Spring Has Rain!

It's crazy! Not sure if 'official' spring is here, but it's now Spring Break where I am, so I say that counts. We've been getting rain on a fairly regular occasion, and a few snows even! (finally XD) I'm happy with the amount of water received~ I've heard complaints a-plenty, but I figure that being a desert-rat myself might have me a bit biased. <3

Also, good news about Limbo's Child! Not only has it been downloaded over 300 times (probably well over 500 by now, but I don't know for sure. Maybe Jonah should get a 'downloaded' counter for his site... if one exists~ That would be awesome! ...Anyway.....) , BUT it is now available in print!!
It's more expensive, sure, as it's print-on-demand, and printed books are of course going to cost more than one dollar, but still! The option is there!
-> Right Here <-
As still is, of course, the option to buy it at one dollar from Amazon.
Just saying~

Also, if you happen to have a deviantart account, or just want to see something adorable, one of my friends has entered in the "Cute Monster" contest! She's got a great design. Go and vote for her if you've got an account! If not, just look at iiiiiiit~ X3

Thus far this week, I have gotten my car inspected (again) for possible problems. Earlier in the year, found out that the radiator cracked, and had to get it replaced. >.o  So when things started feeling wonky more recently, I got it in straight-away. Thankfully, ended up just being  transmission fluid. But there was hardly any there; and it was black.... heheh....
Yeah. Not the car-savvy one over here. Thankfully, I was able to contact my bishop last time to ask his recommendation of mechanics, and the guy I've gone to seems quite friendly. I'm thankful for him, at least.

Now, for some pictures of some of the snow we got!

Yes, I made that snowman. No one else was up at that point, and there was just so much possibility!
(I also hoped he could encourage others up those stairs... Too bad he melted by that evening. XD' )


School-relation-wise, we now officially have a new president! His name is Paul A. Sybrowsky, a formal General Authority in the LDS church. Here's the article.
The ceremony was nice, with great talks all around, and he and his wife definitely seems qualified! Looking forward to seeing them around campus more.

Hmm... other news...
Oh! I got this awesometastical jacket from my friend here at school, who painted it up and decided it didn't work out quite how she wanted. I had been oogling over it since she started, so instead of scrapping it she gave it to me~! <3

The symbols on the back are for the elements, and along the arm should stand for something like "brave one". Nothing too significant for me, but sooo barking awesome!!! >w< I glomped her at least 3+ times when she gave it to me~

 Also! Got to go see The Secret World of Arrietty, the newest Studio Ghibli film~! Basically The Borrowers, but anime. 'Twas really fun! A group of friends and I drove out to Roanoke in 2 cars for the premiere.

The brightness isn't that great, but it was the only group shot we got with my camera. *shrugs*

That's a better shot of the poster. It's a really fun show, and I was totally expecting -*sorry no spoilers XP*- at the end, and was surprised that it didn't happen! But that's just my natural cynicism I guess. XD


I'll have to talk about other things at another time, as I am getting tired, as are my arms.
But before I go, here's a fun/pretty French song "A La Claire Fontaine." It's really a traditional song, and tis pretty as such. However, this version is a little bit 'smoother', and has a few changed lyrics; it's by a Canadian band called Garolou. I was lucky enough to have a friend translate this version for me (for a story I'm writing), and although not all the differences make total sense to me, I still love listening to it~

I am also going on a hike tomorrow. SO I ought to be off now~

Isn't This Exciting?

I know! An update! How amazing!

heheh, ok, so all not joking aside, I have things to talk about and the time to do so! Somewhat...

