"Count the Tiny Particles" or "Suddenly We Meet Thomas, an Unwelcome Surprise"

So I am beginning my 2nd week of my new job for the summer, which is a research job under the Chemical Engineering department at UND.  Many very kind people were interested and asking me as to what the research that I would be assisting on would pertain, and I told them it was agriculture related and might have something to do with synthetic fertilizers. I have since learned that that is not at all what I am doing, and struggling through science journal publications has been most, if not all, I have done the past few days.  These journals are to provide me with background information on aerosols and (oh gosh, here I pause to go look up a few of the many acronyms....) SMPS and CPC instrumentation.

The word aerosol refers to any relatively stable suspension of fine solid or liquid particles in a gas. This could be organic material like sea spray, tiny plant debris, soil erosion, pollen, etc, or could come from human activity such as diesel engine exhaust, wood smoke, etc. Aerosols are studied because they have an array off effects on human life and ecology: being the culprit of smog, many lung and other cardiorespiratory concerns, acid rain, and harmful atmospheric reactions. And, according the the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, aerosols are the largest source of uncertainty for scientists when assessing human caused climate change. So the more known about the behavior of aerosols, the better!

The intent of the experiment is to understand how aerosols interact with one another in a controlled environment that is designed to mimic the atmosphere.

This little room within a room is the chamber that has a 10 cubic meter teflon bag inside it. The experimental equipment is all inside the chamber and runs continuously. It is hooked up (online) to the computer below, where you can watch real time results.  Pretty neat! 

The instruments that I have been learning about and recently introduced to (very physically unassuming and surprisingly small) are able to take samples of aerosols and actually define the relative size of the particles (suspended in air, for instance) and then count the number of these particles. Which is AMAZING, because these particles in the the minuscule units of 1x10^-6 meters in diameter! So these instruments are hooked up to a giant inflatable bag in the chamber, pictured above. The bag contains the particles (again, hoping to control as many variables as possible).  The bag is first filled with air, and then injected with various aerosols, sometimes diesel exhaust, sometimes Ammonium Sulfate, sometimes other chemicals depending on what the experiment hopes to accomplish. Data is then analyzed to see what the size distribution of the particles are (are they coagulating to form secondary aerosols? Reacting? etc.) and determine particle density in the air.

The size of the particles are tested because:

• The size of the particle determines how deep in a human's lungs the particle can go (excited to learn more about this!)
• Bigger particles deposit out of the atmosphere (due to gravity and overcoming air resistance)
• Smaller particles cause more collisions (higher rates of coagulation)
• And many others....

This is the inside of the chamber. You can see the bag that the air and aerosols are injected into, the UV lights lining the walls, and one of the two AC units in the room to keep the temperature constant.  The wall is lined with reflective material to maximize the UV.

Here is the computer that does that fancy stuff. The wall in front of the computer is one side of the chamber. The white prism looking things are the UV lights. 

The diesel engine that is run when testing diesel aerosols. 

There is a serious learning curve ahead of me, especially the preparation of the equipment. As of today I got to see the process run twice, but the first time no aerosols were injected as the purpose of the run was to clean out the bag (turn on compressor, wait 15 minutes, turn on dryer, release built up air, wait an hour. Close air, open input valve, wait for bag to fill for about 1.5 hours. Come back and do something fancy on the computer. This is where I'm at. The fancy computer stuff is pretty important, I think.).  The second run I got to prepare the Ammonium Sulfate solution for injection (the grad student I am helping was very trusting) and make a crack at starting up the machine on my own, which I impressed myself by remembering a lot of!

 The view of the rest of the room that houses the chamber, a room that houses a lot of other cool experiments (like a 3 story distillation column!). I also like that the room has a lot of yellow, as well as cool science.

In other news I'm mostly moved into my apartment! The kitchen stuff is put away, so that's one battle won, and I am finally in possession of a bed and a dresser, so most of my possessions are off of the floor (including me, I've been on the ground on an air mattress for a week)!

Also, my roommate and I were forced to occupy a different apartment than we were originally assigned, so anyone that I gave the other address will be sent a short card to update them on my current address. Long story short, after signing all the necessary paperwork and getting our keys for the original apartment, we show up to where we think we will be living and meet someone else who is very comfortably already living there. A nice man named Tom who isn't moving out until the end of June, by some wild and still not-quite-funny mistake. So we're in a different building now.  No hard feelings, housing department. And Tom, our deepest apologies for waking you up so early on a Friday on which clearly didn't have plans.

We've had some gorgeous weather :)

I like my view rather a lot!

