Last week campus recreation opened their new multi-million dollar facility: The Activities and Recreation Center (aka the ARC). [This pictures is of it not completed but it's the best one I could find] Basically, this place rocks. I've been 3 times this week and I now feel very spoiled. All last semester I worked out at IMPE on ellipticals with no TVs and used equipment tightly packed in to one basketball court's worth of space. Over the summer I had to go to CRCE because IMPE was closed as it was being morphed into the ARC. CRCE was super crowded, no TVs, not very good magazines, and lots of super sweaty boys, ew. So, the ARC...it has about a billion ellipticals and treadmills and tons of space to get a mat and do abs. The ellipticals once again have TVs and the exercise bikes are amazing. They have these bikes that are like video games where you ride and you have to steer on the road and around other bikers and you see a hill on the screen and the bike gets harder. It's pretty sweet and I got really into passing people in the 10 minutes I rode it. One problem...there's a huge glare coming from the ginormous windows in the curved roof so I kept going off the track because I couldn't see. Another plus though is that most of the free weights are on a lower level so that kind of corrals the sweaty gross boys into one area and I'm free to use the leg press and arm curl machines without them sweating all over the place. I'm also super excited about the new multi-purpose rooms for the group fitness classes which I plan on hitting up next week. There's a huge rock climbing wall which I want to try but maybe in the summer when the place isn't packed. And last but not least...an outdoor pool WITH lounge chairs and floats. Natalie and I are planning to go work out a little and they lay out sometime this weekend. So far I'm very satisfied with this new place except for the glare problem but I can deal with riding my virtual bike off the road in exchange for being able to watch Gilmore Girls while I'm on the elliptical.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
The ARC
Last week campus recreation opened their new multi-million dollar facility: The Activities and Recreation Center (aka the ARC). [This pictures is of it not completed but it's the best one I could find] Basically, this place rocks. I've been 3 times this week and I now feel very spoiled. All last semester I worked out at IMPE on ellipticals with no TVs and used equipment tightly packed in to one basketball court's worth of space. Over the summer I had to go to CRCE because IMPE was closed as it was being morphed into the ARC. CRCE was super crowded, no TVs, not very good magazines, and lots of super sweaty boys, ew. So, the ARC...it has about a billion ellipticals and treadmills and tons of space to get a mat and do abs. The ellipticals once again have TVs and the exercise bikes are amazing. They have these bikes that are like video games where you ride and you have to steer on the road and around other bikers and you see a hill on the screen and the bike gets harder. It's pretty sweet and I got really into passing people in the 10 minutes I rode it. One problem...there's a huge glare coming from the ginormous windows in the curved roof so I kept going off the track because I couldn't see. Another plus though is that most of the free weights are on a lower level so that kind of corrals the sweaty gross boys into one area and I'm free to use the leg press and arm curl machines without them sweating all over the place. I'm also super excited about the new multi-purpose rooms for the group fitness classes which I plan on hitting up next week. There's a huge rock climbing wall which I want to try but maybe in the summer when the place isn't packed. And last but not least...an outdoor pool WITH lounge chairs and floats. Natalie and I are planning to go work out a little and they lay out sometime this weekend. So far I'm very satisfied with this new place except for the glare problem but I can deal with riding my virtual bike off the road in exchange for being able to watch Gilmore Girls while I'm on the elliptical.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Backstreet's Back Alright!
Last Friday, Natalie, Lindsay (a girl from our house) and I went to see the Backstreet Boys in Bloomington. Yes, I do know that BSB was popular when I was in middle school/high school but they NEVER came anywhere near Central Illinois (except Chicago) so I never got to see any of my beloved boy bands during the height of their careers. So, when Natalie and I heard on the radio that they would be coming we decided that we HAD to go. After a food stop at Avanti's we were off to see our boys.
Our seats were pretty good and as soon as we got situated I felt like I was 12 again because every 10 seconds or so someone would start screaming in that 'ah I'm freaking out I love you so much I'm going to cry and die from happiness' kind of scream and it was hilarious. And people went nuts when the show started. The gents entertained us with all their radio hits and a few extras and new songs. Each boy (minus Kevin who has left the band "to start his own family" or because he's pushing 40) sang a song from their solo album(s) and most were good. Poor Howie though should stick to ensembles and dancing. And AJ thinks he's hot stuff as I've never seen so much pelvic gyrating during one song. That day was Howie's 35th birthday so we all sang happy birthday to him and it was exciting. It's really funny to hear these guys talk about being together for 15 years and about their lives and stuff since I pretty much wanted to marry all of them when I was 12. And let me say, they are all lookin pretty good and can still totally bust a move.
