A Week in the Life: Thursday

3:39 am: Working on the boards for our project in studio. You can see my friend and groupmate Kraemer in the background. We've been buddies since freshman year here at ISU (eep-that's 5 years ago!) and took the same studio together this semester and happened to be placed into the same group for our project.

4:27 am (duh, silly): Arrive home! Yay!

9:18 am: One last, longing look at my bed before heading back to studio 5 hours after I left it.

11:46 am: The start of a rendering.

11:46 am: Breaktime. Dark chocolate M & M's Premium break time, that is.

2:15 pm: Heading back to studio after art history class, some good ol' Caribou Coffee in hand. My body has ingested more caffeine within the past few days than in the last few months combined...

2:19 pm: Rendering, middle stage.

2:36 pm: Realize that except for the handful of delicious M & M's I had earlier, I have not eaten all day. Yogurt covered pretzels to the rescue!

5:03 pm: Dash home to grab my glasses and my car. Take another longing look at my bed. I am pretty sure there is a Shannon-sized spot in there...

7:08 pm: Finished rendering. Yay!

At 1:48 am I am still here...no new pictures...this Thursday wasn't too exciting...but at least it involved chocolate and Caribou!

A Week in the Life: Wednesday

Well, it may be after 2:00 in the morning, but here I am...still at home studio. As there is a slim chance that I will be going back to my apartment anytime soon, (to people grilling again?), I decided to post up my photos of Wednesday now:

10:12 am: Eyeshadow in the morning...

10:31 am: ...before my daily dose of Bible. Today: Exodus 3. "I AM who I AM..."

1:19 pm: A delicious cinnamon crunch bagel from Panera, lovingly brought to me by my friends Jennie and Chad. :)

3:15 pm: View of my rendering wall in studio. I probably look at this wall about 1,340,987 times a day as a reference for our hotel.

5:53 pm: My lovely roommate Crystal has come to get me so we can watch our Pre-K kiddos at church.

5:54 pm: She even brought me dinner! Taco bread that her mom sent with her last weekend from home...and it was scrumptious!

5:55 pm: And here she is, ladies and gentlemen, in the flesh. This is probably the best picture ever taken of the lovely Crystal Ann. Did I mention that she is my maid of honor? And I am hers in July? Actually that will make her my matron of honor...but she doesn't really like to hear that title too much...maybe that's why she is making that face right now...

6:40 pm: Here's those darn cute kiddos I was talking about. They thought I should be able to fit into their 5-year-old-sized dress-up clothes...as you can see, it didn't quite work out...and though I have always wanted curly, red hair, this is not quite what I had in mind. Good thing Gavin was there to get it out of my face. Thanks buddy!

8:33 pm: I looked down while I was at a red light and noticed that my car was at exactly 97,900 miles on it's odometer. Not quite a significant milestone, but I thought it was interesting anyway.

That's it for today...I wish I had a photo of my bed in here...or just a bed in here...I'm afraid I will be rather bleary-eyed for photos tomorrow!

A Week in the Life: Tuesday

I didn't take quite as many pictures today. #1. I accidentally left my camera battery charging at home when I left this morning, so I only had my cell phone to take pictures with most of the day. #2. I was pretty busy with an exam and meetings and things. #3. I just plumb forgot! nevertheless, here is what at least part of a ShayJay Tuesday looks like...

9:27 am: Oh what to wear, what to wear? It would probably be easier to decide with a cleaner closet...

10:02 am: Bus ride to campus on a gloomy day...

10:42 am: Studying and breakfast in the design atrium.

1:39 pm: Walking to the MU after my art history exam (which I rocked...I think) for a meeting.

6:53 pm: On my way to Connection Group (Bible Study) singin along to my radio. The singing part is important, since I can't be in my car without singing along to something, so I purposely moved my steering wheel down for the second photo. How safe/legal was it for me to take these photos? I made it alive, so that's all that matters. ;)

2:01 am (obviously): Pulling out of the parking lot from the COD (college of design). On an interesting note, when I got back to my apartment, there were three guys grilling in the green space outside of my apartment complex. I was half tempted to inform them what time it was, but couldn't decide if they had either the best or the worst idea ever...

A Week in the Life: Monday

Years down the road (or maybe mere months down the road...) I know I am going to look back and wonder, "What the heck did I spend my time doing for 5 years in college...?" As such, I am documenting one random week out of my college life in pictures, day by day.

So...what did Monday, April 5, 2010 hold in store?

12:41 am: Yep, AM. I started out my day (quite literally) in studio. Note the energy drink strategically located within arms reach on my desk. As we have a critique this coming Friday, I have a feeling that a lot of my photos this week will be from this exact same vantage point...

9:29 am: Woke up a little later than usual. Getting ready at my sink...my side is the right half. I like to think that it looks slightly more organized than the left. ;)

10:08 am: Arrive back at studio 8 hours after I had previously left it. Slightly surprisingly, since we have a critique this week, I am the first one there.

10:29 am: Dive right into work. First up: study for the Art History exam that I have tomorrow (Tuesday).

11:49 am: Lunch time! I dug right into my turkey, lettuce, green pepper, onion, provolone cheese, and ancho chipotle sauce sandwich (purchased conveniently from the Design Cafe) before reluctantly getting back to work...

