Allergies??

You know what's crazy? It's crazy that people can just up and develop allergies. Insanity, I tell you! This time 2 years ago I wasn't allergic to a darn thing. (Or, if I was, I was blissfully ignorant.) Now my list is growing. I'm going to have to see an allergist to find out what all I am allergic to for sure, but here is my current list:

• Peanuts
• Cashews
• Soy
• Eggs
• Wheat

And probably other kinds of nuts, too. Do you know how hard it is to avoid ALL of those things if you aren't following a raw vegan or paleo diet (and even then nuts and eggs aren't ruled out)? Very hard. For now I'm sticking with the paleo diet with the exception of I will eat potatoes, beans and rice occasionally. I used to do that anyway, so it's shouldn't matter, but it's different when you HAVE to.

Levi and I discovered a new route to go when we go on our morning walks. Check this out. :)

Ignore that it took me a whopping 14 mins per mile. It wouldn't take nearly that long if I didn't have Levi with me in the mornings. He has to take potty breaks about three times per trip, plus has to say hello to every. single. dog we pass. And I admit that I got distracted by a dolphin that was right by the shore. I had to take his picture/snag a video of him and text it to S, which then started a texting conversation which also slowed me down. Haha. (Worth it!)

Did you notice that we now walk over 5 miles? Yep. I do that in flip flops. I'm going to be blistered for sure by Friday. Oh well. You know what's exciting, though? S will be on my morning walk with me three weeks from today. :D

S left on a hunting trip today. I asked him to text me on his way out of town. but wasn't counting on it because he's been so excited I can hardly expect him to think straight. lol. Much to my surprise, I received a phone call. :) I was flattered. And he has texted a few times, too (also flattering since he is riding up to their hunting spot with his cousin). He's a keeper, I should think. And he'd be willing to go gluten free. Yeah . . . I'm gonna hang on to this one. I think my favorite thing about him is how much I trust him. I never feel any anxiety about our relationship. I know I still freaked out and dumped him once, but that was more out of habit than actual fear. It seems that, since getting that out of my system, I no longer have any desire to flee whatsoever. Let's hope that lasts.

Alright. Time to knock out a little studying. My last exam for my Psychology class didn't go so good. I can't afford a repeat. :-/

The Elk

Here is a drawing that I just did tonight of an elk. He was done with watercolor pencils. This is only my second attempt ever at using these pencils (the first time was the red turtle I did), so don't judge me too harshly. You'd think I'd be able to master both color and shapes, but I can't seem to quite peg both. This guy is a little misshapen, but it was a learning experience. And he's not the worst I've done, so . . . whatever. Here he is:

If I feel up to it tomorrow I may try to fix him. If not, then that's as good as he'll get. Haha.

The Tiny Little Frog

Okay . . . tell me this isn't just too cute!

I found that little guy yesterday morning over by the tennis courts on my way back from my morning walk. I was so stoked about finding him that I didn't even stop to consider that it may or may not be a good idea to pick him up (who knows what is and isn't poisonous around here). Fortunately for me, he wasn't poisonous. :) Look how TINY he is! He is sitting on the tip of my pointer finger there. He had a brother hopping around, but I didn't bother to catch him.

Adorable. <3
 

Until We Could Go No Farther . . .

I guess my morning walks with Levi are going to consistently be just over 4 miles now. We used to go only 3, but I like adding that extra mile in there. I always wear flip flops. so I'm getting some nice little blisters. Ha. Oh well. They'll go away eventually.

I have a ton of homework to get to, so I won't be able to spend much time blogging this morning. Mostly I just wanted to share a few pictures from my walk this morning.

 

My favorite palm trees:

 

The tide was waaaay out this morning:

 

 

The end of the line for Levi and I. We walked until we could go no farther. (2.15 miles down the beach):

 

I think I'll knock out this homework, try to get a little sun/pool time in, see about sneaking in a little kickboxing, and spend the rest of the day with a good book. I think S will be out shooting a new gun he got (shooting some sort of gun, anyway), so I doubt I'll be texting much (which is why I'll actually get to read a book!! Haha.) Just over three weeks until he gets here. Yessssss.

A Few Pictures . . .