As for the boys as individuals...you can tell that AJ has seen better days. He was in rehab and stuff for drugs and alcohol and seems to have turned around but you can tell he's had issues. He still looksl ike the bad boy of the group with his tatted arms and mysterious demeanor. And Brian is still the pretty boy although he has some tattoos too and he's married. Howie looks way better than he used to but his solo song kind of ruined him for me but the boy can dance. And Nick has come a long way from his bowl cut hair do days; he is quite attractive but is either extremely hyper during shows or was on speed because the guy could not stand still. The show ended with everybody dancing and rocking out to "Everyone' which is the only appropriate way to end a show (except for the encore) but this show was so worth the money and made my 12-year-old dreams come true! Now, what you've all been waiting for...some pictures and videos.
Lindsay, Natalie and I
The crowd of females ages 18-25
BSB
I Want It That Way (probably my favorite BSB song)
Everybody
Our seats were pretty good and as soon as we got situated I felt like I was 12 again because every 10 seconds or so someone would start screaming in that 'ah I'm freaking out I love you so much I'm going to cry and die from happiness' kind of scream and it was hilarious. And people went nuts when the show started. The gents entertained us with all their radio hits and a few extras and new songs. Each boy (minus Kevin who has left the band "to start his own family" or because he's pushing 40) sang a song from their solo album(s) and most were good. Poor Howie though should stick to ensembles and dancing. And AJ thinks he's hot stuff as I've never seen so much pelvic gyrating during one song. That day was Howie's 35th birthday so we all sang happy birthday to him and it was exciting. It's really funny to hear these guys talk about being together for 15 years and about their lives and stuff since I pretty much wanted to marry all of them when I was 12. And let me say, they are all lookin pretty good and can still totally bust a move.
As for the boys as individuals...you can tell that AJ has seen better days. He was in rehab and stuff for drugs and alcohol and seems to have turned around but you can tell he's had issues. He still looksl ike the bad boy of the group with his tatted arms and mysterious demeanor. And Brian is still the pretty boy although he has some tattoos too and he's married. Howie looks way better than he used to but his solo song kind of ruined him for me but the boy can dance. And Nick has come a long way from his bowl cut hair do days; he is quite attractive but is either extremely hyper during shows or was on speed because the guy could not stand still. The show ended with everybody dancing and rocking out to "Everyone' which is the only appropriate way to end a show (except for the encore) but this show was so worth the money and made my 12-year-old dreams come true! Now, what you've all been waiting for...some pictures and videos.
Lindsay, Natalie and I
The crowd of females ages 18-25
BSB
I Want It That Way (probably my favorite BSB song)
Everybody
Monday, August 18, 2008
Awesome August Continues
A couple months ago, Natalie and I planned out a lot of fun stuff for the summer that all just happened to occur in August so we named the month Awesome August. You've already read about some of our events so here's a run-down of everything else we've been up to.
Thursday was Natalie's 21st birthday so we went out at midnight on Wednesday night to Boltini with her mom and Karley, another girl from the house, to celebrate. Her mom also took us to Olive Garden for lunch on Thursday (I kind of felt like it was my birthday, too!). That afternoon we went swimming at my cousin's and then went to see Lifehouse at the Canopy Club. There's a short video of Lifehouse at the bottom because they're awesome and my favorite band and Jason Wade (singer) is super hot and attractive.
We got up early on Friday to go to Six Flags with the free tickets I won on the radio. We had 4 tickets so we brought our friend Jeanne and picked her up on the way in Effingham. I gave the last ticket to a carefully selected family (my criteria was that the kids had to be well behaved because I didn't want to help bratty kids get into the park faster and the parents couldn't be yelling harshly at the kids when they hadn't even made it out of the parking lot yet); there were 3 adults and 2 kids so it looked like they could use a free ticket. We got in a couple of rides before the mother load of rain hit. It rained for over an hour we think (no one had a watch or cell phone so we're not exactly sure) so we went to a weird show about making movies, stood with a funnel cake by a garbage can under an awning, looked through a weird clothing shop, and stood in line outside and in the freezing air conditioning for the Scooby Doo ride. We were completely soaked, cold, and had really messy hair. But then the rain stopped and we got in all the rides we wanted to. We ended the day with the new Evil Kinieval coaster twice in a row and a picture with Bugs Bunny. We got some dinner and finally got back to Jeanne's for some margaritas and sleep! Natalie and I hit the outlet mall in Tuscola on the way home Saturday. Whew - we've been quite busy the last few days!
