Cool Penny!

INDIAN HEAD PENNY

For dinner tonight I went to Mercadito, which is a Mexican restaurant here in Bowling Green, across the train tracks. I went with the Spanish Club after our meeting. It was a lot of fun! After I ordered my food (pupusas, by the way, deliciosas!) I got some change back. I received one penny back. It was unlike one I had ever seen before. It said the year 1890 and had an Indian head on it. I thought for sure that it was a fake coin because this place was kind of sketchy. So after I got back to my dorm, I googled it, of course. And I found out that it is an Indian Head Penny which is real!! It is worth $1. woohoo.... but it says based on the condition and this penny is pretty worn out. Here is some info on the penny:

"The Indian Head one-cent coin, also known as an Indian Penny , was produced by the United States Mint from 1859 to 1909 at the Philadelphia Mint and in 1908 and 1909 at the San Francisco Mint. It was designed by James Barton Longacre, the engraver at the Philadelphia Mint 1844 - 1869.

This 1894 Indian Head Cent was graded as a MS65-Red by the PCGS grading service.

The obverse of the coin shows "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," the head of Liberty wearing a feather head dress of a Native American and the year of production. The word "LIBERTY" appears on the band of the head dress. From 1859 to 1864 the design did not feature any mark of the designer. When the change to bronze (see below) occurred in 1864, Chief Engraver Longacre modified the portrait by sharpening the details. He added his initial "L" on the ribbon behind Liberty's neck as well. This design would continue until the end of the series, with a minor modification by Charles E. Barber in 1886 when the portrait was changed slightly.

Two reverse designs were used for the series. In 1859 the reverse featured "ONE CENT" within a wreath of laurel (or properly olive). From 1860 until the end of the series the reverse featured "ONE CENT" within a wreath of oak and olive tied at the base with a ribbon with a Federal shield above. This design continued until the end on the series in 1909 with a minor modification by William Barber in 1870.

The coins struck between 1859 and 1864 contained 88% copper and 12% nickel. During this time, prior to the issuance of the Five-Cent nickel coin, the cent was commonly referred to as a "Nickel" or "Nick," for short. Due to the hoarding of all coinage during the Civil War, the nickel cents disappeared from daily use and were replaced in many Northern cities byprivate tokens. The success of these copper tokens prompted the change of the cent to a similar metal. In 1864, the alloy changed to Bronze (95% copper and 5% tin and zinc), and the weight of the coins was reduced from 72 grains to 48 grains. (This weight continued for copper-alloy U.S. cents until the 1982 introduction of the current copper-plated zinc cent.

The total production of the Indian Head cent was 1,849,648,000 pieces. The 1909-S had the lowest mintage, only 309,000. It is not considered as scarce as the 1877 issue, (852,500), since fewer of those were kept, particularly in the higher grades." (From Wikipedia)

It was my lucky day :)

Fall is HERE!

It has been beautiful out! I don't want it to get too cold yet! Here are some pictures that I found on the internet:

Stakz Self-Serve Frozen Yogurt

Picture off their Facebook page

Yesterday, I went with two of my friends to Stakz after we volunteered at the Humane Society. It was really hot walking those dogs, and frozen yogurt tasted so good! Yesterday was my first time there. It has only been open for 3 weeks, but someone told me about it and I decided to try it out. This place is really cool! They have about 12 different flavors of soft-self frozen yogurt. The flavors included Cheesecake (what I got), Espresso, Cookies n Creme, Birthday Cake, Peanut Butter, Pomegranate, and many more! And they have every topping that you can imagine! Everything is self-serve so you pick up a bowl and fill it any way you like. At the end they will weigh it and charge depending on the ounces. I would highly recommend because it was delicious!

¡Olé!

Soy la tesorera para el club del español a WKU. Ayer estaba la primera reunión. Decidamos quien es el presidente, el vice-presidente, el secretario, y el tesorero. Dije que pude ser la tesorera. Cada semana tendremos una reunión para practicar el español. Deseamos hacer muchas actividades, incluye fiestas, aprender bailas, hablar con personas españoles, y ayudar estudiantes con español. Estoy emocionada para el club del español este ano. ¡Pienso que debe unir!

Translation:

I am the treasurer for the Spanish Club at WKU. Yesterday was the first meeting. We decided who is the president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer. I said that I can be the treasurer. Each week we will have a meeting to practice Spanish. We want to do many activities including parties, learning dances, speaking to Spanish people, and helping students with Spanish. I am excited for the Spanish club this year. I think you should join!

