Slow It Down

I'm thinking most of you are familiar with finals week.

Aka, WEEK FROM HELL woah Mads, calm down, jeez.

Basically, it's like a giant tornado of assignments and papers and no sleep and exams and all-nighters. And then all the sudden, you get back to your room and all your roommates are gone and you didn't even get to say goodbye and then you're like, "okay...well...that was...that was horrible."

One day while in between study breaks I was with my roommate, Abby. We started talking about how sad it was that we never got to all sit down together and look back at the first semester of sophomore year at X, review our favorite memories and our most regretful memories. And I think if we had done that, it would have been a little easier to leave it all in the past.

Here I am, reaching out desperately for some closure that I am almost half way done with my college days.

Brace yourself for some of the most candid (I count selfies as candid) ((sometimes)) memories I could find of my fall 2014.

My best friends ft. me stuck in rush hour traffic in downtown Cincinnati. We went to Lauren's house before going to a high school football game for the night. This throwback to high school football was pretty much therapy. Also, go panthers. 

Health Services Club did some big things this semester, including making journals for Ronald McDonald's house, hosting an internship panel, and decorating an orphanage in Christmas decorations. As the Sophomore class representative, it has been a lot of fun and I wish we could have done even more. 

I was studying, but mostly just getting distracted by this view putting me in the happiest mood. It's Xavier. It's green. It's everything in between. 

Lauren in a Friday mood. You my squirrel. 

Dear bed, you have been so good to me. (Especially you, Panderson).

A not-so-rare picture of me and Liz looking stupid. We were just trying to do the Chloe face!

This is supposed to be a hilarious video of Lauren and Liz dancing to Ellie Goulding (our FAVORITE). If we're not having a jam session to Ellie in our room it's in Liz's car while driving through downtown Cincinatti. Haha these girls inspire me every day. 

So. these are some boys from our weekly Sunday night youth group that Lauren and I help lead. We played a game with foil...pretty much the directions were "be creative." They won. And that kid is a champ. 

The mysterious bowling ball story. And no, it doesn't have a name. Yet. 

A Small List of Opportunities You Should Never Pass up on:

1. $5 movie! Thanks Xavier SAC Club!

2. Xavier bus rides with your best friend, Liz! (y'all know I love my Xavier bus rides)

3. Getting behind this giant cardboard thing and scaring the living crap out of random strangers. *evil squinty no-teeth smile* 

My taste buds are pained on bringing up the mere memory of this jelly bean jest. 

Side note: Allie's mom works at this cute little candy shop in Columbus called "The Morgan House." These jelly beans were a gift to us. Inside the box are all different colors/flavors of beans, but some are yummy and some are absolutely repulsive...and you can't tell which one you're gonna get! We went around in a circle and randomly picked out of the bowl and if you swallowed it, well then, you got to say you swallowed a poopy diaper jelly bean! And who doesn't want bragging rights on that?

Flavors:

lime or lawn clippings

berry blue or toothpaste

carmel corn or moldy cheese

peach or barf

chocolate pudding or canned dog food

coconut or baby wipes

juicy pear or booger

tutti-fruity or stinky socks

buttered popcorn or rotten egg

licorice or skunk spray

I will proudly admit I only swallowed baby wipes and spit out everything else (after a good few seconds of torturous chewing), including coconut which I swore was something much, much worse. Not so proud to admit that when I walked into Subway the next day and saw the giant poster of cheese I nearly vommed in my purse. 

Uhm, smile. 

There's something pretty neat about introducing your best friends to your best friends. 

Fact: Lauren is queen. 

A happy Liz!!

There you go, Madeline. First semester all wrapped up with a pretty bow on top. What better way to reminisce than to look back at this little blog? Try not to have a meltdown next time. Make the most of the rest, okay? Okay. 

Random-Factless Girl

Dear nonexistent readers,

I noticed that the number of page views per post has been dwindling from 42, to 25, to 23, to 17, to 5, to 0. It sadly reminds me so much of my SAT scores. Everyone told me I would do better every time. This was not the case for me, people. There are plenty of smart people in this world, and I am not one them. There are many good bloggers in the world, and I. Am not. One of them. 

Yeah, there are a very limited number of things I am good at. I got CUT (straight up, cut. so sad.) from the JV volleyball team sophomore year of high school. I'm not bitter, I was actually very happy because the other girl who got my position was way better and she deserved it. I have never done anything crazy, like skydiving, or white-water-rafting, or tour the Grand Canyon. I have never met anyone famous. 

I have always been that girl without a random fact. 

I think I have said a different random fact for every awkward ice-breakers group I've been in. And they progressively get worse and worse as I get older. I was scarred my senior year of high school. Our student ambassadors club was in charge of "8th grade visit day;" a day where all the 8th graders come tour the high school and we take them to classrooms and introduce them to different teachers and departments. I was a one of the group leaders, and I was so happy because we made it through half a day without having to go around the room and "Say your name and a random fact about yourself!" Mr. Chandler's history class ended it all. I noticed I was near the front of the "random fact" line, so I purposefully dodged and moved to a different location in order to buy myself some more time. I was seriously sweating trying to think of a dang random fact! By the time it came my turn to say something, I had it narrowed down to 3. I panicked and picked one that came to mind last second. "Uh I'm Maddie, I'm a Senior here at St. Joe, and my jaw can pop out of place."