It's been nice to have fewer things laying around my apartment (especially when I didn't have any furniture in my room).  I'll probably do a apartment post later!

Happy science-ing  (and struggling minimalism)!

A nice little geese family that lives by the English Coulee. Mom and Dad goose and 5 little grey pre-teen geese! :)

And Just Like that the Premise of my Blog is Obsolete: But Lets Get Rid of Boots Anyways

So the challenge is all over and I may or may not have written an all encompassing wrap-up of the challenge, which bumped my grade down to an A- (ain't no thang)...... But here I am, and this is no longer an assignment for schoool!

"Wooooah" you might be saying, tossing your *honey blonde* hair from your face incredulously (whoever you are, insert appropriate hair color) "Why the heck have you revived this moderately blasé blog, then, if you are no longer bound by duty to your GPA to do so?"

Because I have just had the most UNBELIEVABLE BREAKTHROUGH in my life as a consumer (bet you never thought you'd read that anywhere) and as a human who used to be very attached to physical mementos of the past.  This morning my mother and I returned to Glasgow after the most unbelievable 36 hr cleaning extravaganza of my life thus far (here might be another place for you to incredulously toss your hair).

This extravaganza took place at our family farm in Opheim, which, albeit some furniture and art reshuffling and stealing away to Glasgow, has largely remained untouched since my parents half (and I entirely) moved to Glasgow 7 years ago.  For 7 years, my room has not been touched or changed in any way, the mess on my dresser likely the mess that I left it in when my Dad and I moved our clothes into our new house by the high school all those years ago.  My closet a disaster of old costumes, toys exploding from my primary colored rolling organizer and tall white plastic shelves.  Paper scraps of playtime, schooltime, and sports littered everything and everywhere. Tiny plastic barbie shoes (children's toys are an ecological nightmare, wowza) and more working electronics than you would expect (I was always a child who took impeccable care of all of my things, to the point of vicious distrust of even my closest friends [*insert profuse apology to Haylee R.*])

My choice to not touch any of these things, rather unsurprisingly, was a result of my fear of letting go of the past.  Letting go of my old school, my childhood, my memories, my old self, and any remaining physical connection I had of my brother. I was afraid of many of these things and the feelings they gave me. So my closet largely marinated for the better part of a decade.  But during this time, I grew up a lot, and this weekend, evidently, I realized that I was finally emotionally prepared to go through these things. This was a huge deal for me, my Dad really could not believe it (you may take this time to imagine his incredulous hair toss).

And it turns out I was so prepared that it was EASY.  EASY I TELL YOU.  I could finally distinguish things that had enough of a emotional attachment to keep and things that I had no use for and didn't care enough about to keep to myself any longer.  The back of our pickup is FULL of 3 huge boxes and a large plastic bag of stuffed animals, books, clothes, costumes, games, crafts, a really cool model rocket (now at a Soroptomist store near you), and others.  The emotional distance I had taken (thank you parents for being patient enough to allow me all this time) finally made it clear to me what was important to have around, which really isn't a whole lot, and what would be better to make someone else happy.  And what was okay to just toss; I tossed A LOT. Which is another big shocker, but was made possible by emotional distancing and allowing oneself to finally figure out the weight I wanted to allow to my physical possessions.

I cleared out that whole big white plastic organizer (COMPLETELY) and now my Mom is going to use it in Glasgow to file stuff.  And we also went through all the cute little rubber boots and cowboy showmanship boots that have been sitting in the garage for even longer than my room has been sitting idle.  So now my Dad has a place to throw his numerous collection field samples that used to sit on Mom's work bench (and drive her crazy).  We also threw away a whole bed (woohoo!) and still had time to watch a couple episodes of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmitt together.

I am a happy human.

What physical possessions do you have around you that are weighing you down? Making you feel guilty? Taking up room so you can't do all the things that you want to? Chances are you have much much more than you can ever use.  What is your equivalent of my emotionally charged childhood room?

And now... Pictures!

So many cute 4H boots!

Goodbye cute roller-skates!

Less than half of the donate pile!

All empty and ready for Mom to use!

If you go through stuff you also find some really sweet finds! I found a ton of stickers (I'm still a child at heart) that I will now be sprinkling on ever letter that I write to anyone in the foreseeable future.  Also, I got this really cute picture with my Mom.

I am wearing a paper hat that I made in 6th grade for an Egypt Project on Nefirtiti and a Momma wears a felt three pointed colonial hat that was a Halloween costume worm by Erik waaayyyy back in the day.

