crazy afternoon storms

sun shower much? when i say that we have crazy afternoon storms, i mean that we have crazy afternoon storms.
exhibit a:

also....there was TOTALLY a double rainbow, but i unfortunately was driving and couldn't grab a picture. however, if there's a rainbow every day after a storm like yesterday's, i can definitely handle the storms.

appreciation

thoughts about appreciation began with the appreciation of cows. yes, we like them. especially their advocacy for the consumption of chickens. and their free chicken sandwiches. it was kind of like cow christmas.

also, as of late:
appreciation for family,
appreciation for friends,
appreciation for smiles & laughter,
appreciation for decisions,
appreciation for plans,
appreciation for inspiration, and most of all,
appreciation for smiles.

dc!

lindsay and jamie are some of my oldest friends. we all met through ACS, which was basically a week of church camp for nc methodists. jamie (the brunette) and i met the summer after sophomore year  of high school and we became immediate friends. although lindsay (the blonde) doesn't remember, we met the summer after freshman year of high school. we didn't hit it off then (lindsay was all cute & mature looking, and i still had braces--we weren't ready to be friends); however, the summer after senior year the three of us were totally on the same page and were fast friends.

fast forward 4 years, and the three of us have stayed amazingly tight. lindsay went to carolina, jamie went to nc state, and i was a meredith girl, but we have made a great effort to keep in touch as much as possible despite our very busy and different schedules. jamie graduated a semester early and has really grown up as she is a homeowner and a real teacher at a school in johnston county. at the end of may, lindsay moved up to DC to start a full time job at a law firm there. so, since i'm moving in a few short weeks, we all thought that spending little bit more time together before we're all separated would be a great idea--and a great idea it was.

i was also excited to catch up with my newly-married friends carol & wilson and my friend adam--but i was a lame photographer all weekend, mostly because of the heat, so my people-pics are minimal.

jamie and i got a bit adventurous and decided to take the train up to DC, and it was so much fun and relatively relaxing, aside from some irritating fellow travelers. it definitely beat the heck out of driving up to the city!

the weekend was so hot that we really didn't do much besides sweat while walking to our destinations and eat at awesome restaurants (which were typically the destination). I'd totally recommend founding farmers (especially for brunch - with reservations!), pizza paradiso, and kramerbooks & afterwords to anyone visiting dc sometime soon! delicious!

on sunday we did make it wearily to one destination--eastern market. were it not for extreme exhaustion from lots of walking in the heat, we probably could've spent hours looking at the jewelry, photography, and other food/craft vendors at the market. i managed to find an awesome bike rack image to add to my collection--these may have to become something! 

 

the fruit was all so delicious! i love markets, especially for the samples.

lindsay and jamie, i love you both! i'm so glad that we were able to spend some great quality time together before i head out west.

bane of my existence

i'm at the point where really getting ready to move to fort collins. in fact, the subaru will roll out early in the morning on saturday, july 24th. that's less than a month away. and when i say ready, i mean, like, really ready. i'm ready for colorado weather, the mountains, starting my new adventures, and most of all i'm ready to be settled somewhere. don't get me wrong--there are things i'm going to miss about life in raleigh, especially my family, friends, and kiddos; however, this whole living "in between" thing is starting to get to me.

unfortunately, though, moving is not the easiest of processes. i've complained about moving several times a year for the past 4 years--into my res.hall room/apartment, out at holidays, out for summer, to/from colorado/denmark for 3 summer; nevertheless, none of those "moves" would i really call moves at this point. tracking down moving companies with good google ratings AND reasonable prices is difficult. furthermore, actually having an understanding of how many items i'll be moving without boxing up all my possessions. it's a process and it's very frustrating, but if i'm going to get to colorado, i'm going to need to deal with it.

thus, boxes and the life unsettled are the current bane of my existence. as are all my possessions. i have too many, but i really can't bear to part with them.

