It Has Begun.

LSAT studying, that is.

Never fear: since the test is still months away, I'm just working on some preliminary things. Nothing too strenuous that will keep me from doing much more important things, like park wandering and outdoor day drinking.

I don't think that working on my dissertation, studying for the LSAT, and the above mentioned summer activities will be enough to keep me occupied and happy this summer, however. After discussing it with one of my friends, he suggested I should look into volunteering. Perfect idea. Ever since I made the decision to definitely apply for law school for next fall, I had the idea that I would go home and split my time between a part time job and volunteering (hopefully at the Humane Society or some type of rescue organization). So, I've started looking into various animal charities and homes in London that I could work with. Sadly, most of them require a time commitment of 3-6+ months, but I've been communicating with one organization in particular that seems to be willing to work with my time constraints. Being able to walk and play with dogs a few times a week sounds more than perfect for me. :)

Cross your fingers that that ends up working out for me. If it doesn't, I'll still be on the hunt for something meaningful to do with some of my time. Now I'm off to enjoy the rest of the French Open Men's final! I'd love to see Federer win, but I'm definitely a fan of Nadal as well. Can't go wrong here.

Let the Game 7 Madness Ensue! And a Trip Down Memory Lane...

Oh man. There are no words that can do any justice in an attempt to describe how crazy-mad-excited I am right now! Tonight is what true hockey lovers call heaven: a GAME SEVEN in the NHL playoffs. Okay, so maybe you're not as excited when your team is in said Game 7. They're incredibly nerve-wracking and intense in the best of situations. Trust me, I know.

Detroit fans will certainly remember a certain Game 7 in recent history. No? Well, let me remind you: 2009. Detroit Red Wings vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins. Stanley Cup Finals. That's right folks -- not just some measly first or second round Game 7 (ha, trust me - there is no such thing). This was the real deal...the Cup was on the line. The last time a Game 7 had been played in the Finals was in 1964, which shows you just how truly rare these amazing games can be.

The Wings had won against the Pens the previous year, so it was the epitome of an epic rematch. We had home ice advantage, so imagine my shock when I found out, thanks to my wonderful mother, that I would be going to the game. Say what?? Back in those days, we didn't have season tickets...so seats for this particular game were incredibly elusive. I can't begin to tell you how excited I was, or how confident I was that we would win. There truly was no doubt in my mind...I knew I'd be seeing Lidstrom & Co. lifting the Cup in Joe Louis Arena.

Well, without going into the depressing details...I didn't. Instead, I was running out of the arena with my friend Wendy so that I didn't have to see every self-respecting hockey lover's worst nightmare lift the Cup on my home ice. That would be Sidney Crosby, for you newbies following along. The image in my mind haunts me at night, it's true.

That was nearly two years ago. And no, this Game 7 won't result in either team skating laps with Lord Stanley, but it will no doubt be one for the books regardless. Detroit and San Jose have similar styles -- they are both incredibly skilled teams that like to puck handle, which makes for an awesome game. This time, we don't have home ice advantage. But ya know what? I'm not too worried. The Wings were great on the road in the regular season, and they're too experienced to get caught up in that. My only hopes for the game are that the officials call it fairly and consistently, that we bust our asses to score the first goal (and quick), to continue to beat down on SJ's confidence, and that someone white washes Joe Thornton before the game is over. Oh, and that we win, obviously. Not too much to ask, right?

Happy Game 7 Night, friends! And LET'S GO RED WINGS!

'Atta Boys, Wings!

If you're reading my blog and you're either from Michigan or California, or just a hockey fan in general, then you'll already know the Red Wings won last night. AWESOME. We took an early 0-3 start to this series, though each game was close and could have easily been won by the Wings (ahem, shifty calls, bad bounces, etc.). The Wings finally started their comeback in Game 4 at the Joe, and then continued with a win in San Jose and last night's second win at the Joe.

Playoff watching has been pretty difficult here, for a couple of reasons. One, the games generally start LATE for me. Last night's game started at 1 a.m., and that was a Detroit game! Thankfully, the game tomorrow is at 6 p.m. (local time California), which means 9 p.m. Michigan time, and 2 a.m. London time. I say thankfully because, well...the game could have started at 8 p.m. local time, meaning 4 a.m. (!!!) my time. Craziness. Second, it's hard to find good streams of the games. I have radio access to Detroit's 97.1 no matter what, so that puts me at ease. It's nice to hear familiar voices like Ken Kal's announce the game. But obviously, you can beat seeing the action.

