The weather outside is frightful...

This past Saturday we got some "bad" weather. We woke up to this Saturday morning...




Biff Ice Skating

Smelly and Biff - Pairs skating

Opposites Attract

They closed the campus, but I figure it is only because it's Saturday and there aren't any classes anyway. I wish this would happen during the week, but realistically they probably would still make us go to class. It was very challenging walking around. It took me, Biff, Smelly and Jen a long time to walk to CRC! But, I think I would enjoy living in a place with real winter.

Hi, my name is Livia, and I'm a codependent.

I slept through my alarm today. Actually, I don't even know if it went off. I went to bed with a massive headache last night. Maybe my head was hurting too much to turn my alarm on properly. Anyway, I thought Biff and I had a deal to call each other if we hadn't talked on im by like 7:15 (I could've sworn that we said something like that last week - but then again, I could've sworn that I turned on my alarm! :-p) Anyway, she called me at 7:50, and since there was no way I could get ready in time, here I am. It's the first time I've missed class in quite a while. Anyway, now I have a new deal with Will, so it's all good! :-)

I've been reading this book about codpendent personalities. Apparently I have one of these (but I am getting better.) Somewhere rolled up in this personality is the inability to say no to people. This is something that I'm really trying to work on, because it has gotten me into some pretty bad situations. Some were very bad emotionally, some were just not fun. For example: Since I can't say no, I told my friend John that I would go with him and Guillermo to Wilmington this summer. Now, I love to travel, but I'd much rather go somewhere (or stay here) with Will. Anyway, the trip approached and I felt really bad about backing out, so I went. It was an ok trip. But I ended up spending hundreds of dollars, lost my pocket pc, got chigger bites, and delayed by thunderstorms just because I couldn't say no.

So anyway, now I try to be a little more assertiveand people aren't really appreciative. Maybe everyone is so used to getting whatever they want from me. Anyway.

So I know it may make planning things a little more difficult, but I don't want to end up somewhere I don't like, spending lots of my money (cause I don't have a lot and I work really hard for what I do have) just because "I said I would go." So before I sign my name on the dotted line, I'm going to make sure that's it's something that I would enjoy. And I'm pretty sure dodging drunk people on a beach at 11am is not in my definition of fun.

It's not, you ask? Nope. I guess we're weird. Will and I have discussed this quite a bit. We just enjoy different things from people our age. Not to say that going out for drinks with friends isn't enjoyable. I think all my friends in high school were right. I'm just not a party girl. I would choose a place with bike paths, museums, things to sight see or hike or anything like that over a place with bars and clubs any day. But that's just me (and Will.)

So the moral of the story is I really do feel bad about being "difficult," but I'd rather do that now and save myself hundreds of dollars and a lot of resentment. And, Will and I are pretty well matched. :-)

The end!

This Semester.

Ok, I think I may have posted about this before, but here goes again. I know a lot of people have "easy" semesters this semester. That's fortunate for them, I'm very envious. I am not one of these people. I am taking six classes, two of which are labs. One is senior design and I am the program manager of my team. One is aeroelasticity, arguably the hardest AE class there is. I also am researching approximately 10 hours per week. And I am the secretary of the flying club (there goes Tuesday nights) until Spring Break. I am a tour guide. I like to workout 4-5 times a week. I babysit at least twice a week.

So, what does all fo this mean? Unfortunately, it means from now on that whenever there are people going out on school nights, I won't be going with them. It means that I will probably have to spend a good part of Saturday and Sunday doing work. It means that I'll miss out on some fun.

Those of you who know me know that I'm not one to advocate missing out on fun for school. But, sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do. I'm not saying that I will even remotely try to be an over-achiever this semester. If I ever feel like I am on top of things, that I most certainly will go out on those school nights, etc. But, I have a feeling that I will be struggling just to keep up.

Rebecca, looks like me and you will be study buddies this semester :-)

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus... but Livia is from Saturn

You Are From Saturn

You're steady, organized, and determined to achieve your dreams. You tend to play it conservative, going by the rules (at least the practical ones). You'll likely reach the top. And when you do, you'll be honorable and responsible. Focus on happiness. Don't let your goals distract you from fun! Don't be too set in your ways, and you'll be more of a success than you ever dreamed of.

What Planet Are You From?

3 out of 4 isn't bad, right?