SO, quickly then~

I have signed up for my classes for next semester [fall] here at SVU, because February is when it opens. If you don't grab your classes right quick, you won't be able to get into much of anything! At least, of what you probably need to get into. And a few of the wants.
I shall be taking Metaphysics, an upper-level Philosophy course. It's with an awesome professor, too! I'm rather excited~
I'll also be taking a Beginning Ballet class. I've had one year of classes before, but it was quite a while ago, so I'm looking forward to re-learning things. At least I won't have to worry about my feet positioning too much; my toes naturally point outwards! (not many people notice, but those who do tend to give strange looks... Can't say I blame them.)
I shall also be taking one of the required cores, Classics of Western Literature. I believe that I'll enjoy the reading, but there's going to be a lot of it, so hopefully I will at least like the subject material. We shall find out...
Oh! And I'll finally be taking Intro to Drawing! I'm excited to see what I will learn from an actual art class, instead of random model-drawing and stuff on my own. Plus, at least 4 hours of drawing will be required weekly, so I'll have an excuse to draw a lot again! (unfortunately, it may not be of things I want, but that is class for you) I may not get to draw much otherwise, as my arms still have no answer in sight, but a possible help may be investigated on my way home this spring. I shan't go into details because honestly, I don't remember many.
I was considering taking Anatomy & Physiology as well, but that would have taken muuuch more effort to handle at the same time as Classics of Western Lit, and would have thrown my whole schedule off because it's 4 days a week. *sigh* So unfortunately, no science/biology class next semester...
I will be taking Info Literacy, which is an online class that I hear is mainly teaching us how to use our resources properly. I hope it'll be a fairly easy class, because I'll need to focus on Metaphysics and Classics of Western Lit a lot, I feel.
But it also feels exciting~

Now I just got to get together more funds so I can actually attend next semester...
*sigh* More scholarship searching ahead... And applications. Hopefully that pay off.


Now, you're probably wondering what I've been doing besides class stuff. Well, unfortunately, I have gotten sick in the past week. Some cold of some sort is going around the school, and a good quarter or more of my Spanish class was out with it, and still has it, so it was kind-of inevitable that I would get it, I guess. But, I am doing what I can about it. Liquids, cough drops, TheraFlu... Bundling up warmly.

Also, my friends have decided that I have quite lovely hair, which I won't disagree with, and since it is also rather long, enjoy playing with it. I am astonished at the amazing things they have been able to accomplish.

I felt almost like Ariel!

I've never been able to get my hair to behave so nicely. It boggles my mind that people are capable of doing this. It'd be nice if I could get them to do it daily, but of course, I have a 7 AM Biology class 3 days a week. XD'

Oh, and there's a lovely river nearby that I finally got to go to for a little bit. Only a short time, but still lovely~ (though cold)

Well, I've got to be off! Bye~

Foggy Future

Well, it's been rather freezing around here lately. Sometimes below, it feels like. But, thankfully I have a plethora of layerable clothing, as well as numerous hats and jackets! Gloves don't hurt, either. So, while it's been normally clear and cold, I have managed to at least stop myself from shivering most of the time. (not always)

Today, such is not the case, but that's because it's cold, cloudy, and rainy/foggy. But, this is a good thing in my opinion - I enjoy the water thoroughly, as I see so little of it back home, even if it does tend to make me shiver. I can always put on another layer~ It's beautiful writing weather; now if I can just get through my homework so I can do the writing...

Not to say that I haven't been doing much in my Creative Writing class. It's a lot of fun, though challenging. Most of the time-consuming homework involves reading and critiquing. I'm good with that. There's just... other things I'd like to write on as well.

My Western Political Theory class is also going great! I knew from my philosophy class last semester that I liked reading the Socratic dialogues (Apology, Crito, etc.), but I wasn't sure I'd like other things involving Socrates so much! We're going to be reading most of Republic in class this semester, and while I was reading the first book I honestly forgot that I was reading it for a specific purpose (aka class). So entertaining~

Also - on Friday, for our Forum speaker, we had an amazing person who I never heard of before speak: Mindy Gledhill. Apparently, she's a really fun and insightful songwriter/musician who has done a few things for EFY in the past, and has recently made a name for herself as a somewhat popular artist non-religiously. She had a concert that evening, and it was most definitely a fantastic experience! I took pictures, but I don't have them loaded yet. Hopefully, later this evening, that will happen. We shall find out. >D
Look her up if you haven't heard of her - she's a beautiful mom and an excellent artist.
her site -> http://www.mindygledhill.com/  go to the music link and her songs'll start playing
Well, I'm stealing this off before eating again, so I'm off to food! Hopefully, I"ll keep updated more often~

New Year's Semester

So, back to the school-grind!

