I'm Back

Well, my blog is up and running again after spring break. It's actually sortof late for me to be up since I have an 8:15 class tomorrow, but I decided I would post really quickly. The end of this month and most of April are going to be extremely busy for me, but in a good way. I get bored fairly easily and I like to have stuff going on most of the time. I have a bachelorette party, I get to see an Opera, and I'm hoping to catch a Twins game or two for those of you who care.And after April comes May (duh) which brings the end of my freshman year of college, Springfest at Epiphany (one of my favorite events), the family's dance recital, and of course, Matt's wedding! To top it all off, I'm going to start running again to try to get back in shape-nothing overt, just a couple times a week. I'm so excited it's finally spring-and warm enough that not only can I go running now, I can do pretty much everything else! It's so gorgeous-yay for spring!

Spring Break

This is my first college spring break. And it's snowing outside. Oh well. Mostly I am posting to say I don't know how often I will get a chance to post while I am at home. I am really looking forward to being at home however, since everybody still in k-12 will be on spring break also so they will all be home. I'm also going to have a surprise for people shortly after I get home from spring break...alright, I am bad at keeping secrets plus it's not that big of a deal, so I'm just going to say it. Monday, when Eric and I go to Menomonie to visit Erica and Alan, we're also going with Alan and friends to Eau Claire and I am going to get my ears double-pierced. I am a little nervous, since the last (and only) time I got something pierced was in 1st grade. I am excited though. Oh, and my computer is being incredibly stupid lately, but I am bringing it home so I can either have my dad look at it or take it to the Geek Squad at Best Buy.

Party-Part 2

Saturday was Gina's (and mine too I guess) party. Eric and I were there, as were Matt and Laura, and of course Gina and Josh. It was a ton of fun-we played 90s trivial pursuit, which I think was way better than regular trivial pursuit because it was actually stuff that I knew! Well, some of it was anyway! We also played cranium, which is not my favorite game but it was ok. Eric and I were a team and we kinda sucked it up. Both times I've played that game we've sucked it up. Oh well, it wasn't bad. The party itself was cool-it was really nice just to spend time with my sister and brother and their respective partners. It was especially nice to have a chance to hang out with Laura more since she is going to be my sister-in-law and I want to be able to feel that she is a part of our family. It was just a really good time playing games and chatting with new and old members of my family. After I left I thought about how it almost should have been weird, 3 couples all spending time together, since that really hasn't happened before, but it really wasn't weird at all. It was pretty normal. Which is good, because that's pretty much what the future looks like now! My family is getting to be pretty big! And now when we have get togethers there are going to be couples, not singles. Weird to think about, but cool when it happens. Sometimes I wonder who will be the next to get married after Matt? Maybe Eric and I, maybe Kendrick will find someone, or heck, maybe Theresa will find some guy and elope or something!

An Extraordinary Family

My family is really the most extraordinary family ever. If you don't know (although most people reading this probably do know) my family has 13 kids, all from the same parents, none adopted and not multiples. 5 boys, 8 girls. Now, I do know other families who have lots of children, between 8 and 12. However, not all of these families are doing the kinds of things that my family is doing. They are not making a difference like my family is, and they do not stand out the way my family does. For example, in high school, everybody had heard of the Novak's. We set a standard from the first person to the last that many people are shocked to see. We stand out for the amazing things that we do, the high standards that we have set not only in school but in the way we live our lives. We're not well known for being rebels or misbehaved, but rather for being intelligent, upstanding citizens and students. And we are all going to do something great with our lives. Matt is on his way to being a lawyer and hopefully one day the president. Wouldn't that be something? Can you even imagine the recognition our family would get then? People would then be able to see the great way my parents have put together our family and the pride and love we all have for each other and our family unit as a whole. And Gina-she's going to be a dentist in a few years, and she married a genius. Kendrick is going to do something with biology so I'm sure that will be wonderful. I don't know what I'm doing, but I know I want to make a difference somehow. Everybody in my family has dreams of some sort, and we are not the kind of people who sit back and watch our dreams go by. No way. My parents have taught us the value of hard work and dedication, and we are all going places, one way or another. And one day, maybe not too far from now, people will look at us and see how great we all are, and how none of us would be where we are and could get where we're going without each and every member of our family. My family would not be complete with even one less person in it. We keep growing, and changing, and every new addition and every change helps us grow individually and collectively as people and as a family, and no one else in the world has what we have in each other. We are all individuals, but together we make up the Novak family, one of the greatest since the beginning of time. We're not screw-ups, we're not mistakes, we're proud, happy, extraordinary people.

