Three days ago I died and went to heaven. . .

And then once they realized I was there, I was kicked out and appeared back here in Ames.

Nah, I’m not actually talking about dying, but I went to the Toby Keith BIGGEST AND BADDEST concert on Sunday in Des Moines, IA at the Des Moines Arena. It was the largest congregation of country lovers I had ever seen north of the Red River!

Toby Keith is a WONDERFUL entertainer . . .

Casey Jo and I went with her family and her boyfriend, and we have row 39 seats on the floor. There was no one tall in front of us, so perfect view; there were fresh batteries in our cameras, so perfect shot; there were fresh shirts on our backs, so perfect wardrobe. It was starting off to be a great night.

First, Julianne Hough came on stage and sang. I swear, her mother beat her with a pretty stick when she was young, because she is talented AND gorgeous. I’m pretty sure everyone would be more confident if pretty people shared their beauty. Would everyone look the same then? I dunno. I guess it keeps life interesting.

Next came JACK INGRAM, one of my favorite country singers. I had no idea he would be there, and thought only Julianne Hough was opening for Toby. When Jack Ingram’s backdrop lit the stage, I screamed with delight. He sang all my favorite songs, a few new ones, and it was an overall awesome show.

Then came the pista-de-la-resistance [or however the heck you spell it]. TOBY KEITH, in flesh and blood on the stage. He sang everything from Beer for My Horses, to How Do You Like Me Now, to She Never Cried In Front of Me, to High Maintenance Woman, to anything and EVERYTHING, including an encore of American songs and tributes. Behind him was a HUGE video display with audio/visuals for every song [my favorite was the sticky notes for High Maintenance Woman, and the chattering, shopping female for I Wanna Talk About Me]!

Check out my pictures on Flickr by clicking on the right hand column of my page, and when I have my videos, definitely check those out too. We had a hee-haw time at the concert, and headed home afterward.

Casey lost her keys in the arena. Typical.

All in all, it was an amazing experience, with awesome friends, and awesome music.

Til next time,
Seanna

I am taking an online class this semester called Latin 101. It’s interesting, though. They should call it Latin OhMyGoshThisIsFast. About three years of high school Latin was covered in two of my exams for this class. . .

Not all online classes are this rigorous. When deciding whether or not to take an online class, you should consider three things: the type of material covered in the class, how well you are organized, and how many credits the class is.

1) The type of material covered in an online class could make a huge difference as to whether or not you are successful in the class. If the class is “Intro to the Human Body,” you’re pretty safe. If the class is “Differential Equations” you might need to reconsider going to lecture and recitation three times a week.

2) How well you are organized will also define how well you will do in an online class. If you are organized to the point of planning time to sleep, you should be fine. As long as you write down due dates and exam times and locations, you should be fine. The class I’m taking right now has homework every other week, with exams on the off-Fridays. It’s rigorous, but that brings me to my next point.

3) The number of credits a class is determines how much work you will plan to do in the class. They say for every credit, it is approximately 2-3 hours of studying per credit, so this class is worth 4 credits, and it definitely requires almost twelve hours a week of studying. Course, it’s Latin, so it’s kinda tough to begin with.

 Sore losers always blame it on the referees, the time of day, or even the clouds in the sky, but this game, really? I believe it was not fair.

Sure, I may be a tad biased, but that’s besides the point.

The day started out wonderfully. Casey Jo drove down from New Virginia, IA to go to the ISU vs Texas Women’s Basketball game here at Hilton Coliseum. I was super psyched to see the “Twister Sisters,” as they are called, wipe the floor with the longhorns. Though it didn’t work out as well as I had hoped, it was still an amazing game. The Women’s Basketball team is WONDERFUL this year- #5 in the Big 12 and #16 ranked overall, with Texas only at #13.

This game was called the Pink Zone, and was dedicated to Kay Yow, the former basketball coach at University of North Carolina [with 73 NCAA wins], who succumbed to breast cancer in January of this year after. She was an advocate for breast cancer awareness, and became partners with the Susan B. Komen Foundation for Breast Cancer Research. Basketball teams across the country host a “Pink Zone Game” in which proceeds of auctions and other donations are given to Breast Cancer research. This year, the Cyclone Women’s Basketball team wore all pink shoes, pink uniforms and donned pink Cyclone Alley t-shirts, even dying streaks of their hair pink to emphasize and bring publicity to the game.

The game was awesome, and a neck and neck race until the end when Texas fouled the heck out of us, and so we answered back and they won, 55-22. I was sitting in Cyclone Alley, which is the “student section” of the basketball game, and as part of this game, all students with their ID were let in for free and received free Cyclone Alley t-shirts that were pink in honor of the game! It was awesome!