And here is a cute kitty! Happy (developing) Minimalism

Thrift Store Skirts and Sweet Clove Tea Will Always be #worthit

Day 28: Let Go of a Goal
At age 16, at the Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership Seminar, a goal that I set was to be able to speak Swedish by the time I turned 20 years old, a whole FOUR years away from where I was then.  By age 20, I imagined, I would be a real woman.  Living independently and having mastered a language I had only flirted with until that point.

And here I am at age 20, and unable to speak Swedish much better than I did then.  Four years ago.  I have moved forward very little, besides dabbling with my language App at the end of last summer.  I am disappointed and disheartened that this is as far as I have come. That my Swedish is still so terribly inadequate for simple conversation with my cousins and sweet Morfar (*mother's father)

So here is me letting go of this failed goal. I must remember, however, that these past few years have not been idle. So a failed goal of learning Swedish by age 20 is okay because I can do all sorts of things like write a awesome lab report, do all sorts of neat math stuff, do all sorts of chemistry stuff, etc.  But Swedish remains on the list, one of the many fun plans I have for self-improvement this summer (besides lots of sewing, "sew" mush embroidery, etc.)....

Day 29: Turn Off All Notifications
I actually never have any notifications on.  Not even vibrate notification.  My phone sound is always off.  New app download requests to turn on notifications are always answered with a "no" from me.  Most of the time this is irritating for some people close to me.  My Mom has always had to text any or all of my known friends (or "informants" as I call them) in order to ascertain if I have made it home safe from anywhere.  One of my close friend's favorite things to do in these radio silence instances is to spell out my name letter by letter.  So if I am not responding, when I finally pick my phone up I just have 20-30+ texts of:

E
L
L
E
N
M
A
R
I
A
....... etc.

So that's a fun thing to do to your friends that you are welcome to try.  But I very much like having a moderately limited reliance on buzzes and beeps during my day to try to remain focuses (a difficult task for me at times).

Day 30: Evaluate Your Last 5 Purchases

1) Barn Dance Admission ($10)
2, 3) Two skirts from the DBR Thrift Store. ($3.98)
4) Embroidery Supplies (needles, white cotton thread for finishing pieces) (~$5.00)
5) Groceries at Target (Greek yogurt, 3 boxes of tea on sale, rice cakes, etc) (~27.00)


DMN3, a marketing management company that is employed by such companies as Shell Oil, describes consumer purchasing process a 5 step process.

1. Problem recognition
2. Information Search (research)
3. Evaluation of Alternatives
4. Purchase
5. Post-Purchase Evaluation

So here we are at the evaluation stage! But I want to look back on all the steps to walk through my purchases and take a little more time to think about them than I initially did.

Problem Recognition was: A lack of admission to a fun barn thing, No Problem, Inability to Properly thread a needle, and lack of snacks for my room.

Information Search: Previous excellent experience, none, lots of online research (YouTube videos), previous yogurt experience.

Evaluation of Alternatives: "I could sleep instead, cause it's really late.", "What about this other skirt, I've seen something like this on Pinterest", "Oh God, so what do the numbers really mean? Is the 18 bigger than the 22? I'll need this white cotton soon anyways right? For the sign I want to frame?", "There are so many teas, how much caffeine do I want? Earl Grey or English Breakfast?"

Purchase! "Woo, Dancing!" "Woo, cute skirts!" "Woo, let's sew!" "TEA!"

Post-Purchase Evaluation: I got flipped spun around a lot and tossed into an unexpected back flip and that was pretty fun, no regrets there.
I spent the same amount of money some people spend on coffee in a day on two skirts, and they are cute skirts that I've already worn.  Does this justify this purchase? No. But I've already worn them, and I like them, and I'm getting rid of other skirts I don't wear as much when I stop home in May.

I got to embroider a fair amount over the weekend, so below are pictuers of the fun I had when I finally had a needle eye big enough for my thread.
I have been happily staying awake drinking tea with lots of caffeine for the last two weeks, and I am beyond tickled pink to do so. If you get a chance, please go to your nearest Target (a stretch for some of my rural friends and family, sorry you must miss out) and buy Harney & Songs Hot Cinnamon Sunset.

I made up my own leaf pattern! The stem is made with a *shocker* stem stitch, Leaves are just little stitches, make it look a little like a marigold.  Must practice more! And the center is a satin stitch (so proud).

Back stitch monogram.

More leaf practicing with leftover thread from the last two fun pieces. I used s few french knots to try to replicate leaf buds on the green one.