Regardless of these difficulties, you KNOW I'll be tuning in tomorrow. Red Wings hockey is my heart. Datsyuk is playing his mind out, as is Zetterberg. Hank is plus-5 in this series - that is incredible! Unfortunately, we will most likely be without Franzen again, who is a serious danger in any playoff series...but both Hudler and Modano looked solid last night so I think it will all be okay.

For the record, Joe Thornton is a major douchebag, and I'm happy his true colors are showing and people are finally seeing him for what he is. He's always taken little, subtle jabs in the past, or said less than friendly things in the press without being blatant about it. However, this series has really highlighted his loser status, and it has been pretty widely reported.

I definitely, definitely feel a win coming on in Game 7. Sure, we'll be in San Jose, but we were awesome on the road this year in the regular season. Plus, our team is so full of veterans that I don't think that stuff phases them too much. We're also going in with a lot of confidence and momentum from the past three games. Let's go boys!

Here are a couple of clips that I thought were pretty amazing.
1. 'Dont Stop Believing' as sung by 22,000+ at the Joe
2. Gordie Howe surprises Jimmy Howard after the game

In other news, I'm still revising like crazy, like a good little student. My run yesterday went well, but I definitely feel the effects today. I'm testing out the ibuprofen+muscle relaxer combo again today, and I'm planning on most likely going to the doctor's office tomorrow morning in hopes of getting a new prescription. Anyhow, that's all I have for now...off to study some more, and definitely catch up on some sleep. I was up until about 5 a.m. after the excitement of winning the game last night!

Detox

Well, I've had an eventful few days since I last posted! I'm currently in a state of detox, which needs to last for at least two weeks - ha! No, I'm not too bad...I just indulged myself a little more than I normally would or planned to this weekend. But, I must say, it has been a very good weekend and it was very fun!

Let's see, I last posted Wednesday. Thursday was fairly uneventful...I don't have classes on Wednesday and Thursday, which is actually pretty nice. It's almost like having a weekend in the middle of the week - go to a couple days of classes, have a couple days off, one more day of classes, then a couple more off. I like it, I'm a fan.

So for Friday, a few of the girls in my program and I decided we should go out to celebrate being done with our first week. Any reason to celebrate, right? My friend Charlotte had heard good things about a bar called Aqua, which is off of Regent St., so we decided to head there and check it out.

Since it was a beautiful night out, we sat out on this desk up on the rooftop (five floors up).

These are the IPP girls - Charlotte, Abbey, Paloma, Katelyn, and yours truly!

There was a huge bull in Aqua that we all loved - he was very intense.

After a few drinks at Aqua, we decided to head over to a bar called The Moose, which is off of Oxford Street. We weren't there for too long, but it was fun! Interesting aside, and something that I learned last summer - the way to tip the bartenders here is to buy them a drink. So, here is our bartender taking a shot with us!

All in all, it was a good night and I really love the girls in my program. I think we'll have a fun year, when we're not too bogged down with research methods, qualitative and quantitative studies, international security, and our dissertations. No biggie.

So yesterday ended up being one of relaxation...I caught up on my Grey's Anatomy and Jersey Shore (thank you, itunes!), slept, and didn't touch a piece of schoolwork. Oops. In all honesty though, I pretty much have everything read that I need to read for my Monday and Tuesday classes. Now I'll have Tuesday evening, Wednesday, and Thursday to prepare for my Friday classes. Did I mention that I really love my schedule? I do.

As everyone back home knows, the Michigan State/Michigan game was yesterday. I initially planned on staying in, maybe streaming it live on my computer or keeping track on game cast...until Katelyn, my evil partner in crime, pointed out that she found a sports cafe type bar that was playing the game. Um, yes. We're there. Her team (TCU) was also playing, but unfortunately the bar wasn't showing it.

So we go to this place called The Sports Cafe, near Piccadilly Circus.

Hello, new second home. They were playing hockey, American football, soccer (football!), some type of motorcycle racing thing...lots of sports. And I do have to mention the fact that this place was packed with good looking guys...good looking guys who like sports! Perfect. Katelyn and I were in heaven. We're sports chicks - we need this stuff in our lives.

