A belated Thanksgiving post

I have neglected my poor little excuse for a blog for far too long! So here's a little post about what I am truly thankful for:

Higher Education: I feel so lucky to be able to have this opportunity to attend college. I love what I have learned here so far, and look forward to what I still have to learn. And not just in terms of academia. I have learned so much about who I am here at OSU, about what I don't want to be, and about relaxing and rolling with the punches.

Amazing friends: My room-mates, the "ranch", and countless others who I know will be supportive of who I am. Each and every friend has taught me something unique. From some I have learned great tolerance and patience, from others I have learned to open-up and relax, and still others have shown me that life is truly beautiful, even the rough parts of it.

My family *sigh*: Even though some members of my family drive me nutty (ie my mom), I am thankful for their concern about my well being. I could not ask for a more supportive family.

An amazing guy named Mike: I think he has taught me more about who I am (and who I am not) in about a year than anyone else has my entire life. I am thankful to know him, and am indebted to him for so much; support, comfort, a shoulder to lean on, and an amazing sounding board. He has become my go-to when I need to unwind, when I need to be pulled back to reality, or just when its time to kick back.

Being true to myself: It has been a life-long project, and I believe I finally have a foot in the heavy door. I am learning to trust myself and to center my life-path. It is nowhere near complete, but I feel like I have started on the journey I am destined to take, and it feels right.

New favorite music

I have found a really good band: FLOBOTS. They rap, but unlike most rap, they have an amazing message!

Checkout some of these youtube videos of theirs. BE WARNED: there is profanity.

handle bars

we are winning


In other news, oh, heck, I don't have much news, just enjoying summer, starting to workout again, and working in the lab AND greenhouse. Ah, lazy summer time!

I hope everone is enjoying the nice weather!

Wish List

So, every year when people ask what I want for my birthday and or Christmas, I draw a blank. While working in the pot-washing room on Wednesday I actually came up with some ideas! It's a ways off, but I actually have ideas, so I need to write them down before they are gone from my mind...

Leatherman
Munsell/GLOBE soil color guide
folding shovel and pick axe

Anything for backpacking!
Camel Pack

Books by Darwin, Thoreau, London or Steinbeck.

mp3 player

Clothes! or gift certificates for places like banana republic, victoria's secret, j crew, or the like

Polarized sunglasses for driving (since I have discovered my cheapos have horrible glare issues)


There we go, a start to the 2008 wish list!

Things that make me HAPPY Part deux.

So, a month or two ago I began a blog about things that make me happy, and said a part two would follow. I highly value promises being kept, so here is the part two:
I love:

• The ranch and all the ranch-hands :)
  
• Summer! It is finally [kind of] here.
  
• Photography, especially of lakes and rivers and woods. I am saving up for a nice Nikon or Canon so I can expand my skills.
• Cooking. I have been on a role lately with yummy new recipes.
  
• Our new landlords! I never realized just how difficult our old ones were until Duerksen took over.
  
• Trail riding. Okay, so I used to be a much more competitive, training oriented rider, but taking the polo ponies out on the trails has opened my eyes to the fun of trail riding, especially if you have a friend or two who will go along :)
• Driving I5 at night, when there is NO traffic.
• Having groceries in the apartment. Especially fresh fruit.
• Concerts.
• Lemonade, Limeade, and Iced Tea
  
• Bouquets of wild flowers and grasses
• Friends coming back from overseas!
• Decor with an international/traveler feel, think Down to Earth or Greater Goods in Eugene
• Cleaning, especially when I should be studying.
• Feeling like everything is exactly how it should be :)
  