I took some videos, but it’s still under construction to compile them all- I’ll let you know as soon as I have some up, though! Feel free to click on My Flickr and check out some of the pictures, too!

Well, I better go check my facebook. I’m sure the fans of UT have written on my wall congratulating themselves.

Have questions about ISU sporting events? Cyclone Alley? Women’s Basketball? Email me or leave a comment! I love questions!

Until next time,
Seanna

Yay for ISUCF’V'MB . . . also known as Iowa State University Cyclone Football Varsity Marching Band, with one of the most original pregame presentations in the country!

So, I’m looking out the window at the sunny and blue sky, and I’m not seeing snow.

I am okay with that, considering our forecast was 6 inches of snow today . . .

We’ll see what happens in the next couple of days . . .

. . . its residents have an awesome time with building events and programs, such as hall council meetings, biweekly socials, and hall-wide programs such as “Get Lost,” and Movie Nights in the lounge!

So this is Buchanan, my home sweet home for the past two semester. I was a summer Community Advisor here, and then started working here in the Fall of 2008. I love it here- the people, my co-workers, and the events we can provide to our residents. While is it more independent-style living than Maple Willow Larch, or Friley, I still enjoy talking with older and upperclassmen students. They have a different set of needs, and I, as a Community Advisor, can provide different resources for them than say, an all female freshman floor [I had one my sophomore year as a Community Advisor in Willow].

Some of the great benefits and programs here at Buchanan Hall include the BHA, or Buchanan Hall Association. They are comprised of Hall Officers such as the President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Every other week the Hall Council has a meeting, where any resident of Buchanan can come and hear about news from IRHA, or the Inter Residence Hall Association, which is a group of students who discuss and vote on policies that affect Residence Hall life on campus.

There are also once a month Dollar Dinners catered by places like Hickory Park and Cazador’s Mexican Restaraunt. Dollar Dinners are awesome because based on tradition, Iowa State does not serve one meal a week, and that is Sunday night. For Dollar Dinners, you receive a drink and dinner for a dollar on Sunday night. It’s an awesome deal, and awesome food!

Other programs at Buchanan Hall include the Get LOST program hosted by our Hall Director, Brock, who loves the show and set up a viewing in Buchanan’s main lounge with cookies and milk to watch the two hour premiere of the show for this year. Here’s what he had to say about the program . . .

“Get Lost” is a program that allowed the residents of Buchanan Hall who follow the television show “Lost” to hang out together and watch the newest season in the main lounge. It also was a way for students to see who else in the building enjoys the same kind of programming. Usually snacks are provided, either by whoever is hosting the program or by people who are participating. Lost is not the only show in which residents get together, as many students get together to watch Survivor, The Real World, and Grey’s Anatomy.”

Like I said earlier, there are biweekly meetings of BHA, and every OTHER week on the same day at the same time there is a social event, whether it be food and a movie, or a “mixer” social, etc. They are even thinking of Wii tournaments, Guitar Hero games, and board game nights as well.

No matter where you live on campus, you’ll feel at home. There are staff members such as hall directors and community advisors to make sure that you have the best possible experience in the residence halls, and the friends you meet on your house and floor will become some of your closest friends.

Have questions about places to live on campus? Shoot me an email or drop by and leave a comment! I’m happy to help!

Til next time,

Seanna

PS- Would you like to check out a room in Buchanan yourself? Check out this link for a Virtual Tour 360 Degrees of a room in Buchanan Hall!

“How many times per week does your mailbox contain an offer for a pre-approved credit card?”

If anyone else’s mailbox is like mine, then they’re probably thinking airplanes are ridin’ supa-low with the number of credit card offers I receive in the mail weekly, wait wait, daily.

When I first came to Iowa State University, I went to get my student ID card, i.e. my “ISU card” [the red card with yo face on it that you should never lose, but I have in fact, three times], and then proceeded to the USBank table to sign up for a card of some sort.

USBank representatives are always on campus during your Orientation to make banking and financial planning easier for you before you come to ISU as a student. You may choose form a variety of different options, including using your Student ID card as a linked card to your USBank account. I didn’t do this because I found it way too confusing, but many people do and they love the system. Imagine, one card to rule them all! That sounds familiar, isn’t that a Pokeman motto or something? Anyway . . .

So I signed up for a credit card, by accident. I meant to sign up for a checking account and a debit card associated with that checking account, but it didn’t quite work out that way, AND I didn’t ask for help. [FYI- Always do that.] A credit card has worked for me, since I work for the university and am paid twice a month, on the 15th and the last day of the month. My budgeting includes planning ahead and knowing exactly how much I will receive on those days, and never, ever, EVER going over my projected income. You think it’s cool to be in debt? NOPE. Check out those creditreport.com commercials on TV with the guy playing guitar in a seafood restaraunt. Do YOU want to be doing that because you signed up for a credit card and just kinda, well, DIDN’T PAY IT?

