Hard work pays off for those who wait...

Well I guess I will get my big news out of the way first...I got a job for next year! I have been offered a Program Assistant (PA) position on the Housing and Residential Life Staff for the academic year 2012-2013. This position is similar to a Resident Assistant (RA) position but, as the name suggests, it deals more with the programming and putting on events for the residents than the RA job does. I will be the PA for Treehouse, the hallway that focuses on the environment. I will plan events and activities for the residents that revolve around this topic. Right up my alley! As time moves on I will share my experiences of becoming, and then of course being, a PA.

In other news.....

Starting last week I began to work for Kevyn again. You may recall me calling this the 'plant job.' We are continuing on with his study and are now pulling roots out of dirt - exciting right?!? It actually is more fun than you may think, but it certainly does strain your neck...oh well.

I have been working out more regularly lately. I have a bunch of friends that enjoy going up to the gym together so we go and some people play basketball while others of us go and work out. I enjoy running and usually run about 5 miles each time.

This past weekend Michigan Tech played hockey versus University of North Dakota, Kayla's school. We lost Friday night and tied Saturday. Better luck next time Huskies!

On Saturday I went sledding with some friends. That was really fun! It was a great time to relax and enjoy winter in a capacity I haven't been able to do this yet this year!

On Sunday morning (early morning!) some friends and I surprised my friend Anna with a party for her birthday. I hope she enjoyed her special day!

On Sunday afternoon I went on a walk with some friends. We just walked the back streets of Houghton where I have never been. There are some pretty cool houses and some great views!

On Sunday night I enjoyed skyping home and talking to everyone who was at Angela's birthday party!

On Monday morning I picked up my notification letter regarding whether I got a position or not. As I said, I was offered a PA position for next year (which was my top choice!). My friend Hannah will be the RA of Treehouse, so we will work closely together to best serve the residents of our hallway! My friend Anna got the job she applied for, which was OTL, Orientation Team Leader.

I should take this opportunity to say Happy Birthday to my youngest sister, Angela! She is now 14.

It should be mentioned that there are lots of issues and topics going around right now between the different student groups I am a part of. I have been keeping myself pretty busy with meetings and such, all for the benefit of our campus and what is best for the sudents. Let's hope the Board of Control and others in power look out for the students best interest in these times of decisions for the future.

Coming up.....

I know I continue to say this, but I will push it off just a little more....I will post pictures (again, I only have a few) of Winter Carnival and other events soon (possibly Thursday), when I have a little bit of time. The link to some great Winter Carnival statue pictures is http://www.flickr.com/photos/michigantech/sets/72157628942198957/

This Friday I have a box seat ticket to the mens hockey game versus St. Cloud State. It should be fun!

Also, as lent starts tomorrow (Ash Wednesday), I will make it public that I am giving up all sweets, so please don't tempt me!

I certainly hope you all are enjoying winter (as I heard you received some this past week). Enjoy each and every day, for you never know what tomorrow may bring!

Life Moves On...

Well, here we are. Back to the grind after a wonderful and fun weekend. Let's pick up on the activities in my life starting last Friday....

Friday was a surprisingly lazy day. I did some homework and hung out with friends. I had a broomball game in the afternoon. We won! On Friday evening there was a hockey game versus University of Nebraska-Omaha. We tied them 3-3. BUT, the exciting news of the evening was my friend Dave proposing on center ice to his girlfriend, now fiancee, Jen. I have known both Dave and Jen since arriving at Tech and it was really great to see Dave propose! Best wishes to them!

On Saturday...my family was here!! Mom, Dad, Rachel, Angela, and Grandma & Grandpa Widenstrom came to visit me for Winter Carnival. Well, actually, I had a broomball game first, at 8am. We won 7-1. Nice job Silly Salmon! My family came into town soon after and spent the day here. We walked/drove around to all of the statues and enjoyed Winter Carnival events going on, such as the booksale in the library. We went out to lunch at Applebees. I showed my family my church as well as the Forestry Building, where I have a lot of my classes and work. We also went to Walmart and the Surplus Outlet :) We all attended the hockey game that evening. Unfortunately the Huskies lost. We then went to dinner at the Rockhouse Grill and Tavern. The food was delicious! After dinner my family had to leave and begin their journey back home. Although they were only here for a day, it was still nice to see them all. Here's a shout-out to my sister Kayla (who is studying up in ND) and to the Widenstroms (Dan and Nicole) who couldn't come :(

On Sunday I went to church, did homework, and attempted to realize that I had to get back to reality. I also went up to the SDC and worked out (I ran ~ 5 miles), something I haven't done in a while.