Our Failed Attempt At a Day of Relaxation

Eric and I spent the day together yesterday. We wanted to be one of relaxation, just lying around, maybe watch a few movies, etc. However, it didn't even start that way. Gina called me to say that the camera they bought was on sale for a good price. We went to Rosedale after eating lunch here at my school, to the Best Buy that's over there. Now, this was not the best buy that Gina was at. No, that was the Coon Rapids one. But we assumed the cameras and prices would be the same. Wrong. Nothing. It seemed like a wasted trip, until we went to Kohl's and I spent my giftcard from my grandma. Then Eric decided he wanted to buy something so we went to the actual mall (Best Buy and Kohl's are on the other side of the street from the mall) and walked around for a few hours. It was such a long time and I was starving! After that we were going to go back to his dorm, eat dinner, and then his friend was going to hang out with us for a couple of hours. Well, we ended up getting invited to Jeff's grandma's house for dinner which was delicious and a ton of fun. Then we went back to his dorm, hung out with his friend for about an hour, rented a movie (by this time it's past 9) and watched it. That was pretty much the only relaxing time of the day, the hour and a half it took us to watch Wimbeldon. (sigh). It was a good day though, but we are really bad at finding time to just relax. Oh well. I think on Thursday we get to see a sneak preview for Robots. Not that it looks good, but his mom won tickets to see it at the IMAX at the Minnesota Zoo-so we're going to go to the zoo and then the movie. Sounds ok. Except for the movie part.

Party

I was thinking about throwing a party for everybody who is having a rough time lately, and just can't get out of the rut that they all claim to be in. Then I realized no one would be able to come because they either live too far away or have no cars or aren't stuck in a rut. Oh well. It was a good idea when I thought of it.

Digital Cameras (and computers that don't work)

I have decided I am the most technology-stupid person I know. My stupid computer doesn't work and I have no idea why. Actually, everything works fine except for my dvd player. And that works for the most part. I'm just perplexed when it doesn't work. I have now had 2 new dvds not work in it, even if they work in other people's computers or dvd players. I have no idea why this is, I'm assuming it has something to do with how my computer reads it, which means that part of it is broken. So Alan is going to take a look at it when he comes home for break, and if he can't fix it I'll bring it home over spring break and have my dad look at it and possibly take it to the "Geek Squad" at best buy. I myself have no clue as to how you even get inside a computer, let alone what the heck goes to what.
I can also prove my technological illiteracy when it comes to digital cameras. I want to buy one at the end of this semester if I have enough money. However, I have no clue what is the best kind to buy and what a good price is for one. I do know that they are mega-expensive. I'll probably be buying one between 3 and 4 hundred dollars. Is that a good price range? Can I get a decent camera in that range? What is the best kind to buy and what should I be looking for? I recently found out that there is a number that tells you how many pixels it is-at first I was thinking, What the heck is a pixel? But Eric explained to me it pretty much stood for the quality of the picture or something like that. So the bigger the number, the better the picture. I get that. At least I will be able to take Eric with me to buy it since we're kind of buying it together (big step, I know, buying a camera together-next step, cell phones! not for a while though) so he'll pretty much know what's going on. If anybody has camera advice, let me know, I would totally appreciate it! And if anybody knows what the heck is wrong with my computer, let me know too! Thanks!