A set of bangs for a week of change...

 

I love, I love, I love MOUNTAINS! And I have to say, Mt. Rainier is one very large and pretty mountain. I had the opportunity to go snowshoeing with my ward and I am glad I took advantage because it was nothing short of awesomely amazing!

 

We didn't hike too far; apparently it takes about two days to hike to the top, but we went on a pretty good loop and had lots of time to play in the snow. Because picking fights in the snow seems to be a feat that I am particularly skilled in, I was quite wet on the ride home but it was all worth it for the fun I had tumbling in the snow.

In other news, it is almost finals week which means it is almost time for me to head off to New York for spring break. Nilly called earlier today to confirm with me that we will be going to Boston while I am there and I am beyond excited to see another cool old city. 

As many of you may have heard--or read on my facebook-- that I now have bangs. I am still not used to them but I think I like them. I doubt very much that I will try to maintain them however; just letting them grow out slowly will probably work best for me. 

They have improved a bit in this past week, but here is what they looked like on the day I got them cut.

 

Yes I look a little scared by them, but that is because I have never done something so daring and new with my hair since I basically chopped it all of when I was three. I know I cut my own hair a lot as a kid but never this drastically...which is why I left it to the professionals and had someone else do it in exchange for a few of those lovely green bills of paper that seem to keep the world spinning round. Oh how I hate money.

With finals in just one short week, I fear I shall not be able to contain my anticipation for my flight across the country. My head may explode but...

Such is Life.

Sunshine. Oh, that which makes a smile come to my face!

Sun? Flowers blooming? People tanning in the sunshine? Aren't such things unheard of in Seattle?
Apparently not.
For the last four glorious days it has been sunny and warm. I have worn shorts, flip flops, and T-shirts every day--not that such attire is unusual for me, but it has actually been warm enough to do so by normal people standards.
I had forgotten how much I love the sun and the warmth it provides while walking from classes to work or over to the bus stop. I have been taking advantage of every moment of my time in the sunshine by doing my homework outside and walking around as often as possible. Even though I rarely have time during the day to sit outside, I have been making time just because I know the sun won't last for long; it is scheduled to rain tomorrow in fact.
School is currently going quite well, I do have many papers and large amounts of reading to get done of course but I find that having the sunshine around to inspire me has made actually doing my homework a whole lot easier.
Work is work but of course I enjoy it because half the time I am walking around campus to post fliers or in the office coloring posters for our next scheduled event. My boss is, to say the least, the coolest boss I have ever had in an office type job and therefore work really isn't too much of a bother.
I am finding it hard to squeeze in time to write my articles for the newspaper--let alone do any personal writing--but I doing my best to not let such habits die. Being in a city as amazing as Seattle has definitely been a large contributor to the expanse of my imagination and I find I have been coming up with several more ideas of things I want to write about.
On Sunday I had the pleasure of going to the park with some of my friends after church. Having that small amount of time to blow off steam and run around with the energy of a small child seemed to me a great blessing bestowed by the fact that I have promised not to do homework on Sundays anymore. Having a day of relaxation, rest from school, and time to focus on the spirit really does bring about unexpected happiness.

It makes me wish that every day could be like Sunday, but then again I would probably get bored of that after a while as well.
 I have lately been looking into what classes I am going to take for next quarter and I cam across a geology course that sounds absolutely amazing. It is required for core curriculum to take a lab science class, and while I considered taking something like chemistry; the idea of being stuck in a lab for three hours a day twice a week made me very resistant. So when I came across a geology course that on its description stated that much of the class is expected to be held outside and include a number of feild trips, I couldn't resist signing up. I am actually excited to take a science course!
Other than that, my life has remained much the same as ever. I do not expect for any exciting new developments to take place in the near future but if anything in the manner of note worthy change comes about, all can be assured that this is the place I will elaborate on it.
Now I must away to enjoy the last bit of sunshine before it again disappears behind a pack of majestic clouds until real spring comes.
Such is life...

