It's COLD!!!

And, yes, COLD does need to be capitalized!!! There is a windchill advisory in the weather forecast tonight. Don't know what a windchill advisory is? Neither did I until I read this description on theweatherchannel.com:

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN THE WIND CHILL INDEX IS LIKELY TO REACH -15 TO -24 DEGREES FOR AT LEAST 3 HOURS. FROSTBITE CAN DEVELOP IN JUST 30 MINUTES WITH A WIND CHILL INDEX OF -20. IF YOU ARE HEADING OUTDOORS... DRESS IN LAYERS AND WEAR A HAT AND GLOVES.

Frostbite?! I don't think I've ever had to seriously consider frostbite anywhere at anytime before. I may have complained about being cold and getting frostbite or hypothermia or something in the past due to the cold, but those were just exaggerations. The high for tomorrow is lucky number 13 degrees Fahrenheit. Yes, my friends, the high temperature. That means, it won't go above 13 degrees! 13 degrees is the warmest it will be tomorrow. Who thought "13 degrees" and "warm" would be used in the same sentence/go together? Okay...I know there are many other places that are much, much colder than this, so I'll stop my ranting now. My friend told me that her school has been cancelled in the past in Chicago because it was too cold (at -50 degrees). I'm thankful for our 13 degree weather! The cold can be very refreshing when experienced in small doses! Thankfully I'll be in class all day tomorrow to make up for snow days and holidays over the past two weeks.

This semester, one of my classes meets on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Because of snow days and MLK Jr. day, we have met 3 out of the 6 classes we were supposed to have. That means we will have make up classes in the weeks to come! That means my afternoons that were free will no longer be free as we make up this material. It's definitely better than extending school an extra week, starting our clinicals a week later, and foregoing our "spring break" in May though.

Last Friday was our second snow day in two weeks and it was nice to sleep in. (Last week was the longest 3-day week ever!) I suppose adjusting back into school mode hasn't been as easy or as quick as I thought it would be. My roommates and I did not make a friend for Raphael, but we did clean the apartment and relax a bit before going to game night! Some catch phrase, taboo, and hanging out with friends was a great way to spend a Friday evening on our snow day. There wasn't as much snow as the week prior, but there was still some snow, making it more of a snow day than last year's snow day, again. And, there's talk of another storm (nor'easter) coming through this week (on Wednesday again). As nice it would be to stay home and enjoy the snow, I suppose having class during the normally scheduled time would be beneficial too. Oh, snow....how I don't know so much about you....

Here are a couple pictures from my birthday celebration last weekend....enjoy! :)

my roommates surprised me by blowing up and covering my bed with balloons. then, they hid a gift among the balloons....a t-shirt and jewelry box! They're great! (my roommates and the gifts are all great)

most of the crew at dinner, starting at the L: Vanessa, Jenna, Emily, Brian (head between Jenna and Emily), Neil, Jonathan, Erin, Theo, and me (missing Trisha, Hannah, and Shirin who were at this end of the table)

some of the girls at Hard Rock Cafe for my Boston birthday dinner

bottom: Erin, me, Trisha

top: Shirin, Hannah (roommates)

everyone at the bowling alley! (we went bowling after dinner)

from L to R: Neil, Jonathan, Shirin (above), Erin, me, Erin, Jenna, Trisha, Hannah

the scores of game 1

the scores of game 2 (some didn't play a second game)

Here are a few pictures from Friday, the snow day! I was just playing around with my camera a little bit. Enjoy some pictures of snow, and the view from my bedroom, which I think is a pretty good one! :)

the view out one window...one person walking down the alley

view of the rooftops across the street from the same window

view out of another window of "Brookline Village Corner/Center"

closer view of the clock tower in the picture above

closer view of the same streetlight and lamp on the corner in the above picture

These next few are from this weekend. My pastor turned 40 and his wife threw him a surprise birthday party, 80's themed. So, some people dressed up and these are a few pictures of my friends and me from that night!

Karoline, me, and Jillian

me, Karoline, and Janna

this picture has a dual purpose: to get a full appreciation of my outfit (arm warmers and all!) and also to see a bit of my room...the color my quilt adds to my bed/room (also can be seen in the picture with the balloons on my bed) and the balloon on the wall (I moved all the balloons from my bed to my walls)