I can’t believe Spring Weekend at Wheaton has already come and gone!  Last week was the most beautiful weather we could have asked for just in time for one of my favorite weekends on campus.  My 21st birthday was earlier in the week as well, so that started the relaxing and celebrating just in time for Spring Weekend.  The Head of the Peacock boat races on Friday were entertaining as usual.  Some people had some really creative boats.  It was a hands down win for the two guys who built a legitimate canoe out of wire and what looked like trash bags.  Dilated Peoples gave a great performance on Saturday amidst BBQing, frisbee and just enjoying the weather.  The campus came alive this weekend and it was nice to enjoy the fun before two tough weeks of classes, papers and exams.  Must get to class soon though.  More to come about the last few weeks of the semester!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted but a lot has gone on!  We won the Newmac championship and made an appearance at the NCAA tournament for the first time in 13 years!  It was an amazing experience.  I actually blogged for the NCAA Double-A Zone website about the experience.  Here’s the link if you want to check it out!

http://www.doubleazone.com/2008/03/sleeping_on_the_gymnasium_floo.html

More posts to come!

It’s about the third week into the semester and I’m finally starting to get back into the routine of balancing everything, classes and basketball. The week started off on a disappointing note for every New England Patriots fan this week as we all know. I was in Boston at a Superbowl party with some friends and I still can’t believe they lost. After the game, a Pats fan was literally crying in the street. The Giants played well, but the Pats still have the 18-1 record to be proud of. In light of the Patriots history-making season it was fitting that women’s basketball team at Wheaton broke a record this week too. This week we played at Babson, a game our program has not won in about 10 years. The first half was neck and neck but we played great defense and rebounded well to secure a solid lead in the second half. That game makes us 8-0 in NEWMACs, a new record for the Wheaton Women’s Basketball program. Making history on Wednesday was awesome, but we face our biggest challenge in NEWMACs on Saturday where we play at Coast Guard. It’s a far ride and the Coast Guard team has three really good players at different positions that we really need to shut down in order to win. It’s all about focus from here on out in NEWMACs. I have my last class of the week in about 15 minutes. Classes are going well, I am reading a lot and writing a lot of response papers. The good part is, I love all my classes though, more than past semesters because I am getting into more specific subjects. More to come about NEWMAC games and everything here at Wheaton soon. Go Lyons!

I can’t believe spring semester is already here…even though there is no sign of spring weather anytime soon here at Wheaton! I have been moved back in at Wheaton since December 28th for basketball, but have been home and visited friends when possible. Our Hoop n Surf basketball tournament in Hawaii was an absolute blast. The weather was wonderful and we snorkeled, swam, sunbathed and hiked Diamondhead volcano. To top it all off, we beat a division 2 team in one of our games! It seemed like the perfect team trip and was a great getaway before Christmas. As usual, the holidays with my family and friends were amazing and January break back at Wheaton was relaxing. Basically my job this past month was to eat, sleep, watch movies, and play basketball. I like January a lot because without classes, all I have to focus on is basketball and staying healthy. A relatively stress-free academic month is just the refresher I needed. So far, we are 4-0 in NEWMACs for basketball, and I am having a blast. It is so important for us all to stay healthy, focused and hungry to win at this point in the season, where every game is a huge game. We face another rival, Wellesley, on Saturday and hope to get a big road win there! It is really strange to actually be on campus with the whole student population again, after being one of the about 50 students here over January break. I’m so excited to spend this semester with my friends who were abroad last semester, but sad to see some of my best friends go abroad this spring. Classes this first week have been good but I am in for a challenging semester. More to come soon! Welcome back everyone!

Wow…I cannot believe the fall semester of my junior year is almost over! I only have three semesters left at Wheaton- a reality I have been desperately ignoring for the past few weeks. This week has been extremely busy but I’ve still managed to squeeze some time in with my friends before four of them leave to study abroad next semester. I passed in a huge report for my writing class on Friday and then relaxed for my game Saturday. We managed to pull out a good win before break against Roger Williams which leaves us at 4 and 3. With a win in the bag, Saturday night gave my friends and I once last semester out together. We dressed up for a Christmas party with decorations, good music and had a blast. I basically lived in the library Monday and Tuesday, only leaving to eat and sleep, until I finished two papers for two of my classes. I wavered between times of productivity and procrastination as everyone does on finals week. I took some much needed breaks for food, dunkies runs for hot cocoa and other random ways to de-stress, or procrastinate, whichever you prefer. Now, I only have one self-scheduled economics exam left which I will probably take on Thursday. I must say, my brain is fried from writing paper after paper and it is kind of refreshing to study for an exam that is more concrete with numbers. We started up some informal practices yesterday before we fly to Hawaii on Saturday for our Holiday trip and tournament for basketball! It hasn’t really hit me yet that we are leaving in a few days. I am so excited for some warm weather to get me through the next few cold months here in New England. We have a lot planned in between basketball games and practices including a Luau, Pearl Harbor, snorkeling, hiking and some relaxing on the beach. I’ve been to Hawaii before, but am excited to see Honolulu again now that I am older. I am so tempted to just jump on a plane to Sydney, Australia since I am so close! Anyway, I’ve got to get back to studying. I’ve got an enjoyable few weeks ahead of me, which I am so thankful for, with Hawaii, Christmas and being with family and friends. Happy Holidays!