Do you all want to see the sunrise that greeted me yesterday morning? Check this out:

Is that an epic sunrise, or what? And that was taken with an iPhone, no less. No color edits, nothing. It was absolutely beautiful.

This was the sunrise a few mornings ago . . .

Not as pretty as that first one, in my opinion, but a stunner nonetheless, eh?

I have my dog with me here again this trip. Look how small and cute and cuddly he is:

That was us spooning. :)

I have some really awesome videos that I wish I could upload, but it just takes too long and I don't have the time to wait. I've got homework up the wazoo and it's stressing me out because I have this overwhelming desire to procrastinate. I really need to stop doing that. Ugh. Time to get back to it. More pictures to come later. After S gets here I'll actually be able to post some pictures where I am in them!

Oh, also, I'd like to share this because I thought it was hilarious and brilliant. ;)

Aubrey's Senior Photo

I just have to put a little update on here real quickly. Earlier I mentioned that S was taking Aubrey's senior photos. Well . . . he sent me one of them tonight and it is absolutely GORGEOUS! Mostly because my little sister is gorgeous, but also because S is a brilliant, talented photographer. He's just an all-around good guy, if you ask me. :) Anyway, here is the photo he sent:

Wow. She is stunning. <3

Waiting for the sun to rise . . .

It's almost time for my morning walk, but not quite. I woke up about 5 minute ago and figured that there is no sense in falling back asleep, so I guess I'll do a little blogging instead.

I was feeling super homesick yesterday. I NEVER thought I'd come to Florida and wish to be anywhere else, but . . . home is where the heart is, I guess. And right now my heart is definitely in Idaho. S was in the valley taking pictures of my little sister for her senior pic last night. He sent me a picture of some of the pictures while it was all going down (because he's thoughtful like that), but it wasn't the same as actually being there! And I really wanted to be there! :( Oh, well.

I think I've got a pretty good idea in my head of what S and I will be doing once he gets to Florida. I'm thinking we'll spend one day hitting up the tourist attractions (parasailing, town square, the shell factory, etc), another day renting kayaks and kayaking down the bay, another day (or two) at the Everglades (his idea, but I like it), and one day taking a boat ride down to Key West. That's all I've got so far, but that should occupy most of the week he is here for.

I'm so torn. I don't know whether to follow him home in November or stay out the winter like I originally planned. On one hand, I have my job at Targhee waiting for me if I want it, and I do really want to ski this season, but on the other hand . . . this is FLORIDA! But on the other hand, S is in Idaho. Yeah . . . the end. I'm going back to Idaho. I know I'll miss him too bloody much if I stay. Eff.

Oh, let me show you one of the pictures S sent me of Beibs's photo shoot. (He just took a picture of his camera screen, but you can still get the idea.)

There were a few others that he sent too (that's not even the best one, it's just the first one so I uploaded it).

I wish my front camera on my phone was that good of quality. You want to see how good my camera on the front of my phone does?

I'm just kidding. That picture is just grainy because it was taken in low light and it's majorly zoomed in. My camera actually does excellent. I just wanted to post this picture of my legs! ;)

Alrighty. I think it's finally just light enough that I can hit up the beach and tackle my morning walk. Have a great day, everyone!!

Let's Play Catchup.

I have developed an extraordinary talent for not blogging for long periods of time. My last blog talked about a BBQ I was dreading going to. Just for the record: It was actually a ton of fun!

I'm obviously back home in Idaho now (since it's now JUNE! Holy crap, where does the time go??). I came back at the perfect time (May 10th). I haven't seen snow one time. :) It has, however, been raining. A lot. But it's not snow, so I'll take it!

I'll quickly get you up to date on what's happened in the past month or so. First of all, the rest of my trip to Florida was awesome and a ton of fun. I got plenty of sun; I saw Iron Man 3 in 3D at the Beach Theatre (by myself); I saw a manatee, a baby sting ray, heard rumors of sharks and sea turtles at the beach (though I never saw any myself); I read quite a few books once I made it through Huck Finn (a total of 7, I think); I did a few drawings and I even did another painting (shocker!); and I made a new friend on the plane ride home.

