I'm still here..

beneath my mound of blankets
cough syrup and throat lozenges
actually, I went to the doctor yesterday and got the real stuff
antibiotics and steroids
giving in, I know. But, after a week of a raw throat...

I'm not excited about the end of the semester. I'm not pessimistic.. but I really enjoy my PHIL 111 (Ethics).. and my HIST 351 (World War II) How is it that TAs sometimes end up being 10x (or more) better than overpaid professors? My PHIL has been amazing. I hardly ever speak because the topics cause so much thought... and then I speak about it nonstop when I get home.. much to the disappointment of my family. I've discovered that they aren't too interested in Kant's Formula of Humanity or Plato's perfect city. HIST 351 is taught by a professor, but he's good. I say this like its a surprise... but after 3+ years at Purdue, I've found most professors lacking... Another reason I'm not ready for this semester to end is that I've grown quite fond of my all 11:30am or 12pm classes.. I'm not ready for next semester's 8:30s in the cold and rainy spring!

It seems like this is the way it always goes... it takes about a semester to grow adjusted to a class.. to actually start talking with others in the class.. almost become friends (maybe some even become facebook friends :) and then.. its over. And, I realize all my friends in class were friends of utility (thanks Aristotle). We were only friends because we needed each other for the class. But there are some who last. And thankfully, there's always the PYG.. and they're pretty amazing this year.

Speaking of being thankful, I'll leave you with a picture of my Thanksgiving. We spent it at the Moores with the Lemans.. and a few friends. Somehow the photographer seemed to always end up smack in front... and the baby ended up blurry... but you can see the radiating thankful glow just the same :)Shiloh (Jeff and Sarah Stollers)
about the only non-blurry picture of her! :)

Posted by Sarena in

I'm still here..

October 31st

Despite the negativity of Halloween...
-the fact that we (Americans) find pleasure in searching for ghoulish costumes
-exploring haunted houses full of dark and creepy characters
-using costumes as an excuse to reveal more skin than what should be legal (college scene)
-stuffing kid's pumpkin baskets with sugar and more sugar
despite this, I really enjoyed this Halloween.

The door bell rang time and time again.. and the kids were adorable. Some were barely old enough to say "trick-or-treat"... and although I had thought mom quite lame for buying pencils.. the first little girl raced back to her mom shouting, "LOOK, MOM! A PENCIL!" And before long, we were out of pencils, candy, and goldfish! Out went the light.

Yet the light in my pumpkin glowed.. yes, I carved my first pumpkin this year.Abbie and Hannah came down later.. and we went for a walk. After that, we decided crêpes sounded amazing.. so Luke made them while Abbie, Hannah, and I created vanilla pudding (to go with chocolate or bananas) and strawberry cream cheese filling. Delicious...Following this.. we sang Karaoke (on youtube) and watched a few youtubes. And I decided to ignore homework... completely. And now, I'm thinking of all the reading I have to do while wondering why the computer clock hasn't switched back an hour yet.. hmmm.. come on, computer.. give me more time.

Speaking of homework.. it's probably the reason I haven't posted in ages! I don't have much homework homework, but I have lots of reading. I guess that comes with History, Philosophy, and Communications.

Ay ay ay :)

Hope you had a fantastic Oct 31.

Posted by Sarena in

October 31st

what's in a name.

(a way to waste time.)

1.YOUR REAL NAME:
Sarena Ann Wahl

2.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother and fathers middle names)
Anne Otto

3.NASCAR NAME: (first name of your mother's dad, father's dad)
Edwin Otto (Otto almost sounds like auto... heh)

4.STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name)
Wahsa

5.DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Pink Panther.. oh.. jk. Green Puma.

6.SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, town where you were born)
Ann Elgin

7.SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add "THE" to the beginning)
The Blue V8

8.FLY NAME: (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 2 letters of your last name)
Sahl

9.STREET NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie)
Peppermint Chocolate Chip

10.GANGSTA NAME: (first 3 letters of first name plus 'izzle')
Sarizzle

11.YOUR GOTH NAME: (black, and the name of one of your pets)
Black Brazil (well. no pets now, but once had a dog, Brazil. it was either that or Penny)

Posted by Sarena in

what's in a name.

class.