Boltini
Olive Garden
Lifehouse
Six Flags
Here's a video of Lifehouse if you're interested (which you should be):
Thursday was Natalie's 21st birthday so we went out at midnight on Wednesday night to Boltini with her mom and Karley, another girl from the house, to celebrate. Her mom also took us to Olive Garden for lunch on Thursday (I kind of felt like it was my birthday, too!). That afternoon we went swimming at my cousin's and then went to see Lifehouse at the Canopy Club. There's a short video of Lifehouse at the bottom because they're awesome and my favorite band and Jason Wade (singer) is super hot and attractive.
We got up early on Friday to go to Six Flags with the free tickets I won on the radio. We had 4 tickets so we brought our friend Jeanne and picked her up on the way in Effingham. I gave the last ticket to a carefully selected family (my criteria was that the kids had to be well behaved because I didn't want to help bratty kids get into the park faster and the parents couldn't be yelling harshly at the kids when they hadn't even made it out of the parking lot yet); there were 3 adults and 2 kids so it looked like they could use a free ticket. We got in a couple of rides before the mother load of rain hit. It rained for over an hour we think (no one had a watch or cell phone so we're not exactly sure) so we went to a weird show about making movies, stood with a funnel cake by a garbage can under an awning, looked through a weird clothing shop, and stood in line outside and in the freezing air conditioning for the Scooby Doo ride. We were completely soaked, cold, and had really messy hair. But then the rain stopped and we got in all the rides we wanted to. We ended the day with the new Evil Kinieval coaster twice in a row and a picture with Bugs Bunny. We got some dinner and finally got back to Jeanne's for some margaritas and sleep! Natalie and I hit the outlet mall in Tuscola on the way home Saturday. Whew - we've been quite busy the last few days!
Boltini
Olive Garden
Lifehouse
Six Flags
Here's a video of Lifehouse if you're interested (which you should be):
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Rockome Gardens
On Wednesday, I went with Liza and the boys to Rockome Gardens. We used to go every year with our cousins, Chelsea and Elizabeth, and our moms so Liza and I decided it would be fun to go back. The trip was slightly disappointing due to some changes and run-down stuff. The gardens were pretty but the little lily pad/foot bridge area was gone as were the bottle houses. The bears house is open and kind of like a creepy play house; treehouse is still there but sturdier; haunted cave still weird and creepy (we didn't make it all the way in). The shops weren't very stocked, the animals were sparse and so were other people. We did ride the train
The school house was there and still fun and we saw some buggies. It was fun to go back but I probably don't need to do it again. It's just kind of sad to see a place that we used to enjoy so much become so run-down. Here's a fun set of flashback pics:
Pic 1) Elizabeth, Chelsea, and I
Pic 2) Caden, me, and Lucas
The school house was there and still fun and we saw some buggies. It was fun to go back but I probably don't need to do it again. It's just kind of sad to see a place that we used to enjoy so much become so run-down. Here's a fun set of flashback pics:
Pic 1) Elizabeth, Chelsea, and I
Pic 2) Caden, me, and Lucas
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Movie Reflections - Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
I went with my cousins, Chelsea and Elizabeth, to see this movie today. I was so excited for this movie and it did not disappoint. I seriously loved the first one, then read all the books and loved them, too. This movie mostly follows the 4th book but does some jumping around. I do like how some of the characters' stories had better fairy-tale ending which I do realize isn't realistic but I still like it better. And the parts in Greece are cool because I've been to the island they filmed on. All of these actresses are so good in their own endeavors and in these movies but the show stealer was Amber Tamblyn as Tibby. This character bothered me the most in the first movie but this time around she was funny and her emotions were very realistic. It's so cool that they were all back for the second movie and it made me feel better about some of the book's open ends, mainly Lena and Kostos. If you haven't read these books, they're really good and quick reads so I recommend them in addition to the movie as long as you don't expect them to be the same. I'm so ready to go see this movie again - such a good girlie/friend/lovey-dovey movie, just how I like 'em!In addition to my thoughts on the movie I feel like I should share this: there was an older woman by herself in this movie (which is weird because this is very much a "where-my-girls-at" kind of movie that you go to with your amigas). She 1) fell asleep during this movie and then 2) started snoring...loudly. I kind of wanted to throw something at her. During one quiet part she let out a loud snore and everyone started laughing; Elizabeth said it bonded us as an audience. She eventually woke up but it lasted for at least a half hour of the movie.