Yeah. That’s what I thought. That’s why it is so important to simply throw away credit card offers as they come to your mailbox.

Sure, you’re going to be a college student, which means that everytime you check your mailbox, you’re hoping that your parents just made a mistake and sent you money, or food, or well, anything. Or that Aunt Agatha who always liked you decided to do you a favor and send your birthday money four months early.

Doesn’t always happen that way. If in the right hand corner of the envelope it says “Pre-Sorted Standard” and it is from a bank that you do not have affiliation with, I say toss it! [This coming from my expertise of sorting mail as a Community Advisor, believe me, I sort more of those things than you will see in your lifetime!]

So like I said, just say no. Just throw them away. Don’t think about using a credit card to buy that 69 Mustang you’ve always dreamed about, or even just a game for a PS3, or some clothes because you feel like “changin yo style.”

Just say no! The motto I usually remind myself of is: Live like a college student now, so you won’t have to after you graduate.

And there you have it. Just say no to Pre-Approved.

Til next time,
Seanna

Don’t you just LOVE youtube? I know I DO!

Look at this.
Simply amazing.

Ever want to have a virtual tour of campus?

::sigh:: Love at first click, I swear.

Included in this video are infamous landmarks on our campus:

ISU Campanile, Fountain of the Four Seasons outside the Memorial Union, our beautiful Campus Trees, our award for the Most Beautiful College Campus in the United States, the Plaza of Heroines [I recently bought a brick for my mother, shh! it's a secret!], the Stone Plaque for Carrie Chapman Catt, a graduate of Iowa State who was instrumental in women’s suffrage, paintings in the Robert Parks Library, the Gold Star Hall where all ISU graduates who have died serving their country are memorialized and some beautiful pictures of campus.

Iowa State University has so much rich history, in evidence by this project by an ISU Design student. I was browsing on YouTube and found it. I love it! I’ve decided to have an ISU YouTube of the week, so stay tuned for that.

“No Thanks, I’ll Dance!” is the motto of hundreds of Iowa State University students who stay dancing on their feet for a day to honor the battles that many children at the University of Iowa’s Children’s Hospital fight every day. It is the largest ISU philanthropic organization, and raised over $170,000 this January for projects and services at the U of I Children’s Hospital.

Miracle Children, patients of the Children’s Hospital, visit Iowa State to dance along with the students. There are power hour dances, themed hours, costumes, activities, game and so much more! Dancers are split into groups assigned by an animal name, and that group gets to hang out with a Miracle Child. This, by far, is the most rewarding part of the entire day. =)

This event is called Dance Marathon, and it is quite simply the epitome of student dedication to making a difference in the lives of children who have fought so hard for so long.

To see a video highlight of Dancers talking about DM, click below!

Iowa State Daily Newspaper Article
Dance Marathon: The Dancers!
Dance Marathon: The Activities! 

Last year I took part in this amazing event, but this year I had a prior commitment. I was really sad I couldn’t participate, so I asked a friend of my, Kassi, who was on the Morale Team for Dance Marathon to share her experience and perspective on Dance Marathon from the inside, behind the scenes. Here’s what she had to say:

“Dance Marathon is one of Iowa State’s student-run philanthropic organizations, and it is the one I am most passionate about. We raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network at the Iowa Children’s Hospital, and that money goes towards small things like movies so children can watch them in their rooms, wagons so children can leave their rooms from time to time, and high-tech medical equipment.

On the day of Dance Marathon, all of its participants gather together and stay on our feet for a whole day to show our support for those amazing miracle children and their families who have been through so much. Not only to we get to hear each family’s story, we get to interact with them! There are also plenty of other activities going on so that everyone can find something fun to do. It is an absolutely amazing experience to say that you did something that had an impact on so many others as well as getting to actually hear how it affected some of them! This was my third year participating in Dance Marathon, and it gets better every year!

Dance Marathon is something that I can not do its justice by trying to describe it in words; it’s something you have to see for yourself!”

So there you have, Dance Marathon in the words of someone who has taken to this event with a passion. If you accept your admission to Iowa State, you should definitely check out Dance Marathon.

Your day of standing means more than you could ever know to children- and it’s fun, too!

Til next time,
Seanna

On Monday, February 23rd, I get to see Andy McKee LIVE in the Maintenance Shop!! Isn’t he AMAZING!? This is one of my favorite songs revised by him. I’M SO EXCITED! Man, if I could only play the guitar the way he does, who would need a monthly budget to pay off student loans?

February is FULL of music, isn’t it? Toby Keith, Andy McKee, I could die happy!

[Really, I promise. all this rhyming isn't intentional.]