Hello from 108 degree weather! It is ridiculously hot outside, but I’m very grateful for the pool at my apartment and the cool air conditioning. It’s hard to do things outside in all of this heat, so I’ve been trying to avoid it in general. However, I do have a 22 minute walk from my apartment to my work, which hasn’t been fun. I do try to take the med center bus in the mornings though, so that cuts down my outdoor commute 10 minutes. On the way home though, I’m afraid I have no choice but to hoof it outside. I am enjoying extensively using my sunglasses though. :)

Speaking of avoiding the heat, today Hanna and I didn’t really have any plans for going out, since her sister Gretchen keeps the car on weekends. Instead, we decided to test the limits of the Nashville bus system and go to Opry Mills! It was a long trip there and back (about an hour each way with one transfer), but it was worth it not to have to pay for cab fare or gas money… especially as the entire MTA bus system is free to Vandy students and employees! Plus I hadn’t been back to Opry Mills since it closed a couple of years ago for the floods and reopened in late spring of this year- I’m really happy with the store selection! Forever 21 is huge and really nice- not quite as nice as one in Louisville, but very beautiful inside, and they have a nice selection. The only thing I was disappointed in Opry Mills for is that there isn’t a bookstore! :( That’s probably a sign of the electronic reading age, but even though I love my Kindle, I wouldn’t trade having paper copies of my favorites for anything!

Best part of Opry Mills: THEY HAVE A PANDA EXPRESS!!!!!! I ate orange chicken! <3

My week overall was pretty good! I officially finished optimizing my program (it now runs in about a quarter of the time they had the other one running), and starting Monday, I’m converting it into a Java plugin for use in a program that displays gene co-expression networks. Another awesome part of this week was swimming with Hanna in the pool on Thursday (it’s been way too crowded this weekend) and frolicking through the Vandy sprinklers yesterday evening. Yes, we ran through the sprinklers in our clothes. It was epic. XD

Want to know a really, really awesome thing that happened to me yesterday?? I thought I’d tell y’all first: I won an iPod Touch/$200 gift card to the Apple store! I was a beta tester for a Vandy med center website, and I was randomly chosen of all the testers to win! =D They gave me the option of either receiving the iPod Touch or an Apple gift card, so I chose the gift card… I might still decide to buy the iPod Touch with it, or I might save the money and put it toward an Air… What do you all think? =D

Random shoutout: Has anyone read The Help or seen the movie? I’m about halfway through reading it and can’t put it down! It’s so good! I completely recommend it… though I’ll likely give it an even better recommendation once I finish it! :)

Second random shoutout: Maroon 5 released a new album (Overexposed) a couple of days ago, and while I love Payphone that’s been streaming on the radio stations, I really like the first track from the album that was recently released too: “One More Night.” So if it hasn’t been getting too much radio time (I haven’t listened to the radio for a while, since I don’t have my car down here), I recommend going to listen to it… if not for anything but the good beat. I’m going to finish listening to the album soon. :)

The song of the week is actually from Daughtry! I’m a huge Daughtry fan, and every album they’ve put out I like even more than the last. If you haven’t listened to their music in a while or are unfamiliar with them, you should give them a try! Their most recent album, Break the Spell, is wonderful, though this song is actually a bonus song from their second album Leave This Town. It’s pretty catchy, and for it only being a bonus track, I’m surprised it wasn’t featured on the album. It’s called “Long Way,” and I hope you like it!

Have a great week guys! I’ll be spending the week counting down until Friday… Mark’s coming to Bowling Green to visit! Would you guys like to meet up sometime Friday or Saturday to meet him? =D Let me know!

