Jennifer: The leaves are falling

Midterms are succesfully over and things have relaxed a little bit but all I can find myself thinking about is the upcoming Thanksgiving break! Other than fall break I've been on campus every night and while I love it here I just want to get away! Luckily tomorrow is family day so my parents will be here and the week after that my youth group is coming for a weekend peace-retreat at the Lion and the Lamb. I miss them so much so am anxiously waiting!

Around here, life remains mostly the same. We've been missing Andie this week as she's in NYC at the MCC/UN conference but certainly can't wait to hear about all that she learned when she returns! We're all very jealous of her!

A week ago (the 23rd) Riley Court Hall Association (along with Ropp Hall Association) hosted their first event - a campus wide Block Party. Unfortunately due to rain we had to move the party into Ropp Pitt instead of having it outside RC as we had wanted. The party was a blast! Although I didn't count I'd say we had around 50 or maybe more people show up. Everyone stayed around enjoying the activities and company, even a half hour after the party was supposed to have ended. People enjoyed bobbing for apples, carving pumpkins, and making "trash art"- Riley Court is now decorated with a Christmas tree and presents all made out of recycled magazines.We also had a "free store" which is basically a table where people can bring things they don't want any more and then everyone can take what they want. I've heard that in big cities free stores can be extensive and people go around trading and bartering on items but no money can be used, proving that one man's trash really can be another man's treasure! I was also happy to get permission from dinning services to bake our own cookies instead of buying through Sodexo. One of the issues we've been struggling with in RC is food waste, especially as seen in Marbeck. Trays and trays of food are thrown out every single day. There must be some better way make use of our resources!

I can't believe it is almost November already! How time flies! Before we know it Christmas will be here, giving us a whole extra set of problems to confront - trying to resist our consumer desires in the busiest shopping season!

Christine: This & That

I wasn't sure what I was getting myself into when I decided to join Ubuntu. Would I be living with a bunch of granola-eating, organic, and obsessive recyclers? The answer to that question is yes, but in a perfectly good, not weird, way. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I had some preconceived ideas of what "living in community" would be like. I never really considered myself very "green" or "community-oriented," but I am. I am not ashamed to search for the recycle sign on everything plastic that ever touches my hands. Nor do I mind setting aside time every Sunday afternoon to prepare and clean-up a meal with my fellow Ubuntu-ers. In fact, our Sunday meals are a highlight of my week. These meals give everyone a chance to be together - in community - and to share in a comfortable, relaxed setting. As Jennifer discussed in her last entry, it's hard to make time for all (or even a majority) of us to be together during the week. I myself can go a whole day 8-7 without returning to Riley Court. And by that time, all that's left to do is homework and then sleep.

Granted, not every day is as hectic as others. Sometimes all we need is time to relax. I'll often return "home" to find a few girls in the lounge, usually with the TV on TLC or HGTV, "actively" engaged with the show at hand (with four brides-to-be, a majority of the shows are wedding-related...). Let's just say these shows make us laugh - a lot.

Finally, just to add some more randomness to the mix, my favorite chore is cleaning the showers. If I could clean the showers every week, I would definitely do it. I know I sound crazy, but it is seriously fun. Let's just say my first experience with the showers was not a very dry one. First, there's a hose that attaches to the faucet on the sink. Well, I thought it was attached, at least until I had already finished spraying down the showers, about 10 minutes later. It wasn't attached, at least not correctly. By that time, water had been shooting out every which way and the countertop and the tile floor was soaked. All I could do was laugh. Yes, my floormates thought I was crazy, but I don't care. It's life, right? Why not laugh.