"An Ode to Dirt and Other Spring Smells" or "Ellen Watched TV Spitefully"

Day 19: Go for a Walk and Practice Mindfulness
You see lots of people walking with their head up on campus (as in, not down and looking at their phones).  More than you would expect for one place full of nothing but 20 somethings.  Which I think is encouraging.  People my age are not as horrible as a lot of people think they are. I think we're probably as horrible as any other generation can be.  Self-absorbed in a new way.  Which, really, how new is it for a young person to be self absorbed.

A lot of people associate mindfulness with limited technology use and a low level of connectivity on social media.  Being mindful of the existence millions of celebrities, beautiful people, and their ideas is not the kind of mindfulness that is intended with this challenge day though, I think. I'm going to guess the "mindfulness" of ye olde challenge is rather the understanding of the world beyond who's who and what's what.  Taking time to connect with the world and find self-spirituality beyond trendy words and pretty people.  To just let thing be the way they are and enjoy a little quiet.

The UND campus is lovely in the spring time.  The trees are still too nervous to have budded leaves yet (discouraging), but when they do they will flower spectacularly.  One of the most special things about coming out of a long winter for me is the smells you didn't realize your body had missed.  The smell of dirt, actual plain dirt, after not having the totally average smell around you for nearly 6 months is something of a natural caffeine.  Almost like you hadn't realized that the earth had been lying underneath all that snow you'd been surrounded by for the entire winter, as if you thought the earth's crust had simply been replaced with sterile, stench-less, frozen water while you were busying yourself with other things. And then you just wake up.  And are reinvigorated by the smell of dirt.

Its good to smell dirt, among other things, to realize how plain we all are and how simple the earth is. So there is the mindfulness of the week.  Honest dirt smell.

Day 20: No TV all Day. Read Instead!
Everyone say it together:

"ELLEN WHAT THE HECK, YOU'RE BOTCHING THIS CHALLENGE."

Okay, maybe you weren't going to say that (I don't actually think anyone who takes time to read this is mean, it's all hyperbole), and maybe you really don't care at all that I forgot on this day to not watch "The Newsroom" on Amazon Prime. So, I forgot and I'm sorry and I will even admit that I remembered that I shouldn't be watching TV on episode 2  (and started episode 3 anyways, it's a really good show).

So no award ribbons would hypothetically be given out on this fine Saturday for abstaining from TV, but I did read, and my reading consisted of the Grand Forks Herald newspaper.  I love and hate the newspaper. I am disturbed and invigorated by the newspaper.  More on this later.

END OF WEEK 3

Day 21: Journal 20 minutes
Writing in a journal has a lot of misconceptions and people are generally pretty leery about the whole thing.  I wonder if this has anything to do with TV shows and movies we watched when we were little, like "Read it and Weep" and "Mean Girls".

A hypothetical response to encouragement of keeping a journal might be: "But what if someone finds it and learns all my secrets, oh garsh."

No one said you have to write horrible things about other people if you keep a journal. Nor do you have to reveal you innermost thoughts and feelings.  I really like to write in a journal because I can jot down funny things that I see around campus during the day (grown men with beards singing loudly while walking to class or a group of fraternity mean smoking cigs and watching a single fraternity brethren clean all their fraternity windows).  It gives me a place to write down one of the last lengthy conversation I had with my Alzheimer progressing grandfather.  To assess how I'm doing in school and the quality of studying I'm doing.  To jot down something kind my friends and family do for or say to me. To keep track of who gave me what as Christmas and Birthday presents.  To plan my future and recount the business of the day. To doodle something goofy.

And nobody says that it has to be riveting or exciting to anybody, even yourself. It's a non competitive place to think things, remember things, and plan things. So today, like many days, I spent a little time and wrote, doodled, and remembered, and it felt good to do it.

Most of the time I just stick to journaling text, but sometimes I doodle a little!

Day 22:Create a Relaxing Bedtime Routine
I definitively do not do a great job at bedtime routines. For as routine as my morning is, my night is anything but.  As I mentioned on Day 15 (examine your daily habits), I often am glued to the computer working on something or another much later than I want to be, and I pay for it when my mind is still racing when I jump into bed.  So on this night I tried to do a few methodical things that didn't require a lot of thought about half and hour before I curled up.  I got in PJ's and I did my dishes, I rolled out my exercise mat and did a little yoga, I folded some clothes, and then I jumped into bed. I slept like a dream. *pun*

Day 23:Go Barefaced
I wore makeup on this day because I had a big presentation.  And I don't know, business professional = blush and mascara (?).  I know I know. I have sworn to go barefaced another day this week.

