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!