Hello everybody,

I hope all is well as you are preparing for finals and other tests! Crunch time is always hard for everybody, but unfortunately this semester I only took twelve credits. One class, Observations, is over since I handed in all my final work for it, as is my Clinical Participation class. All that’s left for me is Phonetics and Stats, and I’m not gonna start studying until finals week approaches, so I have a lot of free time while all of my friends are beginning to study. With this, I plan on going to the gym as much as I can (without pushing myself or being counterproductive) and enjoying my “free” (tuition!) membership to an amazing Athletic and Wellness Center while I can!

On Friday, EOP had their XAE induction. I keep checking EOP at SUNY New Paltz’ facebook to see if there are any pictures they have put up, but unfortunately, they are not up yet. The ceremony started with some opening words, and then a musical performance by a student. She sang “This is My Now” by Jordin Sparks. It sounded great! My best friend got hooked on the song now so I hear it all the time from my room. After that, the keynote speaker, Mrs. Rendesia Scott, the Director of Business Advising and one of the original Beta Omicron chapter starters, had her speech. IT WAS GREAT! It was so empowering. I almost cried. After that, was the pinning of the Inductees. WHICH I WISH I HAD PICTURES OF! But my grandmother pinned me. It was so cute. After that, some Honorable Members got upgraded to higher membership statuses, and then there were closing remarks followed by a small reception of appetizers and such. It was really nice! I went home after that, and went to the mall on Saturday (of course, I’m such a mall rat) and then I was on a 9:45 bus Saturday morning in Massapequa on my way back to New Paltz.

This Sunday is NRHH’s induction ceremony, so I will be sure to give you guys details, and hopefully pictures, of that!

And tonight… I am going to the movies after the gym and dinner. This is what I’m going to see:

So next blog I will be sure to do a movie review!

Anyway, I will see you all next week and I hope you have a nice first week of May.

Warmly, Ashley

Hello everyone!

I hope all is doing well. This week has been busy for me, but I am happy to say that there are only a few more weeks of class left! It is winding down so fast.. I didn’t even realize that this Friday is the 27th! Where does time go Heheee!!

Anyway, some exciting news is that last night I got an email from NRHH saying that I am in fact going to be inducted. I put a link on my last blog, but just incase here is a link again so you guys can check out this organization and see what they’re all about: SUNY New Paltz NRHH. Clicking that link will open their page up in a new tab, so you don’t have to worry about losing this page either! It is something that I am excited about because as I did more “research” (so to speak) I have realized that their four pillars are assets that are a great influence in my life. So I’m really excited to be working with a group of people who believe in the same things that I do.

Other than that, I am just getting ready for my XAE induction Friday and studying for tests and quizzes! I registered for classes yesterday, and it went pretty well! I am taking Aural Rehabilitation, Clinicial Methods of Audiology, Hearing Science, Disorders of Child Language, and Introduction to Human Services. Ahh, the life of a CommDis major. <3 A really nice thing though is that I end at noon every day!

Also, an exciting thing is that today marks three weeks that I have been working out, and surprisingly I have been sticking to it really well! I wake up on my days off to go, and I’m there when they first open on the weekends. After this, I am going to walk into town, and then go to a yoga class for the first time ever so I will let you all know how that goes next week!

MAY 8TH IS NSSLHA’S BANQUET. Keep an eye out for when tickets go on sale. This year our cause was Autism Awareness.

Talk to you all soon! Stay warm, it’s gonna be a cold week ahead of us.

– Always, Ashley. xoxo

Hello everybody!

So the weather has been gorgeous in New Paltz, so I went for a walk in town this weekend with Steph and Ki Soo. We went to Fat Bob’s, which is a popular pizza place for college kids. They’re one of my favorites, although a lot of people think they’re hit or miss. We also went to a handmade/gourmet chocolate place where we got chocolate coated cookie dough, and we went to a bookstore and I got Steph “The Hunger Games.” I hope she reads it fast that way I can borrow it! This is us at Fat Bob’s

Steph and I!

