40 Things You May or May Not Miss About Luther College

I was reading The Life of Bon last week one day and she did a post about things you would miss if you went to BYU. I had fun reading it (even though I didn't go to BYU) and reminiscing about the things I missed about Luther. Because I've been missing it a lot lately! It's been almost one whole year since I've been to Decorah - the longest stretch of not being there.

So I know this list doesn't really apply to or resonate with anyone who reads this blog (except maybe my fellow MN Blogger and Luther alum, Katie!), but I hope this makes you reminisce back on college.

1. Whippy Dip tornadoes. Better than any other ice cream.

2. The big tree in the center of campus lit up for Christmas.

3. Figuring out the perfect dinner time to beat the rush of choir students -- especially during Christmas at Luther rehearsals.

4. Going down to the Miller/Dieseth lounge to print something only to find the printer broken, jammed, or out of paper and having to trek all the way to the library.

5. Having to barricade yourself in the corner desk in the basement of the library to get anything accomplished come April.

6. "Studying on the library lawn" aka bringing your books and a blanket and gossiping with your friends while tanning.

7. Nutty Irishmen & Marty's cookies = sugar. rush.

8. Someone is always singing no matter where you go.

9. Avoiding the SPO on Valentine's Day.

10. Saturday nights may consist of Roscoe's and Subway.

11. Knowing not to wear nice shoes to 'scoes.

12. Naked Soccer. It still exists.

13. Corner Bar Long Islands + darts

14. Dorian = avoid campus like the plague

15. Choose your seat in the Koren 2nd floor classroom wisely when it is sunny out - the blinds never work.

16. Old School Luther grads: the ramps in Valders. Enough said.

17. Sneaking food out of the caf and handing it to your friend who's waiting outside the gate.

18. Waffle cone + hot fudge + crushed oreos + mint soft serve ice cream = best caf night

19. Living in the ice cream room in Ylvi = always a mess.

20. Trout Fry: you know exactly what to bring.

21. Hint: it isn't fish, french fries, or anything used to fry food.

22. Sunnyside = best cinnamon rolls. 8am classes aren't so bad if they're in the CFA.

23. Caf trays = more than just for holding food. Even college students like sledding.

24. Hanging out at your prof's house for lefse making/grill outs/babysitting their kids.

25. Willing to wait in line for 45 minutes for a fancy brunch on Sundays.

26. You'll probably never live anywhere called "Dirty D" ever again. At least I hope not.

27. Going shopping either means a trip to Walmart or traveling an hour and a half up to Rochester.

28. If you're friends with a freshman nursing major, basically don't talk to them until January.

29. J-term = hanging out with friends and having fun....oh and going to a 2-3 hour class everyday.

30. "The Bench" - no explanation needed.

31. Orange Day in the caf.

32. T-bocks for beers and a peanut butter cheeseburger on a Friday night.

33. Never will you see a more beautiful sight while watching a football game.

34. Deer & "Nubby" the tail-less squirrel = everyone's pets.

35. Main is always giving you the middle finger.

36. Wishing Main would burn down in another fire. Hey - it happened twice already!

37. Going to Olsen in the icy winter months requires great skill.

38. Paideia. We all feel for you, freshman.

39. Comedy Sportz, Jim Wand the hypnotist, and a movie on the library lawn = first week back to school tradition.

40. Being serenaded by cute boys singing acapella.

Man, I really miss Luther!!

THIS IS HALLOWEEN

I'll admit it: my Halloweens in the past have always been kind of lame.

I usually end up watching scary movies and eating candy with roommates or family.

I went trick or treating up to 9th grade. My favorite costume? A cheerleader! I wore a crocheted cardigan with a cute little pleated skirt. Oh....and I MADE MY OWN POM-PONS! Out of newspaper. They were pretty sweet.

Through the rest of high school I didn't really celebrate. And we never usually get too many kids in our neighborhood. So fast forward to college.

Freshman year

On the actual Halloween night, we had local children trick or treating in our dorm. My best friend made a requisite stop in my room to show me her (freakin' awesome) German costume.

Halloween weekend, however...different story. A bunch of my floormates and I got all dolled up and, for the first time in our college careers, went to some of the campus houses to "party". I put "party" in quotations because, although I did go to 2 or 3 different houses, some of us (me included) didn't drink and were a little sketch about certain houses and promptly (at no more than midnight, mind you) marched our butts home, took off our makeup, and watched One Tree Hill. Yep.

Sophomore and Junior years were a blur of scary movies and candy. You know, the usual.

Senior year

The MOST FUN Halloween weekend! We had planned a fall house dinner for that Saturday complete with chili, squash soup, cornbread. So yummy and domesticated of us 21-24 year olds.