...

There was a good ten seconds of awkward silence, until an annoying 8th grader piped up, "well do it." All eyes were on me, my face was so red. And, yeah, my jaw is double jointed. I got a few quick "ew"s but mostly just silence for another 10 awkward seconds until Mr. Chandler saved me from ridiculing tween eyes and said, "okay who's next!"

I wanted to die. Who knew a Senior could be so embarrassed by 8th graders. 

But really. You wanna see me look petrified? Ask me for a random fact about myself. This is not going to be easy in future interviews. 

I guess I'd rather embrace the fact that I don't have a super interesting "thing" about me than say "I play soccer." (queue the really annoying Barbie voice). I'm sorry, I don't actually judge you. I'm just jealous you at least have a sport to use. 

Anyways. 

Can I just show pictures of the boat dance and not explain them? Yeah. 

Love, random-factless girl

Oktoberfest

Quick, Madeline!! Blog about Oktoberfest before October is over!!

My word.

Basically, a strip of downtown Cincinnati is filled with all things German and tasty and beery. The coolest people will dress the theme. I was just excited because Xavier provided buses again. And you all know how I feel about Xavier bus rides. 

Meet my incredible hipster friend, Mitch. Yo Mitch, you're incredible. 

He also took all of my snapchat panoramas for me because my short person problems were failing me. 

AND MEET ABBY!!!!! Abby is one of my roommates at Xavier this year. Thank God for this one. She is such an amazing friend and always encourages me to be better than I was yesterday. She is always down to do anything and she will always make the best of it. This girl does not know a stranger. And I love people like that! 

You have no idea how amazing these were. German nachos. I can just tell that I am going to be craving these when I'm pregnant some day. Like, I can just tell. 

Abby, Liz, and I and our festive food. 

Wow, what a great picture of all of my cute friends!

But, wait!! I applaud this man. 

Meanwhile, the gels are being cute, per usual! Here is Grace, Lauren, Liz and Kelsey enjoying our second round of German nachos. For some reason, I thought this conversation was so funny, and I don't think I will ever forget it. 

Me: Oh Liz!! (shoving chips in my mouth) You bought more nachos!! (shoving more chips in my mouth) Yes!

Liz: Yeah. (eating an equal amount of chips) I don't really know why! It was kinda an impulse buy! I just went for it!

I just think she is the cutest ever. 

God has blessed me with some amazing friends. PS, $10 chicken hats. This is a sin. Never. 

Long live schwarz, rot, and goldig!

Yeah probably butched that. 

Goodnight Zinzinnati. I am lovin you forever and all your past/future nights like this.

Handicapped Bus Privileged

Right now, I am sitting in Starbucks at an 8 person table. I am taking up the whole thing for myself. I don't even have a coffee. I finished it, like, 2 hours ago. And I am being so selfish and taking up this whole table, and I think every group of people in this place seriously hates me. I literally had to stand up to count all the seats!

I really should probably move. But I'm just really open to any totally random stranger(s) sitting here with me. I think that would be nice. 

I want to talk about some memorable days here at Xavier. 

This campus is so cool because it's in Cincinnati, a city with so much to explore and so many places to discover and experience. The Student Activities Counsel at XU frequently finds out about the latest and greatest happenings in the Nasty Nati and provides buses and cheap tickets to said events.

Last year, I went to the Labor Day fireworks show, the boat dance on the Ohio River, a Walk the Moon concert, a Grouplove concert, and the midnight premiere of Catching Fire. There were plenty of other opportunities I missed out on, regretfully. 

So far, it has been a little difficult making out to all these events with my solo working foot and all. But I was really really determined to not miss out on anything. And my friends, bless their hearts, are so willing to slow to crutching speed to ensure we all have a good time. 

Liz and I are basically obsessed with Xavier bus rides. These bus rides are honestly something I am going to miss the most upon graduation. On this particular trip, Liz and I decided to go a little last minute. At this point in time, I am still on crutches and cannot put any weight on my foot. #yolo. So Liz and I are standing, basically, in the very back of the line. And some girl comes up to me and asks me if I would like to ride on the handicapped bus. Liz and I are ECSTATIC! Guys, this handicapped bus was pretty much the greatest thing that has ever happened to us. Not really, but it was me and 5 other cripples and all their really nice friends. We just went in a circle and told our ridiculous stories and just laughed at each other. It was so amazing. I love and miss you all, whoever/wherever you are. The only ragrets I had, were not riding the little elevator into the bus, however, I'm still extremely proud of my wittle arm muscles for crutching up those giant bus steps. 

So the traffic was INSANE. The bus driver eventually just quit and was like, "get out." So then there was this massive amount of Xavier kids in the middle of the road just taking over. I was actually kind of scared, it sort of felt like The Purge. I was definitely the weakest link, just trying to crutch as fast as I could. The adrenaline was taking me places. 

