Life with Madi

Wow.  This week has been intense and stressful and emotionally exhausting!

First of all, there's the fact that Obama came to my university yesterday and I didn't get to see him because I had to work (whine whine whine, I know...but whether you like him or not, who wouldn't want to see the POTUS in person??)



And then there's my first foray into dating.  There's a guy that's into me but I really just want to be friends...and I've never had to deal with anything like this before.  There's gonna be some feelings hurt and I may lose this guy as a pal....UGH I'M SO BAD AT BOYS.

And, of course, the clincher- it's finally time to say goodbye to Yunioshi:

First, a week of finals.
Now, a week of moving into our new house.  CRAZINESS.

I haven't even posted my latest vlog yet, y'all.  I'm crazy behind.
On the upside, I got good enough grades to keep my scholarship! YIPEEEEEE!

As you probably already can tell, this post is about my major and how I used to hate it.  I switched from Journalism and Technical Communication to Communication Studies.

I majored in Journalism because I honestly thought that, naturally, that's what my next step was.  After all, I was editor of the yearbook...what was I supposed to study, agriculture? (I actually considered that and I am not ashamed).  I picked journalism because I thought that was where I was supposed to be, not because it was where I wanted to be.  So, second semester, there was this one class that really cleared things up for me- newswriting!!  I hate newswriting with a burning, fiery passion (sorry to all you newswriters out there, it honestly is very honorable and you have to be smart and clever as hell to do it).  I spent one class period in that newswriting lab and told myself, "What the hell are you doing?  You don't want to do journalism!  You just want to write!"

So I dropped that sucker and enrolled in a Public Speaking course.

Not that I love public speaking or anything, but it's a required course and I enjoy it far more than I think I would have enjoyed NW.

BUT ANYHOO, I was still not too enthusiastic about Comm Studies.  Honestly, I started believing the stereotype- that it was a common major for people that wanted to do smooth sailing in college- basically, the best way for slackers to graduate.  And that upset me A LOT.

But, I've been sticking with it, because stereotypes are usually fake (ESPECIALLY this one), and I finally had a meeting with my advisor to talk about new classes.

This is the part of the story where I fall in love with my major.  I had a new advisor because of the major change, and she is the sweetest thing on Earth.  The first thing she asked me when I sat down was if I was interested in film.  I was like

So now that I'm almost officially living in a studio next year (which means I can decorate however the EFF I want!), I've been online furniture shopping like mad.

And here are my favorite items so far:

Alright, it's time for me to grow up a little bit.

Ok, not really.  And not yet, either.  I'm not planning on growing up until I'm at least 50.

BUT I thought it was about time to go ahead and change my blog title from Cooper Calamity to Life With Madi.   Cooper Calamity is an inside joke so I always knew it was weird and hard to understand, but I stuck with it.  Plus, my vlog for the Collegian is Life With Madi, so it only makes sense.

There's my reasoning.  My URL's still the same, though: shesacalamity.blogspot.com!

I'll be signing off with my real name now,

Madi

Today, we decided to go down to Fort Collins so my dad could check out the house that I was thinking about living in next year....

And he wasn't a fan.  I agreed with what he said: the neighborhood was not the best (there was a body shop right next door to us and a mobile home park behind us) and it was at least 5 miles away from campus.  I must admit, I was discouraged...but my dad asked if there were any other options so I led him to an apartment complex I'd briefly read about online that had the studio apartment I'd wanted.  I wasn't enthused, though, I mean, I still wanted the house and the roommate and the YARD!  But then this lady gave us a tour of the studios and I sort of fell in love...they're small, kind of dorm-sized, but they've got a kitchen and a bathroom and one of them has a walk-in closet...

Needless to say, my dad and I went for a drive and decided that the studio was the best bet.  And it's right on campus, which means I don't have to waste gas every morning. 

So we went back to the complex, turned in my application, and put our money down.  It's a fast process with these apartments and I'm SO excited to move in. 

Afterwards, we were pretty tired...the drive to Fort Collins from Denver is a long one!  But on the way home, I mentioned Ikea, and Dad took a sudden exit and pretty soon, we were there!  It was so much fun looking around at furniture (we both need new stuff!) and spending time just doing random things. 

We came home, had pizza and a movie, and are emotionally preparing for The Hunger Games tomorrow (well, I am.)

I love this guy. 

WHAT? Cooper's blogging twice in one day, WHAT???

I know.  But I have too much stuff on my mind to not.

Here's what I'm thinking about.
1.  New Girl is on tonight and I could NOT be more excited.

2. I may have met the girl I'm going to live with next year.  I really wanted to live alone, but I was thinking it would end up being WAY too expensive and that's not kosher.

3. I'm procrastinating studying for Psych but I really need to get on that.  I can't afford to fuck up this test- my scholarship is in grave danger!

4.  I have no idea what to do for my vlog for the collegian.  It's due tomorrow morning.

That's the end of that.

And I am drinking hot chocolate.

Today, I achieved something that I've been wanting to for a long time.  I climbed the rock wall at my gym!

My friend Rose always pesters me to go with her, but I always say no- rock climbing takes an immense amount of upper body strength that I just do not have.  I have always wanted to do it, though, but I guess I have this fear of being judged or watched by the professional climbers (who are ALWAYS hanging around) so I've always said no.  Today, however, she finally said something that convinced me.  I realized that I didn't want to go home saying that I never tried anything new and that I never faced my (albeit irrational) fears.

