Winter is Back

We were having such amazing, lovely weather for the last month or more, but after the gray blustery weekend, I think the wind has blown in. Last night was miserable. It was blowing so hard it was shaking the trailer and it was VERY cold to boot. Yuck! However, it is good weather for staying inside and getting housework and homework done! The house hasn't been this clean in a while, lol!
A picture from a calmer day.

Busy, Busy

Well, I really thought I'd be able to stay on top of posting this semester! What with one thing and another...anyway. I'm posting now, lol!

Until this morning, the weather has been gorgeous! After all my belly aching about the fog and the rain and the clouds and the wind... well, after this sunny weather and hearing about the weather relatives further east are experiencing (yuck!) Humboldt weather is pretty decent! I mean, the fruit trees, wildflowers, rhodendrons, daffodils, roses, all kinds of things are blooming! In January/February! And, because I have the gardening bug really bad this spring, I was looking at our gardening zone and we are in the same zone as south Florida, San Diego and other such warm, tropical places. Very, very interesting... :)
Anyway, here are some pictures I took of some of the blooms.


The manzanita bushes are blooming and making the bees very happy!


A type of sorrel. I walk by these everyday and they only seem to open when they are in the sun. I can relate to that!


A dandelion. I think they actually bloom year-round here.

Are there any flowers blooming in your area?

New Camera!

We got a new camera! Yes, we do already have a very nice camera, one of the big Nikon SLRs, but as some of you may be able to understand, it is very big and bulky and not very easy to carry around campus with arms and back loaded. So we got an updated version of Joe's beloved Sony Cyber-Shot. It's a basic camera, a lot like my little Nikon Coolpix, and I LOVE it! Slightly bigger than my cell phone, it is the perfect size and takes great pics. So nice to be able to pause between classes and snap a pic of the blooming flowers or sneak a shot during club activities or you name it! Although I do miss the SLR occasionally, but really, other than both are digital you can't compare! Anyway, we had a lot of fun at a favorite trail just down the road the other day.


It runs between a cattle pasture and a marshy area. Quite lovely and picturesque, especially in the sunshine!


Max got to run around like crazy and Jenny had her ball, so all were happy!
It's sunny again today, so I think a nice hike down at the Headwaters Forest is in order. This nice weather is absolutely killing my study habits!

Thus far...

the week has been pretty darn good! Loving all but one of my classes, the weather has been beautiful, and the flowers are starting to bloom! A good start to the spring semester! The only class I really think I'll have issues with is my Native American Studies class and only because it is a three hour 6pm to 9pm lecture. The professor is very old, quiet, monotone and easily drones on off topic for 30 or 45 minute intervals or explains things that don't really need to be explained in WAY too much depth. Or at least he did last night. Oh well, it was productive in that I got some work for another class done during one of his side trips! Otherwise, the week is AWESOME! Busy, busy. Club stuff is taking off full swing. We are getting stuff ready for something called March For Parks, which is where we take kids from a local school into one of their local, neighborhood parks and do Environmental Education and Interpretation presentations/games/etc. with them. It is a HUGE thing we do and will be happening in April. So now is when we are getting everything together for it. Talk About Trees also happens at the same time and is similar except we go into the classroom instead of bringing the kids out of the classroom. It is super busy, but very fun and enjoyable. I hope I have this much fun when I get a job! Which, speaking of jobs, I need to start applying for before it is too late and I get swamped with schoolwork! This weekend...
Had a lovely day today. Environmental Communication was very fascinating and my art class was AWESOME! First, we had to use lines to express how we felt about a word. But the lines couldn't be symbols or representative of symbols in any way. I was a little worried, but I think I actually did pretty well and it was fascinating because I learned a bit about how to "read" a work of art and what wavy lines tell versus jagged lines etc. Interesting stuff... The second part of class was AMAZING! It was such a beautiful afternoon that she sent us outside with a large blank sheet of paper, a pencil, a sharpie and the instructions to sketch something we saw and report back in 45 minutes. WOW! I can't believe I get to DRAW OUTSIDE for a CLASS! Lovin' it! LOL! Anyway, it was a good day, if you couldn't tell. :) Think I'm ready for some downtime though, so I am going to go read a novel or something. :)