on a happier note, i'm freaking out less about my furniture situation since miss kellie and i did a little yard sale-ing last saturday morning. we were up at the crack of dawn, but we had some really fun finds. for me it was two $5 tables that won my heart. and i'm excited to make something fun out of them. i can't wait to repaint these tables and give them some beautiful character.

oh, and remember that desk my mom forgot about? check out this beauty. it's going to be a beautiful yellow marigold color. i'm so excited.

the puzzling day of the kung fu lion kid.

i arrived to work this morning and found that i was nannying a completely different child. he had suddenly learned kung fu and was totally into doing puzzles. okay, so not really...but since going to see The Karate Kid yesterday, the kiddo has been totally into being a cobra-charming kung fu kid. and lucky for me, i've gotten to witness these moves and attempt to follow the insanely detailed stories he imagines. also lucky for me, i arrived to find him working on building a lion out of puzzibits. as neat of a toy they are, they are extremely difficult for even a highly dexterous 22-year-old to assemble. so, while the 7-year-old practiced his kung fu, the 22-year-old was left to assemble a 3D "lion" (or hamster?) out of small, connecting hexagons. my fingers still hurt. however, the lion made the kung fu kid happy, and that made the nanny happy. and accomplished.

(we call this navajo kung fu)

rawr.

color

so i don't know if i've really officially mentioned it before, but i love color. like, love love LOVE color. so, in thinking through decorating my apartment for next year, and as thriftily as possible, i've totally settled on having brightly colored (refinished) furniture and decorating in color. and, although i will be a broke, rice&bean-eating graduate student in just a few weeks, i can't think about sacrificing my sanity or a happy space in which to live! SO, instead of just going nutty creating images of what i can (and mostly cannot) have in my future apartment, i've created a special beautiful happy "inspiration book" where i can save pretty pictures from magazines and catalogues and doodle ideas. said book is mostly a way of talking myself down from things i think i need while helping me create all that from what i have.

for instance, my mom AMAZINGLY remembered that she has a desk in the attic that I of COURSE may have--and paint! i've also remembered that i can sew and am a pretty crafty person, so why shouldn't i be creating my own accessories and artwork for the apartment. when i stumbled upon this awesome tutorial for fabric roses, i knew i needed to do something with them. so, i'm endeavoring upon a new sewing/quilting project creating a rose-covered pillow.

step 1: make roses

so here's the start. i've made 18 roses, so far, but i'm thinking i need about 25--so, 2 more colors? i'm glad i've had a start to creating something fun and beautiful and i can't wait to see where these colors take me.

aside from my personal apartment design crisis, i've mostly been hanging out and babysitting. seeing this guy's smile on a regular basis doesn't make anything too bad.

oh, and i made a really, really dangerous decision in stopping by peace camera yesterday to "test out" a 35mm prime lens for my camera. talk about coveting. so...anyone who has babysitting to be done can just holler so that i can save some extra money for a new lens!

lackluster

tonight i talked grad school budget with dad. looks like i'm going to be eating beans and rice for the next 2+ years (at the very least). at least the fat tire brewery has free samples on a daily basis, so if i need a beer i can head over there for a free pint (once i add up the 4 4oz. glasses!). HA! but seriously...anyone know any kids in fort collins who need babysitting? because i'll be allll over that!

to continue on the train of depressing matters, i spent the weekend at the lake with no camera for 1 day, then a dead camera for the next. i will say it was nice to be removed from technology for a couple days as i read 1.5 books (this and this), but the feelings of lackluster persisted with storminess and an overall absence of energy throughout the weekend.

basically...i need something to brighten me up. hopefully tomorrow will bring some bright, cheery, happy colors and faces to put an upswing on this week. there's a light, i just haven't quite gotten there yet.

happy faces

as anxious as i am to move to fort collins, i'm getting excited that these two are going to be my summer.

new life?

