a list, wisconsin style

w: wisco weekend. heather and i drove up friday night and hung out in madtown. it was good and loud and random. we spent saturday and sunday in milwaukee with stephanie and miranda. yay! we also saw cousin katie. double yay!

i: i wrote a new poem today in class. it's called 'puzzle pieces,' and it's over on the side of my blog.

s: somebody awesome did all the driving (and in crappy weather) so that somebody else could do her homework in the car.

c: cheese, grilled. thank you, stephanie. magical, as always.

o: on our trip north, we made a list of 300 things for heather to do in her 30's. haha. i am obsessed with lists. i'll admit it.

n: not many things are funnier than hyperactive irish people. although...

s: skinny dipping in a bowl of whale's milk might come close.

i: i miss wisconsin. bunches and heaps.

n: november is practically over. how did that happen?

ok, i got tired after o. you're lucky i finished the list.

30 by 30 list is up

all right, friends and neighbors. the list is officially up. there are links on a couple of the items in case you are confused. if you would like a better explanation for any of the items, please let me know.

the list is officially in motion, so i'll get working on it. i'll let you know if i accomplish anything really quickly, but i doubt i will make much progress before christmas break. :)

5 things i am learning in grad school

1. i am smarter than what i usually give myself credit for being.

2. breathing is important.

3. laughing is therapeutic.

4. i am incredibly blessed.

5. i can handle a lot, but it's better if i stop trying to handle it all at once.

announcements

1. i will officially post the 30 by 30 list by november 21st.

2. i will attempt to do an official 30 by 30 update on the 21st of every month until july 21, 2012.

3. that means there are 20 months for me to do this, in case the widget confuses you.

4. i will attempt to [photo] document everything in some way for your viewing pleasure.

5. i am taking any last suggestions you might have until saturday.

am i supposed to be paying attention in class? crap.

i guess it's becoming typical to write something during class. i wrote a couple of poems today: "dry" and "the face of the crisis." they're posted over in the poetry section.

the weight of sadness

so i wrote a song last week. a friend of mine is going through a pretty rough time of life right now, so i wrote this for her. but i know some others of you are also going through some rough times, so you can claim this song for yourself if you need it. you can find it over in the 'songs' section. it's called 'the weight of sadness (i'm here for you).'

i promise that i will eventually get some video or audio stuff up here so you can hear the songs. maybe once christmas break hits...i'll have some time to think and breathe then.

i'm still taking suggestions for the 30 by 30 list, so hit me with those. here's a teaser for you:

EAT CHICKEN. :) yeah, it's gonna happen. one more year.

cast of characters: sara scheunemann

**who she is**

this is sara:


(this is how you say sara's last name: shine-uh-man)

**what she does**

sara is the program coordinator for the john wesley honors college. that basically means she gets to boss me around for four hours every day. also, she runs the world, stabilizes all the crazy people in the honors college, and thinks of everything needed for every situation ever.

all while being incredibly patient and humble. she's kind of awesome.

**where she's from**

sara grew up in west bend, wisconsin, and has an english degree from marquette. she has a master's in higher education administration from the university of dayton. essentially, i am repeating sara's life.

**how she fits in my life now**

part of my job as the jwhc graduate assistant is to be sara's emotional bodyguard--i protect her from staff members trying to abuse and take advantage of her.

while sara is super nice to everyone, she is quietly very funny and kind of snarky. i very much enjoy her commentary on life. it must be noted that sara is slightly prejudiced against coffee-drinkers...but only because she thinks they are judging her for not drinking it. i am working to bridge the gap and heal this wound in her heart.

**stuff about her**

sara likes dark chocolate, tea, MADISON, running, travel (especially to national parks), hiking and camping, and trees.

she strongly dislikes (i actually think 'hates' is in order here) our copier at work and bedbugs.

sara has an almost two year-old niece named cadence; they like hanging out. because nieces are stellar.

her first crush was on a boy named tommy thompson--not the politician.

**what people are saying**

i think the following sampling of quotes will tell you more about who we work with than about sara, but here you go:

our boss, david, has this to say about her: 'sara is more aware than the typical freshman.'

coworker rusty says, 'sara's great.'

hilary, one of our student employees, keenly observed, 'sara is always the go-to person.'

finally, lisa, our coworker who is never ever sarcastic, boldly proclaimed, 'sara is a beacon of lucidity in a vague and uncertain world!'

**other stuff you should know**

this year, God told her not to set any goals. she is learning what it looks like to really live in the present and abide in the Spirit. she's pretty much a rockstar.

sara is an amazing person to work with and for. she is gracious and thoughtful, always looks out for my well-being, and genuinely cares about people. i have much to learn from her.

30 by 30

i just came up with an idea. ok, it's not a new idea. not even a new to me idea.

i am compiling a list of 30 things to do before i am 30. it's called '30 by 30.' i know, i know. you do not even have to commend me on how creative i am. just comes naturally, i guess.

'so,' you may be asking, 'why are you making another stupid list, holly? you didn't even finish your last stupid list.'

'well,' i will respond, 'stop calling my lists stupid. that's not very nice.'

i am making a list because they help me remember that i want to do certain things with my life. some of these things will probably look familiar...they are either things that i did on my 27 things list and liked or had on my 27 things list and didn't do.

currently, there are zero items on my 30 by 30 list. i am open to suggestions. be nice about them. and make them realistic. one of the flaws of my 27 things list was that i simply did not have the time to do all of them. i stretched too high. 30 by 30 has an advantage in this area in that i have nearly 2 years to check these things off.

if you offer suggestions, please do not be offended if i don't choose them.

when the list is complete (which might take a while), i will post it on the side of the blog so you can track my progress. there is also a countdown widget. woo!

so...suggestions...ready, go!

youtube is a major distraction from homework

i realize that it has once again been nearly a week since i posted. my original plan...about ten minutes ago...was to hop on here, throw down a blog about how this week has been all kinds of tragedy and grace blended together, and leave you with a funny picture of someone face palming (since that's sort of how i feel when i don't blog as often as i hope to).

google images are funny, aren't they? i went and looked for a great picture of 'face palm,' and there were many options. for reasons only God knows, since he invented my demented brain, i then googled 'peyton manning face palm.' that inevitably led to me seeing the picture below, which made me want to watch the commercial, so i went to youtube and did just that. and then watched a bunch more videos about peyton.

without further ado, please enjoy my friend, mr. manning.