Spring Semester Already???

Yikes! It's been ages since I've updated! For starters, I've cut my hair just recently so it's short now... I've got a sort of "bob" thing going now, so it has room to grow over the winter. Here is a before and after! (Sorry my hair is up in the "before", so you can't see its full craziness of length... but you get the idea.)

(BEFORE)

(AFTER!)

Besides that, here are updates on other stuff!

I just registered for my Spring Semester and Mayterm classes!! Can you believe it?? I just finished registering for my LAST college classes EVER. Probably. I mean, isn't that intense? I'm freaking out.

But regardless, I'm sure you all want to know what I'm taking next spring. :)

(By the by, I've been awake for about 38 hours now, so this entry might be a little spacey... I had a huge project for Graphic Design due today...)

I have to take my Senior Project course, (which I have not decided yet what I am going to do, so don't ask me!! I am super stressed about not knowing...) so that is the first one I'm registered for. (I don't have to wake up until 1pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays for it! Woo-hoo!)

Second, I am taking a course called "Environmental Non-Fiction"... which sounds rather boring to me, but it is my last LAF I need in order to graduate. (It's an intensive writing course.) I've heard the professor is really good though, so we'll wish for the best.

Then, I am taking Ceramics! (Which I've wanted to take for some time.) I don't actually need to take ceramics, but I need to take at least 12 credits per semester in order to be considered a full time student, and collect my financial aid, so I needed one more class. If you remember, Geoff brought home beautiful, useful things from his ceramics class last fall, including gorgeous bowls and mugs that we use daily. So, I am VERY excited to finally be able to contribute to the house as well and make pretty art pieces that we can eat and drink from. (Also, the professor who teaches that class is super sweet... I had her for 3D Design.)

Only 3 classes in the spring! Hoorah! It will be quite the relief after this hectic fall semester, let me tell you!

But I've saved the best for last...

For Mayterm, I, (and Geoff, and like 5 or 6 of my good friends,) are taking a class called "Mother Earth Chemistry", which we've greatly been looking forward to. While the name sounds deceiving, we basically brew beer, make cheese and tie dye all during the month of may! And on Fridays, we take the occasional trip down to the Hangar 24 Brewery for a tour and free beers! What could be better to end my college career? Anything? I think not.

I will have to put up photos of my self-promotional package, which was my great big project I've been working on in Advanced Graphic Design. I may even be purchasing a domain name and launching my website in the near future. When that does happen, you will definitely be the first to know, friends and family. :) It looks pretty cute so far, if I do say so myself... I just need to budget my money again so that I can afford to keep it up!

In other news, this weekend is Halloween!

My friend Angelico and I (and Geoff of course,) are throwing a big Halloween party at Angelico's house with lots of music and dancing and lights and people! I am super excited, since Geoff and I are usually not in Redlands for Halloween.

The weekend after this weekend is Geoff and my 2 YEAR Anniversary... Can you believe that? We've been together for-EVER! Hahah.. Anyway, we are planning on going to Newport Beach to spend the day and evening there celebrating together.. nothing huge, just the two of us hanging out. That should be really good for us stressed out college kids.

That's all for now! I need my sleep before I pass out on this computer...

Love to you all! <3

Old Trees, New Lifestyle

This week has been chaos.

But first, let's update everyone.

Geoff and I had a wonderful time in the Sierra Nevadas. It was cooler up in the Giant Forest, and the trees were almost fairy-tale-like in their size and appearance. The Giant Sequoias, (particularly the General Sherman,) are the largest living organisms on the planet. (I think I may have mentioned that before.) And truly, you don't fully understand until you are standing beneath them, trying ever-so-hard to not fall over backwards as you squint to see the top.

(This is one of the smaller ones, I think... just another Sequoia in the Giant Forest.)

We were out in the wilderness for about 4 days, camping at two different campsites, and swimming/bathing in the Kaweah River. (Which was freezing at first, but once you were in, it wasn't all that bad... Better than being smelly! Thank you river water and camp soap!) Despite all the other people who were there to tour the beautiful forest, it was definitely a good time for us to reconnect with nature.

