Banquet

Harden Clubhouse

Last rugby event of the semester tainted with bittersweet feelings. Although it was nice to have the entire team together for one last hurrah that is what it was, one last hurrah. It hit home for many of the seniors that had changed and grown so much in the past four years at Elon. The team has been such a pivotal part of our lives its hard to imagine (for some) what life will be like without that support, friendship and love. But if nothing else it was so hilarious to see the rookies skit. I was particularly touched by the picture slideshow and Koala's seranade to the seniors ("For Good" from Wicked the musical). We'll always have the memories and if nothing else those of us that return for homecoming or alumni weekend will have the opportunitie to reimense in all our "glory days".

The Seniors

 The L3s

The L2s

The Rookies

Our Team

SATURDAY'S A RUGBY DAY!

So a loooong time coming but I'm finally posting about our rugby match against Wilmington last Saturday. I felt pretty good about the game personally because I had made it to every practice in the last two weeks. Of course when I could make a consistent commitment my buddy couldn't. I had decked out a pair of buddy sunglasses two weeks ago and wanted her to have them but she hadn't come to practice so I arranged to pair them with the sweatpants I made her. Must admit I got pretty creative :) but no I don't have picture evidence.

 Me and my buddy!!!

 Jamie - Scrum Captain and 2nd White girl on the team

to have cornrows

Hydration is my best friend and helps me have good stamina. This was particularly helpful when early on in the game when Courtney's lip started bleeding. I didn't wear a scrum cap for the first time which was weird but not terrible. I played eight man poorly but caught the ball, drove into tackles and successfully passed the ball to my teammates which made me very happy. Everyone on and off the field gave it there all supporting each other and making smart decisions. Despite the fact that everyones hearts were in the game the highlight players were definitely Tipton and Diane!

 Courtney's bloody lip and fierce face

 Lineout GO KIMBO!

 Scrum player of the game: Diane, sharing a heartfelt hug w bbf 

Backline player of the game: Tipsy/Tipton sharing a hug w Schmidty

After our post-game pow-wow I went to La Cocina with Rachel and Urs and Urs's boyfriend Lance. It was sooooo good to finally eat a substantial meal. I hadn't eaten since early that morning mainly due to my fear of getting sick or slightly feeling nausea on the pitch. I never knew how good a burrito mexicano could taste until that moment.

We headed to Cash's place afterwards - as directed by our captains - and the door was open but no one was home. After another hour Schmidty and her dad and uncle came by with a keg and the party finally began! It was so great to finally hang out at a social with everyone especially after our last matrix game.

 "Why were you born so beautiful why were you born at all....no use to

us your not effin use at all so drink mo-fo, drink mo-fo, drink mo-fo, drink!"

 The champs 

Last semester buddies :)

Later that night I went to Jamie's place at West End apts to say happy birthday to her roommate - mutual colleagues from the Arabic Language Organization (ALO) and Nonprofits class we took together. The last fun event of the night was Taphouse's fundraiser for Festivius. The live music was pretty great - covers - following $1 green beers and crazy dancing with so many people I know = priceless. Happy St. Patty's day!

SENIORS!!!!!

Reunion

While interning at The Washington Center last spring I met a lot of great people. Besides having pretty awesome and culturally diverse set of roommates (Korean, Alaskan, and Mexican) the majority of the population living in the dorm was namely international students. However, I did seem to make some connections with a few American students including my good friend Kristi. Since my last visit to D.C. in August Kristi came to visit Elon this past weekend.

Although I love that I live in the south and overall I've learned a lot from my experiences at Elon I am very realistic about its disadvantages especially if you do not have a car on-campus. Burlington is in the middle of NC map and it takes at least 30mins or more in either direction to the nearest city. Coming from NYC or D.C. its a significant lifestyle change. I did stress this reality to Kristi prior to her visit but she didn't seem to mind at all. I'm sure visiting a place like Burlington that is quite a distance away from an urban environment isn't such a dramatic difference coming from Iowa. Additionally the benefit of being a "homebody" means you don't mind doing nothing.

On the ride home from Durham - Megabus drop off - we ate a feast at Cracker Barrel. After a few hours of studying at Acorn we decided for our first night together we'd go out. We went to Arizona Pete's in Greensboro after a pleasant quiet afternoon lounging around. When we first arrived it was as I expected a true country bar playing hard-core country music, drinking beers, line dancing...even the cha cha slide. Eventually the place was hopping with young 20-somethings turning the dance floor into a club scene. Not feeling the hip-hop sloppy music we decided to ride the mechanical bull. I stayed on longer than I expected but my whole arm was sore for the next few days after.

Saturday was pretty chill. It was a beautiful day outside so I went out a few times to run some errands and later I did get Kristi to walk around campus a bit. Later that evening instead of trying clubbing part 2 we stayed indoors comfy on the couch and watched "One Week" with Joshua Jackson while eating slow cooked pulled pork YUM! It was a good time for us to catch up on life too so I could not complain. I also introduced Kristi to the joy and seduction of a Cookout milkshake.

