Christmas 2012

I've found that not having internet in my apartment seriously cramps my blogging style...as in, I tend to very rarely post anything these days.  Honestly, I find that very sad because it means that it's unusual for me to exercise my literary abilities.  When working at a software company, literary abilities are not something that I put into practice terribly often, except to write careful instructions:

"This issue is due to (error).  To fix, click (link), find (tab), change (field value), update, and refresh."

I'm getting distracted.

The point of this post is to recap our Christmas in Florida, which also meant my first Christmas not at home with my family.  Instead of Christmas looking like this:

...it looked like this instead:

Since pictures are worth a thousand words, here's a photographic recap of the trip (please pardon the phone photos).

So overall, we spent time with family, went to a lovely church on Christmas Eve, hung out on the beach, saw an alligator, viewed another fantastic church, and saw an amazing sunrise on the plane back to Boston.  It was a low-key Christmas, but the best part about it was the time.  It's so rare these days to just have some time to stop and let go the cares of every day routine, and so when an opportunity to take that time to just rest presents itself, I think it's truly invaluable.  

Washington! Whistler! Adventures!

As it turns out, Washington state and Whistler, BC are two fantastic places.  Here's the pictorial overview of our trip:

Today's Tacoma Narrows Bridge:

(The replacement for the one that collapsed in 1940 - things get interesting around 3:15)

Lavender sold at the Public Market in Seattle:

Kayaking on Hood Canal:

Canadian mountains!

The Whistler Inuksuk (also referred to as "the stone guy"):

ZIP LINING.

More mountains:

I would be a neglectful blogger if I failed to mention that we ate at Arby's...multiple times.

And finally, what would a trip to Seattle be without a sideways picture of the Space Needle?

Specific stories to follow.

Meine Familie und die Schweiz

Well, the fam managed to make it back from Switzerland all in one piece.


It's quite nice there.


They stayed in a teeeeeeeny tiny town way high up in the Alps.


It was even pretty at night, where it stayed light until very late.


And my mom got to sit in a little pod car thing. Evidently there are only 90 of them in the world. Volkswagen-made, of course.


Pretty cool, eh?

Now I want to go on vacation.

Catching Up

I have to admit...I'm not feeling inspired in the writing department these days. Probably because most days are exactly the same: babysit, beach, practice, ice cream, sleep. Sometimes we throw a movie in the mix too. So...sorry. MLIA. Whatev.

That's not to say, however, that summer is being wasted away. No sir. (Or ma'am.) It's been a long time since I've had a more lazy summer, and I'm really enjoying it. I guess I can't be completely footloose and fancy free just because - ya know - I'm looking for a job and all that. (Have I ever mentioned that before? Yes? Mmm. How redundant. Again, sorry. Chalk it up to networking?)

I've discovered a new-found love for lying on the beach with friends, even though it requires wearing sunscreen (which I hate almost as much as I hate folding laundry).

I've rediscovered the glory of ultimate frisbee, and I've eaten way too much ice cream for my own good (to the point where I finally ordered sorbet instead. Uncharacteristic).

My family is currently is Switzerland, and I miss them a lot. (As in more-than-expected-a-lot.)

I've cried too much. Also uncharacteristic. (Uncharted territory stresses me out, apparently.)

And I've seen so much more to be grateful for. Transitions really make me want to hold tightly to the things that I've treasured in the past, but I really can't do that forever. Thus being grateful for new things is imperative.

In the meantime (while I figure everything out - ha!) I will try to eat more Pinkberry than ice cream, I will try to gain more freckles than sunburn, I will try to branch out from frisbee to whiffle ball, and I will try to practice more than two hours per day.

Fotobooth Fun

Hello world!

I am writing today in order to explain a photo collage which apparently grows larger upon the commencement of one clicking somewhere on the surface of it. This collage came to be in existence because my sister, the notorious and infamous Jillian Griffin, who i'm sure is known for her blog posts throughout the interwebs, opened photobooth on her computer... Apparently the fun does not end after this outrageous photo taking program is running. We spent nearly an hour creating funny and inexplainable facial expressions as well as body gestures to entertain ourselves in the evening.

One would think that you would use effects to have the most fun, but that is not the case. Simply have an excellent time on good old normal mode and off to the races one goes. You see, I have found that there is not so much ingenuity or perplexity involved in the making and observing of photos that rely simply on the effect to make them funny, like having two faces and four arms. All you really need is to have the soft susurration of your imagination prompt you, within three seconds, to plaster onto your features an indelible moment of creativity that is now saved to less than one kilobyte of space on your hard drive. Congrats you've made a photo!

Well over the course of that one hour, I had a most excellent and bodacious adventure. *Bill and Ted fans insert laugh here* I hope that everyone who reads this blog tries out their own version of photobooth or crystaleye or whatever type of program you have so that they all can have as much fun as my sister and I did. I dare you to try it :)

K, Later all

(Jillian's brother, not v v v)

Planting Parties!

Michelle and I were the first two back from spring break today. Ok, so I technically never left, but still. You get the point. Originally, we had no plans for epic adventures. I got back around 1:30 from church and lunch at American Flatbread (hot dang, that stuff is good!), and Michelle suggested that we go grocery shopping, so off we went. We got all our groceries, and as we were heading to the checkout, we found seeds, and an amazing afternoon was born. I got some flower seeds - Alyssum, to be specific - and Michelle got some basil, but we soon realized we had nowhere to plant them UNTIL we both discovered we were buying yogurt. EUREKA! Dump the yogurt into another container, and you have a plant pot. What excitement!