Day 23: Practice Gratitude
Thank you letters are my favorite.  I love to take a lot of time to write them and be thorough and genuine.  Today, however, no thank you letters were written. *waaah waah*

Instead, I went to the little English Coulee and did an hours worth of homework (very efficiently, I might add, it is nice not to have any internet to distract you).  Then I went and photographed two geese, because I like geese and I think they are cool animals.

I'm adding this justification because some people don't really like geese. Yes, they are territorial, hiss, and will attack you if you don't leave them alone.  Yes they poop everywhere and it's annoying.  But I think that the behaviors of geese sound a lot like the behaviors of people (minus the hissing, and if people pooped everywhere it would be gross too). So I like geese for their independence and high spiritedness.  And I think they're cute.

Wait, we're talking about gratitude. Well, I'm grateful for geese and not having to go to ChE Lab lecture on this day.

Day 24: Leave a Whole Day Unplanned
This day made me balk a little and say "NO."

But the day I had planned completely changed anyways, so there's karma for you. The whole darn day I had planned completely changed. Work on Physics project? Nope, work on ChE Unit Ops project instead, then go home early. Go to the "Jungle Book" movie at River Cinema with a buddy? Nope, go to *"Hello, My Name is Doris" solo. Went to bed super early and slept SO WELL.

So there's the lesson for me. Life will change and that's okay, be prepared for anything. The day can and will still be special even if the way it goes is not the ways it's planned.  I'm still hoping to see Jungle book at some time.

*Hello, My Name is Doris" is adorable, hilarious, and heartbreaking. I busted a gut as well as almost was reduced to tears.  It was AMAZING, and I encourage everyone to see it because you will fall in love with Doris and the whole movie is just great.  Also, I fell in love with headscarves because of Doris, so that's going to be a summer trend of mine...*

Day 25: Identify stress triggers
What stresses me out? Like I said before, school is stressful but less paralyzingly so than it used to be for me.  Something I can only take so much of before it stresses me out is noise, however, and after spending time around lots of it, silence is a necessity of mine.

I'm going to assume (rather confidently) that this is related to my youth in North Eastern Montana on my family's farm.  My parents are also very sensitive to sound, as their daily lives exposes them to both intense silence (the open prairie will shock you with it's lack of loudness) and loud mechanized sounds (tractors, augers, etc.).  Silence is something that my family and I find comforting, though I suppose many people not accustomed to such a lack of noise might find silence unsettling.  Silence is like a commodity in the modern world, and we cherish it.

It's almost like a waterline in my chest, as if noise builds up from daily life and needs to be purged with silence.  After movies or plays on the drive home, I never able to have the radio on (much to the annoyance of a particular pal). After hockey games at the Ralph, I practically have to quarantine myself from noises so I can stand going back the next night (*disclaimer: I LOVE working at the Ralph regardless!)  It's just the build-up of noise really seems to dig at me in some deep way. I'm sure people from similarly rural areas might have a similar response to noise and lack there-of.

Hello Rural Pals: Can anyone else identify with this feeling? Or perhaps more so with the appreciation of silence rather than a maximum level of noise? I'd love to hear your input! :)

PS: Today was my makeup makeupless day!

Day 26: Clear out JUNK drawer
PHOTO TIME.

There are two main places I would qualify as junk pileup central in my dorm: My bedside dresser and the top-of-my-fridge-turned-vanity. Now the trick is going to be keeping it looking this nice when mornings get crazy.  It may not look like it, but I tossed a bunch of stuff and consolidated things. I probably have more to get rid of, I concede. I have FAR more hair stuff than I ever use, like headbands, etc.  But man it is clean on top of my fridge. Feels good to get rid of things and organize! And look, I can see my cute little pig better now.

What do YOU have laying around, causing problems for you when you get ready, or lying about and stressing you out around you home? Many of us have far more things than we need (as you can see from the 3 different kinds of lotions in my bedside dresser). What can we shed to feel lighter? What can we get rid of to give us a cleaner space?

END OF WEEK 4

Tiny Houses are for Hipsters and University Students Like You

Day 12: Define Goals for this Year

It is really important, if one hopes to simplify their life and instill a stronger sense of meaning, to define goals in a concrete way.  To actually write what you hope to achieve is a powerful thing, and having a record improves the chances that you will fulfill them. I try to write goals all the time in the journal that I keep, little weekly goals (beside the school work to-do lists I have).  These little weekly goals help instill a personal sense of direction and bring me a stronger feeling of fulfillment at the end of the day.