so...it's funny to think that i seemed to find more time to blog in my student life than i have so far in my alum life. the last few weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions, and a lack of emotions, but mostly just a whirlwind. i finished all my classwork, and said goodbye to my undergraduate experience. the graduation festivities were perfect: class day was stunning, commencement was beautiful. it's hard to believe that they've come and gone, but looking at pictures is a reminder of their occurrence.

since classes ended, i've been working and moving and running around like a wild woman. my gorgeous friend carol was married the weekend after graduation, which was such a fun time with friends. then i moved out of my sweet little apartment, and bid farewell to my life at MC.

now, i'm getting settled into what life will be like for me this summer. juggling work and weeding through all the junk i've acquired in the last 4 years. currently, i'm wishing for some sunshine, because it's been extremely rainy and gray since graduation weekend. i've been working lots on my photography, and getting lots of inspiration for decorating my apartment in fort collins. i think this picture will be the basis for all my color decisions in the apartment. i'm so excited!

spring has sprung

happy spring! since mikey didn't any time off from school this weekend, we decided that my mom, dad, and i would drive up to blacksburg to spend the weekend with him at VT. we got to be outside most of today with a big walk around campus and a little bit of hiking. i didn't take my camera on the hike because i just didn't want to carry it--i was legit into the hike for the exercise part. however, i did get a few fun shots on campus. this one was my favorite. the flowers were in bloom all over campus, and it was one of those days where the sky just seemed extraordinarily blue and the grass ever-so green. it was perfect. 

bike is the theme...

bikes, apparently, seem to be the theme of my life these days. i haven't had any time to blog lately, let alone take any pictures. so, today when i finally downloaded all the pictures i took on spring break (2 weeks ago), i realized that the majority of my pictures have been of bikes these days. funny since a. the last time i was on a bike was in denmark, and b. our class gift (an event i am co-chairing) is two bicycle racks, so the logo is a bike.
anyway, in taking a break (read: procrastinating) from my thesis a little longer, i'll share with you a few images from march.

bike at Meredith - this was what i'd like to call March coming in like a lion. the beginning of the month was miserable, but it's ended up beautifully! 

one of my favorite things in copenhagen last summer was seeing so many raleigh bikes around the city. this raleigh bike was spotted in old town fort collins over spring break, so it's likely that i'll always have a little reminder of my roots around town.

in case you don't know, the new belgium brewery - known especially for fat tire beer is located in fort collins, so this bike rack is extra fun!

now i just need to finish my thesis so that i can get a little time to take more pictures & get out on my own bike in raleigh! long story short...the wheels keep turning and life goes on!

alice fever

if you've been fortunate enough to see the faculty production of Alice in Wonderland at Meredith (done once every 4 years--see history here), you understand the, dare i say, obsession with this work. so, for my class, getting two alice events in our generation was kind of a big deal. we saw the outstanding faculty production as sophomores (and camped out in the rain and cold...potentially twice) and now have tim burton's production to be pumped about. 

obsession = making it okay to buy anything alice, such as this tshirt from urban outfitters. also, i had advanced screening tickets to the movie and it was SO good. really awesome retelling! i loved it. 

lost february...

okay, so i pretty much failed at my blog. and using this outlet for my psychological sanity. but the second half of february got pretty insane with work...although a LOT happened.

i attended one of my first (and last) sporting events at MC. the meredith and peace rivalry is pretty huge, so it was a fun game.

i also went to colorado. it was kind of a big deal. the faculty and students at CSU were outstanding and SO nice and i can't wait to begin in the fall. there'll be more on that after my trip with dad in 2 weeks, since i'll actually have an opportunity to walk around campus and get some pictures. but aside from the visit to CSU, i had a little bit of time with my cousin Bryan and his wife and daughter. isn't this one just precious???

oh, and i also got a pretty awesome mountain view from the top of Flagstaff in Boulder. it was reeeeally sunny, so i'm a little squinty, but the view was spectacular. unfortunately Bry was in the car with a sleeping baby, so i had to go for some self-portrait action...