That story: I was traveling with a broken tailbone (or whatever is wrong with it) and it was killing  me. Fortunately, for the 5 hour plane ride I had the entire row to myself, so I was able to lay across the row and give my tailbone (and myself) a rest. Naturally (after only 3 hrs of sleep the night before) I fell asleep. Next thing I know, I'm waking up to the sound of a guy and a girl talking about small dogs somewhere behind me. That's when I looked down and realized Levi wasn't in his bag. Apparently he had just barely crawled out and went immediately to the girl in the row behind me, which led to us having a lengthy conversation (we talked for almost 2 straight hours). It turns out that she and I have very much in common; both in the way we think and the experiences we've had in our lives. It was fun to meet her.

Anyway, since I've been home not much new has happened. My little brother comes home in something like 6 weeks. That blows my mind. I can't believe that much time has passed.

I've gone on a number of dates, but there's been no major chemistry with any of them so far. Next weekend I'm supposed to be going zip lining with a date, so hopefully that will be fun. I'm sure it will be. (Why wouldn't it?)

Oh! I also am redoing the bedroom in my parents house that I occupied for a while. I'm super excited! I'm putting new carpet in, stripping the wallpaper off and repainting (right now the entire room is purple), and I bought super cute bedding and some wall decals to go with. All I need now are curtains and that room will be pretty freakin' adorable! And the best part is I will have spent less than $600 on it by the time it's done! Not too shabby!

School is going great. Straight A's so far (that shouldn't be changing anytime soon). My favorite class this semester is Anthropology. I'm really digging it. The professor has lectures for us to listen to kind of like a podcast, and I think it's great! He's got a lot of character in his voice, so the lectures are almost never dry. I'm almost sad that I crammed this class into a summer semester because the class only lasts for 8 weeks instead of 16. I need to take Math during the summer and get that shiz over with. Haha.

I got my temple recommend renewed (finally!). I'm headed out tomorrow, actually. I'm really excited. It's been far too long. I think I sorta jumped the tracks there last year for a bit. I guess I just wanted some "freedom". It's funny how much closer to God those times of "freedom" can bring you, isn't it? Not only was last year's experience a testimony builder, but I discovered sushi (the real stuff) and folf. I'd say 2012 wasn't too shabby of a year; even if I was off course there for a bit. Hopefully I can keep things on course for the year 2013 and have another great year! (And same goes for all of you!)

Here are a few pics in closing:

A few more pics from Florida:

 

 

A turtle I drew with watercolor pencils and the painting I did of a dolphin:

 

 

Pics with my sisters on Mother's Day (You may notice my hair is dark. This was completely by accident. My sister colored it for me and it turned out BLACK. It wasn't her fault, it was mine, and it was AWFUL! I cried for like an hour. But it faded to this really pretty dark brown and now I LOVE it!):

 

 

And Aubrey and I having some fun with Photobooth:

 

 



BBQ

Well . . . I'm almost done with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Technically this is my second time reading it. The first time I read it in 2 hours. Needless to say, I read it fast, and I didn't feel like I gave it the respect it deserves, seeing as how it's a classic and all. So . . . I am reading it again and taking my dear sweet time. I think I've been working on it for about 4 days now. I imagine I'll finish it today if I have the time.

We are headed to a BBQ with my grandpa's cousin today. I have to admit that it's going to be a bit boring for me. I can't eat any of the food and there isn't really a whole lot I can do to contribute to the conversation 80% of the time, so I guess I'll be . . . what? I don't even know. It's probably too rude to read. I guess I'll just grin and be of good cheer until it's all over. :) (For the record, it won't be that bad. I've made it sound worse that it really will be, I'm sure.)

I did another drawing with those pencils. I'll try to upload photos later, but I don't have time right now. I'm dripping sweat and I need to shower and get ready for the BBQ. Fair warning: It sucks worse than the turtle. But I'm learning, so cut me a break. :)

Fingers Crossed.

I've been here precisely 3 weeks and a few hours and my vacation isn't even half over yet. Crazy. I'm having myself a pretty great time, so definitely no complaints here.

Except maybe one . . .

