coffee coffee coffee

so one of the perks of being a breakout leader for my freshmen is that i have a card that lets me get free coffee with them at the coffee place at the student center. rock on. i love coffee. and i really love free coffee.

side note: i have had a lot of coffee and not much food today. that might explain why i have already written 'coffee' so many times. and why the screen is shaking in front of me. maybe.


anyway, i've already met one on one with four of my freshmen and have another two meetings set up. i have learned i have a great many things in common with my young adults. casey and i like to be in control and want a lot of kids. jason and i love movies (batman!) and video games (tony hawk!). taylor and i are perfectionists with pride issues. willis and i love fantasy football and hate phillip rivers.

but having coffee with 18 year olds that you only see for an hour every week is a little like going on first dates. again and again. it can be awkward. awkward like this:

haha. oh, napoleon.

so it's not like i wasn't having enough awkwardness in my life...i'm in a different state, different town, different school, meeting new people every day. nope, i thought i would up it by sitting with people i don't really know and engaging in small talk. :) you know how i love small talk.

so...yes. it has been awkward at times. but it's been so fun, too. i really love my freshmen.

chapter five: butts on fire

i am happy to report that my writing assignment for the week is complete. if you want to read it, it's posted under the 'punched in the face by grace' section on the right side of the blog.

it's probably not very new information to most of you...being faithful followers of my life as well as my blog...but it's something i really needed to write down.

i would sincerely love your feedback on it. or any part of my book. that is a big goal of this blog, so please feel free to share my posts or actual writing if you think other people will have comments for me.

***

also, i loved the brittany/britney episode of glee. feel free to post comments about that. :)

super exciting news!

i am pretty sure i discovered how to keep you updated on the progress of my book! if you're reading this in google reader, you'll never know what i did. so go to the real page.

if you look on the right sidebar below my profile picture, you will see the current hot mess of a book in progress. :) if i did it correctly, when you click on each chapter of the book, you'll be taken to docstoc, which should allow you to read what i've written.

assuming i figured it out, i'm pretty excited about it. this may also inspire me to create different sections for this blog...and that way, i'll have a cleaner archive system for people who just want to read my 'actual' writing and not just the nonsense that spews out of my head. :)

new poll up

vote early; vote often.

holly willman, graduate assistant :)

so i don't really like this picture of myself, but it was honestly the best one of the billion that amy took of me...she was a bossy photographer.

here's my little honors college bio. :)

holly willman, graduate assistant

don't you think daisies are the friendliest flowers?

writing challenge number one

i finished the song. it does have a guitar part. in fact, the melody might be familiar to some of you. it's to the tune of 'the pirates who don't do anything.' at some point, you will get to hear it on this very blog. i'm not sure when. but at some point. until then, here are the lyrics. enjoy. (also, this is not actually fritz, but it looks a lot like him.)

fritz, the dog who doesn't do anything

(chorus)
fritz is a dog who doesn't do anything
he just stays home and lies around
and if you ask fritz to do anything
i'll just tell you--he won't do anything

(verse)
well, he's never done my homework
and he doesn't help with laundry
and he doesn't fix dinner or vacuum down the hall
and he's never washed the dishes
and he doesn't polish silver
and he's never been to boston in the fall

(chorus)

(verse)
and he won't toss a frisbee
and he doesn't write my papers
and he won't pack my lunch or come in when i call
and he doesn't get a paycheck
and he's never brought me pizza
and he's never been to boston in the fall

(chorus)

(verse)
well, he doesn't make my coffee
and he doesn't share the blankets
and he doesn't ask nicely when he wants to play ball
and he's never gotten groceries
and he doesn't knit me sweaters
and he's never been to boston in the fall

my freshmen

my freshmen* are awesome. probably better than all the other freshmen on campus. i'm not biased. they're just that super cool.

in the last hour, i have seen 5 of them wandering around the student center. :) they're so cute. i just wanna pick them up and squeeze 'em.

since there's the chance that they might read this...it being a public and not at all secret blog...i won't use their names (unless they want some fame or something...with 9 followers, this blog is definitely a hot commodity), but i really think they are pretty terrific.