Alex said this to me yesterday regarding the roomie we don't like. She has bothered me for a long (probably because I'm the one next to her and get to bear the brunt of her inconsideration,) but I think her attitude has started to bother Alex. We are fortunate that Jen, Alex and I get along pretty well. We hang out occasionally also (it really helps to have mutual friends.) Not only does Carol not get along with us, she's never tried. I guess she's not interested in making more friends. Which is fine, she may be blessed enough to have as many as she wants/needs. But, in my opinion, this does not mean that you can be rude to your roommates!!! I think she's in denial about having any roommates. If we are around, she will duck her head down and look the other way to avoid contact with us. I don't think this is any way to treat people that you live with. Granted, she may be a little ticked at the email I sent her over Christmas break, but nothing in it was particularly mean I think (she was bothering even the people across the hall with her music.)

Anyway, I've been thinking. Who raises their children to be so rude and inconsiderate?!?! That makes me nervous for the future of this society... maybe she just suffers from Techie syndrome. Not socially adept. I don't think we should have to put up with that, but I'm also not one for confrontations. Oh well... like Alex said, less than 1 semester left!

Ah! I'm getting old!

You Are 30 Years Old

30 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

And so it begins

Here we are, back for another semester. The first two days were good, but long. Mondays are especially long with avionics, senior design, controls lab lecture and 3 hours of spanish. But, the time in Spanish flies by because it enjoyable. It is hard to tell how busy/tiring my days will be since there are no labs this first week.

I decided to throw myself in for the vote to be Program Manager for my Senior Design group, and I got it. I know I can be very organized and on top of things, so I guess it was a matter of not trusting anyone else to do the job properly. Will wanted to be Chief Engineer, but Juan Leon won the vote. It was a very difficult decision for all of us, since we know they both will do an excellent job. Being Program Manager will really be a test of my patience, but also will be interesting due to my "pleasing" personality. We shall see how I apply what I have learned recently (from the book When Pleasing Others is Hurting You.)

I went to visit Will in Columbus for the first time since March last week. It was a lot of fun, but that story is for another entry.

I will close with something that I have been thinking about, which Biff also brought up. First, I don't think Biff was very bad to her friends when she was dating Joey. Sure, she didn't see others as much, but that happens as we meet different people in different social circles. I have, however, been dealing with people who are never seen without their "other half." I find this very irritating, because usually people are dishonest about it. It also prevents my relationship with them from growing.

For example: My best friend of many years (since we were 8 years old) starting dating someone. Even though I was not a fan of this someone, I never mentioned that I did not like spending time with him. Anyway, we were to go to a banquet for our high school orchestra teacher and arranged to drive there together. I got a call from her (she was already late to pick me up) that said she would just meet me there. Since I found out that she was nearby, I convinced her to stop by anyway (thinking this would be a great time for us to catch up.) Imagine my surprise when I find this guy with her (which is interesting, since he didn't attend our high school.) Anyway, that basically was the end of us spending time together, which is sad because we had been friends for so long.

So, anyway, I hope that I don't do that to my friends. I know that when I was younger I would, but now I realize that part of a healthy, happy relationship is being able to still be an independent person. My wish is never to be perceived as one half to go with my "other half." So, if I start to do this, please warn me!

Back to school blues...

I am really dreading the start of the semester next week. Spring semesters are always bad for me for some reason. This one will be especially rough, with two labs, senior design, aeroelasticity, spanish, avionics, research, bike riding, gre stuff and grad school apps and trying to finish my pilot's license.

It has been so nice to sleep and watch tv the past few weeks. I have come to realize that Tech really takes it out of you. I have been in a much better mood these past few weeks. Spending time with Will outside of school has been awesome as well. I've discovered that I'm in a healthy, happy relationship! School makes it so easy to forget that. Between all the stress of classes and our hectic schedules, it is really hard to get some quality time together. I almost prefer the semester where he was in Greenville. Although I only saw him on the weekends, we had that time set aside and didn't really have to be anywhere at any time unless we wanted to. It was so nice then, and this break also, to just be able to sit around and enjoy each other's company. I feel like we got a great chance to remember our chemistry and how much fun we have together.

Just in time, too, because this semester will be rough on our relationship. Soon he will be racing and will be gone on the weekends. It will be tough to get time together during the week. I, however, am going to try my best to remember how much fun we have together and just go with it. I think I did ok last year, but I want to be even better about not pressuring him regarding how much time he has to spend with me (although it is very important to the health of a relationship.) It is only 3 months and I know it will fly by. I will try not to wish the time away, though, because I know that at some point in my life I will want that time back. So,

Ready or not, here it comes.

Goals for 2005

I'm not going to make resolutions, because everyone knows how difficult those are to keep. Instead, I will set goals for myself. They are, in no particular order

• finally finish my pilot's license
• get an internship
• ride my bike a lot (get in shape)
• read my bible/pray more often
• be better about getting work done early
• stretch at least once a day

Those are it for now, although I know I will add more as the year goes on...