Spring Break Fun

Sorry I haven't posted these sooner. I've had them ready (edited, resized, etc) for a couple of days, I just haven't had the time to sit down and post. I've been crazy busy with a new class, getting things ready for the next craft fair on May 8th, and starting my new workout program.

Robert bought me Wii Active More Workouts, the sequel to the 30 day challenge I completed before. It has all new exercises, including some for your abs, which the other didn't have at all. After the first two days, my abs are killing me! Last night I woke up every time I moved in my sleep because I was so sore. This program is 6 weeks long, and I'm really enjoying it. It has fun things like water skiing and obstacle courses and squash.

Also, I've quit Project 365. I realized that all the pictures I've been taking here at school are boring and silly. I mean, who really wants to see a picture of a paper I wrote? Not me. I did get a ton of great photos while I was home, however. Here are a bunch of my favorites.

I did it!

Today was my last workout of the Wii Active 30 Day Challenge! I'm so glad to be finished. If you know me, you know that I hate exercise. Unless, of course, it comes in a fun package like basketball or ice broomball or something like that. And as much as EA Active likes to pretend like it's a really fun Wii game and not just a workout, I think it's more of a workout. I completed the challenge on medium intensity. I'm taking a rest day and then starting the 30 day challenge again, this time on high intensity. Wish me luck!

On to P365...I've been crocheting, sometimes. I think this looks kind of like Bones from all the Mario games.
I've also been watching the Olympics! It's fun to sit and crochet and wish that I could figure skate or ski or bobsled or something.

I got these on Monday. They were supposed to be delivered on Saturday, but I wasn't home when they came by, so it was delayed. By the time I got them the ice pack had melted and the chocolate was about to start melting, too! You can see them sweating.

On my walk towards my last crochet lesson yesterday, I came across two deer in the middle of the road. They then jumped over a fence into someone's front yard, where they were eating birdseed that had fallen from a feeder onto the ground. They didn't even run away when I came right up beside them on the other sde of the fence. I got pictures on my phone of both of them, but this was the best one.

And here is the bones head in a completed project. It is a dog that I was making for Becky to give to someone. I hope you like it Becky!

Block break is here!

Finally! It's been a very busy last week and a half or so. But now State and Local Government is over, and I'm enjoying a little break. I wrote something like forty pages during this block, with two essay tests and a major research paper, so I'm hoping next block won't have quite so much writing.

So now, let's catch up on P365. This should be my best friend, my favorite thing in my room. In case you can't tell, it's the controls for my heater, and in Colorado in February, heaters are needed. In this picture, it's turned up all the way, even past 5, but my room is STILL cold. Always. I can tell a difference between it being on 1 or 5, but it's just not enough. So I cuddle under blankets and wear socks and my comfy slippers.


I've spent a lot of time lately running around campus trying to get signatures for my off-campus study applications. This is in Barnes Science Center, where I was finally able to meet up with my advisor to get her signature. She teaches chemistry, but is also the head of the Southwest Studies department, which makes her busy and hard to find.

This is the best sight in the world for a college student- a care package addressed to them! I got this amazing package from Aunt Robin, and it was full of yummy snacks and other, more useful things.

Ugh. This is how my crocheting has been going lately. I'll translate a pattern, start working, and then become unsatisfied with how it's working out and just stop working on it altogether. I have probably five projects that I haven't completed just sitting on my desk. Some just have a few pieces complete and others are almost finished, like a duck that just needs her beak sewn on. I just have no motivation.

This is a typical night in my room- doing reading for class while sitting bundled up in my blanket in my comfy chair.

And the now typical outdoor scene- snow, snow, and more snow! This was Monday morning as I left class.

The best thing about being on the meal plan is being able to go by the C store and pick up anything you want. I had a big shopping trip on Tuesday, stocking up for block break in case the weather gets bad and I don't want to leave my room. I'm thinking about making bacon and egg tacos for breakfast tomorrow.

