Stephens is my Valentine!!

Yay!!! Valentines Day was so sweet this year! Stephens took so much care of me this year- and it's a good thing too because this might be my last Valentines Day alone for a while- graduation means a big girl apartment in the same town as my boyfriend! 

Also- don't know if you guys knew this or not, but it turns out the real meaning of Valentines Day (especially at this girl's school) is cookies.

Yep. Cookies.

Well, plus these amazing cupcakes we decorated ourselves thanks to our baker, Micah. He spoils us, can't you tell?

Also note the genius of Carolyn. She filled chocolate...with chocolate...genius.

Also note the majesty of Arianne's cupcake decorating skills!

And then after cupcakes I was gifted with cookies from the camera supply closet! 

BUT OH MY GOSH THEY WEREN'T JUST COOKIES WERE THEY?

NO THEY WERE NOT! 

THEY WERE DR.WHO COOKIES! 

WITH TARDIS'S ON THEM!

And then we had bubbles in class! 

And then, well, did I mention cookies?

Yes. Yes I think I did. 

Happy Valentines Day to all of you lovely ladies!! 

(and to George, who reads my blog more regularly than I do! I miss you!)

love, rudi

Goals: Accomplished!

Before pulling together my new years resolutions, I thought it would be wise to go over those goals that I set for myself at the beginning of this semester. Remember that post?

1. Keep up the good work!
    I think I've done a great job preventing myself from burning out, and I came out of this semester with several portfolio-worthy pieces! Not to mention I conquered three of my biggest fears- learning Photoshop, drawing, and attempting to paint. Not too shabby at all!

2. More pictures!
   This goal may never truly be accomplished- you can never take too many pictures- but I do think that I could still do a better job. I have been really good about carrying my camera around everywhere I go, so that's a solid start. I give myself a B for this one.

3. Watch less TV.
   Okay. This one was going to be the hardest from the beginning. In fact, I'm watching an episode of Portlandia as I type this. I'm still addicted to TV (starting Dr. Who didn't help), but the reason I wanted to cool it on the Netflix in the first place was to make sure I got out of my room and got a good start on goal 4, and since goal 4 was accomplished despite my TV watching, the addict inside me is wondering if I could just keep my vice.

4. Find my people.
    Totally accomplished this one! I've really connected to people that I wanted to be closer to, and I've taken some big efforts to get to know my acquaintances better. I've even got a weekly girls night tradition started up!

5. Lose the cynicism.
    It's amazing what a change of perspective and a few new people can do for you. My headspace has been so much more positive since the beginning of the semester, and it happened at just the right time. Who wants to graduate and start life with a bunch of gunky, negative thoughts in their head?

I'll be back soon with some updated goals! Do any of you have suggestions or resolutions of your own? Please leave me a comment about them!

love, rudi

Officially Post-Grad

My Christmas break started out just right with Truchi's graduation! I've gotta say I'm over the moon proud of this guy.

These are just a few of my favorite pictures from Saturday. Isn't his grandpa so cute and smiley?

The best part of his graduation might be the reminder that my own is coming up quickly, and after that he and I will finally be together, signing a lease somewhere, picking out what type of juice to buy at the grocery, and buying a couch.

I'm seriously excited about having my own couch.

love, rudi

Animal Halloween!

Did you know dogster.com rated Stephens as the Number 1 Most Pet Friendly College in the nation? We've also been on the Today Show for our pet-friendly policies. 

I've been cursed with cat and dog allergies, but that certainly doesn't stop me from getting a little puppy love whenever the girls are walking their dogs. Around Halloween one of our dorms held a pet costume contest, and it was 'TheBestThingThat'sEverHappenedToMe'. I'm just going to show you all the pictures and let the adorableness speak for itself. 

 This is Lily (the dog) whom Allison (the human) dyed blue to be a pond!

 Look at that worried look!

And this princess fairy missed the party, which is almost as sad as it is cute.

