P.S.

Don't forget, please stop by my Blog Yard Sale and peruse the virtual shelves!!

Out and about

Today is a beautiful day, and I had some serious cabin fever, so I went for a nice walk at a local park. It was so pretty! I saw a big woodpecker, but he flew away before I could get a picture.

Next, I went to the other side of town to another park that I haven't been to in YEARS! There's a little pond there with lots of little fish in it.

And apparently one BIG carp!

And then, I went to the Goodwill and found the best thing ever!! I have been looking everywhere for a couple of weeks for a doughnut pan, and haven't been able to find one anywhere! So when I saw one sitting on a shelf, I literally gasped and snatched it up! So when I got home, I just had to try out a vegan doughnut recipe, and voila! Little mini doughnuts!

And last, here's a pretty peony I picked from the garden yesterday. My favorite!

Blog-Yard Sale!

Since I'm going to be moving wayyy down to Texas soon, I've been going through my clothes to try to cut-down on what I'll have to pack and take with me! Unfortunately, where I live right now is NOT a good place for a yard sale - I live on top of a mountain! So I thought that perhaps I would put some of my things up on here, like a virtual yard sale.

Its really easy - I'm just going to put up some pictures of things that I'm getting rid of, and if anyone is interested, just claim it with a comment! First to claim it, gets it! I'll send you an email after you claim something to verify that it is yours, and to get the address you want the item shipped to. You initiate a payment to me though PayPal, and once I receive payment, I'll ship your item! Easy-peasy! And, the prices shown include shipping. Sorry to international readers, but since the prices here are low, this Blog-Yard Sale is open to U.S. readers only, please!

I just want to get rid of as much as I can because I really don't think I'm going to be able to fit all of my stuff in my tiny car, and I don't want to shell out $1000 to rent a Uhaul!

Arizona Jeans brand brown corduroys, size 3 (short). These are SHORT length, so they're good for people who are vertically challenged, like myself! The inseam is about 29".

$5.00 

You can see there is slight wear to the bottom hem (back side).

52 Weekends brand (Macy's) navy blue pointelle cardigan, junior's size Medium.

$7.00

Xhilaration brand (Target) brown skirt, size Medium. Just so you know, there's no tag - I cut it out because it was itchy!

$5.00

H&M olive green tea-length skirt, size 4.

$8.00

Forever 21 bandeau strapless bra, One-Size.

$4.00

Tattoo-design leggings, one-size.

$4.00

Black tankini 2-piece bathing suit.

Top: Size 8

Bottom: Size 6

$10.00

Turquoise and navy bathing suit cover-up or dress

Size Medium

$5.00

Xhilaration (Target) pink tuxed-ruffle bra, size 34 A. Brand new, never worn. It a little too small for me, and I never got around to taking it back to the store! Still has the tags on it.

$5.00

I have lots more, including shoes and purses, so I'll do a separate post for those. Remember, if you want something, claim it in the comments, and wait for me to email you with confirmation.

Feel free to ask about any item, or if you want to make me an offer, let me know!

If I were a rich girl

OK, I want everything at Anthropologie right now. Especially those curtains....maps + fish? Perfection!

Fuzzy

Having a lazy afternoon, lounging in bed with fuzzy wuzzies like this little guy. Apparently we're keeping little Cosmo. All of his brothers and sisters found homes with lovely people, but my sister just fell in love with Cosmo, and so have we all, so it looks like (s?)he's here to stay. It seems that little Cosmo prefers my bed...

I have been SOOO exhausted yesterday and today - its just so darn HOT, and being out in the field for a few hours each morning just sucks the energy right out of me! Yesterday after class I ended up hauling lumber for Dr. C (yes, literally carrying stacks of 2x4s) for a project he's doing at the elementary school on campus. I was the only girl there, and I'm rather small. I'm pretty strong though, and I don't mind getting my hands dirty. It was so hot though, so I think I'm still recovering.

In hot weather, I can't even fathom eating savory foods - I want fresh fruit, cool salads, and sparkling water. I went strawberry picking on Tuesday, so I've been having homemade fruit smoothies every day this week! Strawberry-mango-blueberry is my favorite right now.

I Love the Ocean, and a few other things.

I realized, for no real reason today, that I have an overabundance of books about ocean-y things. I mean, of course I'm not totally shocked because I have always been a little obsessed with the ocean, but I didn't realize until today how overwhelmingly aquatic my tendencies are! And, as I'm writing this, I'm wearing a tshirt from Pennekamp. It has a diver and an octopus on it. Hahaha.

