Hello and Happy Monday!  Usually Mondays are an epic struggle to stay awake, stay focused and try not to think about how many hours I need to get through until the next weekend comes up.  But today is different because it’s fall break!  I have today and Tuesday off, so I slept in late, went to the gym and now I’m camped out at our student union trying to learn all the chemistry that I’ve been neglecting for 2+ weeks.  It’s pouring outside, the campus is empty and I don’t feel crammed for time-a very odd sensation.  I might go as far as saying that this Monday, I’m not riding the struggle bus!  Oh, and I had an amazing weekend, so that helps too!

Last week, I was looking at different quotes on the internet and I came across one that gave me chills:

More than anything, that last line is what really gets me.  I’ve said it before on here, but I will say it again- I have this haunting fear that I will graduate undergrad without experiencing all of the things that I think one should experience in undergrad.  I have an awareness that there is no other time in one’s life that is quite like being in college as an undergrad.  Sometimes it really scares me to think that I have less than eight months to do everything and experience everything that I want in an undergraduate setting.  I believe in working hard and doing well, but like the above quote says, the work never ends, but college does.

So, in the spirit of that quote, last week was spent working hard, but this Saturday was spent playing hard.  Russ and I went downtown for the Temple Owls vs. Louisville game with a few of his coworkers and friends.Besides a handful of concerts, I had never been to a tailgate, but now I know that I’ve been missing out!  We left Russ’ apartment at 9 am (I didn’t even get to have coffee and definitely missed it the entire day) and went to Dan’s house- one of Russ’ friends- to start the tailgate before heading downtown.  Russ and I climbed up to his third story roof and while the views of the city were awesome, my fear of climbing things on shakey ladders got the best of me. It took a few pep talks and words of encouragement to get me down.  This girl won’t be doing that ever again!

We took the subway down to the AT&T station and walked the couple blocks over to the tailgate. It was unusually hot for October, but felt like summer with people grilling, music playing, and no shortage of beer pong and flip cup.  I didn’t know anyone there besides Russ, but made friends with various flip cup opponents and teammates.  Oh, and I wasn’t too shabby when it came to flipping my cup on the first try ;).I didn’t end up going into the game, but had an unbelievably fun time talking with new people, playing multiple rounds of flip cup, getting to know Tevin- a friend of Russ’, and just enjoying the atmosphere and energy that comes with any tailgate!By four o’ clock, we were wiped.  I showered and immediately passed out for a little catnap before heading home to end such a wild day on a quiet note-with my family and a movie.  The rest of the weekend was spent doing all of my favorite things with my family:  Pancake brunch, food shopping (thanks, dad!), gym with dad, a trip to my dad’s farm for some pumpkin picking, big dinner with family + Russ, and lots and lots of down time.I take pancake flipping very seriously.Except when I eat the batter.Russ helped flip pancakes.Now I have a hand-picked baby pumpkin for my room.Never thought I would see Russ sneaking a bite of KALE.Feeling ready to work hard, so I’ll be good to play hard this weekend 🙂