ab & pumpkin hunting...

 I went home for a very short trip this past Friday and Saturday -- I had purchased tickets to see AB at the PAC back in August, so of course I was going to take the short drive to SLO to see him! As expected, he was brilliant. Hysterical and informative -- a deadly combo. :)

 

  

 After AB on Friday night, my family and I went to AVB to go pumpkin hunting (called so due to the screeching wildlife, which are armed with sticky candy and what seem to be exhausted parents showing a look of regret of the "family outing").

It was probably about 85 degrees while we were there, thus the situation demanded espresso chip ice cream (yuuuuum!). It was a lovely weekend that I wished was a little longer.
This week is crunch time for me: 3 chapters worth of physics homework and my biology annotated bibliography all due Friday...it's going to be a fun week.

new camera...

My family gave me a new camera for my birthday -- I love it! I have a great SLR camera, but it's not the best thing for traveling or throwing it in my purse for the day. This guy's the perfect size to throw in my purse, but still very high quality -- and it can record videos! I think I'm in love.
It's midterms right now, and I just had my bio test on Monday. After the test, my friend and I went over to the aquarium to celebrate (hence all the marine photos). Now: onto physics...yay.

two decades...

 

 

I was fortunate enough to take a lovely four day weekend in LA to see my friends and celebrate my birthday -- 20! No more teens -- yay!
The weekend was full of smiles, "laugh til you cry" conversations, and much needed hugs (something that's been severely lacking since I've been off at school). It makes me crave winter break...is it December yet? Come on, school: move faster please!
The warm summer-esc weather has not been helping the whole "school" thing either. How can you stay inside when it's 80 degrees and the beach is two minutes away? Is that fair, I ask you? Nay. It's torture. Although I did see that it might be rainy and about 54 degrees next week...yes, please! I want it to be fall. Sweaters, hot coca, boots; they're calling my name.
It's midterms right now, which means long hours of memorizing terminology and life cycles of multicellular protists and taxonomy...I repeat, Christmas come quick!

blown away {sotw}...

[I know, two posts in two days? I'm shocked too. :) ]

So, we're just going to pretend that I haven't missed about 8 SOTW's (my bad).

I love this song from Carrie Underwood's new album. I'm not a huge fan of country music, but once in a while I'll find a song that I just can't get out of my head...this is one of them. :)

So, my SOTW: Blown Away, by Carrie Underwood.

where in the world have I been?...

Well now, it's been a while hasn't it? There's a good reason for that too...I can't really think of it right now, but when I do, I'll be sure to let you know.
At this point, I'm blaming my complete and utter lack of communication on: moving up to Monterey for school, trying to cope with a new schedule (something that I still haven't fully mastered and probably won't this semester), looking at different career and school options (something that had sucked my energy out of me up until about 2 weeks ago), and of course homework.
Now that I've got a pretty good handle on the semester and have laid out my schedule for the rest of the semester (only 2 more months!), I can get back into doing things that I actually enjoy...like blogging! I've missed the electronic one-sided verbal banter that I enjoy doing oh so much. I'm determined to get at least 2 posts in per month for the next 2 months. That's a realistic goal, right? :)
So...what's been happening in the past 2 months? Way too much to put into one post, so I'll do my best to summarize for you.

1. School -- the bane of my existence, thus far. But that's OK, because of point #2.
2. I'll be taking a leave of absence from CSUMB next semester to pursue a career in culinary arts -- I know, bio to cooking. Why in the world would I want to do that? The answer: I'll tell you in another post. :)
3. More school -- like I said: bane of my existence.

 So, right now I'm doing my best to live day by day, trying to make the most of my experience and the opportunity of being here. But I look forward to the day when I won't have to memorize vector equations and why evolution played a role in why "fruit chose to be sweet"...yes, "chose"...Can't I just make a fruit salad instead? With candied pecans and a sprinkle of feta? Mmmm, yep. Can't wait to cook. Is it December yet? :)