Year 3

I'm back at Sewanee, and life is exciting and fun and new all over again. It has always been tough for me to get back in the swing of school, but this year has been surprisingly easy. I live in a house now that I share with 5 other girls, as opposed to a janky dorm that I shared with 90 other students the past two years. I have my own bathroom (for the first time), a balcony right off my room, and even air conditioning! It truly is a palace for my roommate and I. The weather is amazing, and my friends and I have already made our way down to our favorite spot, Lake Dimmick. After dinner tonight I went on a solo bike ride to a close second favorite spot on campus, Lake Cheston. The sun was about to set, and I was the only student on the backroads. As the pink sky glistened across the glass-like water (lol), life felt so different from what it has been these last couple of months. Sewanee is such a unique and amazing place and I am so lucky to be able to go to school here.

Here are some of my recent snaps:

1. balcony jamz | 2. morning light

1. turn-down Tuscaloosa on the longest drive ever | 2. inevitably happens to my shoes @ Sewanee

1. new room | 2. arrow always points to balcony

room 2

Dimmick 

I've been jamming to a bunch of girl bands recently. Here are some of my favorites:

"Joke" by Chastity Belt

(side-note I really want to hang out with the girls of Chastity Belt)

"A New Wave" by Sleater-Kinney

THIS VIDEO IS MY FAVORITE VIDEO OF ALL TIME

Found a Friend

As I was walking to a great shooting location, Lake Dimmick, I stumbled upon a beautiful farm and a friendly horse (whose name I can only assume is Buttercup). I wasn't going to approach the beautiful animal, but it came right up to the fence and looked like it wanted some loving. "Buttercup" was a gentle giant, and kept nudging me so I would pet him more!

My friend Sarah snapped this photo of me petting the horse. 

Where is My Lens?

Greetings, friends!

Well, a new semester has begun, and my classes are awesome. Seriously.

I am taking a documentary photography class that is re-sparking my love for photography. I kind of lost touch with my camera last semester, and it's so great to have an excuse to carry it around with me everywhere I go.

Today, I will share the photographs from my first assignment this semester entitled "Where is My Lens?" Here's how my professor described the project to us:

Produce a set of photographs that consider any combination of camera position, focus, shutter speed and lighting in relation to subject matter. These are most of the key qualities, along with time (which we address in the next exercise) that form the basis of photographic language, and they largely determine whether or not a photograph is eloquent.

So, basically, put your lens in a spot you normally wouldn't think of putting it. Here's how I interpreted the project:

Halloweentown

Can we talk about how great Halloween is? Although it is already a couple weeks into November, I still can't shake my love for All Hallows' Eve. Let me just tell you, Sewanee is the absolute perfect setting for a spooky and classic Halloween.

The night before Halloween, I attended a dinner at our Vice Chancellor's house to hear an alum share some first-hand Sewanee ghost stories. I was expecting a not-too serious night with some silly ghost stories thrown in, but instead I heard horrific tales of ghosts inhabiting just about every dorm and academic building on campus. One of the dorms here used to be a hospital with a tuberculosis ward, and there have been several accounts from students that see a menacing and stern-looking nurse ghost wandering the halls late at night.

The day after the Sewanee ghost story-telling, I decided to go out and take photos of my perfect Halloween surroundings. Almost five minutes after I got out of my car to start photographing, however, the chilly rain started to come down, and the fog started to roll up the plateau (making for an even more creepy vibe).

I feel you, Marnie.

When All Else Fails...

Life is hard, friends. It's hard for every person, at every stage of life, and for many, many different reasons. However, there are so many good things about life that allow people like me to "just keep swimming."

I am five days away from being able to go back to Texas and attend Austin City Limits Music Festival for the fourth time along with my sister, cousin, and father. BUT before I am set free, I have to struggle my way through what might be one of the more difficult weeks of my life. I have three tests (one Wednesday, two Friday), and several other homework assignments (such as programming work and reading about half a book en français). What keeps me from losing my mind, you ask? Well, as I am sitting in the library at 11:39 pm on Monday, September 29 typing this blog post, my answer has to be the future. Future adventures I might have, future friendships that might spring, future excitement that is to come is what gets me through this week from H-E-double hockey sticks. Knowing that after completing a French test, a Humanities midterm, and a Computer Science exam, I can jump on a plane and be with my family is making everything seem just a little bit brighter.

So, knowing that this week would be absolutely insane, I took it easy yesterday and decided to go on a solo hike and complete my homework and reading assignments in nature (so Sewanee, right?). I pulled on my fancy Chaco's (aka car seats for my feet), hopped on my bike, and STARTED SOMEWHERE.

Also, gang, when I logged onto Blogger tonight I saw that my blog is at exactly 10,000 views. I know that might not be much for having this blog for almost 3 years, but I am incredibly thankful and happy that people have taken the time to actually read what I write!

So, to whoever is reading this, THANK YOU. 

Pedals & Petals

I invested in a very old, used bike to ride around on campus, and it has been quite the enjoyable experience. My bike, although a little rickety, gets me from my dorm to main campus in about 5 minutes, which is much better than the time it takes to walk it. Yesterday, I went on a bike ride to a beautiful lookout spot on campus called Green's View along with my pals Lynn and Kate.

Eat, Sleep, Study, Repeat

Just when I thought all the struggles of college have passed and I finally got in a groove, sophomore year hit me like a ton of bricks. By the end of freshman year I had a good handle on life; I could balance my classes, friends, dorm life, sorority, and extracurriculars pretty dang well. I came back to school thinking that sophomore year was going to be just as wonderful, exciting, and as manageable as last year. But boy....was I wrong!

I am just one month into my sophomore year, and saying that I am overwhelmed is an understatement. My classes are harder, my dorm is dingier, and my friends are busier. I find myself spending way more time in the library than in my dorm, and even though my friends and I all live under the same crumbling roof, I find myself not knowing a large amount of what is going on in their lives. I am taking Humanities, French 300, Discrete Mathematical Structures, and Computer Organization, which have all proven to be extremely difficult. I am a computer science major so I am required to take many hard math classes (such as Discrete Mathematics), and my computer science courses are no walk in the park either. 

I find myself barely having any time to do what I want to do, such as ride my bike around campus with my camera and capture the beauty that surrounds me here, or take time to sit down and watch something funny on Netflix (Bojack Horseman is my favorite right now), or even do my laundry (it's a three hour process including 8 flights of stairs to the basement so I'm kind of putting this one off)! Needless to say, this year has been one long, sleep-deprived journey, and although I feel like I'm drowning in a sea of schoolwork, I need to take the time to be thankful for all that I am offered at this school. 

After a weekend of unfortunate events, such as my car getting towed out of a ditch, missing the first football game, and someone stealing my favorite poster (of Snoop and Tupac) off of my door, I have decided to focus this week on all the positives in my life (this blog being one of them). When I feel like I just can't deal with all the junk going on in my life, I feel as if it's important to put struggles into perspective. Everything could be WAY worse, and I am so thankful to go to a school that I love and consider a second home. 

I found this graphic while wasting time on Pinterest the other day, and it came at just the right time. Although it seems like a little silly message, it is so true and applicable to my life right now (please pardon the language).