Currently Listening O By Damien Rice i remember see related

i like rock climbing!!!!!!!  i'm very sore ... to the point where i can't even open a jar without my arms hurting ... but it was really worth it.  yay!

i also really like 12 minute long phone conversations talking about football, my roommate and my own weirdness, school work, recording songs and rock climbing.  oh and planning dinner for tomorrow, too - YAY!

bah. i invite him. he invites everyone. only she responds.  he goes with just her.  and yet is thinking about someone else the entire time.

my conclusion? life isn't always fair.

Currently Listening Out of Range By Ani DiFranco see related

Yay - I'm back in Santa Barbara after a wonderfully relaxing and rejuvenating winter break at home.  Highlights of the break included visiting the San Diego Zoo and Sea World with Kelly and Casey, and my Aunt and Uncle from Modesto.  Also, having a wonderful Christmas with the family that was laid back and enjoyable.  I visited with friends from high school and even got to play Kina's new guitar.  I also saw David, Jenna, Leela, Yuka, Mota and Jenny after many, many years since high school graduation.  The trip to visit Wieser Educational was great, I got a new haircut (!), went to the dentist, accomplished some shopping, and even ran 6 miles at Aliso Woods (aka heaven on earth :) ).

I arrived on Thursday and got everything settled, which felt SO good.  And using fast interet again makes me the happiest person ever :)  Haha, no, I'm not addicted, really.  On Thursday night I hung out with Jamie and Jen at their place just around the corner.  Max and Will were also there and we enjoyed conversation and catching up.  Even though Jen did endure an injury to her arm (haha, oh dear), she was still able to play darts better than ever.  All in all, a great evening.

On Friday, I visited the gorillas -- it was so great to see them again.  As cheesey as this sounds, I missed seeing them on Friday mornings -- and seeing the other gorillas at the San Diego Zoo made me appreciate my experience in Santa Barbara even more.  Afterwards, I came back and worked on my POS handout, which felt good to accomplish.  Then Lexie came back and we chatted and caught up.  Jamie even dropped by during her run which was so fun.  Later, Lexie and I went to the grocery store and danced our way through the aisles, per usual.  We even saw Jamie and Peter in the grocery store, which was great.  HA!  Oh so funny.

On Friday night, Lexie and I went downtown to Elsie's and got to see at least 15 other Bren students.  I had been in Bren withdrawal for FOREVER, so this reunion was joyous indeed.  Many people commented on my hair, though Danny won the most drastic hair change award by having a mohawk.  Haha.  I got to talk to Steve for a good while, which always brings a smile to my face.  Again, another fantastic night.  I'm so excited to be back!!!!

Currently Listening O By Damien Rice i remember see related

I sit here with two finals left to complete before the end of my first quarter in grad school.  I know this means I'm only 1/3 of the way done, unlike 1/2 of the way done for the semester system, but still -- it feels like time is flying by.  I've come so far since September and truly have found my niche in school.  I absolutely love my program and I am so happy to say that.  At Notre Dame, I loved all the traditions, the religious focus, and the friends I made.  Even though the ES program was small, we were an awesome class and I miss them all terribly.  However, there is something amazing about the Bren program that cannot be equated to ND -- at Bren I don't just take classes in environmental science and management.  I'm living it out on a daily basis.  Whether I'm riding my bike to school and admiring the amazing views of the foothills and nearby ocean or spending every free time I have talking about environmentally related issues or observing gorillas on a weekly basis, there is an overwhelmingly strong environmental focus that I lacked while at ND.  And this living the dream makes me giddy.  Part of me is really sad that the first quarter is over -- I mean, now I only have 5 quarters left.  I know winter break will fly by, but somehow I want all my new friends to stay in SB and spend time hanging out and frolicking.  The other part of me is really looking forward to time off from the program and a relaxing few weeks with my family.  The holidays would not be the same without them and I always love this time of year.  And after spending time away from the program, I'm sure I'll come back even more rejuvenated and fond of the program than before.

Highlights of this past week include:

Playing guitar and doing homework with Steve on Monday night.  He insisted that I use his computer and be productive, even though I didn't mind just helping him out. 

On Wednesday I suggested that our study group have dinner prior to our last meeting which turned out to be a huge success.  We had stir fry and tofu, sock it to me cake (mmm!) and yummy garlic bread.  The evening was full of laughing, cursing and amazing productivity.  It's such a dynamic group and I hope we'll continue our sessions in the future.

Thursday night I went over to Gabe's house to play with the brengrass group.  I'm really finding my groove in this group and I can now see the potential for a performance in the future.  Awesome.  Then, Steve and I went back to his place and finished up the econ assignment and then went out to in-n-out.  Oh, so fun.

Yesterday morning I went to the Santa Barbara zoo to watch the gorillas.  I was very pleased because I can now tell Kivu and Goma apart on my own.  I overheard at least three "gorillas aren't monkeys, they're apes -- look, they don't have a tail" conversations, which always brings a smile to my face.  Christel continues to be an excellent reference and help as I learn more about behavioral observations.  After the zoo, I finally finished up econ and then went to school to turn in both econ and stats.  Steve and I made plans to rent a movie and relax on a friday evening.  We watched The Sting, which was actually a really good film -- I didn't anticipate us picking up a Robert Redford/Paul Newman 1970s film, but we did and it was great.  And with a big hug to end the evening, I'm still smiling... 

And now productivity will commence.

Currently Listening Migrations By The Duhks see related

The happy times continue!  I went home for Thanksgiving (for the first time in 4 years!) and was so happy to see Eileen, Jenn, the parents -- even Charlie!  It was a wonderful break from the grad school life -- I ate so much yummy food, had great conversations and crossword/set fun, and played the piano, which I really miss.  And then I got to see ND friends and go for a run at Aliso Viejo -- my favorite place ever.  All in all -- a great mini vacation!

So far, this week has been so fun and busy.  I think that's the best way to summarize grad school -- constant busy-ness shared with awesome people.  On Tuesday night I went to see the Duhks (!!) at Soho in downtown Santa Barbara.  It turned out to be such an awesome evening.  Five of us ended up sharing dinner before hand -- Soho is both a restaurant/bar music venue -- and then had great seats for the concert.  The dude that opened was very talented and had longer and nicer hair than me.  Ha.  Then the Duhks came out and I was so giddy with excitement, I literally couldn't stop smiling.  They sang so many great songs -- Annabel, Death Came A Knockin', Out of the Rain, Down to the River, etc.  Afterwards, I met both Leonard (banjo player) and Jordan (guitar player) -- they were so nice.  :)

Yesterday afternoon I spent close to 3 hours with Jamie, Breanna and Jen going over our last ecology assignment at Jamie's place.  It was such an intense afternoon because the questions were difficult and confusing, but we continued on.  I loved how Breanna's cursing exponentially increased as the questions increased in difficulty.  Ha.  And then Jamie kept giving her classic Jamie answers -- ha!  Wow, it's hard to convert into xanga language, but let's just leave it at the fact that it was awesome.

I finished my section of the 203 homework when I came back and then Steve came over and we played guitar/chatted for 2.5 hours.  eeeek.  Again, all very casual -- but so fun.  I think I like this kid more and more each time we chat. 

Oh sa sa la do, on sa la sa ree.