more life coming soon...i promise!

moving on...

today was a day filled with messages of "moving on". this morning, maureen hartford, the president of meredith college, announced that she would be retiring following the 2010-2011 school year. i received the email via blackberry while i was at preschool, so i read it while i was walking to my car at the end of the school day. reading the email in a setting almost entirely separated from mc, i felt very neutral feelings toward this announcement. i have always held a sense of endearment for dr. hartford. having spent various occasions chatting with her on both academic and personal levels, feel that i've always respected her as the president of our college and i have been able to appreciate the fruits of the progress she has brought for our school. however, knowing that i will be long gone by the 2011-2012 (EEEEK!) school year, i didn't really feel the need to freak out about the announcement. i  know that our school is on a good track and will continue to move forward positively into the future.

returning to campus and logging on to twitter and facebook, i was able to get a grasp on other students' reactions toward dr. hartford's retirement. although i wasn't surprised, i was certainly outraged to see students rejoicing to the heavens over this announcement. while i can certainly respect my classmates' opinions, i do not endorse their outward praise for this news. in my mind, these students are discrediting their own degree and education by discounting the abilities of the administration during their time here at meredith. and, while this is their loss, i can't help but be upset by the insensitivity, closed-mindedness, and negativity. i know without a doubt in my mind that i have received an outstanding education during my time at meredith and i look forward to taking what i have learned out into the world when i graduate. i also know that the changes made during dr. hartford's presidency have greatly impacted that excellent education i've received. there are always going to be things with which we disagree; however, it is necessary to do something about our concerns rather than simply griping and continuing the negativity.

so, with that said, i am proud to have been a student at maureen hartford's meredith college and i know that this announcement will bring many more changes, but hopefully meredith will only continue to progress and move forward, challenging the norms and staying strong as a southern women's liberal arts college.

dr. hartford is moving on and so am i, as i was reminded this afternoon when i received my housing intent form for the 2010-2011 school year. i still don't know where exactly i'll be living next year or what i'll be doing or whether i'll be in school or working, but i know that i will be moving on from here and starting a new chapter. it's scary, but it's exciting, and i know my time at mc has prepared me for all that i have ahead of me.

the little things...

something about this little teabag message just spoke to me today. seeing as i have a sore throat, cold on the rise, and various other ailments, i think i needed that little bit of wisdom.

so much more fun than school work...

i've been on a knitting kick lately. probably because it's a good procrastination tool, but also because it's served as a very good stress-reliever over the past few weeks.

this will someday (it's moving very slowly...) become a funky neck-warmer. i'm currently working on learning to make buttonholes. hopefully it'll be fun. and not ridiculous looking.

i also would like to mention that i greatly appreciate the sunlight that comes into my room during the morning...and how nice it has been to use that sunlight on a snow-day morning. i'd be okay if the snow days (or at least snow mornings) continued through the week.

the sun is up, the sky is blue

as on every snow day, my first goal when i wake up is to look out the window. so this morning when i awoke, i was beyond excited to see the peaceful blanket of snow still on the ground outside my window, a frozen pond, and a beautiful blue sky. it was all my photographer-self could've wished for! so...i bundled up, grabbed my camera, and went along my way. all i could think about was how beautiful and peaceful our campus is. and if i were a crier, i would totally have been crying as i took that walk all over the most picturesque parts of meredith's campus.

johnson

amphitheatre

amp + geese

so then this afternoon i got back from a cabin fever errand only to see how stunning the sunlight was on campus. i ran inside, grabbed my camera, and went out for another round. i also sacrificed all feeling in my fingers because i didn't grab gloves in the process...but i think it was completely worth it.

as much as i love meredith, though, i'm getting so excited about living in colorado with beautiful snowy winters. the last few days have been a real test of my ability to withstand the cold and snow...and i think i've succeeded. i love it. and i'm ready.