Halloweekend 2012

Hello everyone!  Hopefully this post finds you safe and well amidst all the craziness brought on by Sandy!  It hasn't started raining yet here at SMC, just lots of wind!  Anyway, I wanted to let you know how my weekend here went!  Seeing as Halloween is this week, my weekend was filled with Halloween activities.  It started on Friday with VITA Pumpkin Carving, which my friend Lauren and I co-hosted.  We had a great turnout and successfully feasted on candy, munchkins, and apple cider while simultaneously carving some beautiful pumpkins!

 

 

On Friday night, my roommate Emma and I painted our nails in preparation for Saturday night while also watching one of our favorite shows, Once Upon a Time.  The episode had pirates in it, which I absolutely loved because, for those who don't know, I'm obsessed with Jack Sparrow and therefore most other pirates!

 

Anyway, on Saturday I worked on some homework and then went into Burlington to buy shoes for a wedding I'm going to next weekend.  It will be my first wedding ever, so I'm very excited!  Getting into town was definitely an adventure, but I can now say confidently that I know how to follow the bus schedule, which is quite an accomplishment for me!

 

After dinner on Saturday, it was time to get ready for the Halloween dance.  It was great to have some girl time listening to music and doing hair, makeup, and getting dressed up!  Once everyone was ready, two of my best friends Cait and Alex had a little pre-dance get together in their room (which is conveniently right next door to me!).  We listened to more music which definitely got me excited for the dance!

 

 

I'm not a huge dance person, but I had a great time and it was awesome to see how creative everyone was with their costumes!

 

Sunday was spent doing homework (as usual) and, of course, singing at church with my awesome Lit Choir friends!  Jerome, the director, had me song lead one of the songs, which I was so honored to do because it's one of my favorites!  It's called Salamu Maria, which is the Hail Mary in Swahili.  Such a beautiful way to end my weekend!

 

As always, thanks so much for reading my blog!  Praying that everyone stays safe and sound as Sandy passes!

My Weekend!

Hello everyone!  Hope you're all doing well.  Since I last posted, I've been extremely busy - last weekend I went home for fall break (SMC students had Monday & Tuesday off) and even though this week was shortened, I had tons to do!

This past weekend was the first time I've been home this semester.  It was so great to be able to see my family and spend some quality time with them.  While I was home, I (of course) did some of my favorite New Hampshire things, which include going to the mall, getting my haircut (shout out to my hairdresser Emily - she's awesome!), visiting the girls I babysit for, catching up on some TV (I'm obsessed, as you may know), walking in the woods with my mom, seeing some of my friends, and going to (arguably) the best store ever - Walmart! :) In all seriousness, I do enjoy shopping at other stores, but since my local Walmart is open 24 hours, going there always brings back fond memories of late night Walmart runs!

Anyway, enough about Walmart.  I drove myself back to SMC on Tuesday night, which was great because it gave me an opportunity to listen to the new Script CD I just got!  When I finally got back to school, my friends and I all updated each other on our weekends.  Even though we were only apart for a few days, it was great to see them again!  Seeing them always reminds me how much I love them and appreciate their friendship.

Since the week started on Wednesday, I began with what I call my "crazy day".  On Wednesdays I have three back-to-back classes, then I go to a horse barn in South Hero with my fellow Horses & Healing TA's, then I have a little time to do homework (this week it was spent studying for my anthropology exam), then I eat dinner and head to Liturgical Choir, which is probably my favorite thing I'm involved with on campus.  Jerome, the director always brightens my day with his humor and good attitude.

Although we had a lot of work to do this weekend, my friends and I decided to get some errands done on Friday night (see Alex's blog!), which included getting supplies for our Halloween costumes, some grocery shopping, and (of course) a Walmart run.  It was pouring rain the whole time we were out, so I'd like to give another shout out to Caitlin for driving and getting us safely home!  Once we got home, the rain had stopped, but it left what looked like a mini lake in front of our building.  My friends and I decided we had to take advantage of this opportunity, so we ran upstairs, put our stuff down, changed into our rainboots, and ran back outside to jump in the huge puddles.  I'm not sure who started it, but someone kicked someone else with water, and our adventure quickly turned into a puddle war.  After we were all completely soaked, we decided we should go back inside.  While our "war" only lasted for a few minutes, I absolutely loved every second of it.  I was (and am) so happy to have found such wonderful friends at Saint Mike's who I can have fun with while doing the simplest of things.



Me, Cait, Emma, Alex, and Cara before we raced to the showers!

Fortunately, the fun didn't stop there!  On Saturday, some of our friends decided to have a fall party which included apple picking, lots of baking, and just spending some time together (see Lauren's blog!).  It was so great to take a break from homework and just relax for a little while.

Today was eventful as well - a couple who sings at Mass on Sunday mornings had their annual Lit Choir brunch at their house.  After the 11am Mass, we all headed to their house to enjoy some absolutely delicious eggs, pancakes, and sausages.  It was so much fun and I can't wait to go next year!

I'm off to church and then back home to finish up my homework and get ready to start another great week at SMC!

Thanks for reading & hope everyone has a great week!
Merrill

Friday Knight Dry

Happy Sunday everyone! Hope you all had a fantastic weekend.  It was a bit rainy here, but that didn't take away from the beautiful Vermont foliage!  My weekend started off with one of the most exciting events St. Mike's puts on during the fall semester - Friday Knight Dry.  It's a night filled with different activities throughout the Residence Halls and Alliot Student Center.  Some of these included Open Mic, Apples to Apples, dancing, Musical Chairs, a showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and cupcake decorating.  Everyone who attends these events receives raffle tickets to be used later in the night.  The most exciting event for me was the performance of SMC's three a capella groups.  My roommate Emma recently became a member of the Acabellas (SMC's all female a capella group) and Friday was her first performance.  It went extremely well and I'm so proud of her!  After the Acabellas performed, I also got to watch the Sleepless Knights (male and female) and Mike Check (all male) - a campus favorite.

While the groups were performing, students were able to put their raffle tickets in baskets for various prizes which ranged from a digital camera to a Keurig.  My friend Alex actually won a gift certificate to the Outdoor Gear Exchange!  Unfortunately I didn't win anything, but I still had a great time participating in the various activites.  My favorite would have to be cupcake decorating:

My friends are skilled!

Also during the performances, some of my friends decided to be creative with their raffle tickets:

I was so impressed!

 Overall, Friday Knight Dry was just as fun as last year - can't wait for it to happen again next year!

After a wonderful night of sleep, I woke up on Saturday and gave a tour to students who attended SMC's Academic Preview Day.  I always love giving tours and getting to share my love of SMC with everyone.  Hopefully my tourists liked being on the tour as much as I loved giving it!

My Sunday was spent running some errands (which included getting some birthday presents for my friend Vick) and doing homework.  However, all in all it was another great weekend at SMC and I am now feeling refreshed and ready to start another week of classes.

Hope everyone has a great week and thanks for reading!!
~Merrill