Annual goals, however, I don't seem to make or keep as often.  Short term daily, weekly, and even monthly goals are my driving force.  Creating a year-long plan, however? Yeesh. No way.  Part of this is due to the summer blitz of unknowns at the beginning of a college student's calendar year, so setting goals in January is a no-go for me.  But now that it is April and I can (mostly) anticipate what my summer will entail, I can write out these goals with confidence that I can anticipate the general trajectory of the next year.

So I wrote out my goals for the year in the journal I keep right alongside all the other tiny goals I keep, available for my own perusal at my leisure.  Some are simple, personality or otherwise oriented.  Some are silly and deal with summer fun I hope to have (camping/exercising galore!).  And others pertain to college achievement and my summer job.

Day 13:Clean Out Closet

College dorm rooms are pretty small.  I'm like a cool hipster, living in a tiny house, being all selective with my possessions and getting really good at rotating wardrobes based on seasons. Keeping only tiny nick-nacks if they bring me joy (2 palm sized pigs and a pet rock named Leonardo) and being ruthless about what clothes I want to keep around.

Over Christmas break, my aunt introduced me to the "Marie Kondo Method" to possessions and (very importantly) clothes.  Basically, you pile high EVERY SINGLE clothing item onto your bed and really take a hard look at the MASS you have.  We own SO. MANY. CLOTHES. Then you touch every single piece and really think on what it is worth to you.  If wearing that item makes you genuinely happy, you keep it.  If you feel indifferent about it or it makes you feel guilty or sad, away it goes. I got rid of 4 bags of clothes this way, and I am pleased with the current state of my closet, so I didn't get rid of anything on day 13... :)  At the end of the year, when I'm back home in Glasgow for a few weeks, maybe I'll pile everything up again and have a spring cleaning.

HERE ENDS WEEK 2 OF THE CHALLENGE

Day 14: Take Step Towards Learning New Skill

Woo! I did my first embroidery today!! I've been planning on trying it for a while, but whenever I start anything new I am nervous that I'm going to mess up and waste material, etc.  I didn't have time to really plan out anything elaborate or draw a design, I just wanted to try out a few different stitches.  I now know that I need a needle with a MUCH bigger eye (I had unroll the thread into the six little threads and place each one through they eye one at a time...tedious), and that I care more for one kind of hoop over another.  Also, eyeing straight lines are hard.  It was good to figure those kinds of things out before I try to work on bigger projects on better materials, etc.

Back stitch "Hi" with a French Knot "i" dot. My french knot is no beuno. Better luck next time!

Day 15: Examine Daily Habits

Wake Up.  Panic all day.  Repeat.

Juuuuust kidding!

 Last year, however, I probably would have wholeheartedly agreed with that description of my day, Freshman year I felt panic stricken most of the time, actually. I'm not exactly sure what the change is this year, but I just feel comfortable completing routine homework and tackling bigger projects. Deadlines don't cause me to freeze and mentally tailspin like they used to.

This year, and specifically this semester, I have a real deal schedule that extends beyond fixed class times, like scheduled study time and group work time and a rhythm for when to complete weekly class work, etc.  Some habits that have sprung from this semesters routine are good, such as eating a (big) breakfast every morning, being way ahead on submitting work and doing the work a over the course of a few days, working out at minimum 2 days a week, etc..  Some bad habits, however, have taken root, such as working on the computer right up until I go to bed (resulting in wide awake tossing and turning for 45 minutes before sleep comes to me), checking phone immediately when waking up, watching TV too much on the weekends, etc. So, this day goes hand in hand with Day 5, Day 11, and Day 12(identify your priorities, goals, commitments), making sure that daily habits are reflecting how you really want to live your life.

Day 16: Don't Buy Anything for 24 Hours
Going a whole day without buying anything is really easy on campus, to be fair.  I can bring my own tea to class, I eat on campus (on a dining plan paid for months ago, so I didn't count dining going to the dining center as buying anything during the 24 hours), and there really aren't many more purchasing opportunities.

If I lived in an apartment, I suppose I would have had to worry about groceries and other necessities.  And if I wasn't going to college, maybe I would be planning on buying a household something or another (like, a fridge, or something). But on cute little UND campus, buying opportunities not a-plenty.

Day 17:Practice Single Tasking
Single tasking is real good for you and you know it. Maybe you don't know it. Most of the time I don't.

I use an app to keep myself off my phone during important testing weeks (finals week savior) that locks me out from checking my phone during a set amount of time that I program.  If I stay motivated and off my phone, at the end of a time period, I have a little tree planted that represents how long I stayed focused. If I look at my phone, the tree dies, and I have a withered stump to punish me the rest of the day.

You might be saying "WHA?"