Then, a few of us took a Walmart run and proceeded to buy 7 of these huge fake glitter color eyelashes and the most god-awful eyeshadow colors. Yes, there were dishes sitting dirty everywhere, but we were all sitting at the table doing each others outrageous makeup. Typical girls.

We all came up with some pretty creative costumes. Mine? Ke$ha. Although my roommate kept calling me Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood because I was wearing cowboy boots with my dress and tights. 

See our crazy makeup?! And let's just put it out there that my hair was impossible to comb through the next day....

A pirate, Where's Wanda, Ke$ha, a bride, a gumball machine, an army wife, and Paris Hilton

We all went out to the local dance place/bar. We didn't stay very long: only enough to dance for a while and sell those tiny balloons for 25 cents a pop! Yes, people actually did give us money just to pop a balloon. Laundry people! You need quarters!

Our goal wasn't to get wasted and whore ourselves out in some barely there outfits. But we still had a blast and it is one of my favorite memories of living with those girls.

What's your favorite Halloween memory?

An Ode to Miranda

Remember when Hallie & Nikki wrote a plea to Luke Bryan? How awesome was that!

I've decided to take a hint from that letter and write something to the wonderful Miranda Lambert, who is seriously one of the greatest people alive.

I mean, I'm just a little obsessed. I may even YouTube videos of Miranda singing "The House That Built Me" live in concert &, most of the time, I end up with tears in my eyes. Especially if she starts crying while singing it. Please still like me.

Miranda, this is for you. Even though you probably won't find this.

 Reasons I Love Miranda Lambert/Little Notes to Miranda Lambert

- No one has more Texas Pride than you, lady! You are Texas as Hell!

- If I idolized Somebody Else, well, that would just be wrong.

- Your music is killer: doesn't matter if I'm out drinkin' or just Lyin' Here.

- You don't just write songs about Another Heartache (like some other little star).

- All I have to do is ask myself: What in the World would Miranda do?

- I fell in love with Jack Daniels too ;)

- Something That I Like About a Honky Tonk is that they play all your songs!

- I would love you even if you moved to Witchita Falls & said your Last Good-Bye to country music fans.

 - You inspire me to pick up my New Strings and jam out.

- I Can't Be Bothered with all those wanna-be country singers.

- Please Bring Me Down to Tishomingo with you! Please?

- I'd ride on a Greyhound Bound for Nowhere just to see you in concert.

- I feel like There's a Wall between me and other country artists, but you let everyone know the real you!

- If I met a cute guy that liked you as much as me? You can bet you'd see Me & Charlie Talkin'!

- And if he broke up with me? He better hide his Kerosene...

- What About Georgia...could you talk to your friend Hillary Scott and get me some tickets to their concert there in April?

- 'I Wanna Die' is what I would say if I couldn't get to your concert in October. Well, maybe not that extreme, but you get the picture.

- 'Love is Looking for You' is what you would remind me if I vented about my love life, or lack there of.

- I would love to say 'Mama, I'm Alright, I'm just at the Miranda & Dierks concert in St. Paul'!

- I Love Your Memory. Especially that story you told during your concert about meeting Lady Gaga at the Grammy's.

 - More than once, I've went all Gunpowder & Lead on some people. Oops?

- If you and me lived in a Dry Town......ba ha, wait a minute!

- You let everyone know that they too can become Famous in a Small Town.

- You are the epitome of a Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, but aren't we all...

- Don't you just adore these Love Letters I'm writing you?

- In a moment of Desperation such as this, I'm not above asking you: can I hitch a ride in your airstream & follow you around the world?

-Everytime I wish I could be More Like Her, she reminds me that it takes All Kinds of Kinds.

- Whenever I'm Down, you know how to cheer me back up.

- Who's cried at a Miranda Lambert performance? I'm definitely Guilty in Here.

- Getting Ready for your concert in October would be half the fun. You know I would rock some cowboy boots and sparkles!

- Listening to some of your music calms me down and makes me think it will be Easy From Now On.

- You ain't Nobody's Used to Be!

- You may be a country music superstar, but inside you're just a Girl Like Me.

- If you can't find anything to wear for your St. Paul concert, Take It Out on Me and force me to go shopping with you. We can hit up the Mall of America!

- I haven't seen you in concert since January 2012 and I Just Really Miss You!

- Lord help any White Liar. Girls everywhere will show them what's up.

- You know all those size 2 princesses? You're just like them, Only Prettier.

- Even if Blake gave you Dead Flowers, you'd still love him.

- Two things you would totally love? Me & Your Cigarettes. But I know you don't smoke. And neither do I.

