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.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Winter is Back
Posted by Veronica at 11:24 AM 1 comments
Saturday, February 5, 2011
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?
Posted by Veronica at 11:55 AM 0 comments
Sunday, January 23, 2011
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!
Posted by Veronica at 12:17 PM 1 comments
Thursday, January 20, 2011
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. :)
Posted by Veronica at 11:36 PM 1 comments
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
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. :)
Posted by Veronica at 11:36 PM 1 comments
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. :)
Posted by Veronica at 12:43 AM 1 comments
Friday, June 11, 2010
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. 
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!
Posted by Veronica at 8:10 PM 0 comments
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Getting to Kentucky
Posted by Veronica at 10:48 PM 0 comments
Friday, June 4, 2010
Nebraska
We were so relieved to get into Nebraska after Wyoming that we decided to cut the day short to enjoy the greenery and humidity. Western Nebraska really isn't that humid, but after the severe dryness of Wyoming--our sandwich bread dried up within two minutes before we could eat it for lunch--Nebraska felt humid and so nice! We pulled off at a place called Lake Ogallala, which is right below Lake McConaughy. It is beautiful! If anyone is passing through Nebraska on I-80 I really encourage you to stop here for a break. It is about 15 minutes off the highway, but well worth the trip. For that matter, stop at any of the beautiful state parks that are on the Platte River and right off of the interstate. They make for nice breaks. Anyway, Lake Ogallala is beautiful. We pulled into a dry camping site--without water, electricity or a dump site--right on the lake without any neighbors or lights.It was so beautiful and peaceful. We grilled hamburgers and corn on the cob in observance of Memorial Day, took the dogs for a nice bike ride, sketched and went kayaking on the lake. Midwestern lakes are definitely not as clean and clear as those back in California, but there are TONS of fish in them! Joe and I really wished we had fishing poles and a license that evening there was so much activity out on the water. Since we didn't have electricity and didn't feel like running the generator all night, we went to bed with the birds. But we woke up for the sunrise! I've actually seen alot of those on this trip...unusual for me, but very enjoyable. :)
After enjoying the sunrise, we packed up and hit the road, hoping to reach Missouri by the end of the day.
Posted by Veronica at 9:04 AM 0 comments
Monday, May 31, 2010
Day Two: Elko, NV to Laramie, WY
Whew, yesterday was a long day! We started driving at about 5 am from Elko, NV and arrived in Laramie, WY at about 7:30 pm last night. That was a long day! But we put 650 miles behind us and were over the halfway point to Kentucky. Which means we can take it a little easier, since we don't need to be in KY until Thursday. I have to say, Nevada is a nice state to drive through. Beautiful mountains and some variety. And Utah is nice too because of the variety and the smallness of the state compared to NV and WY. But I don't care for the Great Salt Lake.
We stopped for a break and ran the dogs out to the water's edge. Yuck! Mud and dead birds the whole way out there. It made for a nice break but it is gross. Salt Lake City looks nice from I-80 though and the climb out of the city is beautiful. It was so funny because we stopped to fuel up about 20 miles outside of the city and as we were pulling out a European flagged us down for a picture. He was so mind-boggled by the size of our rig, he had never seen anything like it and compared it to a dormitory!
And then we drove on into Wyoming. I thought of certain old cowboys when we crossed the border and the first twenty miles or so were pretty decent. But then we got into central WY and I was suddenly able to understand why it is the least populated state. Rolling, sage brush covered hills. No mountains, no trees, no livestock. Only the occasional antelope, prairie dog, or an itty-bitty trailer town to break up the monotany until we got about 80 miles outside of Laramie. Then we went above 7,000 feet and were in mountains again. Not many trees, but no more sage brush either! It felt good to stop for the night at a campground with full hookups so that we could shower and run the heaters.
Today, we left Laramie mid-morningish to head into Nebraska. The climb out of Laramie is beautiful for about 30 miles. The mountains are over 8,000 feet and there are trees and everything! A very nice change from the rest of Wyoming. We hit the plains about 45 minutes ago. Nice and green but Joe had a difficult time reconciling himself to the lack of trees. Oh well, the Platte River can't be that far away...:)
Posted by Veronica at 1:03 PM 0 comments
Saturday, May 29, 2010
On the Road Again!
