power to make a difference in this country, and even the greater world. That is one thing I love about this school, it gives you the opportunity to do almost anything. There have been two presidents, one vice president, two supreme court justices... just people in huge positions have been where I am right now, on their first day of school in their new dorm. How amazing.



(this is a statue of our found, benjamin rush... and parents gawking at it, as usual)


I am really worried to be without my parents tomorrow, they are leaving and I don't know what I am going to do with myself. I know I am ready to take on the world my own, with their support of course, but I am so scared to be without them for three months. Last night I couldn't sleep in the bed and breakfast and my mom and I stayed up late talking about it, our last night sleeping in the same bed. I am so used to being able to crawl in with her whenever i need to.. I am worried about not having that option. It is so great having both my mom and my dad out here though. they are both good and different things, my dad made sure i got my computer set up and my bike and fixed the frame of my bed and took care of outlets and printers and stuff. And my mom made sure I had a cozy bed and that there was enough room for all of my clothes.. they sort of specialized i guess. Anyway, It is going to be really hard to say goodbye to them tomorrow.. I will probably cry, but I think it is normal. And of course, I can always talk to them whenever. well I am really tired and I think i am going to head to bed, i will write more tomorrow. Goodnight.

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

So today, I spent most of the day on the airplane. It was really weird sleeping my last night in my own bed. A wonderful thing happened though, a rain storm came through wayzata, so I got to sleep in a thunder storm, that is like my favorite thing to do. I slept a lot on the plane too, nothing else to do really. I finished a lot of Sudoku puzzles to keep my mind off of the fact that things would never be the same again. It is scary.

We landed in Harrisburg and took a taxi to Carlisle, we checked into our Bed and Breakfast that was built in 1790. It is beautiful and quaint and just old. My mom and I wandered on the campus a bit, saw my the outside of my dorm.. but the doors were locked so I couldn't get in. Not to worry though, tomorrow I will arrive on campus at 8:00 sharp to start moving in to my dorm room!!! I am soo nervous, but I cannot wait to meet my roomate Tiffany! It will be fun to meet the girl I am going to be living with for a year!!

I am really tired tonight, I want to just go to bed early so I can be prepared for my big day ahead of me. I am so glad I brought my teddy bear with me, I may be 18 and off to college.. but I still need a cozy cuddler at my side.


(here he is! My handsome George Teddy, the softest bear in the world)

Goodnight, sorry for the short entry.... tomorrow is a big day!

My very first!

Today is August 22nd, which means that tomorrow, I will be getting on a plane and flying to a new place with new people and new things. I am moving to Carlisle, Pennsylvania to attend Dickinson College.




(here is my beautiful school)

I am, for the first time in my entire life, leaving the home of my parents and the comfort of Minnesota and going out on my own. Needless to say, I'm scared. For the past three weeks, all I have been able to think about is just getting to school. I swear i have 100 butterflies that have been living in my stomach for the past couple of weeks. (as a side note, "Vanessa" just so happens to mean butterfly in hebrew)

Today though, today was different, today I am really nervous. I am really starting to second guess my decision to move half way across the country. I was sitting at Barnes and Noble, double checking all of my lists to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything, and I saw a young girl. She was about 10 years old with long dark brown hair, she was wearing a big t-shirt and some legging shorts. She was waiting for her mom, eating her chocolate chip cookie, not a care in the world. For some reason, I kept looking at her, and I realized.. that was me!!!! About 8 years ago, of course, but at that moment I realized the young woman I have grown in to. Here I was, sitting with my sandwhich and soup, keys in hand, on my own, double checking lists I have made to go off to college.

I am sort of in a weird stage, not a kid, not an adult. I usually still think of myself as a kid, afterall, you are only as old as you feel! But I am about to be living on my own, making decisions for myself that will effect my entire life.

Anyway, so I wanted to start this blog because I am not going to be able to scrapbook very much at school and I really want to remember everything really well. So I am hoping that I will jounral and post pictures and then when I get home for thanksgiving, I can just transfer them on to a scrapbooking page. For those of you who don't scrapbook, you may be thinking I am a nerd, but for those of you who do scrap... I am sure you can understand how important these memories are.

Thank you to Bonnie from my old workplace, Artsy Tartsy, I have become an avid reader of her blog, and she has inspired me to start blogging as well!!

Tonight I am going to spend my last evening playing board games with some friends. A lot of my friends have already left, but I am pretty sad about saying goodbye to everyone still. I spent the day enjoying the things I love about Minnesota.. the lakes, the sky and the people! Here is a picture I just took!



This is my backyard.. the beautiful sunset on Lake Minnetonka, how I am going to miss seing this every night and every morning. Well Pennsylvania will have its perks too!!

Thanks for reading!
*Vanessa*

P.S - I should maybe explain the title of my blog. Have you ever heard of Virginia Woolf? If you haven't, she is a wonderful author. She was around during the 20s and was really revolutionary for women. She had a very intersting style of writing called "stream of consciousness" where she would write the same way a person thinks. Anyway, in I think 1930, she wrote a book called "A Room of One's Own" This is a huge theme in a lot of her books, she thought that all women needed a room of their own. Anyway, the book is about what it would be like if Shakespeare had a sister, and the different struggles that women writers had to go through. More than anything, I just like the idea of having a room of my own, a place to be me, a place to express anything and everything and that is what I want this blog to be, so that is how i chose the title!



Iif you are looking for a book of hers to read, read this! Its wonderful)