So I did it!  And okay, I almost didn't past the belaying certification test (which is ridiculous because it is literally the easiest test in the world, but I just got so nervous) and I only made it a little more than halfway up the easiest wall (the 5.5) but STILL!  It's an accomplishment even for me, and Rose said that that is good for my first try, anyway, so I'll take what I can get.  I belayed for her the rest of the time, which is really relaxing and also a good way to get an arm workout, but you have to be attentive and not easily distracted.  So, hard for me (haha).

So though it was incredibly hard, I look forward to getting better and better and maybe tackling some 5.9s soon!

It surprises me how much I actually waste time thinking about it, but I do....glasses, or no glasses?

Only someone who wears frames really understands the battle us four-eyed females have with our most important accessory.  Every morning when I get up I ask myself, 'Is today a glasses day?'.  On special days, like for example, my first day of college, one of the first things I decided was, 'Okay, I'm not wearing glasses today.  I want people to notice me without them.'

For me at least, it's like having a mole on your back or a scar on your knee- you don't want to show it until people really know you.  I've recently climbed out of my glasses-shell and have gotten more and more comfortable with wearing them in public.  It's not like I think they're ugly or anything, but I wonder if they change the way people look at me...do they make me more or less approachable?  Do they make me more or less attractive to the opposite sex?

I guess this kind of problem is pretty narcissistic, but I would be lying if I said I never thought about it.

Anyone else have this dilemma?

Have a smashing day,
Cooper

Just sittin' here, eating my Skinny Cow dreamy clusters (SO good) and NAHT wanting to go to class.  That's right, I spelled it NAHT.

This semester already proves to be challenging.  There's extensive textbook use in all my classes and already I'm bogged down with homework.  I'm trying not to get stressed out of my mind.

Textbooks are expensive, y'all.  I HATEZ it so much that I'm using ridiculous words like HATEZ.

UGGGGHHHHH.

In other news, I have a new vlog out.  Check it out by clicking on 'my vlog' in the top right corner.

Also, I started a new Tumblr!  It's a reading/writing/movies based blog and you all should go follow it if that floats your boat.  I'm loving posting on it so far.

the-maincharacter.tumblr.com

Well, hope you're having a better Wednesday than I am!

Cooper

And that's because I've been at Disney World and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!  Pictures and videos to come up soon.

While this week has been absolutely amazing (it was our first time at both parks) it's been filled with stress, too.  A professor accused me of plagiarism, I'm freaking out over grades, and nothing seems to be working out for me the way I planned it.  BUT that's life, and as Christmas is fast approaching I think it's time to dispense of the depressing posts and continue with the magical and fun posts.

Therefore, here's a Christmas Harry Potter picture to make this post less sad.

So, since the current side of the dorm building that we live on is about to go under construction, we get to move to the other side of the building that is newly renovated.  We even got the chance to pick fourth-floor rooms, which are basically the mansions of Parmalee (not really, but that metaphor got out of hand).  They've got vaulted ceilings, freshly painted walls in nice colors (tan and light olive green, so soothing), and a bathroom that looks like the inside of a Holiday Inn.  And I LOVE the Holiday Inn.

We got the chance to go up there and check it out, and oh my damn...that is some spacious shit.  It got the cogs turning in my head, thinking about how I'm going to decorate my side of the room and I found some pretty beautiful pictures for inspiration on Pintrest:

And yet, it was great.  It's the little things, folks, the little things.

Here are my little things:

1. Waking up to snow.

2. Skipping class and watching an old Christmas movie with my roommate.

3.  Impromptu trek across the snow-covered campus for a sandwich with a friend.

4. Eating creamsicles in 20 degree weather.

5.  Trying to sled with a laundry basket but falling face-first into the freezing snow instead.

6.  Running on the track for the first time.

7.  Rewarding myself for (sort of) not cheating on my running with a dinner of watermelon slices.

8.  Pez for dessert.

9.  A call from my wonderful high school yearbook adviser that made me feel 17 again (oh, to be young....)

10.  Homework accompanied by Josh Groban.

It's a wonderful life, folks, so you should hop on board the happiness train and ride it straight to hell.  I honestly don't know where that came from, and it really didn't make any sense, but I'm keeping it on here anyway.  NOBODY'S PERFECT

Hope you guys have a magical weekend.  I'll try to blog on Sunday, since tomorrow me and some friends are driving down to Denver for the annual Parade of Lights.  Please pray that my car doesn't catch a piece of ice and topple off of the interstate.  Kay.  Thanks.

I'm in one of those stages of my life where NOTHING that I create is good enough.  This week's collegian vlog is not my favorite.  When I finish an essay for a class, I'm not 100% positive that I killed it (and I can kill an essay).



Something I am looking forward to, however, is seeing my family at the end of the week.  Actually, it's in two days!  And while, sadly, I won't be getting my green pants until after I get back (I'm crying inside), I'll be sure to put on my best skinny jeans for when I tumble off that plane and onto Texan soil.

I can't wait!

It's because I've been so busy, I promise.  In fact, I've been having quite a battle with a beautiful pair of green jeans:



Enjoy, and have a happy week!  I, for one, cannot wait for Thursday to come...that's when I leave for home and get to see my family for the first time in nearly three months.  YAY!

Adieu,
Cooper

Lately, I've been covering dorm life via vlog for CSU's paper, The Collegian.  I wanted to share my YouTube channel with you so you could catch all my lovely adventures here in Parmalee.  It's a magical, magical place....


Life With Madi

Proof; that's college life for ya there.

Happy Sunday,
Cooper