Imagine my happiness when we find out they're playing the Michigan State/Michigan game in a semi-closed off area of the bar, with it's own bar, about four TVs, and a SLEW of Michigan State and Michigan alumni! It was so awesome to be surrounded by people from back home, who support the teams I support...just 4000 miles away! We met lots of new friends, many of who went to MSU and are now living in London doing various things. We also met a few girls from UCL, one who went to MSU and is also in a program in the School of Public Policy - very cool. We had a blast...and it doesn't hurt that MSU womped Michigan 34-17. Denard who?

All in all, it was a lot of fun. We had a bit of a struggle trying to get home on the bus after the game - Piccadilly Circus sure is crazy at about 12:45 a.m. on a Saturday night...who would've guessed?

Today is a beautiful day in London - about 64 degrees and sunny sunny sunny. I'm thinking a trip to Regent's Park to see the fall colors is in order. I'm trying to compile some photographs that I think would be really pretty to get enlarged when I get home and maybe hung up...today seems like an ideal day to get out there and find some color, and also a good way to start my detox. Ha! Love from London! xx, Hay.

Monday

Happy Monday, everyone. Mine was not so happy, but at least it's over, right?

I did have a great weekend, however! My brother and I drove home Friday night after work. I was so exhausted from the week that I passed out at nine, ha! It was so needed though.

On Saturday, I went shopping for a bit in the morning. Then we all got ready and went to the Tigers game on a party bus that night. Our group had about fifty people in it...it was so much fun! I probably (ok, definitely) drank a little too much...I forgot to eat dinner, so that was a big mistake. ha. Oh well.

Yesterday, we woke up and made my daddy a big breakfast. :) Then we all relaxed for a while (read: slept off our hangovers) and then went to the beach for a Father's Day BBQ with some other family. Ben, Deannah, and the boys are in town from Arizona - something I look forward to all year! I don't get to see them nearly enough.

After all of that, Kel and I drove back to GR. It  was a beautiful, happy weekend. Now I just need to get through this week and I'll have a few days of vacation next week.

The sun is out

and I have a smile on my face! :)

It was a LONG day at work today, and very, very hectic. We have so many people working for us right now, so check day gets extremely crazy now. Not to say it wasn't crazy before, but when you have nine hundred people coming in for their checks, with about half of them having some sort of issue with it, it gets to be an a problem. I don't know if I've ever been happier to leave that office once the time rolled around!

But now I'm out, and the sunshine is just beating down today. I have a million reasons to be happy, but one in particular just has me beaming. Tomorrow we should be getting some news that could either be extremely exciting or disappointing!

Now to just get through one more work day...then my brother and I are driving home for the weekend. We're all going to the Tigs game on a party bus Saturday night, so that will be soo much fun! The weather is supposed to be beautiful too. I can't wait.

Doubt

Whoa. Last night I had my first real twinge of doubt hit me about this whole thing. Should I REALLY be moving to London? Suddenly this wave of anxiety hit me in the chest out of nowhere last night at 11:30. What the heck?

I feel better about it today...it was weird though. I know I'm going to have moments like that - it is a serious life change and I think doubt is a normal and healthy emotion to go through. I just hadn't experienced it up to this point, so it took me off guard.

Work has been insanely busy. I've been exhausted every day when I get home. Thankfully it's Wednesday and the week is half over.

In other, depressing news...the Wings are down 0-3 in the series vs. the Sharks. I won't go too far into it, but the NHL officiating has basically ruined playoff hockey for me. :( We got absolutely SCREWED out of Games 1 and 2. Royally screwed. As one article put it, "it wasn't just mere theft, it was grand larceny," and boy is that the truth. I'm just over it at this point...it is unfair and unacceptable and that's all there is to it. We've been through a lot of adversity this season, and we'll be a better team next year because of it, even though I'll be following from London!

On to Round 2

Well, the Wings absolutely dominated in Game 7, so on to the shark tank we go. I honestly feel very confident going into this round against San Jose. Game one is tonight...getting ready for it!

I finally got an email regarding my Confirmation of Acceptance letter. I guess I have to verify some information on my passport, send it back to them, and then they send over the CAS. So, my mom is bringing me my passport from home this weekend and I will take care of that to hopefully get my letter soon, and then I will finish my application for my visa.

It's good to know that things are on track and getting done. I can't wait to get my information about where I will live, but that won't be until much later this summer.

