Happy Halloween, everyone! I've already carved my pumpkin, and the candy is in a bowl by the door. Bring it on, costumed little ones!

Last night, in celebration of the spookiest time of year, there was a ghost walk held on the Beloit campus. The paths were lit with candles in white bags, and there was cider and cookies out for everyone. The campus looked really magical, and the RAs worked hard to put it all together. The only thing that would have made it better was a big, fat snow storm!

Ok, I know what some of you might be thinking: is she CRAZY?! It can't snow YET!

Au contraire, mes amies. Tomorrow is November, and where I'm from (Minnesota, in case you forgot) November means winter. And winter means snow. It's not quite cold enough for it here yet, but I would bet on some flurries in the next two weeks. I mean, I'm not a meteorologist, but my new red coat with over sized buttons is waiting on the back of my desk chair oh, so patiently right next to my comfy black boots, sooo... something's gotta give.

Have a spooky Halloween and great All Saint's day (that's tomorrow)!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: My parents have been encouraging my extended family to read this (Hi, everyone!), and I have a couple redactions to make. First of all, my aunt isn't a travel coordinator, she owns a travel company. And second, my mother is only a LITTLE afraid I'm going to get malaria. We've talked about all the medical necessities for my trans-Atlantic jaunt, but moms will be moms and sometimes moms worry. It's ok, Mom, I'm not going for over another year. Heck- I have to make it INTO the program first! So, try not to be too worried too soon. Love you!

Love, actually...

Beloit on the weekends is an interesting time. I'm often thrown by the juxtaposition of the calm and focused days with the abundant energy of the nights. Events on campus this weekend included a scary story reading, a German polka dance, a staging of the Rocky Horror Picture show, battle of the bands at the on campus bar, a band at the on campus bar the next evening, and a halloween party, complete with costume contest (first prize went to a guy that fashioned an Optimus Prime costume out cardboard boses and intricate spray painting), thrown by Sigma Chi and Kappa Delta. As social chair of KD, I was one of the people in charge of this all-campus shindig, and I am extremely happy that it went as well as it did. There were some CRAZY costumes out there! I feel that Beloit may be one of the only places where Edward Scissorshands, an alein from Star Wars, a member of the blue man group, Spartans from 300, Anna Nicole Smith, a transformer, pirates, and 4 different stages of Britney Spears can be found in the same place. I could be wrong, though. Also, don't let anyone ever tell you that there's nothing to do at Beloit. If they say that, they clearly have not looked hard enough or are just not paying attention. I mean, that's quite the list for two days!

Really quickly I want to explain the title of my blog. Last night I slept over in my friend Liz and Emma's room (they are wonderful and let me keep my own toothbrush there), and when I walked into the room Emma had put on the movie Love, Actually. This movie will always remind me of my first year in college (I watched it who knows how many times first semester last year with my friends Rachael and Ally) and having it on last night took me back to those first few weeks when it felt breezy, confusing, delightful, challenging, and amusing all at the same time trying to figure out the whole college thing. This year I'm up to my ears in repsonsibility, constantly on my toes, and having the time of my life. My point is, it is so interesting to see how things have worked themselves out over the course of a year, and I wait excitedly to see what challenges, lessons, and stories the rest of my time here will bring. Like watching Love, Actually more than any other movie as a first year, and being delighted by it enough my second year to have trouble falling asleep after a night of constant action, distracted by the memories of using every excuse possible to watch it (bad day, good day, rainy day, homework break, etc) only a year before.

It's thoughts like these that make it all too clear why I'm a history major :)