Well, summer is officially here for Joe and I! I had my last final Friday morning and am very excited to have a couple of months to relax! In fact, we are on the road again! Except this time instead of making our way through California we are heading to Kentucky and back! We left Redding at 10:00 this morning and made it to Elko, Nevada at 8:30 this evening. I never thought I would say it, but Nevada is a beautiful state when you are driving down the highway at 70 mph! I'm usually not one for big, open, never changing vistas, but I have enjoyed going through Nevada. Of course we've also seen things like white pelicans and I think pronghorn antelope, although I'm not sure if there are actually pronghorns out here. Also, I am very proud that I drove our 40 ft fifth-wheel today for an hour and half or so at high speeds without having any problems. I even pulled into a truck stop! The mountains are beautiful here with quite a bit of snow on them still. Joe and I thought it was cool that we went through the Humboldt Range and drove along the Humboldt River for several hours since we will be going to Humboldt State in the fall...I forgot what it is like to share the road with big rigs that can go faster than 55 mph. The first one that passed us practically gave me a heart attack! We've seen quite a few rigs with three trailers, something we don't see in Redding too often. The dogs are traveling well, although it took Max most of the day to settle down. I don't think he has ever been on a long trip before, but he actually slept for the last couple hours of the day. I think I will follow his lead! G'night!
Posted by Veronica at 11:58 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
A Visitor
Today we had a lovely visitor! Again. You see, they actually visit us everyday, several times a day. The hummingbirds love us! Between our feeder and our flowers, especially the orange tree, they are always stopping by, from first thing in the morning to last thing at night. It is always really cool to wake up to the buzz of a hummingbird's wings or their high pitched chirps!
Posted by Veronica at 12:10 AM 1 comments
Monday, April 6, 2009
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Spring...
Posted by Veronica at 11:29 PM 0 comments
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Texas
We had a great time with Paul. He has such a beautiful place there in San Antonio. Great gardener too, he has some awesome plants and a lot of knowledge. We spent two full days with Paul and the evening of our arrival and morning of our departure too. We had so much fun helping do some yard work! He and Joe went to town cutting down limbs and pruning trees while I tried to focus on pruning and cleaning up the potted plants instead of how high they were climbing or how they were scrambling around limbs to cut from or, well anyway, you get the general idea! We don't get to do that kind of stuff that often (my potted plants are probably suffering from too much attention) so it was a blast and a real treat! The next day we touristed around a bit of San Antonio. We went to the Alamo, which was crowded but still impressive.
We also ventured outside of San Antonio down to Del Rio to look at the fifth wheel. Del Rio is a pretty small town surrounded by scrub brush but it has most of the conviences you could really need. The area was pretty in its way (as all areas are) though I'm glad we were there in the spring instead of high summer or something! It was pretty green and there were a couple of flowers blooming so it was nice. The fifth wheel is HUGE, bigger than some of the apartments we've seen, but unfortunately a little old and pretty happy where it is I think. I have to admit though, I don't think I've ever been in an RV that was that BIG. I think for the first time in our marriage Joe and I had to raise our voices to hear each other at opposite ends of the RV! Nice place.
Anyway, Texas was great between touristing around and relaxing with Paul (his Playstation is addictive by the way) and it would be a treat to visit again! And you'll never guess what two birds I added to my list!! A crested caracara
and a black-bellied whistling duck!
Hooray for birds!
Posted by Veronica at 11:07 PM 0 comments
April
Happy April everyone! In honor of this beautiful month of spring and because my sister has finally convinced me that even a picture post a day is worth putting up, I am going to try to put up at least a picture a day. I know, what a crazy thing for me to do with my posting history, huh?! But who knows, maybe it will help make it a habit and that couldn't be a bad thing, could it?I took this picture of these pretty pansies at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens last weekend when we were in Texas visiting Paul. Beatiful gardens with LOTS of flowers blooming. I couldn't help but think of Jennifer, Dad, and Mom especially when we came to the annual beds (which I didn't get any pictures of, can you believe it?!)which also happened to be next to a very scentful citrus grove. How much more beautiful can it get? We had a great time in Texas and I promise, I will do a longer post about that. But I'm pretty tired after a busy day so I'm going to wish you all a good night!
Posted by Veronica at 12:45 AM 2 comments
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Happy Birthday!
So happy birthday to you Jennifer and Vanessa,
Posted by Veronica at 5:41 PM 1 comments
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
OMG!!!
Hope you all have a great week! Posted by Veronica at 9:53 PM 4 comments