- Even if I had to stand in line outside in -30* temperatures, I would Maintain the Pain just to get tickets to your concert!

- Sometimes I wish I lived in a pimped-out airstream like yours so I could write an Airstream Song and have it be legit.

- I was Makin' Plans to see you in October, but then I realized I am broke. Boo.

- I'm thinking it's Time to Get a Gun. Necklace, that is. From Etsy with your lyrics on it. I totally want one!

- All the boys know that your house is Somewhere Trouble Don't Go.

- While I was living in The House That Built Me, I first discovered your music and fell in love.

- You don't always get sappy and write a Love Song.

- You, my dear friend, have a Heart Like Mine.

- I may or may not trade a Sin for a Sin to see you in concert?

- I can't help that you're my favorite country star. That's the Way That the World Goes Round!

- You're just a pretty, little Virginia Bluebell.

- I previously mentioned jamming on my guitar. Do you think you could Fine Tune it? It's a little out of tune and I totally suck at that!

- You're probably the Fastest Girl in Town, driving around Tishomingo in your truck.

- All the little doggies are Safe now because you have a heart for them & make sure they get a loving home!

- All those bad ass, girl power, revenge anthems of yours are enough to cure Mama's Broken Heart.

- Dear Diamond, you're pretty, but I'd rather have some tickets to Miranda, please!

- I can always count on you to stay the Same Old You.

- If we were BFFs and I moved to Nashville, you'd meet me at the Baggage Claim and we'd go to all the Honky Tonks & then the Grand Ole Opry to watch you perform.

- Living in an apartment in Nashville, working as one of your tour managers/assistants, and having all my student loans already paid off would be the definition of Easy Living.

- I will never get Over You and your music.

- 'Look at Miss Ohio! She's such a skank.', you'd say if you had a little too much vodka. Being that it makes you mean and all ;)

- You only get Better in the Long Run.

- You, my friend, ain't Nobody's Fool!

- I love when your dresses sparkle as bright as the Oklahoma Sky.

- It really Hurts to Think that I'm not going to your concert up in St. Paul on October 11th.

- You were just raised like a Coal Miner's Daughter and fame found you.

- My family? Well, We Were Us at your last concert & didn't care if anyone saw us dancing around to your music.

- Everyone has a Bad Angel sittin' on one of their shoulders, even you.

- I bet you and Blake have a Bare Skin Rug at home. But we won't go there ;)

- Your music reminds me of Home.

- If you went missing, I would be the one Draggin' the River until we found you. And that would totally be a Law & Order SVU episode because the small appearance you made in an episode just wasn't enough!

- I'd so be Red River Blue if you stopped making music.

- I never have to say Today I Started Lovin' You Again because I will never stop lovin' you Miss Miranda!

- I may be a Grown Woman, but I still profess my love for you in a blog post.

- Some people you meet are Strangers on a Train. We, however, could totally be BFFs.

- You Wrote a Song for Everyone when you sang The House That Built Me.

Thank you for your time and I promise you I'm not a stalker. Love you!

 

 Remind me to never dye my hair platinum blonde....

 

 See? We're already BFFs!

 

What I'm Loving on Etsy

I recently won money to Etsy & have been scouring for some cute finds. I thought I would share some of what I've found so far.


 Vintage Flower Necklace - OhNostalgiaDesigns - $20

 