Now that the week has started, reality has kicked back in. I have homework due and a few exams soon. Wish me luck as I study hard for the next few weeks. Spring break (3/2-3/10) is coming soon! I can't wait to be back in MN for a short time!

As this blog post is posted on February 14th, I suppose it is appropriate to wish you all a happy Feast of St. Valentine!

Winter Carnival is Here!

Hello Everyone!

Before I get into the Winter Carnival shenanigans, let's pick up where I left off...

Last Friday we had a Coffeehouse, hosted by WHSA, which I helped run. That was fun as always. It is always cool to see the talents people have.

On Saturday I had the interactive/group part of the interview process (called SLATE) for the PA/RA/OTL positions I am applying for. I think it went really well. That is the end of the process. I will be notified in late February about whether I am offered a job or not.

Also on Saturday I went to a study review session for my chemistry exam. I did well on the practice exam, so I felt good about it!

On Sunday I watched the Superbowl, not for the game, but for the commercials. We had a party in the kitchenette. Good times! None of the commercials were stellar, but my favorite would have to be the commercial for "The Voice" where Betty White was singing.

On Monday I had a chemistry exam and two broomball games, but I didn't play in the first game because of my exam. We lost unfortunately. Our team record is now 3-3.

Winter Carnival started yesterday evening, officially at 10pm. For those of you who don't know about Winter Carnival (WC) I will briefly explain. Basically it is a time for us (Michigan Tech, the community, etc.) to celebrate winter. As stated in the last post, there are many, many different components to WC. There are events to compete in (such as broomball, curling, ice bowling, etc.), there are fun things like talent competitions and a Carnival Queen, and there are the big things such as all-nighter and snow statues. Also, there is no class today or tomorrow.

So, in order to keep track of it all, I will attempt to go in order. So, starting last night, people began working on snow/ice statues. They have from 4pm to 8am to complete a statue. This is called all-nighter. Everyone stays up and helps make a statue. There is also "month-long" statue which started, obviously, a month ago. They also had to be completed by 8am this morning. There are over 60 snow statues across campus and the community. People come from all over to see the magnificent masterpieces. I helped out with Treehouse's statue, which is an ice-shanty on a pond/lake. See the pictures!

But, before I helped with statue building I had to help out in different capacities. I know I mentioned this before, but here goes again. So first, I was a crossguard from 8-9pm. I helped direct people and traffic. That was fun, but cold. I was facing into the wind the entire time (because you have to face the traffic) so my face froze. But it was fun because there were a ton of people out and about, including the president of the university, a vice president of the university, and Blizzard T. Husky, our mascot. I'm glad I could help them all safely cross the road :) There was also loud music playing on campus, so I stayed warm by dancing while crossguarding :)

At 9pm I went to help serve chili out of the "chili van." I got to drive the chili van through campus and the people in the back passed out chili. It was pretty fun! It was a bit scary though because I drove literally right through campus, through the crowd of people (and some of them were not fully with it, if you know what I mean). But it was really fun anyway.

I did that until 10:30pm. Then I went and took a short break and checked up on a few statues. At 11pm I went to help pass out different chili with a different group. I helped do that until midnight. Lots of standing around and eating chili :)

At midnight I helped work on the statue a little bit, though it was coming along quite nicely. At about 2am we all came in. We ordered pizza from Dominoes for an early morning snack! It was quite the night of working, loud music, lots of people, and fun! I enjoyed all-nighter and the fun, but I finally went to bed around 3am.

This morning I was up around 8am, bright and early. I played a WC broomball game at 10:30am. We lost, but it was a really fun game. We ate lunch around noon, and then we went to the Beard competition at 1pm. The people were in either the full beard, chops, or mustache categories. They all perform a short skit/song of sorts. It was fun to watch. After, we walked around and saw the majority of the on-campus statues. There are so many! My camera ran out of battery about 3/4 of the way through, but no worries, I will finish getting pictures of them all, including the off-campus ones between tomorrow and Saturday. They are all SO good! I will talk more about them when I post those pictures later.

