Kansas City!

Last week I got to visit Benji in KC. His team, the Amarillo Sox, was playing the KC T-Bones. We had a blast together. The T-Bones put us up in an awesome hotel downtown, we rented a Dodge Challenger, and had delicious ribs at Jack Stack's BBQ. We also made a trip to the WWI Museum, the KC Zoo, and caught a movie at one of those theaters full of recliners, full menus, and servers. 

The weather, on the other hand, was not awesome. It was at least 100 degrees everyday, and I think I showered a minimum of 4x a day. Heat aside, we had a good time.

Waiting for Summer

I'm sitting here in the kitchen trying to work on a paper due Tuesday. I have been working on this paper all semester, and right now, I am so over it. It's at about 20 pages and I have to add 10 more. And, I have to rewrite the first 20 to respond to my professors comments and corrections. I really can't seem to stay focused on it for more than 15-20 minutes before I open a new tab to potterybarn.com or website that is more interesting than this paper.

Speaking of websites, I discovered my two, new favorite sites! My sister, Becca, told me about weheartit.com. It's a site that lets you click on pictures from other sites and it will save them all to one page on their site. So, it is perfect for DIYers like me who are always finding inspiration online for new projects. I love it. The other website, it younghouselove.com. I LOVE this website. It's a site by a young, married couple who seem to spend all their time doing projects and decorating their house--my kind of people! Seriously, though, they have instructions (complete with photos) on how to do nearly any project around the home. They also have a tab all about their wedding which was adorable and done completely by them. The even designed and printed off the invitations themselves! I told you they are my kind of people!

Benji and I have been getting ready to do our backyard! So far, our yard has been nothing but partly grown in grass and a random grill. We finally got approved for a fence, and lucky for us, our neighbors on each side started putting in their own fences about two hours before we got approved. so, now all we have to do is put in the front part! So exciting. I have been drawing up landscaping ideas in my spare time. And my not so spare time. The conversation set I want to order is temporarily out of stock. It's killing me because I am the most impatient person when it comes to projects. I want to order it now so I can get started on picking out plants and accessories, but I am going to have to wait. I hope it comes in soon. Especially since I will have to wait at least another 2 weeks after it's ordered for it to ship here.

I'll try to collect photos of the transformation process to give you a full before and after once we are done.

The Office

A last minute, fifteen-page paper and packing for a 10 day trip to South America did this to our office:

Messy floor....

All my crap ready to be put in my bag

This is what our desk looks like.

I think the paper is coming on the trip, unfortunately.

Spring Break

I went to the first class meeting associated with my Galapagos Islands spring break trip last night (PP495), and I could not be more excited about it! I am really looking forward to exploring all the animals and seeing the volcanoes. If I were to chose a trip for spring break, I probably would have picked something in Europe (even though I've been there 3 times already because I am obsessed with it) so I am glad the availability of spring break trips worth 3 credit hours were limited to just two--one of which I had already been on so it was not an option. I really had no choice of where to go. When I was looking for trips I found nothing that fit into the spring break time frame and offered three credits. I found a ton worth 1 credit, but I had to get 3 to graduate. Right before I found this trip, I was getting so desperate I was willing to go anywhere--except for maybe Juarez or Kandahar. But, really, I was willing to go anywhere in the world, if I could just get three credits...and then, alas! I found a professor at State who had been on a trip to Belize last year for 3 credits. Though he had no trip posted anywhere, I emailed him to see if he was planning something (this was last year in the spring). Sure enough, he was! Lucky for me, he had this trip in mind. I am so excited because it is not something I would have picked. I would have probably never made a trip of my own accord to see these fascinating islands brought into existence through volcanic eruption beneath the sea...and now that I have learned a little bit about them, I know how much I would have been missing out on. In 1978, the Galápagos Islands were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in recognition of their “outstanding value to humanity." There are so many animals who reside in peace and have remained relatively untouched by human development. This has given these animals a sense of fearlessness. According to my professor, you can walk right up to them and touch them...and they are totally okay with it. He even said sea lions will swim right between your legs! Coming from the San Francisco Bay Area, that sounds crazy to me! and really scary to be honest. Nonetheless, I am super excited to see them closeup...especially the babies!

how adorable!

Apparently, penguins from the Antarctica even live in the Galapagos. Scientists claim at one time a huge piece of an iceburg cracked (full of penguins), and it floated all the way to the islands. The Humboldt Current keeps a steady flow of sardines flowing from the icy south up and over to the islands to feed these little guys.

Last summer, scientists found a new species, and the place they found it was on Wolf Volcano on Isabela island in the Galapagos Islands. It is so weird to me that we are still discovering species. Anyway, it was a pink iguana and the only place in the world that it lives is on that volcano. Maybe we will see it. That would be cool.
I'm really looking forward to taking pictures out there--as well as totally nervous about breaking my camera. Hopefully, only the former will happen.
Here is a map for anyone wondering where these islands are. They are right off the coast of Ecuador--about 600 miles out.

Saying Goodbye

My sister has been here in NC staying with us since January 7th. She is flying home to San Francisco on Thursday, and I am so sad to see her go! She got here two days before my spring semester started, and with work everyday I'm not in class, I feel like I we haven't got to do as much as I'd hoped. It was still so fun seeing her everyday! For the past 6 years, I've only got to see her 1-3 times a year so this was a nice treat.

Best of luck on this new chapter, Tee! We love you!
Me & Tee (and our mom) on Thanksgiving

Can't My Paper Just Write Itself?

I wish it would. It is funny because lately I've found an interest in random books, history, poems, etc....you know, things one would most likely have to read in college. Well, the funny part is that I've been thinking to myself, "Man, if only I had more time, I would totally read (insert said book)"...but then I think, "Wait, this is the same kind of stuff I am assigned to read...so maybe I can just try to enjoy my homework!" But, nope.

I'm not sure why this semester is completely miserable, but for some reason I am just over it. I am counting down the remaining weeks. I think it might be so terrible because all of my classes this semester are NOT interesting. At All. Could be why....now back to that paper.

The Nile Perch

I am busy writing a paper for my sociology class: Current Social Problems (totally uplifting course, I know). After about an hour of research with little information to show for my efforts, I adopted a negative attitude toward writing this paper. UGH. Right? Well, now I am reading about these kids in Tanzania...and by kids, I mean about 10-17 years old...most of them orphans with nothing at all to eat--orphans whose parents fell victim to the AIDS epidemic. They have literally nowhere to sleep and nothing at all to eat; these kids sniff melted plastic to sleep soundly through the night on the streets. This isn't the story of a few homeless kids...this is the reality for thousands and thousands of people in Tanzania. It is a serious problem heavily impacted by the non-stop spreading of AIDS. It is unbelievable. It completely breaks my heart.
36% of the population in Tanzania is living way below the country's established poverty line--which I can only assume is way lower than our established poverty line.

I am thankful I have to write this paper...thankful that writing this paper is my biggest worry at the moment. I'm lucky to live where I live and to be in school. I'm thankful I have the opportunity to write papers. Sometimes it is so easy to forget everything we have. It is easy to take things for granted...so easy to think of opportunities as burdens.

If you haven't seen it, you should watch this movie