Jennifer: Mid-Terms and our first campus event

Not to complain but just to give you an example of the crazy schedule some of us in college students (including many of us in Riley Court) live...this is my schedule for tomorrow...
12-4 Help set up for the Everyday Sunday Concert
4-4:30 Set up Fall Festival Booth
4:30-6:30 Help PEACE club with their Fall Festival Booth
5:15-9 Help finish setting up and run the Everyday Sunday Concert
9-midnight On Duty in Bren-dell and Riley Court

Yes that means I am booked 12 hours straight. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad if the rest of my weekend had been free but of course that wasn't the case...MCB retreat. Oh, and that big midterm is Monday! Oh and that second midterm Tuesday! And that third on Friday! And that paper on Friday! And don't forget to finish getting everything set up for our Block Party Friday night! So yeah, we're busy running from place to place. Several of us commented that we've felt ready for bed well before midnight lately, which let me tell you, is not normal for college students!

The Block Party is going to be a lot of fun but the stress is high because I've has just a week to plan it! Ahh... None the less you should come! I'm really excited about it! We'll be having trash art, a free store, sidewalk chalk, pumpkin carving, bobbing for apples, etc. And a time to get to know Ubuntu and what we're all about! It's Friday 10/23 from 6:30-8:30 at Riley Court so be there (and bring your friends!!)

Shawn Yoder: Community and dumb random stuff.

The good times in Riley Crt
-group meals (every sunday)
-community study sessions (like the one monday night)
-back it up (which may or may not cease to exist)
-Ubu-Mormon (a plant with MANY parents)
-tea/coffee (we go through soooo much of this you'd think we were addicts, oh wait, we probably are)
-Monday Night RAW (who watches football anymore)
-midnight runs to Beaverdam and the Flying J
-Madden 09 (which i suck at)
-pictures at 8 AM for some bluffton book in our kitchen (ya that was this morning)
-male bonding between Eli and Devon, Eil and Jason, Eli and myself and Eli and every other guy i havent mentioned
-sharing cleaning duties (which aren't bad at all)
-you dont know me
-UBUNTU!! (a phrase that when uttered gives you rights to anything of anyone's...this includes food, and spouses too i believe)
-ROOMMATE!!! (and their dainties)
-Twizzlers Bob's runs, youtube videos and other distractions during community study sessions
-deep theological and faith discussions (none of which i can enter but def enjoy listening to)

but probably the most rewarding part about community so far is learning from the upper class men and having them around as role models. Just having someone to talk to or hang out with (all the guys, not just the uppers) on any given evening has been a blast as well. I enjoy coming back here every night to see what's going on, what people are doing and being given an opportunity to simply be.
SY

Andrea: Things that fill my heart with joy

Thursday night was the second of two nights in a row I was up until 2 am doing homework... don't worry mom, I made sure to rest up this weekend to make up for it! Week 6 was just as busy as week 5 and it was only a half week. Needless to say, I like everyone else in the house, was a nervous wreck most of the week.

Thursday night I was sitting in the kitchen working on a paper, and Judah said "Hey Andie, do you want to share some bit sized carrot wedges?" I replied "Sure, at my house we call them carrot sticks." And he said "That's the word!" I laughed until I cried... if you don't know Judah, you should fix that.

This little moment, followed by the Office wedding with half of my housemates reminded me of why I mustered every ounce of self discipline to leave Pittsburgh and come back to school. Thanks guys.

Erin: Cleaning? Fun? You Bet!!!!

I just got done cleaning our showers and I had a blast! I find that one of the things I have most been surprised at in our community is that cleaning has not been an issue. I figured that we would have problems with people not cleaning up after themselves or not wanting to follow our cleaning schedule but it has gone great! Dishes sometimes pile up during the day but usually they are washed before we go to bed. Our bathroom is usually very clean and equipped with all we need. For those of you that don't know the women (I think the men also) have a cleaning chart and we switch jobs every week so we can all do all the jobs at some point. I have not only been surprised at how well the cleaning has gone but also how fun it can be to clean and cook together as a community. Cooking meals and doing dishes together have been two of my favorite things to do because I am helping everyone in the community as well as having a good time with others.

Some of you might find this post as ridiculous but the fact is that we need to do the cleaning so why not have fun doing it!

Life at Ubuntu is always exciting whether we are having a bonfire and a hymn sing, singing in the kitchen till 1 am, or looking at bridal magazines and hanging out with each other! Come visit!