This semester, I'm taking Biology, Western Political Theory, Spanish IV, Intro to Logic, and Intro to Creative Writing, as well as Book of Mormon part 2 in Institute.

I've got a much more spread out schedule than last semester, which was just scrunched almost entirely into one block of about 5 hours a day. Now I've generally got an hour or more between some classes, and I think only two or three are right after the other.

My computer is running low on fuel, though, so I gotta make this quick before going to eat.


Creative writing is going to be a blast, but all this writing is really going to stress out my arms. (like I don't do that enough)
So I may end up at teh chiropractor more often, though we still haven't the slightest idea what's up with me.
So I'll be using my heating pad and ice packs until then.

And I got a new camera!! Maybe meaning more pictures~ <3
(ok, not new new, but it's fancier than the other one, and I've not had it before. So I'm excited!)

Plus! I just found out that one of my friends here at school also has Manga Studio!! Her style is much more amazingtastical than mine, I assure you, but we need still to explore this strange program and see what it can do! So we're hoping to get some time together at least once a week in order to do something together about that.

Alrighty, gotta go!

Christmas Seasoning

Alright. So my goal of getting more posts in before the next break didn't happen. BUT, I passed all my final exams~!! So I shall attribute my lack of updating to studying (although it may or may not be entirely true).
...Well, I'm still unsure of my Biology final, but I haven't gotten any ominous letters in the mail or in my inbox, sooo I think it's safe to assume that I at least passed. :D
Plus, on my unofficial transcript, it says that I got a B+ in the class overall!! I'M SO EXCITED!!
Seriously, that class takes effort. I mean, yeah, all my classes do; but Biology is the most demanding, right over math. (The only reason math is so close is because I don't like it as much. XD)
I managed to pull an A in all my other classes as well!! Hoorah!

So, that's my first semester full-time at college passed.
Now, to get through next semester.
........
We shall see how that works out.


So, right now I am back at home in Texas, enjoying the slightly-warmer weather and open space. Well, actually, the weather has been rather cold; I've even had to use the ice scraper a few times!

Which brings me to my next subject - I got a holiday job! Woo!
Well, more like returned to my old job for my break; I'm working at the Humane Society Mon-Fri the two weeks that I'm here. It'll get me some more money for the upcoming semester, which every college student knows is greatly appreciated. Plus, I get to inundate my animal-meter again~! <3
That is one thing I miss in college - having animals nearby all the time. Tame animals.


Well that's pretty much all I can think of for now. I've been catching up with a lot of family and friends, so those who are reading have probably talked to me already by now, but that's ok. I've also been watching a lot of movies.
And drawing. I finally got back to my fun comic-creating program called Manga Studio. It's on my home desktop computer.  I want to try to see if I can install it on my laptop that I might be able to use it while at school. Yes, with all my imminent homework and hanging-out and everything, I still want to pile comic-making on my list. Along with my arm exercises. We'll see how that works.


Love you all, and Merry Christmas~!
(And just for the season, Jonah Hewitt, the author of Limbo's Child, is offering the book up for FREE for a few days!
-> http://jonahhewitt.blogspot.com/2011/12/merry-christmas.html <-
Really and truly! Now, go treat yourself to an awesome read~)

Onward from Thanks

So, as the Thanksgiving holiday draws to a close, the immenintely looming finals draw nearer...

But first, a quick recap of what I've been doing!


