It's Official

I have officially completed my first year of college :)
I took my last final at 6pm today (organic/biochemistry..ugh) BUT...i got a pretty good grade on it :)
and i am finally coming home....mixed feelings about it though...

im going to miss my friends here, but i'm very excited to spend more time with chris and see my friends from home again.

next year...Ball State!

Decisions decisions...

well, i finally visited ball state...the last of three schools i have considered transfering to

and........i really really like it :)

i love the big-ness of the buildings..and the old brick they are made of just makes it a beautiful campus...it really just felt good to be on campus. i was able to go to a men's volleyball game on friday night with ellen (who really expects men's volleyball to be exciting?) but it was! the crowd was really fun and the "game rituals" were exciting too...i just felt like i was a part of something...IWU games are boring...all of them...i cant wait to go to a BSU football game!

after the game, we hung out with the team (ellen's cousin, ben, is the middle hitter). that was really fun. several of them are involved in crew, which is the campus crusade at bsu...ellen says the crew is really good at bsu...i wish i could have gone to a meeting

i got to see the dorm i will probably live in next year..woodworth..nicknamed "the nunnery" because its the only single-sex dorm on campus.. Its made up of mostly nursing students...so it will be a good place for me to meet girls i might want to get an appt. with next year.

i guess the thing that just got me is how much i felt at home there...just felt good! There is much more that played into my decision but ill spare you the boring details (mom you can call me later)

SB 2008

Spring break started out just like winter break...stuck inside...except this time with no power

Friday morning i was sure that jennifer and i would not be going to New York, but we went ahead to the airport and flew out 2 hours later than expected after an hour of de-icing the plane. Once we arrived in La Guardia about 3 hours later than expected, we were bombarded by men in suits trying to give us "shuttle" rides to the city. Then we decided to read a sign.... it read "anyone who offers you a ride should not be giving you one..." After turning in circles for a bit looking for what to do..we found the taxi line and got ourselves a taxi. When we arrived at the hotel (right around the corner from the most amazing view of times square) at 1:30 in the morning, we were told that our room was not ready. At 2am we decided to to scope out the room we had been assigned to see if anyone was actually cleaning it...we came back downstairs after seeing that there was no one working on our room and the desk worker looked at us and uttered an "uuhhh...oh ladies your room is ready.." We decided that a half hour wait at 1:30 in the morning was ridiculous and told him we would need to speak with a manager the next day.

saturday we got up at 9 and hit the rainy city. We shopped around until about 2:30 and went back to the hotel to dry off and speak to the manager of the hotel. After talking our way into a discount on our room we went back out to get coffee...aaaaand the rain was gone! we were very happy :)

Around 6pm it was time to hail our first cab..i took on the responsibility...it went well. Apparently it really does ONLY require the lift of an arm in the air to get one of hundreds of yellow taxis to pull to the side of the road. i have pictures of this cab hailing event, but again...i cant upload pictures....

after taxi ride number two we were at astor place theater to see the Blue Man Group!! It was amazing. Afterwards we went back to walk around times square at night.....gorgeous

sunday morning we waited for HOURS AND HOURS in line at La Guardia while every single one of their computers was down....after about 3 hours of waiting (and missing our connecting flight while we were waiting on flight #1 to take off) we got our boarding passes that were WRITTEN out of a piece of paper with our names and flight number...long story short we got to atlanta, re-booked our flight to dayton and waited and waited and finally got home.

wow i feel like ive told everyone this story so many times and it now sounds so boring..haha..oh well...CAMI...you got your new post! haha

ill be back on thursday for easter break!

Spring Break....I can almost feel it

One more week of classes...two more exams, one lab practical, one more quiz, and two more papers and im free for a week (minus the part where i have to study for the physiology exam i have to take when i get back from break and the organic/biochem project i have due!).

plans: working at bjoes all week because my tiny paycheck from working 4 hours a week just isnt cutting it...then (mom dont read this part...i dont need you entering ventricular tachardia when im not there).....jennifer and i are going to NEW YORK! We will arrive friday night and check into our hotel where we will get some sleep! Saturday we plan on shopping and we have tickets to see the Blue Man Group! Sunday is our EARLY morning flight back to dayton after which i will proceed to pack up all my stuff and go back to school! busy busy busy

I have officially made it through the two hardest physiology tests of the semester! and i was very happy with my grades on them....i have never studied as hard as i did for the cardiology exam in A&P II....13 hours.....yikes!

Please pray for me this next week!
charity and jodi....offer still stands! (jodi, see my reply to charity's post if you have no clue what im talking about!)

Marfin Posts Again...