Seriously, bless you, Liz, for sticking by my side. 

Our spot last year was way better, but the crutches proved to be a huge inconvenience for getting close. So this bridge goes over the Ohio River and fireworks shoot off from this bridge and another bridge on the other side, lighting up the Kentucky/Ohio line. We just love fireworks. 

So...Happy Labor Day?

Love, your favorite late-to-post-everything booger, I mean blogger. 

Friend Appreciation Post :)

Here it comes. The "busy"excuse.
I'll just skip over it. You all know what it is.

What happened last week on..

Maddie's Agenda!!!

1. I turned 20! And I had a heck of a good time back in my hometown to celebrate it with all of my favorite people.

2. My best friend officially became a Disney Princess in Walt Disney World!

3. My other best friend has officially turned 20 as well!

I feel like now is prime time to show some love to these amazing people in my life. #amirite

Liz and Lauren, my roommates, agreed to make the trek back to South Bend with me for Fall Break to celebrate my birthday with my family and all my high school friends. The one condition; that we stop in Columbus to watch one of Liz and Lauren's favorite artists perform in the LC Pavillion. Timeflies, anyone? Let's just say, I was letting my inner basic white-girl juices flow.

Liz, the concert-junkie, (on the right) requested that we wait outside the venue two hours before the doors opened. Lauren (hippie on the left) and I were all about it, for the sake of getting a good spot. However, we practically froze because, contrary to popular belief, plastic ponchos do not protect against the cold at all. But try, we did!

I love these girls so much for so many reasons, but one thing that never ceases to amaze me is their willingness to try anything and everything for the sake of a good time. Just before hustling over to the pavilion to wait in line, we collectively got ready in the back seat of Liz's car in the middle of a parking lot. We could not stop giggling and smiling at ourselves for looking/acting like complete hobos living out of a car. We would take turns looking out for randos walking by before removing any articles of clothing or doing anything else completely embarrassing but totally normal for the best friends/sisters that we are. PS, there are few things more comical than watching Liz put boots on with those long legs and a steering wheel/windshield in the way.

I think we pulled ourselves together pretty well, considering the hobo-esque  circumstance. 

We waited in line early enough to be in the 4th row. I am not a huge fan of Timeflies so I didn't get the best pictures, but my night was complete when he freestyled about Ebola and fried chicken. Such a wonderful way to kick off Fall Break/birthweek. Thank you to our other roommate, Allie, for letting us crash at her house! You are simply delightful. 

So. We made it to South Bend alive. And we had plenty of time to hang out with the Magee clan and to tour Notre Dame. I was so happy my best friends from school could finally get to know the group of clampets that is the Magee household. 

Liz requested we get  picture of our weekend group. I am posting it despite the horrible lighting and the fact that I look so ridiculously miniature next to these amazing dudes. Meet Jake (left), Jason (right), and Robert (ND sweatshirt), my best guy friends since Freshman year of high school. These guys thought I was cool with braces and strange fashion choices. I will keep them. (Oh, and we love Zach [far right], Jason's roommate at ND). Thank you for making my birthday special, and thank you for never allowing our friendship to fade, despite our distant and dynamic disposition. 

Also, not pictured is my other best friend from high school, miss Kate Vasile. This girl has been my rock since 4th grade. She is the very epitome of being separated from your best friend for a year and feeling like nothing changed as soon as we are back in each other's presence. We tend to get a little emotional whenever we leave each other or see each other for the first time in months. TBT to when I balled after moving her into her dorm at St. Mary's and when she balled after seeing me for the first time in months. I love you so very much, Wazowski. 

All in all, my birthday weekend was so wonderful because all of my favorite people were finally in one place. That was so unbelievably special to me. Well, all people except one.

Meet Jess, the most beautiful person I know! Jess is living in Florida right now because she just got a job as princess, Jasmine, in Disney World! I cannot express my enthusiasm and excitement for her. She has worked for this for so long and has wanted this job more than anything! I am so excited to visit her and say I know a Princess! She truly is royalty. 

It was really kind of sad to leave South Bend. However, I was still so excited to celebrate birth week back at Xavier with all my Muskie misses. 

 Birthweek: /bərTH/wēk/ noun: A period in October that consists of seven days and incorporates both Lauren Carroll and Maddie Magee's birthdays.

If you want to hear the story of how we met, go check out her blog, which she just started yesterday!! 

We were basically random roommates as freshmen at Xavier University last year and it just so happened that we would become attached at the hip. She is my roomie for life and I don't know what I would do without her.

Without further ado....

A tribute to the belated birthday queen herself:

1. A picture that probably describes Lo and I best

2. A picture that shows we actually hang out together, outside of our bedroom watching Raising Helen and drinking tea in our nighties. 

3. A picture of her annoying me, which is an hourly occurrence. 

4. Another picture of her annoying me so you get the idea.

5. A picture of the outcome of our teamwork: Lo - hair stylist, Maddie: makeup artist

6. A picture of us sincerely appreciating each other's presence. 

7. A picture of us clicking since day 1. 

Happy birthday, you little bug!! 

Here's to hundreds of thousands of memories to come.