Wait, what? This blog returns?

WHOA!

It's funny how almost a year go, I was all 'No more excuses! I'm gonna blog all the time!'

...Oops.

I've decided, though, that since I'm leaving for a trip to Israel tomorrow (as a part of my Global Business Experience class at WPI) that I'd at least blog about each day of the trip - for my own records, and so that my mom can keep up with all my adventures!

It may not take off after that, but hey - at least I'll have something on here!

Next stop, Tel Aviv!

-LK

All done with excuses.

So, I'm apparently very bad at keeping the promises I make to myself.

I got sick, abandoned the blog for a month and a half, and then abandoned it again for robotics season.

Well, robotics is over, school is over (yes, I GRADUATED) and let me tell you what: I have no more excuses for not blogging. And this is supposed to be this time of transition and crazy-awesome-ness that I'd want to write about!

So, starting now, no more excuses. At least a post a week. Starting with a guest post on one of my favorite blogs of all time.

I can handle this.

xo,
LK

Kickin' this nasty FLU!

Well hello again!

Sorry it's been so long, but I'm finally settling into a good semester schedule - so I feel good about having a posting schedule, too!

As you saw from my excuses last week, I'd been pretty sick. I had pneumonia earlier this month, and then the flu - which made for a pretty miserable flu because I was still learning to breathe again.

However, I've been meaning to make a post about all the lifestyle changes I've been making myself for this year, and I figure that feeling healthy again is a good time to talk about being healthy! I really, honestly feel like I got over the flu-monia monster way faster than I would have if I hadn't been keeping really conscious of my health, what I put into my body, and how I treat it.

So at the start of this year, I made a list of things I needed to change for myself and my health. Here's what I did.

1.) Water, Tea, Coffee, WATER!
I don't drink anything with added sugar. I drink coffee in the mornings with skim milk - but that's about it. Water, Tea, Coffee, and ALWAYS more water.

2.) Get moving!
I make a point of exercising for at least a half hour each day. Right now my schedule consists of the Couch to 5K Program every other day, and Zumba on the 'off days', with Saturday as a rest. It feels really good to be active, and when I was sick it felt so bad to not be able to work out.

3.) Stay in bed!
Giving myself the rest I need is really important. School's killing me with work, but if I get enough sleep I can totally tackle this. I used to be the kind of person who could go to bed at 4am and be up for a 9am lecture.... nope! Not anymore.

What positive lifestyle changes have you made lately?

Hello there! Checking in.

Sorry guys!
I've been pretty awful-sick this week. I was planning for a post on Monday again but then the big-bad-flu hit me.

It's been pretty pathetic in our little off-campus house. We call it "The Bay Street Zoo" because, well, we live on Bay St... and because of the animals living there (we were at one point, two dogs and a hamster, but now we're at three dogs and maybe counting don't tell kevin...). Well, this week we've changed our name to the Bay Street FLU. Even the pups are pathetic and sad.

But...that's when my homework is due...

It's also outrageously cold here. As in, -13 with a windchill of -25. Sometimes, I forget why I picked this school. I think that's also why the doggies are being so mopey.

"Mom, it's cold. Fix it."

I've got a couple of posts in the queue for this coming week - gonna try to finish them up tonight and tomorrow. Just wanted to say hi and apologize for not being around - I hope you will forgive my sickly self.

See you tomorrow!
-Libby

Cooper: My Roadside Ragamuffin.

I'm a crazy dog lady; I admit it.
I post entirely too many pictures of good ol' Coop-slice on the internet. I get it!

"No you don't, Mom. I'm just a great model."

However, the general public totally fuels it for me.
Every time I take Cooper out someplace, I get at least two of the following from strangers:

"Oh, he's BEAUTIFUL! What kind of dog is he?"
"Where is he from? [Local shelter]?" (I've lived in several towns with him now)
"How can I find a dog like him?"
"That voice! He doesn't -look- like a Beagle...."

Well, here's how you get a dog like Cooper:

Drive on a quiet highway in very-very-upstate-new-york, in the middle of the night.
That's right! Cooper is a genuine roadside find.

Here's the short-version of how Cooper came to be my dog.

My suitemate-at-the-time, (now housemate) Amanda, was driving back to school from her home in a different part of NY. About half an hour from where we go to school, my then-roommate Zara saw something on the road. "Amanda. Something. Dog. DOG DOG DOGDOGAMANDASTOP!!!".