Getting ready for next block, I checked out my only book from the CC library. I've been very lucky this year and haven't had to buy many books. Instead, I check them out from the school library or request them from public libraries around here. Next block is Southwestern Arts and Culture, and our book is The Anguish of Snails. I'm a little put off by the title, but hopefully it's not too weird.

A few days ago, I got a call from a lady I'd met at the craft fair. She asked me if I'd be willing to come to her house and teach her and her two kids to crochet. Of course I said yes- I'm broke! Plus I love crocheting and kids. They live just down Tejon, so on Thursday I walked down there and we had our first lesson. It was much harder than I thought, but everyone seemed to enjoy it! I'm going back for a couple of hours Saturday morning, then again Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon. The family has the most adorable cat named Sneakers. He's black with white feet and is so sweet. It's really nice to be around kids and animals again.I got these in the mail today. Well, actually they were delivered to my building. Rob had told me he sent something, but that they would call him when they got here and he would call me, so that I could go outside and get it. They didn't call him. I heard some kids in the hallway walking past my door talking about a package outside at the front door, and I just KNEW it had to be mine, so I ran out there and sure enough, there it was propped up against the building. I'm so glad someone else didn't take them, and I have no idea how long they were out there. Once I opened it, I called Rob and was telling him how pretty they were. I sent him a picture and he called me back and said that they weren't what he ordered, so he's going to get in touch with the company and try to get some sort of refund, since he paid more for the other arrangement that I didn't get. I still think they're very pretty!

I'm excited to come home in only three and a half weeks. You guys should be ready for good times and LOTS of picture taking.

Full of energy...for now.

[January 29] I adore this peacock. He took forever to make, and I lost my motivation a thousand times, but now that he's done I love him.
[January 30] This is how I spent my Saturday. Ever heard of Hidden Object Games? It's kind of like interactive I Spy on the computer, and I get sucked in for hours at a time. It's a bad, bad habit that will keep you (and by you I mean me) from getting anything useful or productive done!

[January 31] I should be doing something productive like digging myself out of the mountain of paperwork that is piling up around me. Class paperwork, applications, notes, tests, request forms...it just keeps stacking up and it's driving me crazy!

[February 1] As far as weather goes, it's been cold but beautiful here. Mornings are especially chilly, but it warms up a little by the time I get out of class and you get gorgeous views like this one. Those lights are the stadium lights over our soccer field. So when you're sitting in the stands, watching a game, you can look up and see this:

[February 2] So I did actually get something done...I sorted and detangled my yarn. I found this Sterilite container by the trash can here at the Inn, in perfect condition. It has the box that it slides into, too, I just thought you could see my organized yarn better this way. It's a big container and it fits all of my "good yarn" perfectly. Just seeing this makes me happy.

I hope everyone's doing well. I've got a ton of things to do in the next week and a half (and then this block is OVER!) so I might not post again until block break. I really need to finish up my two applications and figure out my Senior Capstone Project plans, not to mention a twenty page research paper and a huge final exam. Oh, and Megan's 21st birthday is on Sunday. Hopefully my energy will last until block break.

Snowy weather...

I have a little time to spare, so I thought I'd get caught up. I don't really have any fanciful notions about posting every day or anything, but I figure the more I post the more I make some people (I'm talking to YOU, Mom!) happy.

Because I'm not on the meal plan, this is a view I see very often as I walk to Worner for dinner at night. The sun goes down behind the mountains around five, so it's always dark on my walk to dinner. And as much as the food in Rastall isn't amazing, they do have really yummy rolls for their "sliders". Instead of making full-size burgers and grilled chicken sandwiches, they now have a "slider bar" every day. I think it's pretty awesome. (Sorry about the crappy cell phone picture, I didn't have my real camera with me.) (January 27)
And this is what I woke up to this morning. It snowed over night and continued snowing off and on all day. It was very cold, as I'm sure you can imagine. This picture was taken from the steps of Palmer Hall as I left class around 12:00 pm. (January 28)

I met with the director of Off-Campus Studies today just after lunch. She was super enthusiatic about the Chicago program and about me going in my senior year. She said she thinks that is the best time to go because after spending so much time learning in the classroom you get to apply your knowledge in a real life setting. She was also very excited about the fact that I want to be a midwife, and gave me a lot of suggestions on things to read and places to check out to help with my Capstone Project for my major. Basically she was just amazing and so helpful. It makes me even more excited about everything!