Oh boy...I just feel like writing a random blog of all the things going through my noggin'. So here goes:
Why do colleges (or OSU, at least) call the week before finals week "dead week"? Supposedly there used to be no classes, and proffessors are not supposed to present any new material. HA! What a joke! This term has been crazy beyond belief, and this past week has been triple the insanity. Fourteen large assignments due this week alone. I'm not talking reading quizes or homework sets (which for my physics take about five or six hours at least), but full blown research, synthesis, or laboratory reports. And I'm only in four classes! But those four classes add up to eighteen credit hours.
Speaking of credit hours...I am on track to graduate next spring! It's ridiculous, exciting, and kind of frightening. I actually have to start deciding if I want to go to grad school, or look for a job, and where and SOON! Oh my gosh! I can't even think about not being in school! I haven't been not in school since I was four...almost seventeen years ago!
But, I do have a way of working, going to grad school AND staying in my beloved Corvallis! OSU's masters program in Soil Science is amazing, and is a really good choice of grad school, the EPA office is a five minute walk from campus, and they are always willing to take in undergrads and grads for internships and eventually jobs. As much as i piss and moan about the government, working for the EPA could be very fulfilling, and stable! I toured their site today and learned about their asymmetrical warming studies that are amazing and ground-breaking. I would love to be part of that team!
First thing's first, though, finals next week. I only have three, so that's not too bad, although on Wednesday I have one at 7am and one at 8pm. It'll be a very long day. But then after finals I am going to be spending a week with some soil professors and grad students (turns out I am the only undergrad going) in the channeled scablands! It is like the grand canyon of the northwest, yet almost no one has heard of them! They were carved out by multiple cataclismic floods from the breakdown of the glacial lake Missoula. It is amazing and completely unique.
This summer should be fun. I'm staying in Corvallis with my room-mate, and our soon-to-be additional room-mate from high school. She just got back from nearly two years at a bible school in Costa Rica. That will be fun. I'm also going to be working full time at the greenhouse, which is fine with me! It really is a wonderful job, it gets a litle tedious and methodical, but it's a great job, and since Prof. Carrington was just awarded a national recognition, I feel proud to be on his team!

That's all the jabbing i can do for now! Take care all!

PS, I'm not sure what happened to the font on my last post, it's all messed up, sorry.

LIVE LOVE LAUGH

There are some days when life is crystal clear and I really realize how fortunate I am to be who I am, and to be truly ALIVE. Not just in the sense that I have a pulse, a temperature, and functioning senses.
Today I will delve into my life philosophy, as it has developed substantially within the last, oh, six or seven months. Here we go:

• Live for the journey. Life isn't always, and usually isn't, about the destination. I believe that how you get where you are speaks volumes more than where you are. That means meeting turbulence with grace, and looking trouble in the eye. Handling adversity with understanding, gentleness, and patience. Learning to leave unnecessary thought and actions alone, and moving on.
  
• Worry Less. This one is hard for me, but I am trying. Things will get done whether you worry or not. It really is a useless, and destructive habit. I don't mean that slacking off and letting duties go undone, just not getting overly anxious about things outside of your control. Yeah, this one is a real toughie for me, though.
• Appreciate everyone for who they are. That includes ones self. Not everyone clicks with everyone else, cool. That adds to the interest in this world. Instead of getting frustrated with others, just realize that they have come along a different path, and that they have a different life history to pull from. If everyone agreed, progress would be impossible! Beauty arises from friendly disagreement.
• Choose your Battles Wisely and Carefully. No one can do everything, and no one can know everything about anything. Choose to be passionate about a few things and put your all into those things, instead of spreading your time and effort thinly across multiple causes. It is the fairest thing to do for everything and everyone in your life.
  
• Finally, Flirt with Yourself in the Mirror!!!! This sounds absurd, silly, and petty, but I have found it is essential to feeling confident and happy each and every day. Knowing that who I see in the mirror matches the person i am feeling inside that day helps me feel powerful and ready to take charge of the day.
  

TAG (not of the talented and gifted type)

My dear sister, Shauna, tagged me, and I like surveys and quizzes and the like, so here goes:


Four Things You Might/Might Not Want To Know About Me!
1) I used to have REALLY ticklish feet. I still do, but I used to not be able to wear socks because the seams were unbearable on my toes. It drove my family nuts
2) I absolutely cannot stand the sound of nails on chalk boards. It makes me gag...yes, the sound makes me gag.
3) I have really crooked fingers. Ask Shauna about why...
4) Acrylic fabric makes me cry. I think I'm allergic to it.

Four jobs I've held:
1) Retail at An Equine Addiction
2) Sales girl at Oregon Leather
3) Training horses/teaching riding
4) Greenhouse assistant and research aid for OSU's renowned Carrington lab

Four movies I could watch over and over:
The Notebook
Gattaca
Momento
Moulin Rouge

Places I've lived (in order):
Eugene, Oregon (Fairfield)
Eugene, Oregon (Lorane)
Corvallis, Oregon (on campus)
Corvallis, Oregon (off campus)

Four TV shows I like:
What Not to Wear
America's Next Top Model
Deadliest Catch
Cash Cab

Four favorite foods:
Chili
Chicken
Cheese
Salmon

Where I would rather be:
I wish it were two weeks from today, I will be camping in Bend and going to the Modest Mouse concert :)