Just wanted to share this with you guys. I hadn't squealed so much in a long time.

love, rudi

Fall in Missouri

Sunday morning I spent some time wondering around the woods with my incredibly creative friend Dani Kelley. She's got the best mind for original ideas for stories for the campus newspaper, photoshoot, and design- plus she doesn't let ambitious goals stop her from trying. She's the kind of girl that would seriously rock a collaborative project.

So you get it- she's awesome. Well it turns out she's also gorgeous to photograph! We talked about her centaur spirit. I'm really glad we took some time out of our busy schedules to play in the woods.

love, rudi

Exploring the North Village Arts District

It's been a busy weekend so far, ya'll! My friends Kelly and Allia asked me to help out at their fashion show on Friday night. They design crazy clothes for The House of Vansickle, and the show was a part of Columbia's Artrageous Friday. I'm in the 'burlesque cowgirl' outfit.

Then today I helped out my friend Michelle (in the hat below) make masks for a Where the Wild Things Are themed mini-fest at the Orr Street artist studios downtown. I can't believe it's taken me three years before getting involved with this part of the community!

This is a peacock mask that I helped work on for a long time. It turned out so well!

Lesson learned? In the future I want to realize where I live and where it keeps it's treasures.

love, rudi

Presents!

On this impossible hard day, in this impossibly hard week, I was thrilled to see a little sticker-covered box in the mail. Does it get any better than this? Note the Ultra Pepper Spray System that sounds alarms, flashes light, sprays, and makes you an ice cream cone after you get attacked.

Just kidding about that ice cream. 

I love my family.  

love, rudi

Into the Wild!

For the past two months or so, my friends and I have been getting more and more excited about fall because to us, the word 'fall' actually just means 'camping'. As soon as we felt the first chilly breeze we started planning, and this past weekend we finally went! 

Morgan graduated over the summer after the Okoboji Summer Theatre, and I can't tell you how nice it was to see her again, be able to talk with her, and get my fill of hugs. She's one of the most comforting people that I know. I just feel happy around her.

Unfortunately we got to the campsite too late to take any good pictures, but the next morning we were all smiles. The hood of my car took this picture- he's so talented!!  Our trip was double fun because we took my friend Grace's dog Gillian with us. He's such a sweetie! Plus he totally won the hot dog eating contest.

Here's an update: Morgan and Joel are still the most adorable couple ever. Just like they were last year. And the year before. 

The morning after Handsome Joel took us into town to the most adorable little cafe any of us had ever seen, where we got delicious homemade sandwiches and bowls of fancy homemade soup and cups of warm tea and cinnamon. I really love me some nature, but I can't express enough how much I love good friends and good food. It was such a love fest.

And I know people are probably so over seeing pictures of other peoples food, but this soup tasted exactly like soup my grandmother used to make. It almost brought me to tears.

I for one feel so energized and refueled. Friends, if you're reading this, I really appreciated being with you guys. I can't tell you enough.

love, rudi

Zumba!

Hey everybody! 

So I have some catching up to do. I'll start with my Sunday afternoons first! Last week my gorgeous friend Annie (that's her in the neon cargos) started teaching a Zumba class on campus. I was terrified to try- exercise has never, ever been something I'm comfortable with and to do it in a room full of other people was sort of the scariest thing I could imagine- especially being around people I knew and would see every day! 

But now Annie gets to throw out a great big "I TOLD YOU SO!", because I love Zumba and I'm so, so glad I bucked up the courage to go that first time. I've always loved dancing (you remember my Dirty Disco posts?) and it's so wonderful to be able to just go dancing every Sunday and know my body's getting the benefits! And all of a sudden, I feel good and healthy and pretty and, dare I say it, on my way to being fit.

This is huge, guys. It's like I just tried coffee for the first time. Quite the game changer. 

And even though I (and everyone else?) felt like this:

We looked like this:

If any of you are interested, you should come! It's totally competition free- you're way too busy dancing like a fool to notice what anyone else is doing- trust me, I wouldn't go if I was uncomfortable. And it's nothing but fun! We meet Sundays at 2:00 in the second floor dance studio in Senior Hall- bring three bucks, some water, and a smile!

love, rudi