For those emotional souls like myself, it works.  Even a virtual tree is enough to keep my off my phone (but the impending doom of a test is not?) and single tasking. Seriously, if you were planting a forest that looked like this, you would be pumped, right? You would be motivated to plant little cute trees and shrubs AND get good grades.

This is my greatest tree field yet.  That was a weird statement, I acknowledge that.

Day 18:Unfollow and Unfriend
I've been pumped for this day! WOO. I'm going to selfishly sweep through my Facebook friends and "friends" and get RID of people and pages that are negative, uninteresting, or people I just don't recognize any more. So, here is the tally, Everyone: I am 73 "friends" lighter on the Faceblog. And it's great. So, sorry people I don't know any more of have never really known.  No more seeing posts about Ellen's latest blog update.

During lent, one of the things I did was give up Instagram, WHICH WAS THE BOMB, because then when I got back on Instagram after 40 days, I purged myself of pages I didn't like and people that were negative.  If I'm going to be spending any time on social media, I am fed up with being dragged in any direction but up.  Being sobered up by reality is something I will leave for my reading the newspaper.  But Instagram is a fun-only zone now.

Here are some people (on Instagram) that bring me genuine joy to follow on:

• Laura Miller (a vegan chef that strings fruits and vegetables into necklaces and wigs, then dances in them.  It's everything you never knew you wanted to see.)
• Daisy Ridley (The adorable, smart, and humble woman who played "Rey" in the latest star wars.  She posts pictures of herself giving piggy back rides to Mark Hamill [Luke Skywalker] and uses hashtags like #putyourlightsabersintheair #ifyoujustDOcare)
• Chatty the Big Pink Pig (Because it is an adorable pig.  Like a regular pig, not that teacup crap.)
• Sara Hollenbeck (sarasheeplady, because puns and videos of sheep and goats are for everyone)

• 

You're Not as Cute as You Should Be, But There is a Cream for That

Holy smokes, do yo think I have hardly anything left to say after week one?? Let's find out!

Day 8: Learn to Enjoy Solitude
Mondays are one of my favorite days of the week.  I imagine a few of you gasping or rolling your eyes at me.  But I mean it with all my heart.  Mondays mean only two classes (Differential Equations and Physics II) and that I get to go swimming at noon with my awesome friend Esther.  But this Monday I felt pretty ill, so I went home after Diff Eq and napped and napped and napped until Physics at 3:30.  I am counting this as my time alone, to slow down my day and heal.

On this day, Esther swam TWO MILES.  Up to this point, the farthest we had ever swam was ONE. Maaaaaannnnnnnnn, while I was enjoying my sleepy solitude, Esther was kicking butt and taking names.  But it is good to take care of yourself, even if your competitive and fanatically determined work out buddy is swimming you under the table.  Go Esther!

I will be tickled pink if I swim 1 mile this Friday.

This is my favorite place to be alone on campus.  Anyone know where this is?

Day 9: Downsize Beauty Collection
I have a long way to go.  Does any body else have about 4 years worth of hair products hidden every medicine cabinet in every home they've ever lived in?  Over Christmas break when I was back in Glasgow, I know that I tossed a TON of half empty everything away and tried to give my friends what I didn't want (you're welcome, person who smells like pomegranate lotion).

In my dorm in Grand Forks, the issue really isn't that bad.  Do I have more lipsticks than I need?  The answer is yes, because I literally never wear lipstick so they never get used up.  So why do I have lipstick in the first place? UGGGH,  Revlon marketers are just good at their job, okay? But I haven't accumulated hair products like I did in high school because there just aren't enough hours in the day to dream about your apartment next year, prepare for the exam-of-the-week, and Brazilian Blowout your hair.

Maybe there are.  But I guess I just don't try very hard to make it happen.

Here are beauty facts for your day!

• The "beauty industry" (hair-care, skin care, and makeup products) is a 382 BILLION dollar business!
• Olay is the largest of these, worth $11.8 billion, and over 60 years old!
• Estimated 85% of consumer base is female
• Of the top 50 brands in beauty industry, 41 are over 60 years old (15 of these 41 are over 100 years old!)
• Who of us prefer a brand that Mom trusted?

Making money of manufactured insecurities is GREAT for these businesses! And so is communicating the importance of purple lips.

Revlon: Getting Ellen's money, $8 and a tube of lipstick at a time.

Source:

 Gourndreau, Jenna. "The Top 10 Global Beauty Brands." Forbes. 20 Apr. 2012. Web. 6 Apr. 2016. 

Day 10: Stay Off Email and Social Media until Lunch
Woo! The first complete and total fail of this challenge adventure!