We also went to a boutique store! There was this cute picture frame I got for someone in my family who lives on the beach. IT WAS ONLY $5! Can’t go wrong.

So cutee

The above pictures were for a program that I went to tonight! The residence hall I live in is an international hall, so we have plenty of students with different cultures to share all about their cultures at home! So here is my “passport” and paper crane I made with a Japanese student. We “visited” Japan, South Korea, Turkey and Egypt!

Yes, I know, my picture in the frame behind the crane is falling. :’( I need to do some spring cleaning!

Other than this, this week I am constantly doing meetings or something. For example, last night I went to Ki Soo’s RHSA election, tonight I went to a community service-esque event for NRHH (National Residence Hall Honorary— check it out– newpaltz.edu/nrhh) and tomorrow I have a meeting for Phi Eta Sigma, an honor society that I think I am going to run for an e-board position on. As well, Thursday I have a meeting with Ivelisse Tuttle in EOP about my XAE induction next week, which I can NOT wait to blog about! So as you can see, my social life is picking up Just as other stuff is too…

That’s gonna be so much fun. Not Althought it will be interesting to do a case-study on a specific patient. I wonder what I’m going to do with all of my free time during finals week! I will only have two finals I will need to study for… :O Oh well I guess I’ll figure it out A lot of gym time for me!

Anyway, I would love to hear what everybody is up to.. Especially during this GORGEOUS weather. Any fun outdoor activities? I think I’m gonna facebook message my friend and ask her about joining a gym class with me

Til next Tuesday! <3 — Ashley

Hello everybody! A happy Easter and Passover to all.

I’m glad I stayed in New Paltz this weekend. I have had a lot of “me” time after recovering from a very busy week filled with classes, meetings, and a lot of time at the Welcome Center. Even though those are all things I enjoy doing, nothing is better than not having to set the alarm clock for a few days.

Anyway, this weekend I went to the movies.

That’s what the theatre looks like! Inside, it is VERY tiny. It shows four movies at once and the stadiums probably sit about 150 people, something I am not used to at home. However, the tickets are so much cheaper than the tickets at home so that’s something I can get used to as well. We got chinese food, then went to see:

For those of you who have not seen it yet and like a low-end typoe of comedy, definitely see this. There is a lot of cursing, and tons of vulgar references and school shootings/drugs, but it is definitely something that got me and my friends laughing.

Then, yesterday I saw INTO THE WOODS! Into the Woods was a play that was put on by the Miami Theatre Players. You do not have to be a theatre major to get involved with this student-run group, and admission to see these plays are free! It’s an awesome group to get involved in. Here are pictures from the event:

That is the inside of our newly renovated Studley Theatre, which is attached to our newly renovated Old Main (School of Education) building. This was their second production put on since it reopened, the first of which being a performance by our club Epic-Glee. Here are more pictures:

Me and Blogger Tim!

Here is another picture:

Here we all are! You may notice some Student Ambassadors, RAs, and Hall Government members. And of course my mentees from my EOP Peer Mentoring last semester. <3

Overall the pay was awesome and we all had a great time, as you can see. It was about four different fairy tales coming together into one.

I hope you are all enjoying your Easter and Passover. Happy holidays to all.

– Ashley :D

Hello readers!

So today, I started a health blog. I think when I am about a week into my health regime, I will post a link to it but for now the blog is pretty quiet and empty. I am posting how many calories I lost that day, what foods exactly I ate, and other helpful hints for exercizes, healthy snacking, etc!

So with that being said, hopefully a new adventure of mine will be going to the gym on a daily basis! I am here today to share a little bit about the gym. I know that Blogger Tim has posted in the past about our Athletic and Wellness Center, but since it is going to be taking up so much of my time lately it is something I would really like to share with you all as well.