(Geoff particularly enjoyed the naturally made Jacuzzi jets we found in the river, right near our swimming area!)

(Chilly and wet, but happy to be clean!)

(This is a photo I took of the roots of a tree that got overturned... really beautiful roots. I took a little series, actually, but this is just a mini of one of them.)

(And this is our touristy picture in front of the General Sherman! We FINALLY got all the children out of the way, so there wasn't anyone else in the photo.)

Anyway, there are a bunch more photos on Facebook of us on our trip, so feel free to check them out! If you don't have Facebook, or don't know what Facebook is, you are welcome to email me. (I accept special requests for emailed photos, but only if you say "pretty please".) :)

We returned to civilization just in time for school!

...which is why this week has been so chaotic. The first week of school has been super stressful for all of us here in Redlands... at least for us Seniors, anyway. It's funny how in high school, senior year you get to slack off and become lazy, eventually but inevitably contracting a disease they call "Senioritis"...and now that we are Seniors in college, it's almost the opposite. I've never worked so hard in my college career. Granted, much of that is due to the fact that I have taken on far too many activities this year.

Not only am I swamped by my Advanced Design class, (which I had homework for over the summer! Jeeze.) but this year, I am Vice President of the Photography Club, Editor of Photography for the Bulldog Weekly Newspaper, working at Bevmo on the weekend, and at the Costume Shop on Fridays... Bleh. Lots of work and responsibilities for me this year. But don't worry, I will take care of myself... if things get too intense, I'll make the sacrifice of dropping something. (Not a class... I mean an activity.) But at least I am making a few extra bucks here and there to put away for when I leave school... Geoff and I are going to need to save a lot for our move out to L.A. next summer.

As far as classes go, I'm taking Advanced Design, Chinese Calligraphy, Forensic Science, and American National Government & Politics. So far, the government class is the only one that puts me to sleep... I simply hate politics, and I know all the reasons I should want to know about it, but I just can't bring myself to become interested in it. Sigh. Oh well... I'll get through it. I need the class for an LAF requirement. (That's a Liberal Arts Foundation requirement, in case you were wondering.)

Anyway, that's all for now! I'm giving the silver Jetta back to Geoff's parents tonight, so I must bid it farewell. It has been a good partner in crime... and I will miss it. :)

Tree-bound Escape Plan

Well, the summer is coming to a close, and Geoff and I have been feeling like we have done mostly work, and very little play. ...which, I suppose, is how it will be for most of our..adult.. lives, but I don't like it one bit! I need my play time, and summer is the best time for playing. So, we've planned a little vacation for ourselves.

Next week, I've taken 4 days off so that Geoff and I could drive up to King's Canyon/Sequoia National Park. We are going to camp out there Monday - Thursday. Neither of us have been there before, (as far as I can remember anyway...) so I am quite excited. There is a tree there called the "General Sherman" that is supposed to be the largest living thing on the planet! I definitely intend to bring my camera.

Geoff and I bought a big cooler that can hold all our food for 4 days, so we can bring everything with us instead of buying things in the park that will probably cost way more. We are going to try to camp at the campground called "Cold Springs". There are no RVs or trailers allowed, and that is what we like.

I don't know how the climbing is out there, so we probably won't be doing much of that. Most of what I've heard is of large rock faces for Trad Climbing only, and with just the two of us, it's probably safer if we stick to the smaller rocks and just do some Bouldering, if we can find any. I definitely want to check out their Crystal Caves as well..

I can't wait!

Extra Crispy

Sunday, Geoff and I went to Redondo Beach with his parents, and two of his younger brothers. It was a beautiful place, but it was rather windy that particular day, so I was pretty chilly most of the time. But of course, because I was thinking about being chilly, and not feeling the intense heat of the sun, I put on ZERO sunscreen. We were there for a few hours, so needless to say, I came home looking like a lobster. ...or I guess more like a Red Panda, as I seem to have these red and white stripes all over me.

