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!