Something that I am about to “participate” in (for lack of a better word) is Free Personal Fitness Training at the gym. With this, you get a free wellness evaluation as well as a certified personal fitnesss trainer to make a perfect work out for you. I will let you all know how that goes once I actually start it. Other activities held by the gym, besides access to the weight/cardio rooms/pool/gym equipment, are fitness classes and bike rentals! All of the classes are totally free of charge and a student can go any amount of times they want! Classes include zumba, bellydancing, ballet, cycling, extreme cardio workouts, yoga and more! This is definitely worth checking out. The classes are an hour long in length and can range from once a week to a few times per week. They also have about 30 students in them. The gym also has mountain bikes that can be rented for $5. If it is nice this weekend I think I may rent one and go on the railtrail. I can get beautiful pictures there which I would love to share, but I first need to teach my friends how to ride a bike. A final aspect of the gym that I really would want to try one day are their outdoor pursuits. They have season specific outdoor trips that would normally be really expensive for only 15-25 dollars! Trips include kayaking, ziplining, horseback riding, ice climbing, and tooooons more. Although our sports teams are only D3, we have an amazing Athletic and Wellness center that I think is one of that aspects that I like the most about New Paltz.

I am also going to see a play on Friday night called Into the Woods. It’s a play run by the Miami Theatre Players, so that is a student group that includes all different majors. It is really easy to get involved with things that you’re interested in, even if you are not academically tied down to them. It is going to be in Studley Theatre, which was newly renovated and is housed in Old Main, our newly renovated School of Education building. I will DEFINITELY give details on that as it comes. It is tomorrow and Thursday at 7 PM, and Friday at 8. It is also FREE! Free entertainment, what can get better than that?

Also, HOUSING SEASON IS NEAR! Yesterday, me and my future suitemates filled out our first suite request form.. YAY. We are hoping to be in Crispell, which was newly renovated (so many renos!) but we will see when we get an email this weekend with our actual time assignment. This will be my first time out of Scudder Hall, so I am definitely a little nervous since I am out of the surroundings I am used to, but I am sure I will get used to it quickly! It is something I have been thinking about for a long time. For those of you who didn’t know, a suite style building has a common area that acts like a living room, with individual bedrooms for roommates coming off of it. There is also a bathroom in every suite as well.

So as you can see, as usual there is always something going on in New Paltz. With Easter and Passover around the corner, everybody but little old me will be home. I will try to call home a lot to make up for it, and when I am not doing that hopefully I am doing something exciting I can blog about. Until next time.

Always, Ashley

Hello everybody!

So Spring Break has finally passed, and BOY did it go quickly. The Saturday before I had to come back, we had a close family friend pass, so my whole family has been taking that really hard, myself included. So me and my two friends Helaina and Laura hung out on that day and we went out to dinner with my grandma, and we watched Billy Madison (best feel good movie EVER!!) and we played a game of scrabble. Here is a picture of the three of us!

Not the most attractive picture, I know, but cute nonetheless! As you could see from that picture, and this pulls in with the title of my blog, I was wearing A TANK TOP. One day over break it was close to 80 degrees! This is for the third week in March. Today, it is so cold that Ihear the wind howling while I’m at work. It’s a good thing I kept my Northface and UGGs here, aka my stereotypical “Long Island Girl Clothes.”

Here, I was gonna put in a picture of the Willy Wonka meme that says, “You wear UGGs and a Northface? You must be from Long Island.” I was searching New Paltz Memes for literally 20 minutes and I could NOT find it! It’s craziness how popular that Facebook page is. For those of you who don’t know about it, Facebook Search New Paltz Memes. They’re all very funny!

So this weekend is definitely going to be an eventful one! This Saturday is Accepted Students Open House. Be sure to check it out if you are accepted here. It’s a great experience to meet other students your age, and it has all the information you would need in one place! It is from 10:00-3:00 THIS SATURDAY. Make sure to stop by our Atheltic and Wellness Center!