I'm reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and I'm having a hard time getting through it. Not because I don't like the story--I do like the story; but because the way it is written bothers me. It's plenty easy enough to understand what the author is getting at--that's not the problem. The problem is I feel like the book is "dumbing me down". I learn a lot about writing through what I read and this is definitely not a book I want to pick up any tips or habits from.

Anyway.

I worked out hard enough yesterday that I've got a bit of a headache today. It's from tight shoulder muscles. I did a ton of upper-body yesterday between the kickboxing, yoga, and some weight lifting. It felt great, but my temples are feeling it today more than anything. That's what I get for being a slacker for so many months.

On an entirely different note: Everyone cross your fingers for me. I've got a couple of different things going on that I could use a little luck with. Things I'm really hoping will work out for me . . .

And I'll leave you with a couple more of my favorite songs.

 

 

 

Metallic Turtle

For those of you out there who say Jillian Michaels workout videos are "too easy" I say to you: You aren't putting enough effort into them! If you focus on your form and really give it 110%, those workouts are stellar!

I just got done with her 20 minute kickboxing video. I did workout number 1, which focuses on upper body, and I am practically puking sweat! When I do the video in Idaho I get plenty sweaty, but not like here. I love Florida for that reason. I feel like I get such a killer workout because of how fast I sweat and how MUCH I sweat. Love, love, love!

Anyway, I think I'll spend the rest of the day reading/doing homework. I may go down to the pool for an hour or so, or I may not. I still have about 3 weeks here and I'm already pretty friggen tan. I don't want to get TOO tan. We'll see how I feel around noonish.

I've done one drawing since coming here. My grandma bought me a bunch of new things at Michaels. She got me a black paper drawing pad, a multi-media drawing pad (good for pretty much any type of medium you wish to use--pencils, charcoals, graphite, ink, watercolor, etc.), a set of metallic colored pencils to use on the black paper, and some graphite pencils to use on the other. I gave the metallic pencils a shot and this is what I got. (I'll post the progression pictures, as per tradition.)

And . . . here is the finished product:

Now before you get to making sarcastic comments in your head like, Hmm . . . yeah . . . very nice, let me explain. I have never worked strictly with color before. I do mostly charcoal and pencil work. Black and white is much easier to work with in my opinion, and it takes far less time, too. Even though this drawing is NOT by ANY MEANS something to be very proud of, I am proud of it because it's the product of my first attempt at using pure color. I'm sure that with a little practice I can start pumping out some pretty good pieces.

On a completely different topic, remember how I said I went back through and read a bunch of old blog posts for fun a few days ago? It's funny to me how many misspellings I have in my posts. I even misspelled the word "skis", TWICE in one post. (I spelled it "skiis".) Baha. Funny. That's what I get for never proof reading before posting. :)

Alright . . . I'm going to study for a little while. I hope everyone has a fantastic day!!
 

Nostalgia . . .

I miss blogging. Tonight I spent a little over an hour going back and reading old posts, and it was really interesting to see where I was a year ago, 18 months ago, etc. And I miss blogging for that reason. I haven't taken the time to do it NEARLY enough lately, and that's really a shame. It's good therapy for me to capture my thoughts in any given moment and read them again months down the road.

Originally I wanted to stop writing posts in this blog that are basically diary entries, but I've changed my mind again. I want to keep my blog just the way it is. I haven't done much to advertise my posts lately, so they don't get nearly as much traffic. That's a good thing. I feel like I'm safe to say whatever I feel like saying without having to worry about who reads it. I could make my blog private, but I don't really want to do that either. I'm going to keep it exactly how it is.

Unfortunately, aside from being in Florida, not much interesting is going on in my life. There's school. My lowest grade is a 96%. I have 100% in my English class. We only have 3 weeks left, so I'm pretty sure I'll pass. :) I'm enrolled in summer courses, too. Anthropology and The History of Dance will be my classes. Should be fun, I hope. :)

They have a sushi place in Driggs now. I haven't eaten there yet, but I hear it's pretty good. With my new gluten allergy I have to be very careful about where and what I eat. It was a bit of a bummer at first, but I've embraced it and intend to use it to my benefit. It's kind of nice to not be able to eat cake or cookies when everyone else is. I mean, it sucks, but it's nice to not even have the temptation.