18 credits.. I think it's going to get overwhelming at times! but, I think I'll share a little bit about my current classes. It's something Katelyn did.. and I thought it looked fun :)

Communications 102 - Intro to Com Theory
Mostly an introductory course as the title states... it's really not too exciting. I show up, listen, and tap in quiz answers with my clicker. It's mostly theories.. a lot of theories. We get to be more interactive in the recitation part by doing things like:

• creating a theory and then heading outside to observe people to see whether our theory is correct or not
• trying to persuade a guy to go on a date when the guy is dead set on saying no (I wasn't one of the persuaders.. just a sideline observer.. thankfully)

Overall, not my favorite class.. but not that bad as a Com Pre-Req.

Communications 250 - Mass Com and Society
Oh my.. it's one of those classes where the teacher just reads of the slides (practically). I sit up front most of the time to keep myself from walking out in boredom! But, I feel so bad for the guy.. cause.. hardly anyone shows up to his class. So hopefully showing up every day will somehow help my grade.. if.. I can keep myself focused on the lecture!

History 354 - American Women to 1870 - Honors
I needed an elective in a certain Liberal Arts section, and this class was open.. well, the honors part was. So I decided to go for it. Ends up, the honors students just have to write a longer paper than the regular class.. shouldn't be too terrible. I've learned that pretty much everything we know about Pocahontas is a myth, more women were accused and punished for being witches, and so on.. pretty much.. lots about women.. ha..

History 351 - Second World War
I think this is going to be difficult.. it's taught in the way I always thought college would be. No attendance. No quizzes. 3 exams. However, this is stressful as there's really no structure to the notes at times! I have no idea what the exams will consist of... and when I do catch important names the Prof is saying.. I have no idea how to spell them (yay for Germans and Japanese in the Second World War)...

FN 303 - Essentials of Nutrition
This class is interesting.. but reassures me that I wasn't supposed to be a nurse.. we're learning about the digestive system and what the body needs. Being brought up in a (super) healthy family (compared to most Americans, I think), I tend to disagree with the health guidelines.. such as, there's no way an allowed sugar amount should be equal to 5+ cans of soda per day!

Philosophy 111 - Ethics
It's been awhile since I intently listened to an instructor.. philosophers sought/seek wisdom. I am in awe of the amount of wisdom that my instructor has.. and he's only 23! And I know that wisdom alone is not enough. But, it would be amazing to have that wisdom and logically persuade people to the point where they'd have no argument. I guess philosophy is about thinking extremely.. to the point where you speak only of the most important things. You stop speaking of the little things that bother you.. they're not worth it. Your whole purpose is to focus. We've been reading The Republic by Plato. I don't agree with everything Plato says.. but some of it is so, so true. It makes me wonder what Plato would've written if he had lived to see (or meet) Christ. I wonder if his perspective would've switched. I wonder if he would've solved the puzzle of life.

and that's all! I should probably study some now.. I'm hoping for some exciting grades.. hopefully!

Posted by Sarena in

class.

gatos de trueno

I assure you.. it was about the Thundercats.. but some type of official showed up and told us we couldn't photograph the game unless we filled out the proper paperwork!? We'd never heard anything like it.. I decided we looked too professional, and the man was afraid we were going to sell our photos to the Exponent! But, who really knows what was going on? But congrats to the Thundercats for their first victory (16-0)! :)

excited thundercat fans arrive!

illegally taken photo :)

Posted by Sarena in

gatos de trueno

the kitchen.

If you're interested in what I'm baking/cooking.. head here! So far it's not too exciting, but I've been baking/cooking more than usual, and I wanted to remember which recipes were good.. and which were just so-so.

So.
I'm not sure how much it'll be updated.. or how fantastic the recipes will be.. but.. this is just a heads up, seven up! (did anyone like that game? we played it in high school once.. yes, in high school! I didn't like it....)

Hope you're having a great work-free day.
Happy Labor Day.

Posted by Sarena in

the kitchen.