Then, on Sunday, AEPhi is having their annual AIDS walk! That starts at 11:30 at the Elting Gym. There will be raffles, bagels and ZUMBA! Then, the walk starst at 12:15. The walk is one mile throughout campus and then into town. Concluding from 12:30-1:30 is lunch at Cuddy’s, where 10% of the proceeds towards lunch food will go to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AID’S Foundation. So be sure to meet the lovely sisters there this Sunday!

The sisters!

So as you could tell, I am very busy but I am definitely going to keep news about New Paltz in my blogs so you could all get a taste of what campus life is like! If anyone ever has any questions about anything they ever see in any of my blogs, just comment below! I’m usually pretty quick in answering.

Until next time! :)  ~ Ashley

… We all scream for ice cream!

Hey guys, This week, I entitled my blog after a program I went to last night…. it was an Ice Cream Social in honor of the Leap Year! The event itself is pretty self explanatory… it was in Crispell Hall and was thrown by their Hall Government. It was a snowy day and everybody was indoors, so there was an incredible showup! I would say there was about 20 people and for a program… that’s awesome. There were many other people from different halls, too, which is nice because it givse people the chance to meet others and it not only does that but it builds community, too! So here are some pictures from that:

Scudderianss

From left to right: Ki Soo, me, Helaina and Stephanie!

The flavors! At the end of the table, there were SO many different types of toppings that it was crazy! Gummy bears, oreos, kit kats, reeses cups, sprinkles, whipped cream, fudge, SOO MUUUCHH. I kinda splurged a little because there was waffle cones, which I LOVE to death.

Other than that, things have been good… Midterm crunch soon! My phonetics midterm is right before Spring break, but I don’t know if that’s subject to change because we had no class yesterday due to the weather and it’s a class that only meets once a week, but we will see. I also may or may not have the textbook for that class…. SO…. This will indeed be interesting.

One more special update: be on the lookout for a special Blogger surprise that all of us will hopefully have completed for you all by the end of this semester! I can’t tell you what it is now but it is something that we are all going to put a lot of work into pretty soon….

Talk to you all soon! -Ashley

Hello everybody!

I hope all is well with everybody. This week, I went to RHSA’s Winter Formal, which I will definitely have pictures of next week because right now I’m home and I don’t have my camera. That’s right. Me. Ashley Finger. Home for a weekend. I am so exited because this is a rarity for me… but I am sure I’ll have a good time. I am getting my nails done and I am also seeing the tickets to my Foster the People concert! WOOT.

Anyway, back on topic to the formal. There was food, drinks (non-alcoholic, of couse!), raffles, a photo booth, a DJ, and so much more! It reminded me of a high school dance, only so much better. Some people were even wearing PROM DRESSES. Like GOWNS. Not cocktail dresses! Unfortuately, I was not able to make it to formal last year so this was the first one I went to and it was truly shocking! Also, the Residence Hall Student Association is a pretty tightknit group of people, so being there with close friends makes it even more fun. Here is a picture of me and my friends Helaina and Ki Soo. (Taken from facebook.)

So that was last night. The weekend before, we had a really nice “dinner party” at my friend Helaina’s apartment! Here, we cooked dinner, did makeup and made virgin drinks! … Which we realized after the fact that it’s just normal drinks i.e. Arnold Palmers. 1/2 and 1/2 mmm Here’s some pictures from that:

Look! RAW CHICKEN! I was rolling it in Adobo. Here is the finished product:

It was a Mexican Chicken Casserole type of thing. If anyone wants the recipe, it is here: http://www.jamhands.net/2008/12/mexican-chicken-casserole.html

Other than that, I have nothing major going on right now but midterms are gonna come around the corner pretty soon! About to get my study on, if you know what I mean :0 well, surely the library will know what I mean because it’s gonna see me there all the time.

Enjoy the weekend, everybody! Talk to you soon.

-Ashley