TIme for a real post:

Despite the difficulty level of my classes, I am having a pretty good semester. Over Christmas break I started dating someone I had been talking to for a couple of months by phone and internet and things are going very well there. We don't often get to see each other, but that has been almost good in a way. We are really getting to know one another just by talking as much as we do (we usually talk every night for awhile and then email a couple times during the day). Over break we went ice skaing and he attempted to play guitar hero...he wasn't very good at either..but it was fun to see him try!

Last weekend, a group of girls from my unit went up to Findlay, Ohio for the weekend and stayed with a couple of girl's families that live up there. It was a great time. I feel like I really got to know some of the girls in my unit better. Friday night we got a great home-cooked meal by sarah's mom and just relaxed all evening in their very nice, very large house. Saturday we had breakfast waiting on us and then we all got dressed up and went to a cute little tea room that Sarah's mom owns called "Swan House." We drank lots of tea and ate scones...it was so fun! The Swan house is in an old victorian style building...beautiful....we all loved it so much we wanted to quit school and buy the place from Mrs. Robb to run ourselves since she is selling it soon. After that we changed clothes at sarah's and drove off to allie's house....but the two girls had a surprise for us...a giant statue of a bull....so of course we all had to get pictures with it....it took about an hour to get 3 girls on top of it, so the rest of us stayed on the ground...and we all were freezing! After that, we were all ready for some coffee, so off we went to "common grounds," a small coffee shop in bluffton where allie works. There, we met her cousin, Luke and we spent the rest of the evening at his apartment playing "rock band" (another one of those musical video games that i am actually good at!). Sunday was church at a place that reminded me of the setting of "To Kill A Mockingbird." The service was very good, though the speaker shocked the congregation once or twice with his vivid verbal imagery when talking about "how" a married couple becomes "one" according to how God intended it to happen. We'll leave it at that.

I wish i could post pictures, but for some reason i cant.....apparently blogger hasnt joined forces with mac yet :(

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my wonderful mother's birthday:)
Not sure what I would do without such an intelligent and insightful woman as my mother. I so admire her ability to make decisions...something I am horrible at doing...and she always has a piece of advice to give me in any situation that I come to her with (whether I want it or not, mom, I always remember it and use it) If she has one downfall it has to be her encouragement for me to spend money shopping with her whenever I am home:) But I love her anyway. Have a great birthday Mom! I miss you!

Back in the Swing of Things

Well...where to start


Christmas break was good...got pretty bored the last week when I stopped working so I am very glad to be back at school with my college friends even though i do miss my home friends. I also was able to spend more time with christopher and get to know him some more. He came to our new years get-together as a surprise to me because he lives down in gallapolis, ohio...about 3 hours away from greenville. Things are going very well with him and he plans on moving back to the dayton area sometime this spring (which i like!)

classes this semester are killing me already...my MWF schedule is one class right after the other...organic/biochem then chapel then anatomy & phsyiology II then foundations of nursing then spanish. Tuesdays and Thursdays i just have a 3 hour lab until volleyball starts in february, so i have taken up swimming again just so i can get some exercise in on a regular basis.

and just now as i paused to check on my coffee i realized that i didnt set my coffee maker to fill two mugs..only one..but i put in water for two b/c my suitmate alyssa wanted some too and i didnt change the setting...yes...you guessed it...coffee everywhere..hot hot coffee all over the countertop...luckily not much of it made it to the floor...good job marissa

FINALLY!

on wednesday, december 5, marissa danielle finch earned her first "A" (100 percent!) on an Anatomy & Physiology exam

and she is all smiles

Losing My Mind

Maybe I feel this way because I am not a professor, but why would a prof give a very very large test two days before the final? Or even 4 days before? Do they expect us to be prepared for the final after only a weekend of studying? Here is a look at my schedule:

Tuesday: Anatomy & Physiology Lab Final
Wednesday: Anatomy & Physiology exam over Endocrine System
UNV 180 Final
Friday: Microbiology exam over Immunology
____________________________________________

Monday: English Portfolio Due
Anatomy & Physiology Final
Tuesday: Microbiology Final
Wednesday: English research presentation speech


Lucky for me I already wrote the 4 papers that are due in my UNV 180 class this week over my oh so relaxing Thanksgiving break (sarcasm on the "oh so relaxing" in case you did not catch on to it)

I am getting stress/caffeine headaches every single day like clockwork and they last ALL DAY.
Luckily i was the target of someone's "Act of Kindness" paper (we had to write a paper about an annonymous act of kindness we did for someone) and i came back to my dorm to find a "finals care package" that included oreos, munchos, and two double-shot starbucks espresso's!!!

other than that this week sucks

My First All-Nighter

I have just successfully completed my first all-nighter! Ironically it was spent writing a research paper about sleep deprivation in college students...hmmm

oh well, i think i have officially completed this rite of passage and i never have the desire to do it again!