Future activities include a game-night tonight, more statue-viewing tomorrow, and a hockey game tomorrow night. Then, on Saturday, my family is coming up to see the statues (and me!). Should be fun!

Look for another WC post Sunday night/Monday as well as pictures soon after that!!

I hope February is going well and that you are enjoying the journey you're on called life!

So many "doings"!

Hello family, friends, and whomever else finds themselves reading about my doings -

I hope your January was a combination of what you hoped for and life's surprising challenges that keep us motivated and encouraged to change the world. I know mine certainly was!

Let's go WAY back to where my last entry left off....

Unfortunately we lost to our big rival, Northern Michigan University, in mens hockey. Oh well, still a good game. This past weekend our team played UMD in Duluth and tied them one night and won the second night!

Last week I had lots to do. One of the biggest was submitting my application to become a part of residential life next year. As I talked about before, I hope to become either an RA, PA, or OTL next year. On that note, I had my interview this past Saturday. I feel really good about it! Part 2 of the interview is this coming Saturday. Then I have to wait 'til late February to find out if I am offerred a position.

Another thing I did last week was apply to become a part of the Honors Institute. I have submitted my application for that and will hear back in a few weeks.

On the topic of broomball, we have now played 4 games, with a record of 3-1. You can access all the broomball info (dates, live camera, etc.) in my last entry. I know that I said in my last blog that I would put silver tape on my helmet....well, they won't let me do that because I do not own my helmet, I borrow it from them, so instead I have put a silver "#1" on my back made of tape. I hope this makes me more identifiable! My next game is this Friday 6:45pm EST.

In other notes...

- I was invited to sit in a box seat for the Michigan Tech vs. St. Cloud State game on Friday February 24th. Should be a lot of fun!!

- I missed another grand showing of the northern lights..argh! I am determined to see them at some point!

- Nose bleeds are the worst. Enough said.

Shall we talk snow?!?! It continues to snow here! We had a nice foot or more over the past week. The snow has now stopped and it has warmed to around 33 degrees (avg.) Hopefully it gets colder/snows some more before Winter Carnival!

On that topic, Winter Carnival is just around the corner! Winter Carnival (WC) is a big celebration of the wonderful geography and historical culture of the UP. Teams are formed and many different events are available to participate in. Things include snow statue building, ice bowling, broomball, ice fishing contest, curling, snow volleyball, yooper sprint (snowshoeing and skiing together), human dog sled races, as well as a few "normal" winter activities (downhill skiing, X-country skiing, and snowboarding). These events happen in the evenings and have already started.

In addition to all the events there are a few days which we actually refer to as "winter carnival." WC starts the evening of Wednesday Feb. 8th and goes through Saturday Feb. 11th. Wednesday night through Thursday morning we will have the "all-nighter" where everyone is out working statues and enjoying winter! I will be acting as a crossguard patrol member as well as serving chili this night. There are events Thursday and Friday. There are hockey games on Friday and Saturday. There is a beard competition, snoeshoeing event, the carnival queen coronation, and many other things too! Fireworks, sleigh rides, and dog sled races may also be in the "forecast"!It's a crazy time at Tech!

To segway, many people will be heading up to Tech to enjoy the statues, see the campus, and enjoy the activities and events of WC. These people include alumni, friends, and....you guessed it, FAMILY!!

It is exciting news that my family (parents, younger sisters, and grandparents) will be coming to visit and enjoy WC! I'm excited to have them coming!

Other random doings involve being part of a cactus give-away from WHSA and having my first Calculus exam, which I feel good about.

A few personal notes, first about my sister Angela. Angela auditioned for Footloose at Ashland Productions and got a part in the very selective cast! Very exciting!

On a more somber note, a good friend of my Mom, Kari Egge, past away this past week. She had been sick for some time and this week God called her home. Kari worked around the globe through the Peace Corps, Catholic Relief Servics, and the American Red Cross and touched many, many lives. Many prayers go out to her two young children and family.

Again, I hope that January treated you well and that you have a full (leap year - 29 days!) February. I am still working on photos (which there are very few of to begin with), but will get them up soon none-the-less.

Ta ta for now!