SLP Observation

For my CD (Communication Disorders) 280 class, I have to observe a speech pathologist for 4 hours. Today and yesterday I went to Britthaven rehabilitation center in Bowling Green. It was a great experience. I learned a lot because I had never seen a speech pathologist in a nursing home/rehab setting. I had the opportunity to observe 3 patients with swallowing problems. The therapist helped the patients eat their food. Today I saw a man receiving Vital Stem therapy, which is when electrodes are placed on the neck to stimulate the muscles in the throat so they have better control over eating. It was really cool! I also watched a lady receive a cognitive test to see id she needed Cognitive Linguistic Therapy. The therapist I was observing discovered that she needed therapy because she couldn't answer simple questions like who is the president or what year are we in. I'm not sure if I want a job in this kind of setting. It was kind of depressing to see all these older people with Alzheimers and other conditions that make them kind of "out of it." I am planning on working in the school with kids or a private practice. But we will see what the future holds. I am more exited to learn about my major and finally understand how to treat speech pathology patients!

30 Seconds To Mars - Kings And Queens Official Music Video

I can't help listening to the song "Kings and Queens" by 30 Seconds to Mars. It is used in the preview for the new TV show My Generation and that's when I first heard it.... after that I listen to it all the time. Below are the lyrics and music video!

(not really sure what the meaning of this song is....)

Into the night
Desperate and broken
The sound of a fight
Father has spoken

oh

We were the kings and queens of promise
We were the victims of ourselves
Maybe the children of a lesser God
Between Heaven and Hell
Heaven and Hell

Into your eyes
Hopeless and taken
We stole our new lives
Through blindness
In defense of our dreams
In defense of our dreams

We were the Kings and Queens of promise
We were the victims of ourselves
Maybe the Children of a lesser God
Between Heaven and Hell
Heaven and Hell

The age of man is over
A darkness comes at dawn
These lessons that we've learned here
Have only just begun

We were the Kings and Queens of promise
We were the victims of ourselves
Maybe the Children of a Lesser God
Between Heaven and Hell

We are the Kings
We are the Queens
We are the Kings
We are the Queens

My Friends Came to Visit Me!

Yesterday and today, my friends from Louisville, Maura, Brie, and Maggie came to visit me at WKU! I was so excited that they were able to come. It was great to spend some time with them. I hadn't seen them since July! We always have fun together. I was happy to show them where I go to school. Last night they got here and we went out to dinner. Then we took a long walk around campus so I could show them. Afterwards we hung out for awhile in my dorm and outside. They had to fill me in on all the stories, that were quite interesting :) and then of course I had to fill them in on my life! Around 11 we went to a birthday party that was quite fun, even though we were the only sober ones there. After the party, we went to GADS! It was super busy last night, but delicious as always :).

This morning we decorated some WKU cookies to bring to tailgating. Tailgating was fun! We got to spend some wonderful time in the sun. I won two games of cornhole too! They left right before the game started, but I'm so glad that they came to visit me!! I hope I can visit them sometime in Louisville soon.

News of the Day

Everyday I try and grab the USA Today newspaper to catch up on the news. I would like to share some stories and articles that I find interesting or cool. Here are two from today's paper:

1. "The Woman who voiced Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer died Friday at her home near Toronto at age 88, reports E! News. Billie Mae Richards was a Canadian radio actress who provided the male voice for Rudolph in the holiday classic, which still airs on CBS during the holidays. In the credits for the special, which was based on the 1949 song and made its debut in 1964, Richards was listed as "Billy Richards" to cover the fact that she was a woman."

2. The second article that I found interesting was "NYC might ban smoking in parks, plaza." NYC plans on banning smoking in certain areas in NYC including Times Square. Also as it states "all city parks, beaches and pedestrian plazas." I think it is a VERY smart move! Here is the link for the full article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-09-16-smoking16_ST_N.htm

Story of the Day...

So I would like to share a story that happened to me, last night (Tuesday). It was a little after 9 pm and I'm walking back to my dorm from the Newman Center. I hadn't even completely passed the church yet and I notice this guy in front of me. He stops and notices me and asks me "Are you going to Hilltoppers for Christ?" and I said "no." He suggested that I should go and I said no again. And then he kept asking me all of these questions! He asked if that was the Catholic church there and I said yes and he asked me what it is like to be Catholic.. and he went on and on. He asked, "Is it okay if I walk with you?" and I said "ok" hesitantly. I was getting a little nervous because this guy looked like he was in his mid-20's.. so who knows if he was a student (even though he said he was). So I'm walking down the hill, walking really slowly to see if he would just walk faster and stop walking beside me, but he didn't. He asked questions like "What's your name?" "Where are you from?" "What's your major?" "What year are you?" "If I've ever been to NYC" and many more. He said he went to WKU then to NKU and then to WKU now and he was in the military too. Finally, once we reached Gatton, he finally went to other direction and said "Bye, maybe see you around campus" and I was so glad he didn't ask any more information from me. So that was a little scary for me because I thought this guy was really creepy. But who knows he really could be a normal nice guy.... but I was a little hesitant since it was dark outside and not many people were out. The ironic thing is I had just been to bible study and we talked about trusting others. We should act child like and trust and love everyone, whatever their circumstance. So maybe I should have been a little less worried. But that was my interesting story for the day!