Daughtry- “Long Way”

           Hello from the conclusion of an argument with Sara that spanned two Facebook messages. Well, it was actually two separate arguments. Actually, I dislike the word “argument” as a description here. I think basically all of my arguments with Sara are too good natured in spirit to really be called “arguments.” Though that is by definition correct (“a discussion involving differing points of view”, “verbal opposition”, “altercation”), the connotation in my mind for the word is more negative. Maybe “debate” is preferable? What do you think, Sara? Want to argue about it? Haha.
            Anyway, I would like to wish a very happy birthday to both my brother and Sanaa! Lol, I keep forgetting you two share a birthday. My family and I went out to Red Lobster for a celebratory meal (just for my brother, sorry Sanaa, lol) which was quite delicious.
            One of the several ways my brother and I are similarly nerdy/geeky is our liking of the Mario Marathon (yes, I mentioned this last week, but it was just starting. There were a whole other 4 days of gameplay). It was my brother who first introduced me to the marathon 2 years ago (MM3). Anna Beth poked fun at me a bit for missing the one day this week that wasn’t miserably scorching hot because I was inside watching the end of the marathon. It was worth it though! You guys should seriously consider watching a bit of it next year (if there is a next year. Lol, every time they swear they won’t do it again, but there’s an announcement within a month or two of the date for the next marathon). It really is a lot of fun (no I don’t stay up the whole 4-5 days watching it. But I couldn’t miss the end!). This year they raised $112, 530 for Child’s Play in about 110 hours. And even if you don’t really care for Mario games that much, it’s still an enjoyable experience (maybe not so much for the players) and for a good cause. There’s a fan-art (lovingly dubbed f’nart) section to the site where people make and submit hilarious joke pictures. Some are actually well drawn while others are just memes or random hilariousness.

      And there’s both twitter chat and IRC (internet relay chat). The Chat room is one of the best parts of the whole thing. The set up where the players are has a screen so they can read and reply to people in the chat. There’s a lot of interaction and SO MANY INSIDE JOKES. I imagine my descriptions would be rather boring for anyone who hadn’t seen any of the event (mostly because I’m just rubbish at explaining things), but I suppose I can give it a shot. This year there were a lot of ‘gold membership’ jokes. I don’t really know where it came from, but the idea emerged (falsely) that certain ‘gold members’ who donated certain amounts got special privileges like less laggy streaming, a camera angle devoted only to ‘couch dog’ the family pet sheltie, a special stream where one could watch the players fail less, a special stream where one could see the players fail more, being able to watch more of Jed singing, being able to watch the marathon from the moon, being able to watch next year’s marathon already, etc. And last year one of the onscreen guys “married” one of the chatters. And there’s usually a sort of competition/battle among donators. Most like the donation total to be free of change (aka $24,575.00 instead of $24,575.76) but there’s always someone who will donate $1.32 just to make it uneven. Leading to more donations to try and even it out. And basically everyone onscreen is given a nickname of sorts by the chatters since many come and go and it can be hard to remember everyone’s name. So there’s Shirt guy, Orange shirt guy, coffee girl, Target John (named for his red shirt), offscreen guy, etc.
     I imagine I should probably shut up now since I’ve probably bored at least half of you.  But if I haven’t, here’s some links of some videos chatters recorded during the really random parts of past marathons:
Why does the sun shine?
Brian's epic speech
I don't see nothing wrong with the Mario Marathon
Rolling in the deep parody song
ummmm....what?
Level unlock: dance for charity
Another Song

The rest of my week was pretty awesome and Anna Beth already mentioned most of it: eating ice cream with Mrs. Jan, RACHAEL COMING HOME, making breakfast at AB’s house, etc.