This past week has been a bit of a flurry for me, for while I haven't really had classes to go to, I've been having a wonderful time busying myself with my own agenda~

I received the last book in the Leviathan trilogy (by Scott Westerfeld), Goliath, in the mail a few weeks ago. Not having to worry about other readings immediately, I *finally* got to sit down and read it!
I don't think I could say too much about this book, but for the sake of my arms, I shall refrain from even starting. Just know that I love it more now than I ever have before, which is saying qutie a lot. <3

Also! I have gotten more time to read on Limbo's Child! Hoorah!! Absolutely fantastic, I can't help but get sucked in more as I continue reading~ As I have said on many occasions before, check out the author's blogsite! http://jonahhewitt.blogspot.com/
(He's even got a preview of the next book in the series prepared!!)

Also - I have been re-discovering how lovely having photoshop and a tablet is~ I haven't drawn much on my computer this semester, but I've been given a few excuses by organizations here at school to use my Photoshop skills, and finally had time to play with it~! So exceedingly diverting~ <3
I only wish I had my Manga Studio program on this laptop - I've thought of it quite a lot recently, and can't wait to see if I can put it on two devices once I'm at home for Christmas!

On the actual events side of things, I went to our school's production of Pride & Prejudice on the second-to-last night it showed. They all did a fantastic job!! The cast was incredible, and they all had wonderful outfits to boot! Not only that, but the piano playing was superb~ It was a long endeavor, nigh on 3 hours (with an intermission), and a single person played the entire time! (well, there were breaks to be sure, but they weren't noticable) The director did a wonderful job as well, since he put the whole play together with some help on arrangements. Yes, he took the book (and a few movie references) and put it all in a comprehensive and well-done script! He praised the actors on the fact that they could still memorize their lines, even as he made changes to the script even the last week before showing. I'm personally impressed not only with them, but with him and his efforts! They all did wonderfully, I wish I could've gone to more than one showing, but they sold out rather quick!


Alright, well I can't really think of much more to say that would be of interest...

Oh! There's going to be a masquerade of sorts as a 'winter ball' in a week or two~ I'm so excited!! >w< The only restriction is that we can't actually wear the masks - they have to be on sticks or in some way held apart from being attatched to a person's head or face. It's a bit bothersome, but it's little weight in the way of the joy of having the freedom of masks!!
Now, I just have to go out and buy some supplies... (or just buy one, but where's the fun in that?)
(...of course, it would save me some time...)

Ah well! Until next time~

Long Time Posting

Alright, so it has been a while since my last post. I shan't offer excuses, they are the norm. I shall simply strive to catch up on the events~
(this is another reason I am really happy my mom tried to impress upon me the importance of keeping a daily calender; it helps recap easily)


So the last Saturday in October I was busy as could be. I went to a fun place called "Hoofbeats" to volunteer for a while; they were having a small Halloween Carnival and had me and a few other people from school help run booths. It's a place over in Lexington that is like a horse-therapy center for people with physical/mental impairments. 'Twas fun, I got to see animals again (HOORAH!), and I even got to wear a mask for a short time!

Almost as soon as I got back from that, I changed and went with my Philosophy class over to Lexington to attend a mass at the St. Patrick Catholic Church; apparently it's something Prof. Armstrong does every year. We went not only to experience how the church itself worked some, but to get an idea of how they interpret the Nicine Creed, which the congregation recited as well. It was really very nice, and they had beautiful music~

The only thing distracting me was the fact that on the way there, my car had pretty much freaked out and died. Thankfully, it did so only a few blocks from the church we were going to, but it still kind-of worried me. I was just driving along, with a few other people in my car (carpooling), when what looked like white smoke started emanating from under my car's hood. This was about 3/4 of the way there. Then, in the vicinity, my car locked up, the gas quit working, the smoke started pouring into the cab... So I just gently pulled over to the curb and parked where I could.
After the service, Prof. Armstrong unfortunately couldn't help as he didn't know a thing about cars, but my roommate's boyfriend thankfully was in the class as well, and offered to try to help me. Well, it had cooled off sufficiently to get almost all the way back to school without smoking, but when it did I pulled over and we both looked under the hood. He saw what he assumed was coolant over on the side, and it looked like my coolant tank was empty, so he suggested taking it in asap. We got back to school after letting it cool again. It started smoking a little more, but I got it parked without it freezing up again.

