End of Semester Problems

The end of the semester is always the time of the semester that I seriously regret all the procrastinating I've done for the last few months and make a vow to myself not to procrastinate anymore. That vow has never been kept. Final papers, exams, projects, cramming, caffeine and sleeping for a few hours at a time. And all-nighters. Lots of all-nighters. Food probably won't be anything that can be considered a meal and will be eaten not for enjoyment, but to stop, if only temporarily that persistent, unrelenting ache of hunger. This will be my life until I take my last final exam of the semester on May 8th at 10am. 12 days and 7 hours until my summer officially begins. I can do this. I can do this.

It's Finally (Almost) Summer!

Summer break cannot get here fast enough. Although I'll be taking summer classes, I'll be in class a lot less than I am now. Once summer classes end, I'll be flying out to Los Angeles for a week or so to visit my family. At the end of that week, my boyfriend will drive to Los Angeles and pick me up. We will then take a road trip up the Pacific coast to Seattle, Washington. We plan to stop in San Francisco, where we will spend the night and then finish the drive to Seattle the next day.

We are both looking forward to this trip. If we end up liking Seattle (which we're both pretty sure we'll love it), we plan to move there in a few years. So we're looking forward to exploring the Seattle area for a few days and Washington state as a whole. If we really wanted to save money, we could fly to Seattle, but that would keep us from seeing the whole Pacific coast.

Here's an idea of what California's central coast looks like. Awesome, right? (source)

And the Oregon coast. So pretty! (source)

Last but not least, the Washington Coast. Looking at all these beautiful pictures makes me so excited for this summer. (source)

Visiting Washington should be a lot of fun. I love travel and by driving to Washington instead of flying, I'll be visiting a lot of new places I've never been before.

(source)

Spring Break!

Well, spring break is coming to a close. Although I stayed in Flagstaff and didn't do anything too exciting, this break was relaxing and rejuvenating all the same.

The days of spring break went something like this: Wake up around noon. Watch t.v. while mindlessly browsing Facebook and Pinterest. Eat, at some point. Avoid thinking about homework that I should be doing, like work on this blog or write a research paper for my sociology class. Try to find the motivation to work on said homework. Nothing. Do some dishes, laundry and other household chores in between it all (mostly to help with avoiding homework).  Continue until around 2am. Go to bed. Repeat.

Although my spring break was uneventful, I did realize how much nicer Flagstaff is when half its population (NAU students) is gone. That's not to say Flagstaff isn't nice when it's full of students. It's just a little too crowded. When the majority of NAU's students are gone, Flagstaff has less traffic, less crowded stores and it no longer sounds like my upstairs neighbors (who are also students and seem to have left for the week) have a pet elephant.

Work Hard, Study Hard

Fun is sometimes hard to find as a busy and poor college student. Fun often costs money, which my bank account is clearly missing sometimes. Since I live off campus, having a job makes things a lot easier, even if it does require more of a balancing act of work and school. And play? Sleep. Sleep is play.

Currently, I don't have a job, although looking for a job can sometimes feel like a job in and of itself. Filling out similar job applications for various jobs and various employers online, which average at about an hour each, checking Craigslist several times a day for new job postings that aren't scams, returning calls from possible employers and setting up job interviews so they don't interfere with classes, stressing about said job interviews... It's a lot. But it's worth it when you finally find a legitimate employer who's willing to hire you. And it's definitely worth it when you don't have to worry about where the month's rent is going to come from. It's worth it when you can afford to go out to dinner every once in awhile and it's worth it when you can afford to treat yourself to a concert or a cute pair of jeans. And the best part is you can afford all of it on your own.

Having a part-time job while being a full-time student is definitely tough, but it's not impossible. It might mean you have to write a paper a day or two earlier than you would have because you have to work during the time you would have written the paper. It might mean missing a fun party because you have to work. It might mean pulling an all-nighter every once in a while to cram for a test the next morning. But it does teach you skills that will be helpful and are what many employers are looking for once you start your career. It will teach you time management and how to balance your attention between work and school. It will teach you not to put all your energy into school so you're not too exhausted to do your job well. And it will teach you not to take on too many hours at work so there's no time left to study.

As for my social life, I'm hoping it will come back once I graduate.

