Finally! I can start being a Student again!

This blog post is a momentous thing!

Not only is it the first post in a really long time (although not my longest absence..) but it also doubles as a symbol of my freedom (don't think too deep into that one, check out "Freed Will" blog for that). I am finally free to be a student, the job I love most! This weekend was officially the end of my summer, although it has technically been over according to most students for about a month now...

My last set of weekend shifts as Splash concluded on Sunday, a day that couldn't come soon enough. As I was explaining to my roommate Meghan, it's not that I didn't enjoy working at Splash, in fact, it's the best job I've had thus far! I love the people that I work with and the management/supervisors are really wonderful at their job and at relating with employees. It's just that once school started back in August, I was really ready to just be a student and jump into school, but since I was still working, my weekends would transform into summer! Not to mention, working 16 hours on Saturday & Sunday alone definitely put a damper on my mental capacity to sit down and do homework.

Let's just say, I'm super grateful that I had the opportunity to work at Splash and I look forward to another summer of chlorine & sunblock baked days, but right now, I am so grateful to be a student! I actually get to do homework and study and drink coffee at outrageous times of the day and submit papers and projects!

It's an amazing time, my friends....

happy, happy, happy

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!!

Since I'm not there to congratulate you two little love birds in person, I figured I would do it on my blog (practically the same, right?). After 9 years you guys are doing better than ever and I can't wait to watch your love grow through the years ahead!!
Congrats!!

p.s. be on the lookout for a homemade card from yours truly...

Oppsies...

If there were a Guiness Award for being the most inconsistent person, I'd definitely be in the running for it.

Today I am taking advantage of the time I have. I had a crazy early shift today, 5am-9:30am, and now that I'm armed with a Venti Iced Coffee and a shower, I feel as if I could conquer the world! (or at least the amassing pile of dirty, smelly camp stuff I have clogging up my floor space).

This will sort of serve as my digital "to-do" list. Knowing that I've written this blog, I now feel held accountable to the trillions of web surfers whom may or may not stumble upon my noted fresh ambition.. or at least to my dad who will EVENTUALLY read this... thanks my #1 fan!

I swear, there are so many days that go by in which I think of truly intelligent or interesting things to post about, yet when it comes to the end, my fingers loose all tenacity and seem to curl up in a sort of physical snarl directed towards my keyboard. So, while I'm here, a quick update:

I was gone at YMCA camp for a week and returned last Saturday. It was emotionally and physically draining but I had one of the most fun weeks that I can think of in my 7 years on staff there. It was very exciting to see how most of the counselors and directors have matured and grown together, although we may only see one another once a year. My campers were a handful, but their ability to find joy in life despite the worst family and home circumstances was truly inspiring.

This week, I'm working a really odd schedule that I'm just not used to but I'm still getting my 40 hours in which is always sweet. Then I'm packing it all up again to go visit Erik up in Grass Valley for a week, which is the main event of my summer! I am extremely excited and very very much so looking forward to the trip. I'm not even really nervous about flying because I know it's going to get me there quicker!

Now it's time to go feel what freshly blow dried hair is like and then hit up the matinee of Harry Potter: The Half-Blood Prince with my good friend Casey!

Thank you E.E. Cummings!

I now have a new name for the blog!

"The Syntax of Things"

I really like this one, hopefully you will too because it definitely sticks for me. I'd like to share the inspiration for the title, a poem from E.E. Cummings, one of my favorite poets.

"since feeling is first
who pays attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you

wholly to be a fool
while Spring is in the world

my blood approves,
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry
-the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says

we are for eachother: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for lifes not a paragraph

and death i think is no parenthesis"
e.e. cummings

What's in a Name??

My dad recently commented that I should really consider changing the name of my blog.
Now, he didn't explain why (although I'm very sure he has a perfectly logical reason) but I've decided that I do want to change it. The title never quite fit, however, I need something that works.

And here is where the suggestion box comes in.. any ideas for the premise of my new blog title?

yes, dad, you can also make suggestions.

My Home for the Summer!

Ok, I finally got around to snapping some pictures of my new home for the summer... as a side note though, I'd like to say these do not accurately demonstrate my photographic skills. I needed to take these quick so I could have something to show sometime before I moved out! Enjoy!

The view from the driveway...

The entry way and our couch filled living room... there are 6 to be exact...

This is our "fireplace" filled by a turtle tank of tranquility...

One view of the kitchen... the house has many odd corners...

One of the 2 bathrooms that the 8 of us share =] ...

And this is the master bedroom which I was lucky enough to get along with my summer roommate, Erin!

And that's it! It's a really great house for a bunch of college girls to be living in. We also have a really great backyard, full of beautiful vegetation but it was too dark for me to get any pictures of it this time around. We have definitely had some interesting experiences so far, including having to share just 1 of the bathrooms/shower for about 3 weeks, but the longer we live here and the more quirks we figure out how to work with, the more we love it!

Dusting off the Rust...

An update!

This blogging thing is turning out to be a lot harder than I thought it would be... I always figure that I'll update my blog at the end of the day so not a moment of my ever more exciting life gets missed! However, when the end of the day comes, many other things, including my love of sleep, seem to fill up the gaps of time I set aside for blogging.

But this update is for you Dad.
An early Father's Day present (I hope you weren't expecting like a card or a gift or something like that...)

I know that I have promised a couple of times that I would update this and I have failed miserably. So now, instead, I will just commit to you (and all my many multitudes of blog fans, ha) that I will do my best to be consistent so as to not leave you with false hopes of new blogs. I know it sounds silly, but it comes down to me being integrous and actually following through on doing what I say I will.
I will begin with a small update because I'm learning how to be a more responsible adult by getting 8 hours of sleep, especially when I have work the next day!
Today was a wonderful day, I worked a double shift which ended up almost being shorter than a single shift because the water park was dead today, and go figure- it was freezing outside! But I am really loving work! The people are amazing and I'm getting such a good leg workout walking back and forth on the river. Tomorrow I work from 9:30am-5:45pm, a shift that I am covering for someone else which means more hours on my paycheck... me likey.

In other news, King Henry V (the turtle version) is still missing in the wilderness of the backyard at 14522 Florita. He escaped from the holding tank while I was cleaning the aquarium 2 days ago. I have not given up hope for his return though, I miss him, he was my favorite- he was agressive and would bite my fingers... the tank is so unlively without him.

I will try to post pictures of my new house in the next few days, it's real cute!