Upon our return to campus, we decided we needed to get some dirt, because you can't plant seeds without it. Problem: no shovel or spade. Solution: make a shovel/spade out of extra soda bottles!


We decided to get dirt from around campus, so we walked all the way around the quad until we reached the side of the library. It was fairly inconspicuous, and we figured GoPo wouldn't come by. We kept a lookout nevertheless.


We're so hardcore.

On our way back to the apartment, we decided to check out the recently-finished second floor of the science building, and we found a cool room there. I took a picture of my stroke-of-brilliance water draining system in there.


In our travels we also found a photo of our favorite ornithologist/environmental science teacher.


Make of it what you will.

Finally, we marched back up the hill, planted our seeds, and decorated the pots. Here's my finished product!


When (if?) the flowers and basil grow and bloom, I will put up of pictures of them too! I'd say that between our ingenuity, spontaneity, and pioneer-like adventuring spirit, we entertained ourselves in the best possible way.

To Our Neighbors...

There's a guy who has become rather internet-famous by creating a website about notes he wishes to write to the girls who live above him. It's a little scandalous, so I'm not going to recommend it. But I feel a connection with him, because I owe the girls who live BELOW me a letter - though mine is a letter of apology. So here it is.


Dear Girls Who Live Below Us,

You've had to deal with a lot this year. I mean, we've practiced our major instruments in our rooms for over an hour during the day; we've laughed hysterically in the wee hours of the morning; we've had dance parties that have undoubtedly left you wondering how you managed to reside below a herd of elephants; we've walked on our tile kitchen floor in heels before 7:00 in the morning (over the weekend, no less!); and we've occasionally been known to scream in registers that might deafen dogs who live in Virginia. You've handled it with fortitude, bravery, and admirable patience, and I'm dreadfully sorry that I am personally responsible for annoying you to the point of no return.

Let me explain myself. I am a music ed major - sometimes a regrettable decision, but mostly a good one - which means that I often experiment with playing a variety of instruments that I don't normally play. In fact, our whole apartment has done this in our room before. While taking Instrumental Methods, we played saxophone, violin, bassoon (spare us!), clarinet, flute, oboe, trumpet, and trombone, and you even put up with that. But today I decided to play horn. I really needed to practice here, because I'm not good enough at it to play in the music building. I would have lost all of my dignity, I think, like I almost did while practicing at the high school where I student teach. In self defense, I did conquer the A major and F major scales as well as 7th grade band music, and I was working on the F major scale in thirds when I heard - and felt - you banging a broomstick or a chair or something on your ceiling/our floor.

I seriously contemplated going downstairs and apologizing, baking you cookies, or even just handing you the bag of chocolate chips that I bought just before deciding to give up dessert for Lent. My roommate talked me out of that, which is why they aren't sitting on your kitchen counter right now. Instead, I'm writing you this letter as both an explanation and an apology. Please forgive me, and if I ever learn who you are, I will apologize in person.

Your sincere upstairs neighbor,

Jillian

Lauren's Birthday!

Lauren M. lives about an hour and a half away from Gordon, which gave Diana, Meghanne, Michelle, and I a nice car ride in which to be ridiculous. I mean, heck, what else do we ever do?

Here, Diana and I decided to be Sherlock Holmes and Watson. I think I was Watson...


We took one wrong turn on our way that led us to a warehouse that apparently had something to do with either new or used cars - couldn't figure out exactly what - but we found a Mini with the Union Jack on the back of the mirror. I think I want it.


Once there, there were, of course, the obligatory and yet much-loved roomie pictures:



...and then things got a little weirder.




(Scenario: "Jillian, you just found out that Matt Damon is your father." I'm trying to remember why I was so excited...)


(Scenario: "Jillian and Lauren O. are planning a camping trip for Meghanne, but she doesn't know about it.)


(Scenario: "You just found out chocolate has been made illegal." I find our reactions very accurate.)


(No scenario; just really good carrot cake.)

And finally, this was the whole group!


Happy birthday, Lauren!

What's that?

The word "vacation" appears to have vacated its position in my mental dictionary. This is a small portion of what I have to do over my "break" next week.

-Get my license renewed. This requires driving to Vermont for a day and a half.
-Have a lesson or two.
-Go to a bunch of rehearsals.
-Take my most important audition.
-Catch up on any paperwork that I didn't fill out last week.
-Create an evidence binder and a portfolio.
-Practice.
-See some friends that I haven't seen for most of the semester.
-Turn 22.

There's a lot more than that, but it seems that brain function as a whole (along with vocabulary) has vacated the premises. Not gonna lie...right now I just want to curl up under my down comforter with my pajama-hoodie on with the hood pulled over my head and sleep for a million years. It's not possible, but that's what I want to do. It will not be possible over next week's "vacation." It will not be possible when vacation ends, because I'll have to go back to school. It will not be possible on weekends, because MENC stuff happens then.

I'm so tired.

The Cow

I just rediscovered a picture I took while visiting home in Vermont. It made me laugh.

Traveling Adventures!

Look! On the way to Erie, PA, we found a bathroom with reindeer on the doors, all individually named. This is apparently my reindeer, as she was clearly named after me.



Pardon my unkempt, I've-been-traveling-in-a-car-for-too-many-hours-and-I-haven't-slept-in-several-days appearance.

Snow!

I love snow...how kind of winter to arrive whilst I am still at home!