*I feel like I should add that I generally like all movies, love the act of going to movies, and know of only 1 or 2 movies that I would classify as "bad." Chick flicks are my favorite and dominate my movie collection. Therefore, my opinion is slightly biased.
Trip Out East
Last Tuesday I went out to Massachusetts to visit my friend Courtney from study abroad. Courtney came here in October so I haven't seen her in 10 months which is a long time considering we saw each other every day for 5 months - we rode the metro together to and from school every day and went on some trips together. I flew from Bloomington which is a neat little airport with free parking into Hartford. The first full day we drove to Albany to see another study abroad friend, Mark, who I haven't seen since last May. We went on a tour of the state capitol, ate lunch at the food festival that was going on, went up in an observation tower, and went to the New York State Museum.
We also drove to Sienna College where Courtney and Mark go/went to school. We met some of Courtney's friends from school for dinner in Saratoga and had a beer on a rooftop bar. That night we stayed at Mark's and then headed to Boston the next day. Boston was kind of rainy and quick but we went to Newbury Street and to Quincy Market before calling it a day. I seriously think we ate out almost every meal and had ice cream every day - yikes. The next couple days were spent at Haviland Pond where Courtney works as a lifeguard. She's a head guard so she can only get 2 days off a week and those were the days we spent in Albany and Boston. But, 2 of the 3 days at the pond no one was there so we could play games and stuff and hang with the other lifeguards. I learned how to play Pitch and got a lot of reading done. Here's the pond from under the pavilion/guard room where I spent a lot of time:
Other highlights include eating Japanese and getting fancy drinks, Courtney's speeding ticket, lots of trips to Dunkin' Donuts for Courtney's coffee, eating pizza and watching the Olympics, and getting to hang out with some of my besties from Spain again. All around a superb trip.
We also drove to Sienna College where Courtney and Mark go/went to school. We met some of Courtney's friends from school for dinner in Saratoga and had a beer on a rooftop bar. That night we stayed at Mark's and then headed to Boston the next day. Boston was kind of rainy and quick but we went to Newbury Street and to Quincy Market before calling it a day. I seriously think we ate out almost every meal and had ice cream every day - yikes. The next couple days were spent at Haviland Pond where Courtney works as a lifeguard. She's a head guard so she can only get 2 days off a week and those were the days we spent in Albany and Boston. But, 2 of the 3 days at the pond no one was there so we could play games and stuff and hang with the other lifeguards. I learned how to play Pitch and got a lot of reading done. Here's the pond from under the pavilion/guard room where I spent a lot of time:
Other highlights include eating Japanese and getting fancy drinks, Courtney's speeding ticket, lots of trips to Dunkin' Donuts for Courtney's coffee, eating pizza and watching the Olympics, and getting to hang out with some of my besties from Spain again. All around a superb trip.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Wedding Weekend
This past weekend Natalie and I went to a wedding with our friends Marcus and Jared. The guys picked me up and we drove up to Natalie's to hang out for a while before the wedding. The wedding was really pretty and the reception was rockin. We danced the entire night from the first song to the last and it was sweaty but awesome, too. Here's a picture of our foursome at the reception:
Sunday we went to church with Natalie's family at their new church building which was awesome. The best part was sitting in on the beginning of the Spanish service and singing worship songs in Spanish! If church like that existed in Spain I'd live there forever! We packed up lunch and headed to the city to hang out at the beach. The water wasn't too cold and the beach was so crowded. Napping on the beach is so nice and relaxing! Watching the Office and having Chicago style pizza capped off the evening before we headed back to Champaign. This was just a super awesome weekend of just hanging out, dancing, laughing, and having amazing conversations with some really genuine people. It's really refreshing and encouraging to spend time with people who are walking with Christ. Here's some more picture highlights from the weekend:
Sunday we went to church with Natalie's family at their new church building which was awesome. The best part was sitting in on the beginning of the Spanish service and singing worship songs in Spanish! If church like that existed in Spain I'd live there forever! We packed up lunch and headed to the city to hang out at the beach. The water wasn't too cold and the beach was so crowded. Napping on the beach is so nice and relaxing! Watching the Office and having Chicago style pizza capped off the evening before we headed back to Champaign. This was just a super awesome weekend of just hanging out, dancing, laughing, and having amazing conversations with some really genuine people. It's really refreshing and encouraging to spend time with people who are walking with Christ. Here's some more picture highlights from the weekend:
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