After that, I changed real quick and walked down to the Halloween Dance that was going on. It was tons of fun! Lots-o-people were dressed in awesome outfits, I loaded most of the pics on to my facebook if you look there. I wore my steampunk herpetologist outfit again~ This year, some people actually recognized what steampunk was! I enjoy college~

 
Here are a few of the fun costumes from the night~

(yes, it really lit up!!)

So, that was my adventure for that weekend~

The following Monday, I searched around for a good mechanic someplace. The Walmart over in Lexington didn't have an auto section, and the nearest Walmart that did was about an hour away. Eventually, though, after asking around, I found a local shop to take it in to. I did so on Tuesday, and after changing the oil and looking at stuff, they found my problem - the radiator tank had a huge crack down the front! So, almost needless to say, I left it there after calling my parents and informing them of the situation, and they said to get it fixed. It took a few days, as the specific part that was needed proved to not be easily forthcoming, but I got it back on Thursday~ They were real friendly about it, too. Thankfully, my parents agreed to cover the costs for me, since we had seriously *just* gotten the car looked over before coming out here. Hopefully, nothing else decides to pop up. So far, so good~

Then, that week I was elected and agreed to help put together an Institute Clue Murder Mystery Date Night! I was to help with the decorations. We had about four of us for the majority of the ideas; others did some things that Friday on the evening of the event, like tablecloths and the like, but we did most of the bigger stuff before-hand. Throughout the week, we got together and created cardboard candelabras (spraypainted them gold), painted and cut out life-size windows (since we were putting it on in the cultural hall), and such fun activities~ It ended up being a hit! I showed up as a contributor, and as a 'reporter'. The theme was Clue, as stated before, and it was a more modern-ish version, set in the 1920s-40s of sorts. There was a cast that walked around and got asked questions about the recent murder of a fast-food restaurant owner; his body was found burnt to a crisp! Turns out it was a gimmick set-up just like a story in the Book of Mormon! (Honestly it's been too long for me to remember the exact one... but it had to do with the Gadianton Robbers)

'Twas all quite fun~

I'm afraid I shall have to upload any more pictures at a later date; the internet is being obscenely obtuse right now and unwilling to work with me and my large number of pictures. But so be it.

Anyway, that following Saturday I went to a place called Boxerwood Gardens, which is a beautiful garden area which owns about 30 acres, and volunteered to help clean up a little. I only ended up helping in the kids' area, but it was beautiful nevertheless! Hopefully I'll go back soon.
That evening I went to an Improv presentation by alumni, and it was very fun! Afterwards, I went to an Elephant Shortcut concert! They're a band formed by some of the students here, my awesome Resident Adviser included~ They're really great, I'd suggest looking them up on Amazon/iTunes/Youtube! :D
Here is their website, a few videos included~


This past week has been pretty blah, focusing on homework and a bit of movie watching. Tuesday, at the suggestion with some friends, I finally saw this fantastical movie called What Dreams May Come, which I had never heard of before. It's really very beautiful and intriguing! Then I saw the original Clue movie (with Tim Curry!) on Thursday with the same group of friends~ Seriously though, homework has been consuming a good portion of my time.

Yesterday I went on our ward's temple trip, and went to the D.C. temple again! It was wonderful~
We got back in time for me to watch the second part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which I had not gotten to see in theaters!! Our school was doing a showing of both the first and second part - I got back in time to see the second~ <3


SO, I'm afraid I'm going to be late to a fireside tonight (they seem to have them all the time here!), so I shall have to leave off at that! Not much else has happened, except pictures, so that shall be attempted later.
Thanks for checking in!