Off to the gym now...then it will be game time!! GO WINGS!

Game 7...yikes!

Arrrghhhh...we went to the game on Sunday, and...they LOST! So, back to Phoenix tonight for game 7. I'm a nervous wreck! Hopefully they can pull this one off, because I'm not ready for playoff season to be over!

I finally got a letter from UCL acknowledging that they received my acceptance letter. That's good, but I thought this letter would be different. I thought it was going to have something that I needed for my visa application, but it didn't. Hopefully something else is on the way...I'm going to poke around the website later to see if I'm missing something. I also got an email from the financial aid office, saying that they are waiting for Congress to finalize all the details of the new student loans program that Obama is working on. This whole thing is getting on my nerves big time...I don't have any major issues with Obama, but they REALLY need to get this crap figured out. It is going to be taking effect this fall, so I feel like it is a little unfair to do this to students, who need to get things figured out long before then! UCL isn't expecting answers until late June!

Well, I'm off to the gym and then will be cheering on my Wings in my new jersey! Let's GO BOYS!!!!!!

Slow News Week

Unfortunately, I have nothing new to report this week. Still no mail from UCL...I'm starting to get worried that they didn't get my acceptance letter. My offer letter said if I didn't hear from them in four weeks (which it has been), to contact them to make sure they received it. So, I emailed over there yesterday. I wish I could call, but my work hours just do not allow me to. I can't even call from my cell phone, because apparently I do not have international dialing. So yes, I emailed...haven't heard anything back yet.

I guess I did do something important - I mailed in all my financial aid and student loan application stuff. I fedex-ed that package, so I'll at least be able to track it and make sure it arrives safely. Hopefully I'll hear back from the school soon.

In other news, the Red Wings went up in the series vs. the Coyotes 3-2 tonight! And I get to go to Game 6 on Sunday. I'm so excited. Last year, I went to so many games that it got to the point where it was such a normal occurrence. This year, games are few and far between since I work and live far from Detroit now...so any chance I get to go, I get super excited. It also helps that this could be the series winning game!

Sunday

Yet another weekend coming to a close. On the one hand, it sucks...who likes the weekend to end? On the other hand, it is one more week to check off the calendar before moving, so I guess it's not all so bad! I just really hate Mondays.

My mom, Kellen, and I are getting ready to leave for Katie's bridal shower in a few minutes. I can't believe her wedding is in a month...that came up so fast. I have to miss the first period of the Wings game - ARGHHH! And to think, I'm supposed to be there. Oh well, at least it's just the first round. If this round goes to six games, I'll be at the Joe next Sunday.

Let's go boys! Make me proud today.

Red Wings WIN!

So that's a split for the first two road games...exactly their goal. Now we need to go back to the Joe and take two games there. :)

My baby brudder turned 21 on Tuesday. I can hardly believe he's all grown up ::cryyy::. We went out to dinner to a really amazing steak house in GR on Wednesday after work. It was SO incredibly good. I wasn't really in a 'big hunk 'o steak' kind of mood, so I got a Thai ginger stir fry. We got sides of mac and cheese and mushrooms - so yummy. It's really nice being downtown in GR when the weather is so beautiful, too.

I'm home again this weekend. That makes three in a row...I'm getting tired of going back and forth, but I've had so many things to do. This weekend is my cousin's bridal shower. My mom and I went to the Vintage tonight for dinner. I haven't had it in a while...those darn sweet potato fries get me every time! Hopefully they'll give me a little more jump for my long run tomorrow.

STILL waiting on my letter from UCL. If I don't get it by midweek next week, I'm going to put in a call to make sure they received my acceptance letter.

Good Weekend

Well, the weekend is coming to an end, but it was a nice one. Relaxing and quiet, but nice. I have to get ready to drive back to GR in about an hour. I'm timing it so that I can listen to the Wings game on the radio to keep me entertained. HUGE game...this will determine whether we play the Canucks in the first round or not.

Zoey and Molly will be spending the week here at home with their grandparents. I'll be lonely without my dogs all week, but it will be good for them. It should be nice out, so they'll love being able to be outside all day and will be able to hang out with my parents. I'm going to take the opportunity to really get started with my half marathon training. I want to run one before I leave for London. I learned my lesson with overtraining last year, when I injured my leg, so I'll be smarter about it this time around.