This is probably my most favorite stack of books ever. Its all of my fish field guides, my Chesapeake Bay field guide (one of the best field guides ever, in my opinion), my actual field books from various field work I've done, and a bunch of Ray Troll books. Love.

See the ship peeking out from behind my basket of feathers and Physics for Dummies book? haha!

I love books!

After class today I went shopping for a birthday present for my friend Mary. Her birthday was on Friday, but we made plans to hang out tomorrow afternoon so I'm giving her her presents then. I found the most perfect gift for her! (Don't peek, Mary!) It suits her in so many ways, hehe.

I also picked up the cutest lip balm in the entire world.

It was a 2 pack, plus it came with the cute bunny-girl lid keychain thing. And, its delicious: strawberry-banana AND carrot cake! Mmm!

I also picked up a new toy for my doggies, although they won't play together like they're supposed to. Daisy is too submissive most of the time so when Duffy has it and wants her to chase him, she just gives up. She did get it for a little while, and then fell asleep on my bed cuddling with it.

Holy guacamole

Mmmm, I made some homemade guacamole for the first time today! I'm house/pet-sitting for my advisor this weekend; they told me to eat up the fresh fruit that was left on the counter so it wouldn't go bad, and luckily there were a few really ripe avocadoes. I looked up some easy guacamole recipes, and whipped up a fresh batch this morning. It is absolutely delicious, if I may say so myself!

Here's the recipe. I didn't measure anything, so everything is "to taste".

2 avocadoes

About 1/4 cup of salsa

A dash of chili powder

A dash of garlic powder

A little cumin

Mash up the avocadoes with a form, stir in everything else, and refrigerate! Voila! Delicious guacamole!

Avocadoes are at the top of my list of favorite foods, and so is guacamole, by extension. Mmm!

Not sure what my plans for the rest of the day are...its kind of a cloudy, ugly day so I think my plans for sitting out on the deck and reading some articles for school have been foiled. I was thinking about going over to the Amish discount grocery store - they always have great deals!! Maybe in a little while... I already watched a movie this morning, called Rory O'Shea Was Here (or Inside I'm Dancing, according to IMDB..??). Good movie!

Today was a rainy, yucky day - perfect for spending time in the field! (not)

It was the first day of my Field Techniques class - 4 hours a day, every day, in the great outdoors. I was smart and took a change of socks in case my shoes got wet, but..... well, when your shoes are wet, your socks don't tend to stay dry for very long. Oh well, its the thought that counts. So I had wet pant-legs and feet most of the day. Class ended at noon but I ended up hanging out with Dr. C for a little while after class, and then went over to the elementary school and gave a little impromptu presentation about how cool the ocean is to a 3rd grade class. See what I mean about being Chief Slave to my advisor? His will is my command, but...truth be told, its always fun. ;)

Anyway, we finished up there around 2:30 and picked his kids up from school; I got my stuff out of his office, and then I waited around campus for my youngest sister to call me. Her high school Envirothon (basically Ecology Trivia) team came to campus to check out some bird specimens (practice identification - they're going to compete in states next week!) and soil samples. I hung out with them while they were looking at the birds, but by that time it was about 4:30 and I hadn't eaten anything all day...literally. I was actually feeling REALLY sick (my blood sugar gets really low if I don't eat about every 2 hours!) so I went home. Got home around 5:30, ate some dinner, and did homework until about an hour ago! Field Techniques is going to be an intense class - I expect to spend about 3-4 hours every day reading and preparing for the next day's class, on TOP of the 4 hours we spend in the field every day.

Anyway, no pictures to show today. Maybe tomorrow I'll take my camera out in the field and get some pictures of the site - its an old reservoir that was decommissioned about 5 years ago; its amazing how many trees and things have grown in only 5 years! Nature is fun.

Lately

We went to the Waco Zoo on my last day in Texas. It was really fun, and I got to snap some cool pictures.

***

I did a lot of shopping this weekend. I needed to get some field-appropriate clothing for my Field Techniques course I'm starting tomorrow. And, uh, I'm sort-of a "field scientist" - how have I managed to not have field clothes until now? I have no idea!