State Print - DesignsbyTenisha - $20

Mama Tried Hand-Stamped Necklace - blindDESIGNS - $23.50

"Airstream Song" Framed Printed Lyrics - BlairBaileyCPD - $25

 Hand-Stamped Aluminum Bracelet - PrettyLittleThingsKB - $12

 Hand-Stamped Necklace - PrettyLittleThingsKB - $22

 "Blessed are the Nurses..." Hand-Stamped Necklace - WireNWhimsy - $30

 Monogrammed Camelbak - SouthernSassGSU - $18

 Luther Collage coasters - Plentyoftime - $18

 GPS Coordinate Necklace - MotherhoodJourney - $24

 Latitude/Longitude State Necklace - SpiffingJewelery - $26

 One Tree Hill Nathan or Lucas Scott Jersey - acbestseller2175 - $29.99

 Keith Scott Body Shop Hoodie - BlastGear - $24.99

Rochester, MN Skyline Art - AnInspiredImage - $19.00

 Rochester, MN Hand Towel - printinggrounds - $16.00

 Caffeine Molecule Coffee Mug - TulaTinkers - $8.00

 No Coffee, No Workee Coffee Mug - TulaTinkers - $8.00

 Nashville, TN (or any city, state) Print - printscharmingdecor - $15.00

 Nashville, TN Skyline Print - loosepetals - $26.00

 Nashville (or any city) Map Necklace - JewelerybyJakemi - $12.50

 
 Don't Stop Believing Wrap Ring - SilverStatements - $10.00

Light Tan Ostrich Leather Cowboy Boots - honeyblossomstudio - $34.99

 Tan-Legged Juliet, Redneck Romeo Mason Jars - PinkPoodleDesignsInc - $15.00

 Blake Shelton Song Lyric coasters - JoysTiles - $10.00

Playing Favorites

I was commenting on a blog post for a giveaway & it asked you to name your 5 favorite things. I typed them in & then it occurred to me....why haven't I wrote a blog post about this? So here we are. I'm a little desperate for topic ideas at the moment. I always go through ups & downs with figuring out what to write (like most bloggers tend to do). I'll have a week or two where I am on and cranking out some awesome posts practically every day. Then I'll have two weeks of pointless rants.

This can probably be considered a pointless rant. I nanny on Thursday & Friday this week, so maybe I'll have motivation, inspiration, or fun content on those days, who knows!

So, without further ado, here are some of my favorite things (an extended list because I can't exclude these!). Also, this is really just an excuse to use a bunch of pictures. I like pictures.

1. Country Music

Seriously, is there anything better than country music festivals? Sitting in an open field in shorts, a tank top, & cowboy boots or flip flops. Soaking up the sun, eating greasy food, drinking copious amounts of booze. Rocking out to multiple country music acts. One of the funnest things I can think of! Unfortunately, I'm not going to any this summer because I can't afford it.

 
 

 Regular concerts will also do it for me. Heck, sitting around drinking & listening to country music works too!

2. Sparkles

Definitely my real favorite color. If it has glitter or sparkles, I usually want it. Everytime I do my nails, it has some sort of glitter or glittery looking part. When I was in junior high & high school, I used to buy those little pots of Bonne Bell baby blue glitter & apply it to my upper lash line on my eyes for dances, football games, etc. I used to glitter all the time.

3. Coffee

You probably know this if you follow me on Instagram. I think half of my pictures are my dog and the other half are coffee cups. I used to only occasionally drink the Frappucinos I would get from Starbucks & that was the extent of my coffee consumption. Enter nursing school. I started drinking it occasionally with a lot of creamer and ice and flavoring for a pick-me-up if I was tired. That soon progressed to pouring it, black & strong, into a travel mug, throwing a little milk and creamer in and guzzling it down. Oh and I am now addicted to Starbucks & am 6 or 7 stars away from gold status. And want to know something cool? I haven't paid out of pocket for Starbucks since October 2012. Yep, 9 months of free coffee. Thank you, generous blog giveaways!





 

 

 

4. Shopping

Even if I don't buy anything, going to Target or a clothing store or really anywhere except Walmart makes me happy. This will probably be a problem when I have a steady income coming in. Online shopping is also a problem because I love getting packages in the mail. Just yesterday, I bought a liter of Chi Infra shampoo, Ultimate Blonde conditioner, and Moroccan Argan Oil travel size from Ulta (in my defense there was a sale, a $3.50 coupon, & I had a $10 gift card so I paid less than $20 for all that!) and a phone cover from Amazon (hey, I had a gift card there too & it was less than $7!). See? Problem.

5. Summer Thunderstorms at night

We had one on Sunday night! But it was really just more like a light shower. I like when you can hear rumbles of thunder. Not any tornados or hail or anything. But I like a thunderstorm on a warm night.

6. Hanging out with family & friends

I have the best friends & family and I bet they rival yours.

7. Nashville

This could never be excluded from a list of my favorite things. I don't know if I ever said this on here before, but being there, I felt more like "myself" if that makes any sense. I submitted a general application to Vanderbilt (if you have followed my blog for awhile, I applied to their nurse residency program back in September, but didn't get in) just to see. I can't wait to go back!

8. Ford

I'm obsessed with my puppy dog. Kisses, morning & evening cuddles. I even give him hugs! He's my little Ferdy Bird!

9. Luther College

LU-LU-LUTH-TH-TH-THER! L-U-T-H-E-R! LUTHER! LUTHER! LUTHER!

 

 

 

10. Blogging

Despite my writers block every once in a while, I love blogging. It calms me down & helps me relax. And I enjoy writing about things I love. I can tell the difference between when I first started blogging versus now. My older posts seem like I'm writing to impress someone. Now, I love if people like my post & leave comments (read Helene's post on commenting) or if I get a lot of pageviews (I've recently discovered Pinterest has done wonders to up my pageviews!), but, as long as my post interests me, I'm okay.

What are some of your favorite things?