I haven't dated anyone in quite a while. I'm almost starting to miss it. I've been asked out a few times, but no one seems to measure up to what I'm looking for. Not that I'm overly picky. I'm not. I just want to find someone I'm compatible with. Who makes me laugh and makes me happy; who can keep up an interesting conversation and hold his own against my wit. I've been so spoiled in my last couple of relationships that it's hard to find guys who compare. I know we aren't supposed to compare new prospects with past boyfriends, but if you've found something that works, why stray from it? I suppose one could argue that it didn't work, since it is now in the past, but it would have worked if I had been up to the challenge of accepting the relationship. On all accounts. I really believe that I'm finally ready to accept a relationship. Now I just need to find the right guy again.

I have two gray hairs growing out of my head. Ugh. I'm 27. Gray hairs? Really??

And that's really all that's new.

I used to share a lot of songs I liked on this blog. I haven't done that in awhile, so here are a few that I love right now.

 

(Uh! I love that song!)


 

(And that one.)

 

(His voice makes me melt!)

 

And Then There Was One.

Well, it's just Levi and I here at the condo now. Hailee left early this morning. It was bitter-sweet to see her go. On one hand it's always nice to spend time with my sisters, but on the other hand having her here kept me so busy that I haven't had any real "downtime". At least, not what I consider downtime, which is reading. Other than my government book and the book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (which I read in one 2 hr sitting for a homework assignment) I haven't touched my Kindle. That will all change today. :) Especially since I bought 9 books specifically for this trip. I doubt I'll blow through all 9 in the last two weeks I have here, but it is a possibility.

Since I haven't had time to blog everyday to document everything that's been happening, I'm just going to do one big "update" post. Since I already talked about parasailing, I guess the next highlight of the trip was the dolphin.

I had a similar experience last year (I was surprised to read back through my old blog posts and see that I never mentioned it . . . ). Last year it involved a dolphin and her baby and them learning to hunt; this year it was just a single dolphin, but here's the story. Hailee and I were on our morning walk when we noticed a dolphin swimming right up to the shoreline. He was so close that I literally could have reached out and touched him. Fortunately, I got a few pictures this time. :)

Those are just a few of the pictures I took, but I think they give you the best idea of exactly how close he was. :) Super cool.

The next highlight would probably be the baby lizard we found. Not that that's SUPER cool, but it's kinda neat. (I'm listing these in the order they happened. I wish I could remember the exact dates they happened, but I don't.)

That's the baby lizard sitting on my forearm. I'm holding my pinky finger next to him for size comparison. For those of you who know me, you know how short my fingers are.

The next highlight would probably be our first trip uptown. Here are a few random shots from that adventure:

(Isn't that mug offensive?!! Haha.) As you can see from the third picture down, we walked out on to the pier. When we got there, we encountered this guy:

That finally picture is a HORRIBLE one of me, but it has a funny story to go with. I was leaning against that railing, watching people fish and the pelican (he's a young one, btw) flew up and landed near me. Then he apparently kept creeping closer and closer to me when my back was turned. As soon as I'd turn to look at him, he'd stop inching closer and look out over the gulf like nothing was up. Then, when I'd look away, he'd turn back towards me and creep a few inches closer. Hailee took this shot. I'm about to bust into a smile because I can sense how close he's gotten to me. Hailee was convinced he was going for my braid. She's probably right, but we scared him off before he could get any closer, so we'll never know for sure. :)

The next "highlight" is probably the "piggyback ride" Levi gave to a lizard. :)

Admittedly, I caught the lizard and placed it on Levi's back, but the lizard was totally content to just ride around that way for about 5 minutes. It wasn't until the lizard climbed onto Levi's face that Levi freaked out and scared him off of his back. :) Cuuute.

And the final "highlight" would have to be my henna tattoo. Oooooh this tattoo. Basically it looks like someone took a sharpie and drew a crappy picture of a dolphin on my foot. I could have drawn a crappy dolphin on my foot with a sharpie for FREE! But I paid $10 for this thing. One thing's for sure . . . I'll never do that again. :) Here are the pics. See for yourself!

AM I RIGHT??!! Nasty.

In closing I will leave you will a few more random shots I have taken while on this trip. Enjoy!