Love,
Jill

Hello from awesome friendship funtime!
This week has been full of reunions, get-togethers, and lots and lots of sweets! Seriously: chocolate moose cake, free gelato, frozen yogurt, donuts, Jaffas, and TimTams!!!
But more importantly, this week has been full of Rach(a)els! On Monday I got to see Rachel, one of my Harlaxton friends when we went for gelato at Novo Dolce, which was AMAZING! Plus, I skyped with my other Harlaxton friend, Nathan.
THEN, on Wednesday, Jill, Kaley, and I met up with our buddy Mrs. Jan at Stackz to catch up and eat YUMS!
AND THEN RACHAEL WAS AT GADS AND I WAS AT GADS AND WE HUGGED SO HARD I BROKE MY SUNGLASSES!!!!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! MY GRANDBABY IS HOME!!!!! EEEEE!!!
And then today, Jill, Sara, Rachael, and I cooked breakfast for lunch at my house. It was delicious! And we did Bible study, and top secret stuff, and went to see Brave with Dwain. And it was FUN!
We've also been planning our web series, so get ready, guys...And speaking of guys, does anyone know ONE GUY who would be willing to act in a web series? Anyone? One guy? Please? 
Well, here are some pictures anyway...

Hello from Kentucky! Needless to say, it feels absolutely wonderful to be home! It just feels so comfortable-even tough my room is a complete mess...
I feel this past week has been one of my busiest..
Thursday: My birthday (In NZ) my friends and I went out to eat at a random asian place that was delicious, Jenna got me a chocolate muffin topped with a tim-tam, and then we all went out and partied.
Friday: I finished most of my packing, bought some last minute stuff, and walked around campus taking photos.
Saturday: Woke up early and did last minute laundry, tossed out a lot of stuff that I couldn't bring back, cleaned my room, and turned in my key. The Massey bus also drove right by where I was supposed to be dropped off and continued into town. I had to get off at the next stop and call a taxi to go back--my bus to Wellington was due in 20 minutes (NOT enough time to do a loop on the bus, plus I don't think the bus would have gone back to Massey because the bus schedule is weird on weekends)
Later Saturday: Met up with Betsy in Wellington because she was leaving the next day. We hung out at her nice hotel room she had booked because she found a really good deal on the room. Went to my hostel for my free meal that I got for staying at Nomads and went to go see Sir Ian McKellen perform. Yes, I did act like a fan girl :) Ian McKellen also surprised the audience when he called up the cast of The Hobbit to help get donations for the opera house in Christ Church.
Sunday: Ate breakfast with Betsy before she left and then I hung out at Te Papa (the free and amazing museum) and a book store for the rest of the day.
Monday: I didn't even go to bed Sunday night, I had to be at the airport around 4am for my 6:10am flight. While I was making sure everything was packed, I made friends with one of the girls I shared my room with.
Monday cont.: My flight home--better than the one to New Zealand, but not by much. It involved a nose bleed and a lack of sleep and good movies. But once I got back...words can't even describe it. I was back to where I recognized everything I saw, name the highway we where on, and know what part of the country I was in. We got Mancino's pizza, I gave out my gifts, and then I had one of the best night's sleep I've had in a really long time.
Tuesday: I went to go see my mom for a couple of hours and gave her her gifts and I then hung out with my friend Mackenzie. A pool, the mall, Stacks, Just Dance game, and her nieces and nephews were all involved.
Wednesday: Dropped off my car at the mechanics for a quick check-up before going to Florida in a couple of days, drove my mom to the hospital for a small procedure, bought a pair of Toms, and then I got to see Sara, Jill, and  Anna Beth!!! We met up at Gads and talked about everything and anything.
It's really good to be back
I

Hello from I almost forgot it was Tuesday! Sorry bout that, guys… Anyway, it’s been a good week. I got my first paycheck, which was pretty cool. I also had the house to myself for most of Saturday, so I was surprisingly productive (with anything not relating to this blog…). And then
I’ve spent the past couple of days working, which is why I didn’t realize I still needed to blog until about 8 p.m. I came home, and Reni sat in my lap, and you guys know it’s impossible to do anything with a kitty cat. And now I’m just rambling, so we’ll get on to the Questions:

Anna Beth:
Book question redone:
I think I prefer my loophole version better: all those compilations are still just one physical thing all bound together. Nevertheless, I guess I’ll fix the question according to your intended specifications:
1.      Still the Bible. 
2.      I guess a dictionary. I’d thought about this with the original list, but then I knew I wouldn’t be able to have a dictionary from every language, so I was sad that I’d be leaving
out everything but English :(
3.      The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. No question, the world HAS TO HAVE MARK TWAIN IN IT!!!!!!! And this one’s my favorite, so there we go :)
4.      Our world history textbook from AP World. This is to make up for the dictionary difficulties: the world may not be able to keep every language, but it can at least keep an
overview of the basic history of most of the countries.
5.      Pride and Prejudice :)
6.      The Fault in our Stars
7.      Umm,… uhhh and 4 more classic books that the world couldn’t live without! Sorry. My brain is totally blanking.
What are your thoughts on Christian dating sites (like match.com, but specifically for Christians)? Random, I know, but I saw an ad and thought of
it.
Well, I’m not a particular fan of dating sites in general. I feel like life is a much better way to meet your spouse than some random dating site. Christian sites, though, are at least more like the churches of the internet, so you’re more likely to be meeting the right kind of people to potentially have a relationship with (though just because he’s on a Christian site doesn’t necessarily mean he belongs there- anyone can make up a profile intending to take advantage of the other people on it).
Why do you think so many Christians marry so young? You know, how Christian colleges are known for the MRS degree and whatnot?
Umm. I’ve noticed this a lot, but I don’t really get why it happens either. Or have any insightful insights to give. Sorry...
What are your thoughts on the concepts of extended adolescence and the 5 milestones of adulthood? And what makes a person an adult in your opinion? Is extended adolescence really a problem? Etc, etc.
Well, the term “extended adolescence” is pretty new to me, but I feel like the concept is pretty
well-known today. You see a lot of TV shows and movies featuring people in the late 20s and even early 30s still living at home, relying on their parents, refusing to be responsible (example, Howard Walowitz on the Big Bang Theory :). I do feel like this is a problem. Depending on your parents while you’re in college preparing to get a job is one thing, but by the time you’re approaching 30, you’re running out of excuses. I’m not so sure about the 5 milestones of adulthood, though (moving out, finishing school, being financially independent,
marrying, having kids). Financial independence is one thing, but all the other “milestones” can be put off for reasons other than continued immaturity. You could have to live with your parents because they need to be taken care of, or you could be going back to school for your master’s or a higher degree, or you could choose not to get married/have kids. Aside from that, you don’t have to be an “adult” to have your own children, as the MTV show 16
and Pregnant has been eager to capitalize on. So I don’t really know that you can have specific milestones to determine when any individual has passed from adolescence into adulthood; that’s going to vary by each person’s unique goals and plans. Umm, I think that’s about covering most of your questions. Feel free to ask more if my answer isn’t enough, or give your own opinions!

Jill:
If you end up marrying a Scotsman, would you let him wear a kilt to your
wedding?
Do modern Scotsmen still wear kilts? Ever? And was it ever a thing for them to wear them for formal occasions? Because I don’t want to be mean or controlling or anything, but I would really rather my groom not be wearing a skirt to our wedding…
(can't remember if this one has been asked before): If you could live the life of any character from a movie or book, who's life would you choose?
I need to read more books with female protagonists…the first thing that comes to mind is Pride and Prejudice, but if I were Jane or Elizabeth I’d have to live in a time period without air
conditioning or modern medicine… and I don’t want to be Artemis Fowl, cause he’s a boy… all the female characters in John Green’s books die (at least, all the ones I can think of)… looks like I’ll have to go with Hermione. Oh, well, I’ll just have to be a brainiac witch who marries a Weasley… poor me… :D 
Oh, and just so we’re clear, I pick book Hermione. Because the books are always better! (except when they’re not)
If you were a kind of dinosaur, what kind would you be? What kind of dinosaurs would the rest of us be?
A tri-sara-tops! :) And you would all be your favorite dinosaurs. I cannot currently remember what they are, though, so…
If you could only watch one YouTube channel for the rest of your life, which would you choose? (no crossovers)
pteh!
bzzt!
ateh!
psft!
gah!
I guess I’d pick the vlogbrothers. They update the most regularly, and I could still have 2 Youtubers (plus occasional visitors!) I would be very unhappy about this cruel turn of events,
though…
Can I go to vidcon?
Yeah… totally… if you’ve got a couple hundred bucks and a time machine lying around. Now would be a good time to run across the doctor.