I'm going to go to the gym when I get back to GR tonight, then look over more of my loan stuff once I get back.

Wings and Spartans FTW

Great sports weekend for MSU and Wings fans! The Wings won both their weekend games - huuuge points! They are now in 6th place in the conference. I'm so pumped for the playoffs. And today, the Spartans won to advance to the Final Four!! Being a Spartan is so rewarding at this time of year...not so much during football season, but basketball season is when we shine!

I'm trying to get back on track with my dieting and working out...today has been good. I got to the gym for the first time in a couple days. I'm going to try and go in before work at least a couple days this week. Hopefully I won't have many third shift starts this week. I do need to talk to my bosses about that though. When I started doing this a couple of weeks ago, we didn't know how many orders this particular customer was going to make so we've just been playing it by ear as far as compensating me for that time goes. But, it looks like it is going to be a pretty regular thing, at least for now...so we'll need to figure something out. For right now, I usually just come in late the next morning, but I would like to work something else out. That's fine, but I feel like an hour of my time at 11 p.m. is worth more than an hour of my time during regular business hours. There is a reason no one else wants to do this. I know they know this too - when we first discussed this a couple months ago, their exact words were: "we will find a way to make this worth your while." So yeah, need to get that figured out.

Tomorrow I have a first shifter starting at  7 a.m., so I'll get out a little early. I like days like that.

Nothing to report London-wise. I wish there was! I am getting so, so anxious about all of this. Reminder to self: call FAFSA office again to figure out where the heck my SAR report is! It was only supposed to take 7-10 business days...it has been much longer than that.

Saturday!

Well, I've knocked a few things off of my to-do list. I mailed my letter to accept the offer at UCL, I will be putting my accommodation application in the mail later tonight, and now I need to tackle one of the biggest things: cleaning the house. Ughhh. Have I mentioned that I HATE cleaning? I really hate it. I don't like to live in a pig sty, but I'm comfortable in a bit of a mess. I'm just not a super clean person by nature. And boy, does my sister know it. I think she hates living with me. I try, but I just don't succeed most of the time. Sorry Kel. The good news is, you only have to deal with me for five more months.

I also need to get to D&W today to get some dirt to fill up the six or so holes that our precious little mutts have dug out in the back yard. A few of them are DEEP. They are such punks.

In other news, Michigan State is in the Elite 8! No Kalin Lucas, unfortunately...he ruptured his Achilles. The Red Wings are still absolutely killing it - they now have a six point cushion for the eighth playoff spot, though I'm certain they'll climb up a bit. They are 9-1-1 in their last eleven...remarkable. Thank goodness the team is back and healthy for the most part...this is the healthiest we've been all season. We play tonight against Nashville...BIG game, considering Nashville is one of the teams we're fighting for positioning with. GO WINGS.

So I'm off to work on the house for a bit. May get to the gym, may not. We'll see. I think I might grocery shop at midnight tonight though. I don't feel like getting up early to go tomorrow morning, but it is wayyy too busy right now. Hmm..

Just Another Manic Monday

...except mine wasn't really manic. It was pretty uneventful, actually. Same old, same old at work. Everyone was in fun, joking moods today so that always helps Mondays feel less...Monday-ish. I had to leave at about 3:30 to start a second shifter at a company that we are starting to do a lot more work with. Part of this new gig is having me also start third shifters at 10:45, which I have to do tonight as well. I don't love doing it, but it's not really like I'd be doing anything else besides sleeping, and I get to go in an hour later the next morning so its not like I miss out on a ton anyways.

Oh, and I am proud to say that I officially won the battle with my alarm clock this morning and went to the gym! I'm actually going to go for Round 2 right now, since I have some free time and I kind of feel like flirting with cute trainer guy. Then I'll have to come home and shower to get ready to go to the factory tonight.

Red Wings are playing the Penguins right now! 1-0, first intermission. Let's GO boys...these are big, big points.

In London related news, I will be taking my confirmation letter to the post office tomorrow at lunch to mail. Tomorrow night I will start filling out my accommodation application so I can get that mailed soon as well. :)

Korie Lucious...what??

Just gotta love endings like that! GO STATE!

However, there is horrible news as well. It sounds like Kalin Lucas has a torn Achilles. He's the leader for the Spartans...not good. He's set to get x-rays tomorrow, but it isn't looking good.