The next morning I requested that Kristi make her famous crazy eggs. They were so good especially with the rest of the cibatta bread I bought at Trader Joe's and their roasted tomato soup. Instead of going to the App State game I stayed home to spend time with Kristi. Ate slow cooked Hawaiian chicken over alfredo pasta for dinner and while watching the Oscars we played a drinking game.

Throughout the entire weekend we scanned over hers and my music library sharing songs via Dropbox. I filled it up within a day. Kristi's obsession with techno/house music left the eternal human jukebox (i.e. me) to change genres. In doing so I ended up getting pissed off because I had fixated on a sound I had heard on an Alias episode but didn't know the artist or name of the song. You must understand the magnitude of insanity this brings considering I'm trying to figure out what artist and song it is and the only reference I have is making noises that don't in the slightest bit help me describe or preview the song to someone else for help. I finally figured out randomly - per usual - the name of the song that was stuck in my head the entire weekend. And the winner is...Paul Oakenfold's "Ready, Steady, Go"

Dusk at Elon 

Wintery Wonderland! At least for a moment

It goes without saying that I was SUPER happy that it snowed this week. I was particularly pissed off at how "nice" it was outside. Everything someone would say, "Oh the weather has been so nice like spring" I found myself thinking "are you kidding me? It's supposed to be crappy and cold. Its the WINTER people!" However, I am bias considering I do not tolerate hot weather at any degree very well. I sweat on any given occassion even in the winter season when its (well moreso way back in the past less so in the last three years) traditionally colder. Besides my angst I was delighted to experience some snowy weather here at Elon. I haven't seen snow at Elon since freshman year. Of course I expected it to disappear the next day (which it did) so I was definitely going to take the opportunity to walk home in the snow when its clean and beautiful to watch.

 Outside the apt

I wasn't the only one. After the women's basketball game the brick pathways were filled with students. For the most part people were excited about it with the exception of a few who complained on-site. No bother to me. I was so chipper I danced part of the way home with my huge IKEA umbrella. It was fun and reminded me how the littlest things like walking through the first snowfall makes you feel so happy and childlike. Before it started I decided to walk to Lindner (across campus from my apt) for my Burst the Bubble Hip Hop class thinking, "oh, it might end up snowing while I'm in class. That will be nice. I'll get to feel a slight chill on my face." Yeah I'm that weird but really don't you love that feeling? It reminds me of the only time of year always designated towards spending moments with loved ones like at Thanksgiving leading into December, the start of the winter & Christmas season.

Trollinger House...oh how pretty

The unfinished Moseley extension 

Friday morning before most of the snow was already melted I walked to the Moseley to get a package and go to the Lindner to study. As I walked from my apt to central campus I took some snapshots of the area covered in white. I passed a few snowmen and a snow family, a lot of footprints and trees decorated with flakes. I also took a few photos of objects I thought were interesting that you can see below.

  Snowy footprints

 First buds of pre-spring season

Some of my friends were happy about the snow specifically because they were so hopeful that classes would be canceled. What they don't realize is we already get MLK day off so it wouldn't be in the best interest of the school to give us an extra day. Its winter term, we only have 3 weeks of class anyway! Although they didn't get completely off the hook students who had 830am classes got to sleep in another hour or two on Friday thanks to Smitty J's announcement of a delayed opening schedule. But most students, even in my 130pm class, skipped. I went to class having no reason to not come to class and I was glad I did. We presented ads to the class and talked about what we thought these images/videos meant, what they say to mass audiences and how they are relevant to the text/topics we discuss in class.

Mango...yum!

Friday night I went out to La Fiesta for dinner with the girls and had a jumbo margarita. It was delicious, the food not so much but it was nice to get out. We also made a trip out to the liquor store and found some interesting bottles like the one to the right.

Saturday was a chill day waking up around 1130am. Made pancakes and eggs for brunch, went to the gym later with my girlfriends and attempted to play racketball. Later I went to the Alumni gym for a Mellow Mushroom coupon as a promotion to come see the Elon Men's Basketball team play Wofford. I watched with my rugby teammates Rachel and Courtney. It was a very close game but in the end Elon won 68-61. Afterwards Courtney and I went to Kangaroo for some freakin awesome coffee. As I walked home I debated whether or not to go out clubbing since I hadn't eaten dinner yet and was kinda not feeling the club scene.

I ended up going out to Greensboro to a club called Allure. It seemed to have potential but I should've known when I asked the bouncer about the DJ and he said he was new would be a problem. He had potential in the beginning playing throwbacks and old school hip hop but eventually as the night wore on so did our boredom. HOWEVER, I will never forget our experience. I have been to clubs in other cities in the US and I've been to clubs all over the world and NEVER have I seen a ton of guys on the dancefloor groovin to the music, singing the music and waiting there for women to dance with them. In my experience its the opposite: the women dancing and guys come up after there are enough women on the floor to "choose" from. Like I told my girlfriends their looking for the right "meat." I will forever be grateful to Allure for exposing me to something completely different.

Today, Sunday, is another chill day. I ate pancakes and eggs again and did a load of laundry. Later I watched Silver Lining Playbook which was awesome! Now I'm debating when to go to the gym today even though my calves are in pain from the stairs exercise I did yesterday. Also I'm still not sure when or if I should do my readings for class today instead of tomorrow since I have an extra day off. I can't complain life is good :)