Aloe Vera has become my new best friend for the next couple of days, and while you can't see from that photo that I am burned... you will just have to take my word for it. It's mostly my back.. and the worst of it is on my butt. Which, let me tell you, is the most horrible thing to burn badly. I apologize if this is too much information for you all, but let's just say I am discovering whole new levels of pain when sitting, sleeping, and bending over. Squatting is just completely out of the question. Thank you aloe and advil.

In other news, I have a couple days off this week, so Geoff and I may go camping again in the mountains, or perhaps in the desert where we can get some more climbing in, if my body heals in time. Let's hope so!

Photos and Such

Many apologies for keeping you all waiting on those photos of the apartment here in sunny Redlands. Things have been very busy for us out here, work taking up most of our time. I did manage to save some money to get my hair re-done though, which is awesome, since I was starting to look like a wilting tree.

I've included a photo for full effect of it's chili pepper colored glory.

I've been getting a ton of hours at work lately, (in fact, more hours than some of the other employees that have been working there longer than me!) and although that keeps me busy all the time, I'm glad to be making more money. Geoff and I have started a new fund for the puppy we won't give up on... We've decided to each dedicate $25 from every one of our paychecks to the "puppy fund", where we will save up the money we had before in order to try again next year. We're still hurting from the tragedy, and it's still hard for me to see other people with their dogs, doing the things we'd been planning to do with Tazz, but Geoff doesn't want to give up. After we move again next summer, (into the city... either L.A. or possibly San Francisco,) maybe we'll get another chance to adopt.

In the meantime, I've got some photos of the apartment for you guys!

Here's Geoff's and my room...

And here is our bathroom, (don't mind the messy counters,) with our whimsical saloon doors to the toilet and shower. Partnered with the pirate bath mat, I think it's the most amusing bathroom I've ever had.

This is just the hallway upstairs, with some storage area for my art supplies.

Here is the living room... I'm actually sitting on that couch right now!

And this is the hallway downstairs which leads to the kitchen, and upstairs as well.

Here is Geoff, surprised that I had a camera, in our tiny kitchen! Much smaller than the one we'd gotten used to last year, but it is the perfect size for the three of us now, and I just love it!

Here is our dining room table, which looks out on our patio.

I hope that's enough to satisfy you for now! I've got to go to work in about half an hour or so... and Geoff should be home soon!

If there's anything you'd like to hear more about in this blog, please comment and let me know so that I can get some more ideas of what to say... I never quite know what you will or won't be interested in hearing about. Papa helped me out with this one!

I hope you all are doing well, and I love you very much.

Take care of each other. Hopefully I will hear from you soon! :)

The Move

Well, I have to say, the move went pretty smooth as far as moves go..

We moved pretty much all our stuff (minus a few things here and there) on Wednesday with the U-Haul, and only had to make 2 trips! (Under $40 for the entire U-Haul rental. Woohoo!) In fact, every time we've rented a U-Haul, (this being our 3rd time,) we've been upgraded for free from the 10-foot to the 14-foot, which always is necessary, but we've stopped worrying about the length of the truck as they always seem to upgrade us.

I just LOVE our new place. Even though not everything is unpacked and put into its place yet, it feels so homey. Since I moved out to California, none of the places I've ever lived have ever felt like a home of my own--I've always just felt like I was temporarily living in other people's houses. But this one... This one feels like our very own.

I've gotten really into this whole 'nesting' thing lately, and am greatly enjoying it. Even though we don't really have the money to do an overload of nesting, Geoff and I get excited about saving up to purchase things for the house, like new shelves for the kitchen,

and a shiny new tea kettle.. Silly things like that. I'm starting to feel less like a college kid already, and more like a (boring? older?) adult who brightens up her day by taking her boyfriend to Bed, Bath & Beyond so they can oogle at the fancy knife sets and high-tech toaster ovens. Oh well.. at least it makes me smile. :)

By the way, did I mention we spent 3 days deep-cleaning the house at Country Place? In 110 degree weather without AC? Yeesh, what a task. Thank goodness we have a pool here at our new place where we can jump in after sweating half our body weight while cleaning. We just finished yesterday.. I am SO glad to be done!