The NAU Experience

Since I've never attended another university, I can't really say what is specifically unique about NAU and its students. But as with any university experience, I'm sure the NAU experience is unique in its own ways and I'll do my best to tell you what makes it unique. For one thing, it's a smaller (comparatively speaking) university. Most classes have less than fifty students, which means a lot of courses are very discussion-based. Lectures are still a big part of most classes but many professors like to hear what the students thought about the reading or course material, which is where class discussions come in.

(source)

On weekends, students can be found relaxing after a hard week of studying at Prochnow Auditorium, where movies are shown for free most weekends. It is also common for students to go to one of the many "Casino Nights" held on campus. 

Personally, I love simply taking walks around Flagstaff at night. The cold air is very refreshing and the sky is almost always clear and dotted with stars. I also love to take walks in the snow. Watching the snow fall is so interesting and I love looking at the uniqueness of individual snowflakes. There's really nothing more relaxing for me than to grab my iPod, put my headphones in and go for a nighttime walk. I forget everything that's stressing me out, if only for a little while. It's usually exactly what I need.

Isn't this pretty? I didn't take this one and I'm not sure where it is in Flagstaff but the sky is definitely this clear some nights. (source)

This is a picture of me when I went on a walk in the snow with my boyfriend. Obviously, this picture wasn't taken during one of my nighttime walks but the snow was beautiful just the same.

I don't know if there's a lot of NAU students who like to take walks at night like I do. But what I do know is that I was never a fan of nighttime walks or snow walks until I moved to Flagstaff. 

Dear Mom

My mom and I.

I'm so excited for you to come to Flagstaff! The snow season is basically over but there's still a lot to see and do around here. We can go the Lowell Observatory and look at more stars than we would ever be able to see in Los Angeles. Or we can just wander around downtown Flagstaff, which has some really neat shops and the buildings and old architecture are beautiful.

(source)

The above pictures are only some of the prettiest parts of downtown Flagstaff and pictures truly don't do it justice. I hope you're as excited to visit Flagstaff as I am to have you here! Love you!

Menu of the Land

In Flagstaff, there are plenty of options to choose from when it comes to food. There's fast food places, family-owned restaurants and franchise restaurants. What I'm going to focus on are the family-owned places, since those are the places that cannot be found anywhere else.

There's really no better way to start the day than with Biff's Bagels. All the bagels are made there in the tiny little shop every day. They even make their own cream cheese. The freshness and quality of food you get at Biff's really is hard to find and is definitely where some of Flagstaff's finest breakfast can be found. Just be sure to be bring cash. I learned the hard way that they don't accept credit and debit cards.

Another place with food that can only be found in Flagstaff is NiMarcos Pizza. Okay, so there's plenty of places to find pizza in Flagstaff. But NiMarcos is different. Being relatively affordable, as well as both NiMarcos restaurants being close to NAU's campus makes NiMarcos a favorite among students. The ingredients are fresh, the pizza is made from scratch and no toppings are skimped on. They even except debit and credit cards.

So when in Flagstaff and you're looking for somewhere to eat, don't play it safe by going with one of the franchise restaurants. Wander around downtown ( where Biff's Bagels and NiMarcos Pizza are both located) for a little while and pick a restaurant. Whether you love what you find or hate it, at least you can leave knowing you got a taste that can only be found in Flagstaff.

Food Narrative

My eyes scan the menu of the small Paris café and slowly widen in horror as I quickly come to the realization that this menu is in French. It's not that I'm surprised. I mean, I am in France after all. But most writing meant for the public in Paris is translated to about ten different languages, English being one of them. To be fair, I have mostly only been in the tourist-filled parts of Paris. But now I'm not. Which was okay, I think. Great, really. What's the point of being in a foreign place if you only stick to what's familiar? So, I continue to scan the menu, while still (admittedly) looking for something that sounds even vaguely familiar.

Pate de Canard?

Potage Créme de Cresson?

Cassoulet?

Coq au Vin?

Brie ou Créme Anglaise?

What is this stuff? I consider just going to the McDonald's down the street. I know, I know. Not very adventurous and pretty contradictory to my plan to not stick to what's familiar. But I don't know what any of this stuff is! What if I order snails or something? I'm not ready for that. Hm... I could eat two or three crépes for lunch instead. I look longingly at the stand across the street. But then I hear my mom's voice in my head telling me that crépes "are not a balanced meal" and that I should definitely get something from the restaurant I'm already at.