I can’t even believe Thanksgiving break has come and gone! Needless to say, the break was much needed. I had a paper and an exam on Monday and Tuesday before break, which yielded little sleep and caused me to get sick for Thanksgiving. Despite my inability to use my voice at the chaotic family party, I drank absurd amounts of water and tea and chatted with my cousins, aunts and uncles as much as possible. The food was phenomenal as usual, and I was left stuffed to the brim with turkey, stuffing, assorted pies: the works. I came back to school Saturday morning for practice, ate leftover pie and then had practice again Sunday morning. Reality started to kick in Sunday afternoon when I forced myself to acknowledge the next three weeks of school and the outrageous amounts of work I have to do. However, Wednesday of this week brings our first home game! I’m so excited to play Curry who beat us last year at their gym. We have a few busy basketball weeks ahead of us before we are off to Hawaii for our Christmas tournament! We have some work to do before that too, as we lost in double overtime to Colby at the Eastern Connecticut Tip-Off Tournament before Thanksgiving. My team and I could not be more excited for the games these next two weeks. All our pre-Christmas opponents are tough. We just have to keep preparing in practice and staying healthy. That’s all for now!

The Boston Red Sox are World Champs! I still can’t believe it. I was lucky to catch every game of the ALCS and the World Series on TV, whether it be at home with my family or here at school. Between basketball practices at night, Halloween festivities and homework, my friends and I managed to get together and watch every game, beginning to end. I’m so lucky I got to go to two regular season games this spring and summer of their 2nd World Series title in four years. Although it can’t compare to Fenway, FOX comes in most TVs in our dorm rooms despite not having cable. Last night at about midnight, after Papelbon threw the last pitch to sweep the Rockies, the Wheaton campus erupted. The Sox won the World Series! My friends and I jumped up and down screaming, hugging and watching the players celebrate before sprinting down to the pond along with the rest of the die-hard Sox fans at Wheaton. Students were running, screaming and chanting. Horns, singing and clanking sounds filled the October air around the pond. Anyone and everyone started jumping in! I’ve already been in once my freshman year so I decided to refrain this time around, especially with my camera in my hand. We love that dirty water! Everyone started singing “Sweet Caroline” at one point, probably my favorite part of the celebration. It was awesome to see so many students erupt out of the dorms to celebrate outside. It sure did silence all the Yankees fans on campus! Raised knowing that Boston sports is a religion in my family makes last night unforgettable!

Life at Wheaton is getting busier and busier as October continues. October break was awesome and just the relaxing time at home that I needed. I was able to see a bunch of my friends and relax at home with my family. What’s fall without apple picking and getting pumpkins too, since it was a beautiful weekend at home. Wednesday brought me back to reality at school with a paper and few other assignments due. The short week brought me to a weekend filled with visiting friends and friends visiting. One of my friends from home came to Wheaton Friday night and I went to Providence College Saturday night to visit one of my friends from Australia. I had a blast both nights and it was great to catch up with everyone I don’t get to visit during the demanding basketball season. I am so excited for season to start this Sunday but nervous too. We are starting a week later this year because our Christmas tournament in Hawaii cuts into the time we usually have off. This means we have less time to prepare for our first game at the beginning of November. Our first practice is this Sunday followed by the Alumnae Game. Double sessions will follow the next two days to get us into what we call “basketball shape.” All of us on the team are working hard this week preparing for next week. I’m so glad I will be able to get my midterm out of the way this Thursday rather than next week, probably one of the hardest basketball weeks of the semester. The Red Sox series is so exciting but I’m getting nervous along with the rest of the Red Sox Nation at Wheaton. I’m looking forward to watching the game tonight after practice. I really hope they can grind for a win at Cleveland! Well, I’m off to do laundry, clean and start on some studying. Go Sox!

Wow, today is October 1st. The first month of school has flown by! During the week, I’ve been busy with basketball pre-season, classes and recruits. On the weekends I have been just enjoying myself and trying to visit friends before basketball season picks up. I actually met up with one of my friends from Australia this weekend! One of her best friends from home goes to Wheaton and she was visiting on Friday night. I got to catch up with her a little on Saturday. It was great! This week is going to be a stressful one as far as school work goes. I have my first exam in economics on Tuesday and a paper due right after October Break. I’m so excited to relax at home for break. It will be my prize after a long week. Oh and another highlight: the Red Sox won the AL East! You can be sure I’ll be watching the playoff games this weekend. Go Sox!

This week surprisingly went by fast, even though it was the first full week of the semester. Classes are starting to pick up with work and reading has been taking up a lot of my time. Between reading “Pride and Prejudice” for my English class and several articles for my US Foreign Policy class, this week has consisted of reading, eating, basketball and attempts at full nights of sleep. Our basketball workouts are in full swing for pre-season and I am really sore. We lift twice a week, play and do conditioning and agilities three times a week and pilates on Friday mornings. I am excited about getting back into “basketball shape” for the season and can’t wait for our first game. We had four recruits stay overnight this week and participate in some of the workouts. Coach suggests we bring them to the Loft at night to hang out. Don’t get me wrong, I love the chocolate frappes there but my Loft money on my card is almost all gone…and it’s the third week of school! Anyway, I was delighted to hear from my coach that all of them loved it here at Wheaton! Sounds like this weekend should be fun. I am going into Boston Friday night for a cancer benefit for my friend’s uncle and possibly will get to see one of my friend’s in her new apartment. Saturday is one of my best friend’s birthday’s and supposedly there is a courtyard party going on in EECS. I’m sure we will make the best of it!