I am just so excited about the cheap and frighteningly white apartment I'm going to have next semester.  So I am on Pinterest before I go to bed and I'm on Pinterest when I wake up. This day was no different.....

And I needed to email a bunch of people about registering for classes....And I needed to use the internet to access the practice Physics tests that I uploaded to my computer.... And then I spent a little more time on Pinterest looking at patchwork curtains... and then I wasn't supposed to be in the internet.  It was 11:45.  Woops!

Day 11: Evaluate Your Commitments
Is this redundant? It feels redundant...

But here is a perfect opportunity to try to remember the "why" to our "busy."  The reason that we rush and run and fall exhausted into bed at night.

Are you doing "busy" because you don't feel good enough? Because you are scraping by and "busy" is the only option? Because you want to buy more things to feel more welcome, successful, and loved?

Or are you busy with fulfillment?  Are you scrambling with happy?  Are your days lined with perspective and sprinkled with contentment?  No ones lives are perfect, and you will not love everything you do.  But if you can arrange you commitments to have a little more time of "doing" and less time for "busy" for the sake of being so, there is a really good chance you feel a good when you fall into bed exhausted at night.  And there is no price on that feeling.

A Little Less Meditation, a Little More Barn Dancing (If You Please)

Day 4:No complaining.
 If you are unhappy with your life, there is a good chance that complaining about everything involved with it is not encouraging your contentment. (This is probably a no duh.  Right?) Any ways, there are bigger minimalism fish to fry.

Day 5: Identify your 3-6 mail priorities.

1. University Studies
• To find personal worth and secure my future.
2. Immediate Family/Loved Ones
• Calling, writing, thanking, spending time with.
3. Exercising
• Self-satisfaction, meditation, spiritual wellness.
4. Art
• Writing, drawing, music.
5. Planning for the future
• Internships, living arrangements, goals.

If you listed your own priorities just now as you were reading, I'm going to bet few of you thought of buying something or owning something as important. After you are only given 3 to 6 spots to fill! Yet, American consumers find themselves again and again in the position of working extra at the expense of spending time with their families. Of fulfilling the needs of their boss and their company at the sake of the needs of their loved ones. Why do we do this?

Because we are told that what we have is not good enough. That working is of pinnacle importance (who tells us this? Our bosses? Marketers who want our money, perhaps?) at the sake of all else.

"But Ellen," you may say, putting down your coffee and readjusting your spectacles. "You literally have going to college at the top of your list.  "Secure my Future"? You are a hypocrite.  I'm going to tell everyone on snapchat."

Put down the phone, friend. Minimalists do not necessarily believe that having a fulfilling job (as I hope to have) and making money is irreconcilable to minimalist thought. It is, however, when this job lends no meaning to the persons life and is used as a way to make money to pay off debt for purchased items that damage occurs to someones life.  Money is not and "end" so to speak, and if it is, it often brings misery. Money is not my end.  Fulfillment is. And I'm at a point right now where going to college is fulfilling me, rather than sucking my soul (though soul sucking can sneak up on anyone one from time to time). And the hope is that the career I am persuing will further that sense of self fulfillment. And so will family. And so will running. Etc.

Day 6: Follow a Morning Ritual

My morning ritual on this day consisted of lying in bed and stretching (yowza) and drinking hot tea with my breakfast.  Last night I went to a barn dance in Arthur, ND, and we arrived back to Grand Forks at 3AM..... so my morning mostly consisted of lazing about... !  But what a minimalist thing to do, spending money on experiences and memories rather than objects and possessions. Even though day six was slightly at the mercy of it... :)

Yeeeehaaawwww!

Day 7: Streamline Your Reading List
Does any one actually have a problem with this?  For me, it seems reading has kind of succumbed to all other forms of entertainment and relaxation.  I don't read enough things... my Physics text book may in fact miss me a little.  We haven't curled up together in a little while.....

So maybe I need to streamline my relaxation and leasure activities in general and prioritize what things will benefit me the most and what things I find important (how incredibly first world of me *insert eye roll*).

This semester I have actually made ground in this effort to read more and watch TV and browse on my phone less.  At the beginning of the semester, I even made sure to read for fun a few minutes before bed each night, and I did that for about a month before school got the better of me and I returned to falling into bed bleary eyed and exhausted. And maybe for a month or two of the year (April madness is more appropriate of a phrase at college than that of March) this effort just won't happen.  So I'm going to forgive myself, and watch one more episode of "How to Get Away with Murder" before I finish this memo for Lab I.

THUS ENDS WEEK ONE
Happy Minimalism!
 - Ellen