Yesterday was my 21st birthday!

It is not always fun to have a birthday land on a Monday, but it ended up being a great day. The celebration for me actually started about a week ago when my mom came and visited for the weekend. We went shopping and explored the F-M area.

On Monday I only had one class. This in itself was a bit of a birthday present! After class I worked on homework to try and finish before the evening. I went out to dinner at Dolittle’s in Fargo with my boyfriend and his family. After this, I had a bit more homework to do, but I finished it up quickly, and then went to Teaberry!

Last night was also the season finale of the Bachelor. I am not a huge Bachelor fan, but I do watch now and then. Concordia actually held a Bachelor viewing party on campus! Though I was not able to attend, friends of mine said it was an awesome way for Bachelor fans to chat about who they hoped Ben (the Bachelor) would pick in the end. The event was hosted in the Maize by the Office of Student Success and Retention.

Last night my boyfriend and I visited Grand Forks, ND for a UND Hockey Game.

Grand Forks is about an hour drive away from Fargo which makes it a pretty convenient get away for a night! Concordia has great men’s and women’s hockey teams, but it is sometimes fun to visit a larger hockey game. UND’s hockey team is consistently ranked top in the nation, and the game we went to was part of the playoffs.They played Colorado

College and won 5-1. This was the first hockey game I can ever recall seeing! I have seen the film Miracle quite a few times, but this is not the same as seeing all of the action right in front of you!

Once we got to the game we parked and took a shuttle type bus to the arena. The hockey arena is very nice! We had Red Pepper (grinder type sandwiches) and breadsticks!

UND hockey tickets can be purchased here on ticketmaster.com! The tickets are usually relatively inexpensive.

The entire event was a blast, and I definitely look forward to going to another hockey game in the future.

This seems to be the time of the semester that everyone is stressed. We just got back from Spring Break, and it really just feels like it should have been Summer Break.

When the weather is this nice it’s hard to stay focused, which seems to add to the stress!

Tomorrow the Concordia Counseling Center will be hosting an Anxiety and Stress- Reduction Workshop. The event will be at 7 p.m. in the Jones A/B Conference Center.

The counseling center will be working to relieve students’ stress as well as teach us ways to cope with stress on our own. First, trained specialists will describe the science behind why a student feels anxious and stressed next, scientific coping methods will be taught and used. A guided meditation and imagery session will help students release stress. There will also be chair massages and yoga.

Beyond this students will be invited to play in the sandbox and take home free Kinetic Sand! There will be snack and “zentangling”: the art of de-stressing will be taught! Zentangling is a form of self-help art therapy.

Here is an example of a zentangle drawing!

The only things you need to bring are a yoga mat or a towel!

This week I went on a 11-mile bike ride. I can for sure say that I have never done this before- and my body can tell today!

In my Health Communication capstone class a group of three students, besides myself, are planning a Riverside Bike ride. This ride was held for the first time last year by a different group within the capstone class. This year however, we are planning to expand the ride to include MSUM.

On the bike route we plan on making a few pit stops. One of these stops will likely be at the Great Rides bike share. The bike share is located in downtown Fargo and at NDSU- but it is expanding, and it will hopefully have a location at Concordia in the upcoming years.

Great Rides has a fleet of 100 bicycles which are available for anyone to check out to ride!  There is a touch screen kiosk at the front of the bike share which allows riders to purchase a guest pass with a credit card. Monthly and annual passes can be purchased online as well!

The share plans to open on Sunday, March 27.

Even though I did not join many of the awesome and exotic trips leaving from Concordia for spring break I still had an awesome time at home.

I left for home (Plentywood, MT) on Friday morning. My class was cancelled for break so I was able to get a jump start on the 7 hour journey! I stopped in Sidney, MT (which is actually only 6 hours away!) to watch the 2C Districts Basketball Tournament. My brother is a senior in high school this year, and it was fun to watch him play in some of his last competitive basketball games. I was also able to visit with my grandparents who came up for the tournament from Arizona.

After a few days of tournaments I relaxed and caught up on sleep at home! Yesterday I substitute taught at the school. It was fun and nostalgic to be back at high school, but in a different role. I taught high school math. Many students were at the girls’ Divisional Basketball Tournaments so I had very few in my classes- lucky for both them and me since I don’t know if I remember much geometry, let along calculus!

I left early this morning to return back to school. With the last weekend of break I plan to clean, do homework, and catch up with friends.