Thanksgiving Break

I'm starting to get really excited for Thanksgiving break already. Even though it's only about 4 days off, I'm looking forward to seeing my family. My cousin who is a junior in high school keeps asking what the next family event I'll be at will be, and this time it's two weeks away. I'm sure my family that lives farther away will have a ton of questions for me about how college is, and how volleyball was, and what I'm going to do without volleyball. I'm excited to tell them about how I'm coaching a club volleyball team this winter, that some girls from my high school are playing on.
Besides just seeing family, I'm excited to just relax during Thanksgiving break. I didn't really get to do that during Fall break because I had practice and a tournament during it. and the one day I went home during it I was doing laundry. I feel like I just need a break from school and volleyball (even though I love volleyball) so I can not be worried about anything. And I'm sure that after Thanksgiving break, I'll be counting down until Christmas break! :)

Money and a Job

I can't believe I'm actually saying this, but I'm excited for volleyball to be over for one main reason- I want to work more so I have more money. I've never felt so broke before. After volleyball it will be nice to be able to pick up some more hours and be able to have some spending money for things other than food, paper, and ink!
I'm also excited for summer already, so I can get back to my old job, and start saving up a lot of money. I want to save a majority of the money I earn next summer so I can have it during the school year, and I won't be so stressed about money. But I'm also going to set aside a set amount of money that I earn for a vacation that my boyfriend and I are going on during his vacation week from his job.
College is teaching me a lot about money management and has stopped my urge to splurge money on things that aren't necessary, like new clothes.

Piano :(

When I went home during fall break, I spent some time playing the piano. I've been playing since I was two years old, when my mom starting letting me actually touch the piano, and then I started taking lessons. I took piano lessons up until I was in 8th grade, when my teacher retired. I was so happy about not taking lessons anymore. I hated piano then. But throughout high school I found myself sitting at the piano at home, just playing for fun. It's becoming something that really relaxes me now, and playing over fall break made me miss having a piano so accessible to me. It's just another adjustment to college I have to make that didn't seem like a big deal at first. I brought some piano books back from home, so I'm going to find time to go to the practice rooms in the music hall so I can keep playing all year round, rather than just in the summer when I'm home. It just made me realize how thankful I actually am for taking those lessons that I "hated" going to when I was little.

Fall Break Boredom!

So today I realized that being an athlete in the fall isn't fun, well okay, that's a lie. Just over fall break it's not fun. I only know of around 4 people who are still here on my floor! I went home Wednesday night, and it felt awesome to sleep in my own bed. I forgot how squishy my bed is compared to these bunk beds :( I also realized how much I missed cooking while I was at home. It felt way good to be cooking on a stove instead of in a microwave! I got to cuddle with my puppy, and he was really cuddly in return, I think he knew I would be leaving again soon, and that made me sad! I know it's way early, but I'm already getting excited for Thanksgiving & Christmas break. It was nice to not have anything to do for a day, but today I'm back for volleyball, and tomorrow is a tournament, tomorrow night I'm going home, and Sunday I'll be with my boyfriend, and while that all goes by fast it'll be Monday before I know it, and it's back to homework and practice all the time. Why must the weekends go to fast but the week go so slow?

Social Change Wheel

Looking over the Social Change Wheel in class, and a few minutes ago, I've decided that I want to be in some of the sections that I didn't highlight. The ones I highlighted were: Direct Service, Socially Responsible Daily Behavior, and Community Building. Out of these 3 I highlighted, I would say that I am most active in Community Building. Coming from a small town that floods very easily in the summer, I've helped out many of the people whose basements and yards have been underwater. Since Fredericksburg is so small, you know almost everyone, and want to help out, it builds up trust knowing that they would return the favor if you were in the same situation.
Two things I would want to be more active with in the Social Change Wheel would be Direct Action Strategies and Voting/Formal Political Activities. I think with Direct Action, I couldn't be the leader behind the issue, and usually wouldn't be involved in something with public disobedience. I probably would though, if it was something I cared very strongly about. Voting and political stuff is something I want to start learning more about, so I can be more active with it. I think it's part of my job as a citizen to vote, and to help choose what I think should be getting done.

Volleyball

Well, I'm sure a volleyball post was bound to happen anyway. Here's the scoop, I played middle all my life until my senior year I got moved to play outside. I never liked playing middle. It's exhausting, a lot of work, it frustrates me, and overall besides the setter, its probably the hardest position to play. I got recruited to Wartburg as an Outside/Middle hitter. I came to practice at the start of the year with an "I just want to play" attitude, which in a way, I still have. They had me practicing outside and middle, and the first game I was playing outside 2 rotations and middle 1 rotation. I was okay with that. Actually, I loved it. Then our main middle hitter got hurt, so now I'm stuck playing middle all the time. It's really frustrating because it's hard to get the middles a set, there's almost always two blockers up, and if your teams pass isn't perfect, you can't utilize the middle. So all I do mainly is block. I like block, and stuffing the ball back in the opponents face, but I love the feeling of getting a kill, and since I got moved to middle I can't do that as often, and it's definitely not as powerful as my outside swing. I also get more frustrated in middle, not with the team, but with myself- frustrated to the point of tears. But deep down, I know that the coaches wouldn't have me there if they didn't think I was serving a purpose. So my goal for this week is to keep a positive attitude, and to realize that all my hard work is paying off and helping the team as a whole.

Being thankful:)

Monday morning I woke up to Jessie, my roomate, with a text saying "Kelly, you are my best friend, and one of the most important people in my life, no matter how big a fight gets. I love you Kel!"  When I texted her back asking about the random text, she went on to say that while she was at church that morning, the sermon was about how we take the people in our lives for granted, and that some people don't have those kinds of relationships to cherish. This really made me think. It made me realize how often I take people for granted, without even realizing it. My other friend, Morgan, who goes here, is having a rough time lately. They told her that her grandma isn't going to make it much longer. This also made me realize that you never know how much time you really have left with the people around you. Anything can change in a minute. After all of this happened, I have made it my mindset to be thankful for everyone around me. And I want to remember that everyday is a gift, including the people in your day.