Reality Check

This morning at 4am, I was given my first scary reality check since moving out of the house back in August. I was woken up by a door banging open and a girl and guy yelling at each other. Swear words were used and as I was getting ready to dismiss the incident as a drunken argument between a couple, I heard the girl cry out for help. At this point, I got out of bed and headed towards the door, but before I opened it, I heard the hallway door to the stairs open and close and two voices (one male and one female) asking the girl if she was okay.
The male voice was talking on the phone, relaying what was happening to someone on the other end. I assumed he was speaking to the police, so I decided it was not necessary for me to get involved. I looked out my peephole in the door before heading back to bed and say that the girl who was crying was the girl who lives across the hall from me. I saw her crying hysterically, leaving our hallway, entering the stairwell.
I went back to bed, but immediately felt uneasy. Sure enough, no more than 2 minutes later, I heard more yelling and banging on the floor below mine. I got back out of bed and went to my computer to look for either the number to campus police or to the front desk of our building where residents "night host" each night.
While frantically searching for ANY number to call, the yelling couple had moved outside, where I could hear the girl now crying out for more help.
I forgot about calling the front desk and dialed 911. The noises stopped outside, which made me even more nervous, and I told the emergency responder everything that I knew about the situation and who the girl was and he said that campus police were on their way. As we were ending our conversation, I saw the girl walking towards the front door of our building from the side where they had been fighting. I continued to relay to the man on the phone what I was seeing as the guy began chasing after her across the front pathway.
Just as the guy reached the front door, he stopped, paused, turned away and began calmly walking towards the side of the building again. I thought this was odd... until 2 campus police officers came out of the front doors of our building.
They called him over and long story short, I went back to bed having seen that the police were talking to both the girl and the guy (separately).
Try though I may, I could not fall asleep. I continued to replay the events over and over in my head, I was very upset by the events.
It was the first time I had ever made a 911 phone call, and while I was very proud of myself in how I handled the situation and for doing the right thing and helping, I was (and still am) very unsettled by what happened. It was a definite wake-up call for me. I have always known things like that happened, but nothing had happened that close to home for many, many years. It was my first real-life grown-up situation since leaving home, and my first reaction was to call my mom.

Power Shift 2009

Three days until my trip to D.C. for the Power Shift convention!!!
I'm getting very excited as my group is planning our departure and small details are being ironed out!
For a short amount of time, I was worried I wouldn't be able to afford going on the trip (:-/) BUT!! Moma and Pops are saving the day (once again!) and are using this trip as my birthday present! They are graciously paying for it :-D
So, here are two links, one is to the PowerShift 2009 website, and the other is the hotel website that we're staying at... nothing too glamorous, I'm just glad we don't have to stay in tents or anything!!

http://www.powershift09.org/conference

http://www.comfortinn.com/hotel-capitol_heights-maryland-MD177?sid=k9lK.bOVfNgkK2M.7&sarea=10726&sname=Capitol+Heights&sstate=MD&scountry=US&sradius=40.23&slat=38.8850&slon=-76.9161&schain=CI&exp=&scity=&sort=&type=&map=n&nroom=1&nadult1=1&nchild1=0&nadult2=1&nchild2=0&nadult3=1&nchild3=0&nadult4=1&nchild4=0&nadult5=1&nchild5=0

<3 peace and love

"C"

Okay, here's a fun game we can all play...
If you want to play, leave a comment on this post letting me know, and I'll assign you a letter. You post ten things you love that begin with your assigned letter. When people comment on your list, you give them a letter, and the chain continues on and on. I promise that no one will get "J,X,Q,U or Z." Mom gave me "C". So, here it goes:

1) Cats:
I LOVE my cats!!!! Willow, the cat that adopted me when she was stranded on my grandparents farm has been with our family since we started being a family and I love her very much. Dexter, her son, is supposed to be my mom's cat... but she doesn't love him as much as I do haha. When I grow up and have my own apartment/house, I plan on bringing Dexter with me. I would take Willow with me, but she can't be left alone that much in a new environment like that :-/
But I love them both :-)

2) Cars:
I'm deviating from the directions of the game somewhat. While I do love cars and hope to have a cute little bug some day, I'd also like to think of myself as an environmentalist. I hope to live and teach in a city for at least the beginning of my teaching career. This way, I can take a subway to work everyday, saving money from gas, car payments, and car insurance... AND helping the environment!

3) Calendars:
My favorite kind of calendars of the ones that sport (mostly) naked men :-)

4) Chips
Tortilla Chips and Queso!! Yum Yum Yum!!!!

5) Choffee:
The drink I'm addicted to! It's half hot chocolate and half coffee... SOOO GOOD!

6) Just plain CHOCOLATE:
Can't go wrong with a nice big bar of chocolate lol

7) Crayons:
I love to color. Whether I'm coloring in my dorm room with friends or by myself, or at home in the Play Room coloring with Mackenzie and Jack... there's something peaceful about being able to sit down with a coloring book and 24 crayola crayons :-D

8) Cell Phone:
CAN'T BELIEVE IT TOOK ME THIS LONG TO THINK OF THIS!!!!
I love my cell phone. I am addicted to it. I feel naked and lonely if it is not by my side. ... I think I got my point accross lol

9) Camera:
Another essential in my life that I am embarrased to have forgotten about for so long! I just bought my new camera with Christmas money and I LOVE it!!!

10) Casa:
Best for last, right?
Casa= Home in Spanish... kinda lol
Home is definitely a huge part of my life and I love being home and the people that live there... not even just in my actual house, but my home is also Moma and Pops' house, next door at Grandma's house, and of course, let's not forget about my 2 homes up in Saratoga... where I've been spending more time than at my actual house lately :-P

This is my list... I'm sorry if it's not that interesting!
<3 Love and Peace to all

Inspiration

My Mom has inspired me to dedicate a post to my favorite 2 people in the world.. Mackenzie and Jack. So... here are some quick pictures of them (I have to leave for dinner in half an hour).

Thought Provoking Class

As I enter my third week of my second semester, I feel that I have a pretty good handle on what these next few months are going to have in store for me. I know what to expect from my professors; I know what kind of work is expected from me and I have a fairly good idea of what each class will be like.
As of last Thursday, I currently have my favorite class for this semester :-D
I am convinced that my Contemporary Issues and Literature class was created for me. The professor is this sweet old woman who has been an English professor for many years. The course is going to explore our culture and and the issues that we have faced over the past hundred years or so.
The other day in class, as somewhat of an introduction to the course and to get our minds thinking, our professor showed us a video that almost every American child watches when growing up. However, as she had us watch the clip on youtube, she asked us to look at it as a political statement about our society and what the cartoon is saying about social issues and our culture/society.
I'd love to hear people's reactions to this little experiment, so here are the links to the two cartoons (they're not long!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAtaBeYYuw4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViFBEww8uxk&feature=related