they had an assignment to write a letter to the authors of a book they were required to read. their responses (which i am supposed to be grading right now instead of blogging) have been pretty interesting. i have learned a lot about my freshmen over the past few weeks.

i also make them write 'exit cards' every friday before they leave class. thus far, they have had to write about:

-what they hoped to improve about themselves
-what they have learned that has real life application

they also write their prayer requests. these cards have been so authentic and vulnerable. i am really enjoying doing life with these kids. i mean students. (apparently calling them kids does not foster a feeling of being adult.)

if you think about it, pray for my 22 little ducklings. being a freshman in college is a hard and scary thing sometimes, and it's definitely a time to start working and processing through some heavy stuff. also pray that i would be very intentional with the words i say and the behavior that i model.



*i have 22 freshmen in the breakout group that i lead every friday.

office woes

if both steve and mindy left the office, would i enjoy it as much? if mindy left, could bj survive?

if your name is stephanie or miranda, don't you think the fact that mindy's favorite movie is you've got mail speaks very highly in her favor?

books out the wazoo

the song about fritz wins the vote. so i will work on that this week.

make sure you feed the duck and the hedgehog. they need your love.

quote of the day: 'i will go to the animal shelter and get you a kitty cat. i will let you fall in love with that kitty cat. and then on some dark, cold night, i will steal away into your home and punch you in the face.' (the one and only sue sylvester)

just a quick one

i had a great weekend in madison. saw friends, played frisbee, got hurt...all the ingredients necessary for loads of fun.

if you've never seen a dislocated shoulder, it's pretty sick. don't worry. it didn't happen to me.

the colts are awesome. i had forgotten how fun it is to listen to them on the radio...which i had to do for the first half since i was driving back to marion.

don't you love guys who hug? ;)

roast beef for lunch again

points of interest:

the poll is up. and it's working. so if you tried before without success, try voting again. otherwise, i'll just keep writing random nonsense that has no purpose or direction.

2. if you're reading this in google reader or something of the sort, go to the actual site...well, because you need to vote. but also because i adopted a pet duck. his name is puckerman. puck the duck. ;) how dare you accuse me of having a glee theme to my blog?

c. travis and i played racquetball yesterday. my right arm feels barely functional today. which could be a problem for frisbee tomorrow. not to mention the fact that i haven't run for months now.

next: madison is calling my name, and i am so excited to go. as usual, bj novak is a loser and will likely strand me somewhere. let's hope he doesn't.

(sidenote--real bj novak, if you're reading this, i don't think you're a loser. i love you deeply.)

it might go to my head

in two days, i have generated 8 followers! feeling pretty darn special. although that does mean i probably have to write about quality things.

i'm going to try and create a poll about said quality things, so please vote.




also, i'm going to madison tomorrow! yay!

this is my life: wednesday nights are on fire

travis and i are helping aunt betty. we try and do that sometimes in exchange for free rent. on wednesday nights from now till kingdom come (ok, i'm not actually sure about the timeline), we are helping out with awana.

some people (see: erin barricklow) know all about awana.

some people (see: travis and holly willman) had no idea what they were signing up for.

the concept is pretty sweet...sharing the gospel with kids ranging from puggles to t&t. tracking with me so far? haha. puggles are 2 and 3 year olds. then there are cubbies. then SPARKS! then t&t. guess which group i am helping with? :) that's right. i am sparkie! i have kindergarten through second grade. woohoo! this is a spark:

so for a couple of hours on wednesday nights, i walk around going, 'we're on fire! we're on fire!' my instruction book did not actually tell me to do it...but i'm just feeling it. plus i wave my fingers to simulate fire. pretty rad.

btw, shout out to my 4 current followers. i love the support.

new state, new blog

hello, dear void that is the internet. it's me, holly. i tried to stay away, but you sucked me back with your square footage, your discounts, your armchairs, and your cappuccino.

it's true. i'm back. with a whole new blog and a whole new attitude. oh, were you thinking that i already had plenty of attitude to go around? sorry 'bout that.

so this blog...hmm...this blog will be the best version of every blog i have ever created. it will take my witty anecdotes from xanga, my thoughtful writing from the secret blog, and [maybe] my mad photography skills from the photo blog.

i'd love your input on topics you'd like me to write about.

that is all.

love, holly :)