5:26 pm: I was so engrossed in studio (class time from 1:10-5:20 pm) that I forgot to take any pictures until the end. I spent a good portion of that time working on this rendered elevation of our hotel bungalows (it's about half finished here) before dashing home to grab my car and some quick dinner.

5:51 pm: So, you may ask, what does such a busy design student eat? No surprises here. Only 3 minutes to cook, and you get your week's worth of sodium intake! How can you go wrong?!? :P

5:57: Before rushing off to study and go back to studio, I took a moment to, quite literally, stop and smell the roses tulips, ones that Tyson surprised me with this past week. Gotta love that boy!

8:17 pm: Rendering with those markers is messy business, especially if you dig in and blend it together with your fingers. Too bad that can lead to leaving fingerprints all over your pretty pictures...frequent trips to the bathroom are necessary to prevent that from happening. :-/

11:05 pm: Tyson calls, probably wondering why I haven't called him yet. I have been a busy bee, that's why! On a side note, this is how sexy my hair looks after sitting in the same spot for hours on end, continually running my hands through it and putting it in and out of ponytails while I am working and thinking...

12:20 am: I suppose this should technically be on Tuesday's post...but here I am leaving studio. Besides, it's not really the next day in my mind until you go to bed. This leaves me plenty confused when I pull all-nighters...

12:21 pm: My car! Slightly hidden and blurry, due to Chad's huge monster of a truck being in the way, and me walking and trying to take a picture at the same time. Anyway...it got me home sweet home, where I am finishing typing this up, and then ready to finally call it a day (er...night).

What's Left

One exam...

Before yet another big, important, lots-of-work, in-progress studio critique...

Which is the same day as the dress rehearsal for the dance recital that I have to organize...

And the dance recital is the next day...

Which is the same day as a bachelorette party that I am in charge of...

After all these things, my senior honors project is due, which includes a 2-hour poster presentation (which equals a 2-hour critique in my mind)...

Not too much later a cost-estimate project is due, which has yet to be started...

Two days later a 5+ page paper is due...

And the next day is THE FINAL CRITIQUE for studio...

But then I just have one (or maybe two) final(s)...

Before I can GRADUATE!

So the question is...

Just how little sleep (and how much caffeine) can I survive on for the next 6 weeks?

Mind Doodles-College of Design Edition

1. Dear Architects of the COD: Notice how every other building on campus is built close to the road? Do you know why that is? Because when it is cold, raining, snowing, windy, etc. or any combination of the above (as it is 4 out of 5 days here on campus) nobody wants to walk an extra 1000 feet to their destination! Congratulations, because that walkway from the road always feels like the longest part of the journey from my apartment to my studio.
2. I am always slightly fearful when I walk over the unavoidable, uneven grate on the pathway to the COD that it will finally give way and plummet me down a story to the abyss below.
3. Planning when to go to the COD cafe for lunch always involves a master set of strategic skill. 10:00-10:30: Looks funny to be getting lunch at this time, plus soup is not served yet. However if you have pulled an all-nighter, this feels like lunch time, so may be your best option. 11:00? Best to be avoided, as that is when they start serving soup. 11:20-11:50: Usually safe. Noon-12:25: To be avoided at all costs. Never, ever, ever get lunch at this time. The exception: you need a good 20-30 minute break from studio without your professor getting upset that you are not in class. Caution: Too much later than 12:30 and there is the unfortunate possibility that they will be out of your chosen soup/bread/sandwich topping/pasta salad/sub sandwich for the day.
4. Dead Week/Finals Week brings the inevitable posters that proclaim the giving of free espresso shots, buildings open 24/7, and printing services open past midnight. Dude, it's like that every week here, and you don't see us getting all excited about it.

Progression of a Day with Cancelled Class, Part I

9:45 am: By pure unrelated luck, be notified that both classes for the day are cancelled. Huzzah!

9:46 am: Visualize how much work can get done now that class has been cancelled.

9:48 am: Create mental list of work that can, nay will, be done. Pretty much everything for the whole entire semester, ever. Imagine what will be done with free time for the rest of the semester.

9:56 am: Begin to look up random things online. But the whole day is free, right? It can't hurt to read some articles for just a little bit...

11:30 am: Realize that the mental list created earlier in the day hasn't been thought of since then.

11:33 am: Grab some lunch, convinced that procrastination will cease after hunger subsides.

12:33 pm: Sigh and begin work. Grudgingly.

1:14 pm: Realize need for coffee is imminent. Decide to take advantage of not needing to be in studio for once. Gather belongings to grab some Caribou and work in library. Everyone is productive in the library!

1:27 pm: Coffee in hand, remember why the library is so creepy. Proceed past masses of silent people also pretending to be studying, to the library cafe, where there is at least some semblance of noise.

2:11 pm: Get fed up with silence, head home where the TV can be on for background noise.

2:13 pm: Get to the bus stop at the exact time the bus is supposed to be there.

2:16 pm: Figure the bus came early, start walking home.

2:18 pm: Get passed on walk home by said bus. Two of them.

2:32 pm: Home procrastination begins.

3:06: Write blog post chronicling a day without class.

To be continued...