Geoff's family also has been kind enough to drive down one of their cars (a silver VW Jetta, which matches Geoff's black one,) down to Southern California for me to use for the summer! They heard how difficult it was getting me to my one job, and Geoff to his 3 jobs, and their Jetta was just sitting in the driveway, so lucky me! I am forever grateful, and will have to send them a nice gift for their generosity. Also, don't tell Geoff, but I am secretly amused by how cute it probably looks now that we both have matching Jettas in different colors.. haha. I don't know if he's thought of that yet, but I'm sure it would be embarrassing for a boy to realize.

I Skyped with Dad and Linda (and Olivia and Maxx too!) yesterday, so most of them got the grand tour of the house, via me walking around with my computer room by room.

For those of you that were not there, I'm afraid if we cannot Skype, you are going to have to wait for us to finish unpacking our things before I start to take photos of the inside. I am a little shy about how messy it is, (it's not that bad, but I want it to look perfect in the photos!) so after

everything is set up, I will post some inside photos. For now, enjoy the outside of the house and the side yard, where we have our cute little patio for barbecuing.

Work is going well.

Everyone is still very nice to me, and while working the cash register is pretty boring, I enjoy BevMo's atmosphere. I also have been running into friends I haven't seen in a while. Even people who don't drink come in for the unique snacks we offer and hard-to-find sodas. :) I especially enjoy the fact that as an employee, I get to do the weekly beer-tastings and wine-tastings for free, every Friday and Saturday. I am learning a lot from this, believe it or not, and it's been a lot of fun. Honestly, I am just grateful I can tell people truthfully what I think of their selections when they ask me. I hate having to say "Sorry, I don't really drink beer, I have no idea what that tastes like.." College taught me that all beer tastes mostly the same, and it's fairly gross. But, it turns out, that is because in college, people only buy the cheap, nasty beers in cans that are easy to drink really fast in large quantities (like Natty Ice, Coors Light & Bud Light). BevMo has over 300 different flavors and brands of beer, and via these tastings, I now see that they each have a unique flavor, and I am growing a new appreciation.

However, my new favorite beer is one that BevMo does not yet sell. It's from a local brewery right in Redlands, called Hangar 24. They have a beer called "Orange Wheat", and they actually toss in whole oranges from the local groves during the fermentation process, giving the beer a citrusy aftertaste! Very cool. They're a really small craft brewery though, and are not yet big enough for BevMo to stock. Sad, sad.

Also, Geoff and I may be converting to Rice Milk now... we are starting to have digestive problems with dairy. But I'm sure mine are just coincidence. Geoff might be getting lactose intolerant, but not me. Cheese is necessary to my survival. I will never be lactose intolerant. Ever. Take THAT angry tummy!

Work, work, work.

Well, life is slowly starting to come back down to a neutral level for us out here...

I've been getting more and more hours for work, so I'm glad to have that money coming. I did 30 hours last week, and am scheduled for 31 more, this week! Geoff has been doing a lot of EMT work on almost every weekend lately, so that is good that he is getting work also. He seems to enjoy it... most of it is pretty low-key stuff like hip hop concerts, dirtbike races and car shows, but all his EMT co-workers seem very nice, and I think he has lots of fun being there.

Honestly, the summer has been an "eat, work, sleep, repeat" routine so far for us.. We both usually have Sunday off, but we're still pretty broke, so we usually can't go anywhere. Yesterday we washed the car and had a barbeque afterwards with Bryce (our housemate,) and Mike (Geoff's younger brother), so that was good fun. None of us (except Mike) got to do anything fun for the 4th, since all 3 of us were working until the evening, so we kind of made up for it on Sunday. Geoff and I did get to watch a few of the fireworks from the street on our way home, since they were happening everywhere in Redlands, but we didn't get to do much celebrating.

We'll probably begin to do our packing this week, as the 15th (our move-in date,) is getting closer and closer! However, I've been trying to avoid thinking about putting stuff back in boxes right now. ...maybe tomorrow it will begin. :)

I guess that's all for now!

I'm sending all my love to all of you on the East Coast! <3