Fuzzy headed...

I have been busy lately, but my real reason for not posting sooner? I'm lazy. I just never want to take the time to actually post. I have been taking my P365 photos, though.

But, finally, here is the promised vegetable photo!

Right now, these may be my favorite Christmas present. (Or second favorite, actually. For a minute there I forgot about the computer. Oops.) But I'm constantly wearing my cozy new slippers because it has been so cold in my room!

And yep, I'm crocheting on a regular basis again. (Which you could probably tell by the cool Etsy sidebar I put up. Neat, huh?)

A little winter weather photo. I didn't realize until after the fact that the camera on my phone had a big smudge over it. Oh well.

More crocheting. I feel like this little puppy need a nose and mouth, but I can't decide what color they should be.

And I'm back to doing my Wii workouts! (Finally.) I'm not ashamed to say they're kicking my butt, either. I've been crazy sore from all the squats and lunges and, worst of all, inline skating. You crouch down and hold in a squatting position until a jump comes, and then you jump up, landing back in a squat. Over and over again. I hate it. But the rest of the routine is usually fun!

And a little twist on my usual crocheting- I've been using a bunch of free patterns I found. The only problem is that they're Japanese patterns. Written in Japanese. Which is where the fuzzy headedness comes in. However, they have charts with symbols, and once you memorize the symbols, it's not too difficult to translate. I've just been writing the patterns out in my pattern journal as I translate them. They're SO CUTE though, so I'll go through the effort it takes to get them. (I did add the heart in on this one. He was supposed to be holding a carrot.)

So that's basically all I've been doing. Except, you know, the super exciting news I have only told a few people. I'm applying for a domestic study abroad program (What an oxy-moron, huh?) in Chicago for this coming fall semester. It's an Urban Studies program and it just looks AMAZING. You can check it out at www.acm.edu/chicago. I really hope I get in, and if I do, I'll be a Southwest Studies major and an Urban Studies minor. Plus I'll spend four months living in Chicago. The application is due on Feb 10 on campus and March 15 at the ACM office, so I won't know for a while, but wish me luck now, anyways, if you'd like!

Settling in...

It's good to be back on campus. Well, kind of. Of course I miss everyone at home, but it's good to get back into a more organized, scheduled pattern of life. Not as much fun, definitely, but less exhausting! So here are my P365 photos since my last post.

January 12- Rob and I celebrated his cousin Juanio's birthday with Juanio and his family and Pancho Villa. (Not a good idea, let me tell you. Almost everyone who drank it got sick, with the exception of me and Juanio's brother Justin.)


January 13- I ate this delicious, ginormous candy bar. (Ok, I forgot to take a picture until really late, and this is all I could come up with!)


January 14- Rob and I ate at this really yummy and unique restaurant in San Antonio.

January 15- Going away party at the Banda house.

January 16- Frozen pizza party at Mom and Dad's house.

January 17- My flight got delayed and I missed my connecting flight in Dallas. I had to take a later flight and I finally got to my room around 5 pm.

January 18- First day of class! I decided to get out of Foundations of Nonviolence and into State and Local Government.

January 19- Before class every morning we are required to read the New York Times. Luckily they have free copies in the building my class is in.

So that's basically how my life has been. I'm all unpacked and have started crocheting again because I'm in need of money. I've decided not to stress over getting off the meal plan and just stay on, which has prompted something crazy. Something you might not believe. I'm eating vegetables. Really, between yesterday and today I've had 9.5 servings of fruits and veggies. And only 3 of those were fruits! I've discovered that fresh baby spinach has no taste. And broccoli isn't THE most disgusting thing in the world. And I really do like carrots.

See? I told you that you wouldn't believe me. Just wait until tomorrow's photo of the day. I'll show you.