And the winner? Jill! And that’s all I have to say. Sorry, I feel like this blog is not so good this week… I’ll try to be better next week. Love you guys!

Sara

MC and Samantha hate me.  They do whatever they can to beat me down every moment.  

I want to marry the British guy I talked about in my blog.

My mom lives in Florida now.

I really want to go to the Urbana conference, but it's kind of expensive.  Urbana.org

I want some ice cream.

I am excited about my classes for next semester.  I'm not excited about buying books.  Eww.

I haven't had enough alone time with all these people here.  Now I share my little room with three other people.  I don't mind - it's just that right now there is nowhere to go to be alone.  

We didn't have anything for the team to do, so we made up some project.  They didn't even use our surveys, which officially makes that one week a total waste.  Blergh.

Randy is here, and he hasn't made an effort to get to know any of us interns.  (Randy is the prez of WWV.)

If I could adopt one, it'd be Elemnia.  Her cousin used to live at Tree of Life with her, but she has gone home.  So far, I don't think she has any parents or anyone who will come for her as Tree of Life is closing.  We will find a place with her, but I wish the place was with me.  I want her.  I would do anything to take her home with me.  My little girl, my little monkey face, my sweet sweet girl.  She sings like a little angel.  She giggles sweeter than any sound I've ever heard.   Everything about her is my favorite thing ever.

Hello from a much better week than the last! =) While this week hasn’t really been the most restful, it has been filled with a lot more happiness and joy! :)

Beginning with… *drum roll* My new apartment!!!!!!! =D I’m so happy to be out of the dorms and in my new apartment! I love being able to say that I’m only 19 and have my own apartment. Kind of bizarre, right?! Well, I have been looking forward to having my own place for quite some time… Something like 13 years, believe it or not! (My love of HGTV started from a young age.) I finished unpacking Thursday night, but I’m back in BG this weekend to finish my headboard (didn’t get to finish it last weekend with packing) and grab a couple more things. The apartment’s still pretty bare, what with my future roommate Anna Katherine bringing most of the furnishings later, but I’m proud to call it home. (Plus it has a pool! And a balcony! And a fitness center… if I ever find it lol. XD)

This week has also been better because I moved in with my new roommate Hanna! It’s a lot better living with someone you know and trust than some random stranger (At UK it was fine because Emily & I talked the summer before). Plus, I really like getting to know her better. She’s just with me for the summer, but I think it’s going to work out just fine. :)

In a slightly more technical note, my program (which previously ran too slowly) is beginning to be improved and run faster! Yay! Since I don’t want to get too technical with my description since y’all didn’t understand any of it last time (lol, sorry!), just know I need it to run faster ASAP. ;)

I’m also getting to know the two other interns besides Ezra at my office building. Their names are Dale and Terry, and they both go to MTSU… and are commuting every day from Murfreesboro. Yuck. Regardless, they both seem like nice people, and our conversations are really starting to get interesting (and more nerdy lol) :) I see them every Wednesday and Friday for our weekly seminars, plus we’ve started getting lunch in Centennial park every once in a while. Yay for friends!

Speaking of friends….. I’ll have to find a weekend for you all to come down and visit! XD As long as you bring something to sleep on, I have plenty of room! =D

…I’ll be honest, I don’t really have much more. :) Eventually I shall post pictures, but that requires me to find my camera (or phone connection cord). Lol Anyway, I’ve been listening to a lot of different music this week, and I’ll be honest: my pick of the week wouldn’t really interest you all (Eminem- “Cindarella Man”.) So if you want to look that up, feel free, but I’m not liable for language or questionable themes… I like the tune & Eminem’s music lol. Besides that, here’s my other pick of the week... Honestly, choosing something this week was really hard because I made it a point to listen to a bunch of different things. So here’s my more random pick- Just because. It’s just a great song.