I am never having children, or getting married for that matter!

I have decided that i would make a horrible mother unless i decide to make a conscious effort to forget everything i have learned in microbiology this semester. My kids would not touch anything or anyone..they would live in a bubble (a bubble that i would spray hourly with lysol). I cant tell you how many times i wash my hands per day (its almost to the point of OCD!) i also clean the toilet about every day in my dorm room. I really really dont want leptospirosis or pinworm. I really really dont want to get a UTI after my honeymoon. I really really cant step into a hot tub ever again or sleep in a hotel or eat from a buffet. Thank you Prof. McNeely...for making me a paranoid freak!

I think i will choose to make a conscious effort to forget all the gory details of microbiology after this semester is over...

The "Almost" A

no, i am not talking about the tween bra size...but its a similar situation

all i want this semester is an A on one of my tests (in either microbiology or anatomy&physiology)
my last three tests grades have gone like this: 83% 87% 89%
all i want is an A! just one! one point away..its like freshman year of high school when i was just one size away from being that A....no laughs please

Responsibility stinks

This weekend i was basically punished for being responsible with my money. Here is the scenario..

Myself and two of my friends went to Tennessee this past weekend so one of my friends could see her boyfriend and i could see my cousin darah who both went to the same school. The plan was to get there and back on 3 tanks of gas..3.5 at most, which would cost each of us $30-35...a chunk of money but not too bad

i ended up spending over $70 on gas alone--not including meals
alyssa's boyfriend also gave us $55 to help us out b/c my two friends came with very little money in their bank accounts. I also had to pay for one of the girl's meals because she didnt bring enough for food. Thank goodness i actually had money in my bank account or else we would be stuck in kentucky right now. The two girls i went with insisted that they had enough money to pay for gas...one girl overdrew her account for the 20 something time so her parents refused to put any more money into it. The other girl claimed to have enought to cover every bit of gas we could possibly need-plus some...she didnt have that..not even close. So her poor boyfriend ended up spending almost as much as i did.

Now, there were other factors that played into the gas consumption of the trip.
A) we were set up on a blind double date that was supposed to be paid for..or so we were told by the boys...Nope...they first of all made US drive for almost an HOUR through knoxville where we used over half a tank of gas and then they picked an expensive resaurant where we got very little to eat..my friend and i split a side and both got drinks b/c we were afraid that these boys (noting how rude they were to us from the drive there) were not going to pay. They didnt. AND i had to cover my friend
B) we got lost on the way back to indiana but the driver would not stop and ask for directions anywhere so we drove around aimlessly for 45 min until she was too sick of me complaining that she was wasting the gas the I paid for b/c THEY didnt have enough money. we finally got back on track and then we needed to eat. My friend was set on taco bell and would not consider anything else as an option so she got off every food exit to try and find a taco bell (more gas wasted)...we couldnt find one after an hour and a half so we went to mcdonalds (note that she had told us she would pay for our meals with the little she had left).....we get to this mcdonals and she sees a starbucks across the street. She then very casually mentions that she cant get coffee like she wants really bad if she pays for the three of us to eat off the dollar menu....i end up paying again for myself so she can get her coffee.

the moral of this story is that marissa is practically broke and has no idea when she will get paid back for all the money she spent on this trip which ended up to be a complete bust and not fun. It sure "pays" to be responsible doesnt it?

So, its been awhile!

well i realized that the last time i posted was when i was still in high school. Not that long ago, but it sure does feel like it to me. I am almost done with my first semester of college! It didn't take me long to realize that all the studying i did in high school was nothing compared to what i have to do now. Back in mr. rismiller's anatomy class we had a month to learn all the bones and another month to learn all the bone markings--fast forward to college anatomy--one WEEK to learn all that information...luckily for me it was not as stressful as those who had never taken anatomy...i was able to recall quite a bit!

I guess i decided to start blogging again just so i can have a place to write my thoughts and give the occasional update on those who still want to know what goes on here at school with me! (mostly you mom!)

The Number 23

the number 23 is not only a movie...it is how many days of high school i have left!
TWENTY-THREE DAYS!
Graduation finally feels close

Prom is only 3 days away...which is also very exciting
I'll be spending the first part of the evening at FM's Prom, then heading over to the Elks for Greenville's after-prom. The best of both worlds, i'm hoping.

That's all for now, i guess...
I'll post more (with pics) after prom!