"Jessica? You gonna order?" I look up at my friends who I had forgotten were here while I was having an inner-crisis. I know it's rude, but if I order something I don't like, or doesn't look like anything I recognize,  I won't eat it.

"Uhh, yeah," I answer dumbly. I glance up at the waitress who is making no effort to hide her glare. I smile nervously and look back down at my menu. Salads! Salads are safe, right? I scan the list of salads and pick one I hope is safe.

Salade de Canard.

Well, there's no way I'm gonna try to say that one and offend the waitress even more. I mean, she's probably already planning on spitting in my food at this point. I point at my selection on the menu and hold it up to her. She scowls but nods and writes on her notepad.

***

When the food arrives, I realize the salad I ordered may not be as safe as I had hoped.

This isn't the salad I ordered. I didn't get a picture of it, but I remember it looked something like this.

I poke at the mysterious meat with my fork. It doesn't look bad or poorly prepared but... still. What is it?

"Looks like duck. Mind if I try?" one of my friends says.

"What?" I ask, confused.

"You asked what it was." Did I say that out loud? "I think it's duck. Can I try it?" My friend explains slowly.

"Oh, um, go for it," I nod.

My friend takes a bite and nods, confirming that it's definitely duck. Well, I've never had duck. No better time to try, I suppose. I cut off a tiny piece and slowly bring it to my mouth and start chewing. It's not bad. It tastes like chicken, but stronger and gamier. And greasier. And more expensive. Or maybe that's just because it's Paris.

With that, I decide to stick to McDonald's and crépes for the rest of my stay in Paris. 

Senses

When I first moved to Flagstaff, snow in the weather forecast meant putting on layers and layers I thought I would need to stay warm. It meant stepping out into the snow storm (when the weather forecast would actually be accurate) and feeling my face get chilled by the frigid air and the (literally) freezing snow. It sometimes meant losing feeling in my nose, lips, cheeks and fingers (if I had forgotten to put on gloves), only to have the feelings come rushing back in the form of a thousand little needles poking me all over my face and hands as soon as I'd step into a nicely heated building. It meant walking awkwardly to my destination to avoid slipping on ice (or anything else on the ground, really). Once indoors, it was usually less than five minutes before I'd have to take off some of the layers as it would suddenly be too hot to be wearing so many jackets and sweaters. Yeah. I looked like a freshman.

As I've said before, I love the snow. I have ever since moving to Flagstaff. But it does take some getting used to. You have to learn how to drive in it (hopefully not the hard way) and you have to learn that as long as you stay moving and don't stick your head in a pile of snow, you probably won't freeze to death. You have to learn that 20 degrees and snowing isn't that bad unless it's windy. Most importantly, you have to learn not to believe the Flagstaff weather forecasts until you see it.

Introduction

A picture of me, so you can put a face to the name (once you know my name, I suppose).

Hi, my name is Jessica and I am a 20-year-old student attending Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona. I am double majoring in Public Relations and English. I'd love to tell you I decided to double major because I'm an over-achiever who just loves learning but that's not completely true. I mean, I do love learning but that's not why I ended up being a double major. To make a long story short, it was to get a (partial) tuition waiver. But truth be told, I really do like both my majors (usually) and I could (probably) never choose between the two.

I am originally from Los Angeles, California. You might be wondering how a girl from a big city ends up in tiny (to me, anyway) Flagstaff. Well, there's a lot of reasons for that (yes, one of which is money) but I really am happy I decided to come here straight out of high school.

One reason being, I've learned how much I love snow and rain, which there isn't a lot of, if any, in Los Angeles. I love how the snow is so white it's almost blue when it's just fallen and how the freshly fallen snow sparkles once the storm passes and the sun comes out. I don't have a picture of sparkling snow but I do have a picture of the snow-covered forest of Flagstaff:

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of rain, mostly because it doesn't photograph well enough but what I love about rain is the sound and smell. Really, I love any weather that doesn't involve the sun, probably because sun is the only weather I've known for most of my life.

Moving on, I've also learned that family-owned restaurants have some of the best food.

Now that you know a little bit about me, I hope you enjoy my blog.