a fresh start!

So I'm moving from LiveJournal. Yaaaay fresh starts. Anyway. Suddenly just got the urge to write this morning. Maybe I was inspired by Michelle and my cousin Lisa's blogs, I don't know.
Anyway, so far it's a lovely morning. Yes, the sky is very gray and it's been raining, but it's very soothing, in a way. I slept in this morning but still got up with plenty of time before class. I love having time in the morning to enjoy my breakfast, make some coffee, and peruse my email and friend's journals.

I thought this semester was going to be miserable, seeing as most of my friends are currently across the Atlantic, but I'm actually enjoying myself quite a bit. It's the simple things, you know? I'm making it a habit to go to the farmer's market nearly every Saturday. Even if I don't buy much, it's so refreshing to walk around, seeing interesting people, funny-shaped veggies, and gorgeous flowers. I usually run into both Emma and RPI people, which is fun.

I'm also really enjoying hanging out with the refugees (explanation for those who are unaware: Half of the brothers at Acacia (Potter's fraternity) felt that things were getting out of hand. The president was turning it into a dictatorship: not holding regular house meetings, taking away peoples right to vote on important matters, and kicking out house friends without consulting anyone else, to only name a few of the issues. So they left. We got a Budget truck and packed up 5 boys (two had already left) at 2 am one night and never went back (except to pick up a few belongings left behind). The refugees, as we now call them, have moved into a fabulous apartment up on Pawling Ave. (and believe me, that's making a long story short!)) Hanging out with them has been wonderful. They're all kids I'm very comfortable around, and no longer feel that I need Potter there as a liaison as I previouslydid with many people up at the house. And they appreciate me there. I helped them find their apartment, because none of them had ever apartment hunted before and I've been through the process twice now. I've helped them find some furniture through freecycling, and I've helped them move out of Acacia, into their temporary place with friends, out of the temporary and into the new home. Potter and I went out and bought flowers for the planters on their front porch. And I can tell that they really like having me around. It's just a good feeling.

I'm also getting involved with the AIAS (American Institute of Architecture Students). Some of the people in it are helping RPI redesign their games room, and I volunteered to help out as well. How cool would that be to walk into my own school's game room and be able to say "I helped design this"? Pretty awesome. I'm also starting ballroom dance tonight! Potter and I went to the intro session a few weeks ago and learned swing and cha-cha. I picked them up pretty quickly and am anxious to learn more. I think it'll be a good outlet for me.

Choir's going well. This is our director's first full semester, so he's taking advantage of the amount of time we have and being very picky about diction and phrasing and such. People complain because it's a pain, but we'll sound so much better in the long run. It's a wonderful feeling to wake up in the morning with choir songs stuck in my head. Kind of makes me miss singing the Messiah last year. In fact, I think I'm going to listen to it now. That's right, Christmas/Easter music in September!

So it rained this morning (really intensely, and really short), but now there's a huge puddle on my roof. And the reflection is shining through my window and up onto the ceiling. It's pretty though, because the water is moving a bit with the window, so the reflection on the ceiling is dancing around.

It's also been wonderful talking to the Rome kids so much, especially Andrew. Now that we both have stable internet, we're talking a lot more, and it doesn't even feel like they're too far away. Andrew comments his pictures on facebook pretty much with me in mind, it's almost like a one way conversation. Then I come along and leave comments on nearly half of them, and then we continue the conversation later on AIM. We still think the same way. I commented on someone else's picture the other day, and within five minutes he had IMed me about it and we kept talking. It's nice to be missed. I was honestly a bit worried that they'd all be having so much fun traipsing about Europe that I'd feel left out, but it's just the opposite. It's really comforting.

I suppose that's about it for now. Maybe I'll keep up with this thing, though. I miss writing.