Thinking...(warning: can be dangerous)

I have had some time lately where i have been able to spend time with just myself and my thoughts. I have discovered a few things:

1) I will miss my family next year. Ty absolutely cracks me up. I love his odd sense of humor and how he cant help but laugh at himself when he does something funny. Cami....i just love to embarrass her, especially when i'm driving her somewhere and i dance around in the car to the music. Ryan and i have finally started to be brother and sister rather than enemies. We talked for half and hour alone, over beef jerky, when i went to visit him in january. Dad, he doesn't mean to do it most of the time, but he is hilarious as well (and when he tries to be, its usually pretty corny)...but we all love him for it. Mom...she listens to me no matter how boring my story is....no matter how bad her day has been....no matter how late at night it is. She cries with me and she laughs both with me and at me. (i cant believe i'm tearing up typing this)
so yes, as much as i'd love to deny it...i will miss them all

2) My best friend is amazing, and it blows my mind how God put us together at the perfect time in both our lives. Jen and I either show how much we are alike (i.e. army crawling anywhere, or "james bond-ing" it down the church hallway) or how much we are different (i.e. she yells at people when she's mad and i just cry like a wimp...then she yells at me for being a wimp!). We can have deep meaningful conversations, venting sessions, completely meaningless conversations, or just sit there silently and that be ok. When one of us is emotional, the other one is there to say "snap out of it and move on" or lend a shoulder if needed. I cant even begin to say how much i'll miss seeing her next year.

3) Old friends are great too. I have noticed that lately some of the most fun conversations i have had, have been with people that i used to hang out with all the time, and don't anymore. Just reminiscing on the "old times" has been so fun. Also, i have had fun getting back in contact with a friend that i hadn't talked to in almost a year. He is one of those people that i wish i had had more time to get to know because i feel like we could have been such close friends given time.

4) high school is so dumb. Without drama, what would high school be? Oooo ooo pick me! Pick me! I know! High school would actually be about preparing for college, not who hung out with who last weekend, not where prom is going to be this year, not who is on your data match list, not giving up and dropping out 9 weeks before you could graduate. The class of 2007 is setting the record for most students in one class to NOT graduate. My class could probably set the record for most kids born from unwed pregnancies too. Can you believe that there are over 40 girls in the Greenville school system that are pregnant? And almost that many already have one or two kids. That blows my mind.

5) I am 18...if i mess up...i will have a record...

As my senior year comes to a close, I keep thinking about all the things I am glad i did, all the things i wish i hadn't, and all the things i wish i had done. But mostly, i realize that God has had His hand in my life and He has a purpose for me and that the things i have or haven't done are all part of growing up and becoming who He wants me to be.

The only good mice are the Cinderella ones....

It all started about a week ago...

I was laying in bed and i heard scratching/chewing/running noises. I think to myself, "just another mouse....set a trap and go back to bed"....so....I do just that. Two nights later, i realize...there is no more noise....i check the trap...empty

So, now I'm thinking, "sweet...no more mouse." HA

Of course not!

Two days ago, i began to smell a faint smell of something dead...now...i have smelled this same smell before...dead mouse

no big deal right....find it, throw it out, and spray some air freshener.

no, no, no, no, no

The stupid mouse has died, yes....but INSIDE the wall behind my door

Fabulous, eh?

Road Trip!

This past weekend zach, jen, logan, jansen and i drove to Goshen to see Katie in a musical called "Seussical." It was very entertaining (logan especially loved the kid who played Dr. Seuss). We stayed over night and left sunday morning after way too little sleep. Jansen, in case you were wondering, snores like a FREIGHT TRAIN which was the cause for my lack of sleep. On the way home we made a few stops for some fresh air considering there were 5 people packed in an Ion and the boys hogged shotgun both directions. But we still had a lot of fun.






Many things stressing me out lately:

a) scholarhips (i hate writing essays!)

b) prom (i haven't even started looking for a dress!)

c) spanish (placement tests that i am sooo unprepared for)

Good things happening:

a) I'm pretty much sure that i wont be taking any final exams

b) I was able to meet up with a friend from lifeguarding whom i haven't been in contact with for a long time. I emailed zach to see if he was re-certifying the same weekend as me and he emailed back and we started to catch up with each other. So, he decided to come home from school this weekend and we met up for coffee. It was really nice to see him again and we had fun talking just like we used to.

Twisted Fun

My friends and I have come to love a very simple...very old...and very easily overlooked game

TWISTER

SENIORITIS - - at its worst

90 days till graduation!

thats all i cant think about!
i have a stack of homework that i SHOULD be doing and haven't touched...but im catching on to the whole "i don't even care anymore" attitude...people have been trying to get me hooked for awhile now.

Sorry this post is so boring...jen made me do it