ALMOST there!

WOW-my first year of grad school is almost over. Only a paper and one big assignment left, and I'm done until June, when I'm taking 2 classes-a lobbying seminar and an online course. I'm so glad-my last assignment for 511 is going to be a bear, but I'm just glad to almost be done.

My dinner party for this weekend had to be cancelled, unfortunately, thanks to me having to go home under penalty of death-not joking. I'm planning one for August once I've moved into my new place-it will serve as an apartment-warming party, a reunion for some, goodbye for others, and fun times for all, I'm sure. It will be fun to see how the personalities of my Chambana and Springfield friends mesh...hmmmm...

Memory Lane

It's so hard to believe it's been almost a year since graduation-yikes. So much has happened since then, so much has changed-drastically changed. I still miss many things about U of I, but I can finally say that I'm really happy here. I'll always cherish my memories of U of I, and I hope that the old gang can get together in 10 years at an alumni function and laugh and goof off just like old times.

Some things I remember fondly...(as we travel down memory lane)

1) Move-in day, 2001, sitting up w/ Alisha (my cousin/roommate turned cousin/roommate/great friend) and talking all night. The first time I realized that U of I was really gonna be great-and maybe I WOULD find that there was life beyond KC and C-town.

2) George Forman cookouts w/ the B-E girls-particularly, making 2 a.m. Meijer/Super Wal-Mart runs w/ Amanda and co.-filet mignon on the George Forman at 3:30 a.m.! Yeah!

3) Wednesday nights out. This tradition started my 2nd semester at UIUC, and turned into a regular cult gathering by my last semester! Gotta love all of us at White Ho, downing the infamous rum and coke pitchers in the beer garden w/ the guys smoking like chimneys, singing American Pie and Piano Man-good times, good times.

4) Cubicle/Office hours. This may sound silly, but I bonded w/ some of my favorite people in that darn RSO complex.

5) Campaigning-too much caffeine, too much pizza, WAY too much alcohol and too little sleep-and we all loved every second. And the image of Dan dressed as a barbershop quartet member, dancing on the table in the Berns office to Michelle Branch and Santana will forever be ingrained in my memory. And who could forget all the nights afterwards at Boltini’s? Not me.

6) Election night, 2002-'nuff said!

7) All those OTHER nights out drinking that haven’t been mentioned…happy hours, CR barcrawls, etc…

8) Formal dinners at Timpone’s w/ Nia, Alisha, and Kamakshi-since most of the time we were eating bagels from late night for dinner, it was always a blast to get away from it (even if it was just across the street) and for a couple of hours, be dressed up and fabulous and dining on some of the best Italian food in Chambana!

9) Dinner parties! Surprisingly enough, ramen wasn’t all we could cook, or so we found out-Donald, Meghann, Dan, and I had a great 4 weeks last summer!

10) Late nights at the B-E front desk w/ the girls…we would stay up for HOURS talking about absolute nonsense! And having the time of our lives.

11) COLLEGE REPUBLICANS. The best choice I made in college was joining this organization-hands down. We had our ups and downs and fights and trying times, but I made some of the best friends I've ever had, had a BLAST, and made a lifetime of memories-all in two short years. I don't know what it was about our gang, but we had something special-even if it was all too brief.

12) My last hurrah-sure, I ended up sick by the end of the night, but I can’t think of a better way to bid goodbye to the gang than a visit to all of my favorite, err, places in Chambana-one last time! The turnout was great, and the memories are precious.

All right, that's enough of the reminiscing for now-today was crazy as usual, running around the capitol for hearings and doing research at IARF-my internship will be over in about two weeks, and I'll likely be doing something w/ the state republican party for the summer. Fun times. Tonight, I'm going to get my dose of "Must See TV", pack for home, and work on stuff for 511 like the good little student I am-no Mowie's tonight. Boo...oh well, summer is almost here!