I just checked the scores, and the Sox are down by half a game. For the first time this season they are not number one in their devision. I know this week would be tough, but I didn't expect this. The worst part is that they aren't even playing today, so even if the Twins fall to Mariners, the Sox still can't regain their lead. Excuse me, I think I'm getting a little verklempt.

My sister and I decided the beach would be a perfect place to spend a beautiful, hot weekend. Of course our first thought was to take a quick trip to Hawaii. Then we woke up, realized neither of us had that kind of money and settled on a day-trip to Warren Dunes on Lake Michigan. We spent plenty of summer weekends driving around the Lake to get some sun and sand in Indiana or Michigan, so when our...

I really need to stop moving in to apartments with no internet. This is killing my. I also feel like a dork because I have to drive over to my parents' house to connect and check my email. I feel like a college student who comes home for the holidays with a big duffle bag full of dirty clothes. Even when I was a college student going home for the holidays I hated traveling with dirty clothes so I would...

I have arrived. I wanted to post last night, but my sister doesn’t have internet at her place. Then I wanted to post this afternoon, but the local library isn’t Mac compatible. Then I drove over to my parents’ house, but their internet isn’t Mac compatible either. Have I mentioned how much I hate owning a Mac? I paid $2,000 for a piece of crap that I can’t use anywhere. I have never had so many customer...

I left Salt Lake City this morning to begin my two-day, 1500 mile trek back to my hometown of Aurora, IL. What once used to be here... ...is now all here. This has been one of my more adventure filled trips, and I'm only halfway done. It started out as a little nostalgic trip down memory lane as I said goodbye to all of my favorite SLC spots. It was quite pitiful actually. I even teared...

I had a great time at the Writing for Charity event at the Salt Lake City Public Library yesterday with about 200 other people. While you didn't have to be an aspiring author to attend the event, everything revolved around getting ready for publication. Shannon Hale was her usual funny self, a lot of local authors talked about what it's like to try and get published, and Brandon Mull thought I deserved...

I took my math, geology and creative writing finals today and gave my book presentation in fiction. That only leaves media law and fiction--my two hardest tests. And then on to packing up, cleaning my apartment and driving back to Chicago. Speaking of driving 24 hours alone, I've been burning a whole bunch of road trip music. Any suggestions? Wish me luck!

I think this avoiding studying for finals thing has gone a little too far. It all started Wednesday afternoon when my adorable roommate and I took an adorable little boy to the Rexburg Spray Park. In all honesty, we were the ones who wanted to play, but be needed a one-and-a-half-year-old excuse to do so. (See? Isn’t she adorable?) I blame the spray park for the pesky sunburn that started there...

I have become the master at avoiding preparing for finals. Granted, I got a lot of the projects done early on so I wouldn't be overwhelmed, but that was supposed to leave me time to study. Instead, I have been finding other fun things to fill my time. WFMAD :  While I don't consider the Write Fifteen Minutes a Day challenge a waste of time, my problem is that I've been writing way more than...

I believe I have already mentioned how much I loved using the NOAA Coastal Services Website when I was researching weather patterns and hurricane movements in Louisiana between the First and Second World Wars. (And if I never did mention it, I LOVED being able to reference weather charts from 75 years ago online.) Now I have found another amazing Website: The U.S. Naval Observatory Website . I...