The Script- “Nothing”

Hello from I suppose I should actually write this now. I don’t have any questions this week, so the blog will probably be pretty short.

Let’s see, what did this week consist of? I’m still on this odd Shakespeare kick. I ended up reading Much Ado About Nothing and then buying that play starring David Tennant and Catherine Tate. It was really good! Amber, you’ll have to let Sara, Anna Beth, and I know when they’re doing that play in the park thing so we can go see it with you.

I also turned in my volunteer application at the medical center and talked to the Director of volunteers this week. She’s really nice and I can’t wait to start working there. It’s supposed to take a week or two to process the application and background check though. They said they’re probably put me in the ER which sounds pretty cool.

I actually had something interesting to talk about this week, but I don’t remember what it is, and I’d rather go back to watching the Mario Marathon Live Stream. That’s probably what I’m going to be spending a lot of this weekend doing. These guys in Indiana have been putting on this fundraiser for Child’s Play charity for the last few years where they keeping playing Mario games until the donations stop. And they’re hilarious, especially when sleep deprived early in the morning. The guy playing right now just finished a challenge where he had to play a level not facing the screen but turned around facing a mirror that reflected the screen.

Here’s a link to the live stream: mariomarathon.com

Check it out if you want. Maybe encourage some people to donate.

That’s all I have for this week.

Love,
Jill

Hello from my hobbit house. It's Rachael's birthday!

Hello from my birthday/my FINAL blog from New Zealand!!! I get to say it because it's technically the 21st over here ;) AHHH! I'll be leaving Palmy in TWO days!!! Once again, it still doesn't feel like I'm leaving despite the fact that I finished buying the souvenirs/food I'm going to bring back. I also have no idea how I'm going to pack all my stuff back in my bags...
So what has happened the past week? I had my finals, my last pancake dinner, last free Thursday lunch (I had just recently learned about them too...), had dinner at Colin's house again (delicious! Complete with the All Black's rugby game and Monopoly Deal), and HOBBITON!
It was really cold in Rotorua, and it was especially cold in my hostel. I don't know why it was, but I was in my sweatpants, shirt, sweater, scarf, jacket, socks, and under the covers...and I was still cold. It was like they didn't have any heating in the building. But I survived.
Before I went to Rotorua, I was kinda joking about how Betsy said "back home in Palmy" after being away for two days at a farm show (or something). Then I went to Rotorua, and on the bus back I kept thinking "I can't wait to get back home" to Palmerston North. After being in New Zealand for 5 months, I can't just say "I was in NZ for a semester", but I have to say I LIVED here. It was on that bus back home and these last couple of days when it hit me that I think of Palmy as my home. I know I'm going to miss it here immensely, but I don't know how much more I'm going to miss it once I'm back in the States.
I was talking to Colin the other day, and he mentioned how there are two kind of American study abroad students--the ones who love it here and the ones who hate it. The ones who love it are the ones who go out and explore and experience what NZ has to offer and the ones to hate it are the ones to stay in their rooms. I keep thinking back  and wonder at all the stuff I got to do while I was here--it simply amazes me that I could have such a wonderful opportunity. I couldn't have done %99 of the stuff I did if I were in the States.
I keep wanting to say something profound that encompasses all that I feel, have felt, and what I've learned, but I don't have that kind of talent at writing (coughlikeAnnaBethcough). Instead I'll just include some picture from Hobbiton.
<3
Rachael
P.S.
I would have added a couple more photos, but I have no more

See that Oak tree? Yeah, it's fake. Our guide Danny gave us all leaves from that very tree!