My birthday is:New Year's Eve of '81, baby!
I am currently situated in: Grace Hall at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but I've lived in Green Bay, Wisconsin for most of my life. (Ah yes, cheese, brats, beer, and football start to come to mind...)
This is what I look like:
Pretty neat, huh? This picture is from over a year ago. I don't look that much different now, except I got a haircut. I've been told it looks like the haircut of everyone from Tina Fey (of Saturday Night Live) to Meg Ryan to my roommate. Once I get my new roll of pictures developed, I'll get one up of me and my new hair (although I do need another haircut).
So yeah, that's me. What else should you know about me? Well, for starters, I am currently a sophomore at UST (yes, a sophomore, although this is only my second semester here...ah, the joy of AP credits). Right now, I'm planning to double major in broadcast journalism and communication and minor in political science. What will I do with all that? Well, as most of my friends will tell you, my ultimate goal is to be cohost of the Today Show. Give me about 15 or so years, and it just could happen! If I don't get that job, I'd want to be a Washington correspondent for a major news network. Actually, any anchor job in a major news market would be good for me.
But for now, the Twin Cities will be just fine. It's a great area, especially for college students. I could never go to college in Green Bay. Don't get me wrong--I like the city and everything, but after living in Green Bay for 13 years, you just need a change. I needed to get out of the city and the state. If I had gone to Madison, I'd be going home a lot more than I do now. See, the Twin Cities is perfect for me because it's far enough away that I don't go home every weekend, yet close enough that I don't have to pay for a plane ticket every time I do come home. Besides, I like big cities. I like gallivanting in the city and discovering all the cool places to go and things to do in the cities. I especially like gallivanting on Grand Avenue in St. Paul. It's comparable to State Street in Madison...lots of shops, restaurants, and other funky places. Downtown Minneapolis is also a great place to gallivant, especially in the Nicollet Mall area (which is close to the UST Minneapolis campus). Uptown is fun, too-there's a lot of awesome restaurants in the area. Mall of America is okay, as well, but it gets so crowded there with all the tourists.
OK, enough about gallivanting in the Twin Cities. I currently reside in Grace Hall here at UST. It's the only girls' dorm on the south side of campus. It kinda sucks because there are only two dorms down here--all the others are on north campus. But most of the time, it's cool. It's a lot quieter down here, except when a music group is practicing in BEC with the windows open, and even then, it's not that bad. People who live on north are scared of coming down to south campus. Why, I don't know...maybe they're just scared of the sparsity. Anyway, I like people visiting me down here (especially cute boys). Then I can show them around and take them down to the Grotto and the Mississippi River trails. They're beautiful, especially in the spring, summer, and fall. It's a great place to go walking, biking, blading, etc. I love going down to the shore in the evening and watching the sunset over the Minneapolis skyline. Ah, that's the life!
So what else should you know about me? Well, for one thing, I am a major music lover. I love and will listen to just about any type of music on the planet. I've got my favorites, of course. Right now, I'm really into alternative, Latin rock/pop, guitar rock, and R&B/Soul stuff. I'd have to say my favorite band of all-time is the Dave Matthews Band. I have a ton of their albums and I listen to them constantly. I have yet to see them in concert, but I hear they are excellent! I also love Carlos Santana. He is absolutley amazing. I started listening to him when "Supernatural" came out a few years ago, and I instantly fell in love with his music. Most people may say that I only like him because he is popular now, but I love his old stuff too. Unlike DMB, I did get to see Santana in concert last August in Milwaukee. The show was incredible! I had an awesome time. There was only one thing that could've made it better...if Rob Thomas was there to sing "Smooth" (which is my all-time favorite song, by the way). I am also a fan of Matchbox 20, Lenny Kravitz, 3 Doors Down, Billy Joel (gotta love Billy Joel!), Incubus, Uncle Kracker, Aerosmith, Savage Garden, Ricky Martin, Sheryl Crow, India Arie, Blink 182, Sugar Ray, Goo Goo Dolls...the list goes on and on. See what I mean?
So much for my taste in music. I not only love listening to music, but I love to play music, too. I play both piano and French Horn, and I sing. Currently, I am in both the Symphonic Wind Ensemble and the Liturgical Choir at St. Thomas. I love being in both ensembles because it gives me a chance to continue to express my love for music. I played in both band and choir in high school, and I'm glad to be able to do it again in college.
I also love dancing--both out on the town and on stage. I've been dancing since I was very young. I've done ballet, tap, jazz, show, and funk dancing. In high school, I participated in the show choir and the musicals. That involved a lot of dancing! But now that I'm in college, I mainly do most of my dancing out in the clubs of Minneapolis. I'm really into salsa dancing right now. When I traveled to Cuba and Costa Rica, I visited a few salsa clubs and perfected my moves. I still have a ways to go before I can do those fancy spins and turns...but I'm getting better!
I love traveling, too. I've done quite a bit in the past few years, and I will be doing some more this coming school year. In the past, I've been to the Bahamas, Florida and the Keys, China, Japan, Hong Kong, New York, Arizona, Cuba, Costa Rica, and all around the Midwest. I've also been to several other states, but I've been told they don't count because I was only in the airports. If you'd include those, then I've also been to California, Missouri, Ohio, Georgia, and Texas. Anyways, next year, I am taking four major trips. This fall I will head to Seattle for the national conference of the Society of Professional Journalists. I am one of the co-vice presidents of the UST chapter, and all the officers get to attend the conference. Next January, I will spend the month in Amsterdam and the surrounding area (The Hague, Brussles, Antwerp). I will be taking a class called Visual Communication (which will go toward my journalism major). I've been told that Amsterdam is an exciting city to visit with spectacular architecture, so I can't wait until that! Next May, I will travel to Ireland with the UST Liturgical Choir. This will be our international tour, so I am sure we'll get to sing a lot! There is one more trip I will be taking next year, but I don't know where it will be yet--it is for the UST Band, and I probably won't find out where it will be until fall or winter!
Well, that's all for now. I'll add more stuff eventually, but my brain needs a rest right now. If you have any other questions, you can email me. So take care and have a good day!