Screeeeeech. Bump. Amanda thought she'd hit whatever was out there, so she pulled over to make sure it was okay. Turns out, the dog didn't have a scratch on him! He was skinny and muddy, but didn't have any ID on him - just one way-too-big-collar. He seemed OK, but he didn't have anywhere else to go, and it was freezing out - so into the car he went.

I was not in the car, but I was also on my way back to Campus from the other direction. Amanda called me to tell me not to be alarmed when I came back to the dorm - and that they were going to try to get him clean. (This is when we found out that Cooper does NOT like baths.)

I didn't get back to the dorm until 2am- and I was exhausted. I went in, ignored the furball on the floor for a moment, and flopped down on the couch. Then a big, wet, waggin' tail and some big soulful eyes came up and cuddled with me- as if he knew I wasn't feeling well.

In that moment, it was all over. He was my dog. I knew it.

Ignore my icky-gross face. Like I said. 2am.

Over the next few weeks, we put up ads, asked around all the towns, posted on Facebook - nobody knew where this dog was from. When we went back to the town Amanda found him in, the majority of people say he was probably dumped there by someone who didn't want their dog. Apparently it 'happens all the time'. How sad.

That dog-dumping jerk's loss is my gain, though - because I have one of the most wonderful pups in the world. He has such a soul and a personality. It took him a long time to come out of his shell, and he's still afraid of a lot of things (running water, loud noises, big men...and the car. Don't get me -started- on the car.) but I couldn't be happier with this big ol' love of mine.

He is a doofus.

For a quick reference, here is what he looked like the day after we found him:

Doesn't he look so sad?

And this is what he looked like this summer. Much, much happier. A lot less afraid. And surrounded by love, from now on.

A laid-back dude. It's a dog's life.

So that's my Cooper. How did you get your pet, if you have one?

Askesian? Huh?! What's that?

So I decided to call this blog, Askesian Adventures....

So, what exactly does "Askesian" mean?

Askesian is a word that my first-grade teacher taught me - in her words, it means someone who's constantly looking for knowledge, constantly seeking answers, and truly enjoys learning.

From Wikipedia: "The Askesian Society was a debating club for scientific thinkers, established in 1796 in London. The name was taken from the greek term Askesis, meaning 'training' or 'application'.

I -definitely- don't want to sound pretentious or anything, but I do love learning, I love teaching, and I love mentoring. And this is a blog about my adventures through life/whatever else I want to talk about. 

Therefore, I think it fits. 

Askesian Adventures it is!

Hello World!

Greetings!

I've finally decided that a blog is something I want to keep up with. So I'm going to do a real, honest-to-goodness introduction to myself.

Hi!

My name is Libby Kamen. I'm currently a senior at Clarkson University studying Communications & Media. My passions are FIRST Robotics, photography, figure skating, and a whole host of other wonderfully nerdy things like reading and video games.

So why start this blog? Because I'm starting a new chapter of my life in the coming months and I want to have something as a chronicle of these exciting, crazy, mile-a-minute times that I'm living right now.

My hope is to post at least twice a week, on... whatever it strikes me to write about!

Some things in my life right now, that you'll probably be hearing about as this project goes along:

These are my parents. They're awesome. 

My mom is my biggest fan and supporter. We always love each other - even if we don't always like each other. (That's what she used to say to me when I was little.) And that's okay. She's a speech pathologist who works on rehabilitating people with all different sorts of needs. To my friends, she's Dr. Mom! My dad just passed away this past September. He was a brilliant pediatric oncologist, researcher, scientist, awesome dad, caring husband and overall just the best person. He's my superhero. I still talk to him every day.

Cooper and Hobbes.

These two little guys are how I became a crazy dog lady. We had a golden retriever when I was a kid, and I loved her, but Hobbes and Coop are like children to me. Hobbes lives with my mom, and Cooper lives with me at college. They're really good buddies though, and when I come home they're both pretty happy. I love my puppies! Expect a zillion too many pictures of them on this blog.

And last, but not least, Robots.

That's right, ROBOTS! I've been involved in FIRST Robotics for literally my entire life. I love robots, I love mentoring, I love the competition... it's just a huge part of my life that I will probably never give up. But that merits quite a few posts on its own. (I also blog for Clarkson University's FIRST Robotics SPEED Teams over here)

Anyway. That's just a little bit (or a lot) about me, and I hope you'll stick around to see what's to come!

- Libby