Anyway, being 5'2" and 113 lbs. apparently makes me child-sized. Womens' sizes DO NOT FIT...not even Petites!! So I figured out that I wear kids' size 14/16, and was able to get some really great stuff for CHEAP! Kids' clothes are much cheaper than adult clothes, as luck would have it! My dad and I went to the outlets yesterday. I wanted some lightweight, sun-blocking shirts. The womens' shirts were $30 (on sale!!) and the size XS was absolutely enormous on me! So I looked in the little boys' section, and found the exact same shirts (except with snaps instead of buttons up the front, haha!) for $15, and they fit me!! I ended up buying boys' size Small!! Haha! But I got 2 shirts for the price of one womens' shirt, so that was cool!

I found some great rip-stop pants (with zip-off legs, too) at L.L. Bean.... little kids' sizes, again! But they were only $25 and $18!! Not bad! And I actually really like the one pair...they're grey plaid, and pretty freaking cool. Hahaha. So I will be dressed in head-to-toe kids' clothing for the next 3 weeks. Awesome.

My pants are like that, except grey, and they don't have cargo pockets.

I also got some awesome glittery nail polish!! I painted my nails gold today... the day before Field Techniques starts, hahaha.

***

And, finally, I have spent the past few evenings searching through online journal databases for any and all articles about mangroves, seagrasses, and coral reefs and their roles in wave attenuation.

Workin', workin', workin'!!

Back to the griiiiind

Well, I'm back from Texas... it was a very successful trip! Its late, so I will try to pop back in tomorrow with all of the details. Let's just say that I have a looooottttt of work to do.

I went shopping for some field clothes with Pat today, since we start a Field Techniques course this week. I discovered that childrens' outdoor clothing (Columbia, North Face, etc.) fits me much better than womens' sizes! And, they're muuuuch cheaper!! I'm going to the Columbia outlet tomorrow to see if I can score some cheap kids' pants, haha. I got a bunch of great stuff at Marshalls - a lightweight UV-protection Columbia jacket for only $24, and the most comfortable clothing in the entire world (no joke). I got yoga pants (not that I do yoga) and a great, lightweight long-sleeved shirt that is anti-microbial, sweat-wicking, UV-protecting, and all-around awesome. Ooh, and I got some new hiking shoes!

I bought the kids' size, and they were only $39 as compared to $99 for the exact same pair of shoes in womens' sizes! Sweeeet.

I really do enjoy being petite! :)

I went to a book sale at a local womens' college and boy, did I get a BUNCH of books.

I spent about $50, but I got like 43 books, so....

Here's what all I got.

Today

Well, my day got a little better as it went on. I find that I feel much less anxious and stressed when I'm at school....isn't that strange? I would think the opposite would be true for most people, but for me, its when I'm at home that I really start to freak out.  I think its because I'm very focused on the task at hand when I'm at school, and at home I tend to have more distractions and time to think about things. I think its a very good thing that I will be busy all summer. It will give me some time to clear my head.

Anyway, I got some important stuff done today. I love crossing items off of my list! Today, I:

 1. Went to the bank

2. Requested transcripts ONE LAST TIME (this one with updated grades for this semester)

3. Got my internship paperwork all taken care of

4. Took my Latin America final (ehhhh), only one more to go (tomorrow)!

5. Bought some mailers to ship out my sold textbooks

6. Put gas in my car

7. Drank some Tazo Passion tea

8. Started studying for tomorrow's final - last one!!!

9. got an email from my friend Katie in Austin - I'm really excited to hang out while I'm in Texas next week!

10. And, I picked a poppy from my yard and put it in a vase on my dresser. One flower can really brighten up a room!

Here's an olddd picture (2008!) of some pretty flowers I picked from my garden...

Well, I suppose all-in-all it has been an OK day. I still feel a little bummed-out but I have adopted a new mantra for times when I feel super-panicky about everything:

This will pass.

Because it will. I repeat it to myself when my heart starts pounding, and my face gets flushed, and sure enough, it does pass. I'll survive. Its OK. Sometimes I talk to myself after that (everybody does it, so don't laugh!) - about everything that I have accomplished because of MY skills/intelligence/talents, whatever. I did these things. And I can and WILL continue to be successful, with or without him. I don't question my abilities to succeed, sometimes its just hard to go through the day. But when I think about and list-out (or say aloud) all of my achievements or things I'm proud of about myself, then I feel much better about going through my day. Alone. But OK.

This morning, I just feel like I want to die. OK, not literally, but I'm feeling pretty bad. He emailed me very briefly yesterday to ask if I have one of his books. That's the first I've heard from him in about 3 weeks. I was pretty messed up after that. Then I dreamt about him all night (like always), and I just feel terrible when I wake up in the morning. Nervous, anxious, sad, angry....everything.