The Philosophy of Hate and Adventure

From coast to coast I go!
Life in the Northwest is by no means boring to me yet-- in fact I have seriously been considering staying here permanently after school, or at least coming back after grad. school somewhere else-- but even so, come March and I will be jetting off to the other end of the country. That's right I am finally going to New York! I am all but literally exploding with happiness.
With a sister and a new baby on the other side of the country in one of the coolest states in the U.S. how can I not go there for my spring break? Well, clearly I couldn't not go....which is why I am going!
This quarter has had me stressed far beyond my normal capacity and I feel as though information is being forced into my head when there isn't room for it to fit; maybe I should try to forget some of those many memorized movie lines, but I am fairly sure because of how often Rennie and I repeat them...they are forever stuck in my head.
I am immensely enjoying my African History class. I am so glad that I chose to take it. I think it will really help me as I move closer to the opportunity of my study abroad. I have one of the coolest and most passionate teachers I have ever met and that simply makes it all the better. I don't know what I would do if I were forced to attend a large university; large classes where the teacher doesn't know me personally is a something I could never deal with.
My English class is of course going well, I can't help but love it because it is all reading and writing, so that's enough about that.
As for my third major class, I hate my life. Philosophy has become the bane of my existence! I guess you could say that the ideas behind it and the fact that people are acknowledging how little they know is cool; but talking in circles about the idea of whether or not I am seen because I am being seen or just because I am something seen has to be the most pointless and boring way to spend two hours twice a week. Maybe philosophy is just not my forte, I don't really know, all I know is that it makes me very tired, hungry, and bored.
As this weekend is a long weekend and Valentine's Day I am hoping to do something exciting, but we'll see if that actually ends up happening. As it is I am now officially broke because I just bought a plane ticket to New York.

I can't express enough how excited I am for summer. The thought of having time and sunshine to go hiking and exploring all over the place again is wonderful. No homework or other school related worries to deal with will allow my mind a much needed break. Plus I will get to see all the lovely people that read this, namely my family and best friend all of which I am beyond excited to see again.
However, seeing as how I still have another quarter to learn and grow, stress and work, play and lose sleep through.... I guess I will have to wait for all that excitement. But I am not worried, I live in one of the most beautiful cities I know of.
Such is life...

Holidays of days gone past

Christmas break was to say the very least, AMAZING!
I was so happy I got to see the whole family and spend some quality time on the slopes with Rennie and Nile. Being back home was great but being back here at home is even better than I expected. I am finally adjusted and comfortable in my new quarter's classes and though once again they are unbelievably hard, I am enjoying them completely.

In other news, I have discovered real pain, pain enough to make me go to the ER on a Sunday night and get prescribed to be on doppey drugs for a week. I still don't completely understand what is wrong with me but the basics are that my back really really hurts! It's miserable and even worse is the fact that the prescription makes me tired all the time.
It is easy to tell from this short little blog that not a lot of exciting things are happening yet for me this quarter but we never know what the future holds, and I look forward to finding out. In the meantime, here are some pictures from the winter season to keep everyone happy! Lata!

SL whUT?

Some people say you can never go home again. Others say you never leave home. I disagree with both. I definitely left and I am defeinetly back--with all literal and philisophical or whatever meanings included.
I have no official home and yet just being back in the city I grew up is me being home. It's true that a lot changed while I was gone but at the same time there is so much that is still the same that it doesn't seem to matter that so many things have changed. In all honesty, the biggest shock in my mind is the fact that the freeway is done.
I am proud to say that I think I survived finals incredibly well and I may even be able to pull off a 4.0....but at the very least a 3.8. Finals were tough to say the least but at the same time they weren't quite as bad as I had been expecting. I guess wathcing my sisters and cousins and older friends go through them made them look like the end of the world or H-E-double-hockey-sticks, but once they were all over and the last paper had been submitted, I started to laaugh at myself for thingking they would ever be that bad.
being home is in many ways very strange, mostly because I don't have pressure on me all day to be doing work or homework and I don't have to be running to classes, nope, I just get to sit and relax--a feat that has become somewhat unerveing. I do have time to read my nwe books now though so that makes me beyond happy.
After being at sea level for the last three months, it is surprisingly hard to come back here and try to run outside and be out of breath within half a mile. I miss the dense are that surrounds me at sea level. I think running here will give me exercise induced asthma.
Other than these updates, not a lot has happened yet. I have yet to see my friends and Nilly and Paul don't fly in until Wednesday so hopefully things will become more exciting after that.
Tata for now!