GLEE!

Glee starts one week from today. September 21 at 8/7c. I can't wait! I have my online class the same time as the show so hopefully I will be able to watch and still do the online chat.

Here is the website to find out all about GLEE!

http://www.people.com/people/package/0,,20413595,00.html

Prayer

Here is another neat prayer from the book "Catholic and College Bound:"

A Prayer to Jesus

Christ, I turn to you now,

searching for you in the light of this day,

the promise of morning,

the heat of noon,

the shade of evening.

Do not let me miss you,

or mistake you for some worry or burden.

Do not let me pass you by,

as an inconvenience or obstacle.

Do not let me lose you,

in the rush to rest or the delay of boredom.

When I am weary, renew my strength.

When I am lost, find me.

When I would choose some other companion,

some other joy, some other cause,

love me as only you can.

In your goodness, give me a sense of purpose

and meaning in my daily life.

Show me here and there along the way

my bright and beckoning end,

the horizon that draws me beyond

the distractions of this world

and my own weakness

to your promise of heaven,

which is not the end of my life,

but only the beginning. Amen.

by: George Szews

Online Class

I'm going to complain and whine about my online class. I'm taking CD 280: Survey to Speech and Language Pathology, which is my very first class in my major. Now why did they make the very first class of my major online? Don't you think they would want to have contact with the students and help them truly understand what kind of major they are getting themselves into. Also, every Tuesday night at 7 pm we have to go online and chat with our professor and other classmates for 1 hour and half and discuss the chapter. (plus my professor says he "pecks" the keys on the computer so you can imagine how long this conversation is going to last....)Isn't the point of an online class to do your homework, tests, and quizzes anytime you want!? Because I have plenty of other things that I would want to be doing at that time!! So that is my opinion about my online class....thanks for reading.

Can the Weather Stay Like This Forever?

The past few days have been beautiful! It is sunny in the 70's or 80's with very low humidity. This is the perfect weather... too bad it won't stay like this forever. Today I went to the park and played some basketball and hung out in the shade. It was really nice to just sit and enjoy the weather. These days are perfect for a morning run too! It gets cool at night and I have been leaving my window open which it great! Thanks God for this awesome weather!

TV this Fall

So... reading the Life section of USA Today, as usual, I found an article about the new season of Grey's Anatomy this fall. Starting September 23rd! I can't wait to see it because last year's season finale was so intense.

Here's the article:

Grey's Anatomy , ABC
Thursday, 9 ET/PT
Premiere: Sept. 23

Where we left them:Seattle Grace and its doctors were recovering from a lethal rampage — turning "a hospital into a crime scene," creator Shonda Rhimes says — by a man who blamed Derek (Patrick Dempsey) for the death of his wife. Derek, Owen (Kevin McKidd) and Alex (Justin Chambers) were shot, but all survived; Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) had a miscarriage; Callie (Sara Ramirez) and Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) opened the door to possibly starting a family; and Lexie (Chyler Leigh) learned Alex's heart remains with the long-gone Izzie.

CALENDAR: See the whole fall premiere schedule

"I really wanted to make what would feel like a small movie," Rhimes says. "I wanted it to be really self-contained. I did not want it to be a cliffhanger, because I felt like what we were doing was so violent that I truly didn't feel it was fair to people to end the season with Derek's life in the balance or any of those things. … We all know everyone will be forever altered by the event."

Where they're headed: "The theme of the new season," which opens about a month later, "is rebirth," Rhimes says. Flashbacks will help fill in the passed time. "We're going to be seeing our characters dealing with and struggling with what happened to them. They're trying to rebuild their lives and the reputation of the hospital," Rhimes says.

The characters have different responses to the tragedy, she says. Alex reverts "to the evil spawn he used to be"; Cristina (Sandra Oh) fears entering the operating room; Derek has taken to speeding — and getting arrested — as he feels invincible; and Meredith is taking care of everyone except herself. While others get cleared for surgery, she can't. And there's a marriage in the first episode, though Rhimes won't say who.

Who's new:James Tupper (Men in Trees) appears for three episodes as the therapist who clears doctors to return to surgery. In returning news, Jason George plays Bailey's love interest in the first episode, and Mandy Moore is back in a later episode. — Bill Keveney