I have to study for my Latin America exam today - the exam isn't until 3:30 this afternoon so I have plenty of time to study and maybe even take a few breaks in between.

The good news is that I sold a textbook on Amazon today. Yay.

Sorry to be so gloomy. Maybe I will stop back by later and blog something that is a little bit happier.

Random

I dumped my camera card today...here are some pictures from the past week or so that I forgot I took!

This was in the wheel-well of my dad's truck! So pretty.

And, apparently its time to clean out/open the pool...these ducks think that it is a pond.

Here's the crap I had in my purse last week. Kind of a random assortment of stuff.

Wallet, iPod, mini sticky notes, Oskri coconut bar, a pen, cell phone, hand lotion, a waterproof field notebook (still blank!), and THREE chapsticks. Pink grapefruit (VS PINK), Tangerine (Down to Earth), Peppermint (Burt's Bees).

What do you lug around with you all day? 

*****

I've had an awesome day so far! I had an assessment (read: NOT an exam, it was just an assessment of my overall experience in my major for my Seminar class!) at 8:00 this morning. My sister and I both finished our 8 a.m. stuff by like 9:00, so we went to Target to get some stuff (I got some glittery nail polish, but I'm still searching for the PERFECT kind), and went to Panera Bread for lunch. Mmmm it was so good and the girl there was super-helpful figuring out what was vegan AND she dug-out some soymilk for my coffee! Thanks, Panera Bread girl! Then, we went back to campus and sat outside on the big Adirondack chairs on the lawn. We were out there for about 1/2 hour, I think. I got a sunburn. Its time to start carrying my sunscreen with me! Oi.

I had my Computers final at 1:00. Easy. Done by 1:25, so sister and I went to the thrift store down the street from campus. She bought matching sheets to the ones that I bought there last week, haha.

Now, I'm waiting to hear back from my friend about maybe going to grab a beer at Good-ta-Go later this evening - that would be a perfect way to finish out the day. I have my Latin America final at 3:30 tomorrow, and Econ. at 1:00 on Thursday, then I'm DOOOOOOONE. Awesome.

Doooooone

Ohhh, I am soooooo glad that today is over!!

I had my big, cumulative GIS exam and then handed in a huuuge stack of work for my Sed. class, and now its all downhill from here! Woohoo!

And now, some images (all via) that made me feel happy today.

Glitter!!

Pretty trees... its finally Spring here!

I've started seeing butterflies here, too!

I wish I had a mineral collection like this one!

I love glittery nail polish! I need some more....

Well, that's it. What a great way to end a crazy Monday!

Its only 7:30 on a Monday morning....

...and I'm already taking a break from studying!!

I've been looking over my GIS notes for about an hour now, and its time for another cup of coffee and a little break so my brain can absorb all of the stuff I've read over! Ugh. This is my only cumulative final, and its going to be a doozy.

Look what my friend Pat found in her yard yesterday! How adorable is that? She actually found 2, and one still had its little egg-tooth! Sooooo cuuuuute!! She put them in the pool (on top of the pool cover), which is pretty much a pond right now and has about 2 million tadpoles living in it right now, too.

Its an icky, rainy day here. I think its supposed to clear up by noon, but I wish the sun would come out NOW. Cloudy rainy days make me sleepy; I just want to curl up in my cozy bed with my doggies (who are already curled up here and waiting for me snuggle with them!).

Look what I can do!

I made some digital diagrams for a couple of Sed. papers today that I'm pretty proud of. Here's my best one. Its a "birdfoot" delta (like the Mississippi River delta). I made that! Isn't it kind of cool? Haha.

I've had a crazy past couple of days, and this next week isn't going to be a whole lot better...its Finals Week! Oh noooooo!

But at least it will all be over soon, phew!

Today I let myself sleep in and didn't wake up until 8:00 (yes, that IS sleeping in!). My mom made me yummy pancakes for breakfast, I drank 2 cups of coffee, helped my dad work on the lawnmower for just a few minutes, then started working on Sed. stuff around 10:30 or 11:00 this morning. I didn't finish until 4:30. I still need to look over my GIS notes for my final at 1:00 tomorrow, but I'm taking a little break. My brain is tired!

Oh, and one of our kittens went to a new home today. My sister's friend took home one of the little grey-and-white ones. One down, four to go! Anyone want a free kitten??

That's pretty much all I've done today. I'm half-watching Master and Commander on TV right now, but I'm thinking about maybe watching my most favorite movie of all time, because I haven't watched it in a few months.