First Day of Class

Well, if the first day is a taste of what the rest of the week is going to be like, it should be a pretty good week! It was awesome to see most of the faces from last semester, plus a few new ones, and hear their stories from break. It is so funny, one of the girls we took chemistry with at Shasta College is in our interpretative graphics class this semester and has switched over from a planning to an interpretation major! It's pretty awesome that we are together again. :) My very first art class was AMAZING! It is just beginning drawing, but I did more drawing in that three hour time slot than I have done in a very long time. It was WONDERFUL! A little intimidating because I feel pretty sure that I am the only non-art major in the class, but what the heck, I'm drawing!! Pretty darn sweet.
Anyways, hitting the ground running, or trying to. Hope everyone's Tuesday was pretty good. :)

New Year, New Post

Well, yet another year has come and gone. It seems the busier I get the faster they go! What happened to time that dragged on when I was little? I must've had a faster metabolism back then or something, because time sure flies by now! Anyway, I'm going to try posting to the blog again, at least once a week, hopefully more often. Keep my writing skills sharp and hopefully stay in touch with everyone a bit better.
Class starts tomorrow. I'm pretty excited to be honest. A drawing class--my first one ever!--lots of interpretation and a Native American Studies class. Should be a fun, although busy semester. Oh well, if I wasn't busy during the semester it wouldn't be college now would it!
Have a great week and hopefully I'll be posting again pretty darn soon. :)

Kentucky: Bowling Green

It was such a relief to get into the Bowling Green KOA and set up house on Thursday! Put everything back to normal, take a real shower, run the AC. It was sweet! We arrived before most of the rest of the family, but Paul, Alisha and her bridesmaids were there to welcome us into town. We had a great evening out and Joe and I discovered that white, chicken pizzas are delicious! The rest of the family arrived at various times on Friday so we met them all at the hotel for some catching up before the rehearsal dinner.

(Jay and Alisha at the rehearsal dinner)

Joe and I were a little late to the rehearsal dinner, but we made it in time for dinner, which was very good! I met Tasha-Scott's oldest daughter-and her son Ryan and had a great time with everyone. The location of the rehearsal dinner was pretty cool because it was in a building that has been in use since 1818 and the restaurant-Mariah's-has been around for 25 years. It was a pretty sweet dinner!
After dinner the Orosz side of the family reconvened at the hotel where PJ-Paul's son-met us and we all sat around chatting late into the evening. I also met Tina, Alisha and PJ's mom.
Saturday was a busy day. We had Joe's Dad (named Joe also) and Ann over for a crab quiche breakfast-yum! Joe went with them to Wal-Mart and I went to the hotel to grab Maria and Tasha to get our nails done. It is always such a treat to do that, but they never last. I think I use my hands too much or something... By the time we got that done it was time to grab lunch and get dressed for the wedding. The wedding was in an old, historic train station and was beautiful! I loved the flowers and the dress was phenomenal! It was very well done and lovely. The reception was just as nice at the country club with a delicious barbecue dinner and lovely cake. Everyone got to see me and Joe do a little dancing before the bride and groom took off. We all blew bubbles for them and at each other! It was a ton of fun!
After the wedding everyone met back up at the hotel where we chatted some more and relaxed before everyone would have to leave on Sunday.
On Sunday we went to the hotel to see Joe and Ann off and have breakfast with the family. After they were all packed everyone came over to our house for a while which was fun because they finally got to see it! It was actually able to hold everyone-10 people-not too uncomfortably! We had a lot of fun taking pictures and goofing around before we had to say goodbye to Scott, Paul, Tasha and Ryan. Maria, Norman, Caroline and Dylan got to hang out a while longer which was awesome. Norman, Caroline, Dylan and I got to play some miniature golf and I even scored a hole in one! Joe and Maria grilled lunch for all of us. After lunch we had to say goodbye to them too and we had the place to ourselves again. We went for a walk in Fountain's Square and had some ice cream and then came home and crashed. We were exhausted after such a busy and fun weekend! We can't wait to do it again, but next time it needs to be longer than just three days!
On Monday, we packed everything back up and went to Camping World to have the trailer brakes inspected. Good thing too because the right front brake wasn't working, but happily it was an easy and inexpensive fix and we were on the road headed for Nolin Lake State Park around lunch time. What a fun weekend and what a great town!

More pics when we have a faster internet connection!