In Focus

touchedinflames @ 2007-04-13T23:21:00

2007-04-14T03:26:20Z

its pretty ridiculous coming back here. The people who read my journal talk to me regularly anyway, so I don't see the point, tell me whats going on in your lives directly, I prefer that to reading a journal, its more personal, and I'll do the same.

But as a last ranty post I'll end it with a few words of frustration, My mom still hasn't emailed me back about the apartment, time is ticking and that apartment deal is going to be gone. Brian is sleeping down here tonight, even though its a weekend and him and claire are waking up at the same time. Meaning Matt and I are thrown out onto the futon, with no chance of any privacy whatsoever, he'll probably sleep down here again tomorrow just to spite us. I can't wait until we move in together, or at least until I have my own room with a bigger bed.

The End. Adios, Au Revoir, Auf Wiedersehen, Shalom, Goodbye

Summer

2007-04-12T19:47:16Z

My mom is making things really difficult for this summer. She pretty much said that I have to pay for everything on my own, yet I don't even have enough in my bank account to cover even one month's rent, let alone tuition, food, utilities, and all that jazz. I'm of course going to get a job but she's being a little ridiculous. I'm staying up here and going to school, completing a class over the summer so that I don't get bumped into a 5th year in school.

Yes, I'm staying because Matt's staying, and yes, I am trying to avoid her. I understand that that second statement gives her legitimate grounds to not support me, and I've resolved myself to paying for everything. But I need some sort of help, she can't just throw me out into the cold hard world. She has a problem with the fact that I'm staying because Matt will be there, I can't help that I'm in love, last summer was miserable, in miami and beech mountain because he wasn't there. I'm sorry that I can't very easily live without him. Its not like I'm not going to Miami at all, I promised that I'd be back at the end of the semester, when it was logical for me to leave boone.

I sent her an email with all of my plans laid out and all of the dates she needed to know. I asked her for the financial help that I need but I haven't gotten any reply. I found an apartment but what if someone makes the commitment to the girl before I can know if I'll be able to pay? All because my mom can't grasp the fact that I don't live in Miami anymore, and I can't tear myself away from this place.

Wait until I tell her that I'm moving in with Matt...whenever it is. There's a slight(i say that just in case I'm disappointed) chance that I could move in with him next year, as in august, as in 2007. Not only that but the rent that we'd be paying would be in the form of landscaping and general outdoor maintenence of the large property of matt's boss's house. This compared to the 410 a month I would be paying(rather my mom). She can't say no to that. Thats over 4800 a year she'd be saving.

So thats my rant. The end.

tweaking

2007-04-06T02:33:20Z

I figured I would tweak my journal a little bit so I changed my icon to one of my recent photos and changed some of the colors to match it. I think it looks quite nice. by the way I forgot if I gave the link to my new site or not, but my class got a free website compliments of livebooks to use as an educational tool. So if you'd like to view the awesome of the awesome from my pictures, just hop onto www.tecstudio153.com and go to my name under photographers.

In other news my brother set up his day with my mom, aunt, and uncle who are coming down to boone tomorrow and also to blowing rock which is right by here. They obviously planned it without me in mind even though I said I'd be there because they'll be arriving at 10:30 am and guess who has a class at 11 and doesn't get out until 1. You guessed it! me. I don't really care that I'm not going because I didn't really want to but its the principle right? I mean my mom bitches about me not participating and all that shit but huzzah! look why.

shoot me I'm trendy

2007-04-05T19:49:32Z

poop

2007-04-04T16:09:05Z

My mom's in town. Enough said.

grin

2007-04-01T01:14:14Z

So tonight at dinner there was a wait so the girl asked for a last name and we both said Johnson, and the same girl ended up being our waitress and she was like oh I remember you guys at the door you're the Johnsons. And when she left I grinned and said "she thinks we're married". I never thought I'd say this ever but that makes me a bit giddy inside, I like the idea.

continued from last post, read in order -- Grand Canyon

2007-04-01T01:11:41Z

So where was I? Oh Raven stealing Coughdrops...i mean cough drop stealing ravens! Those guys knew how to open zippers! So anyway yea, it wasn't fun having such a sore throat while I was out in the GRAND CANYON supposed to be having fun. The last day was definately the worst, I was feeling horrible and we had to hike 7 miles all of the way up from the tonto out of the canyon. We started at around 4:30 in the morning. Now 7 grand canyon miles is completely different than any other 7 miles. I don't know why, but its more like 10 or so miles.

Even though I was sick, the trip was still incredible. The first night we stayed in a campsite that used to be an actual town. A tram would come down and there were toilets and everything, what remains is a lot of broken plates and glass, a really sketch looking toilet, and a storage room that is now used as a ranger's house. The real campsite was technically a lot further, but that first night we saw so many tents over there, and we were so tired, we decided that this was close enough and a ranger would most likely not come.

The next day was a lot easier than the first. It was about 1 and a half miles to Hermit Rapids, all along this really nice creek. When we got there, though, there was no shade whatsoever. The only relief was under the cliff on our campsite and under some trees by the creek. When we got over to the campsite areas my aunt said to me that there was a real "private" campsite somewhere closeby that matt and i should take. I love being treated like that. Its a little annoying when its scandelous to be sleeping next to my boyfriend of a year and a half. Like everyone is pretending that we're just friends with the label of a couple. I was kind of pmsing that day and Brian was planning on staying in the same campsite as us, but obviously after what my aunt had said I was kind of liking the idea of having just a little bit of privacy with my boyfriend, not as if we could do anything "scandelous". I ended up getting really mad at both of them and brian spent the night by the river close to my aunt and uncle.

After that we hiked out across the tonto(the part of the canyon that looks like its flat(its not really) and its desert with a lot of cacti and crazy looking palmy things) to monument creek. No shade there either and we hung out by the creek for relief. There was this awesome rockslide sort of waterfall that we sat on top of and just chilled until I got cold and the shade had almost hit our campsites. We were spending 2 nights at this campsite so the next day we planned on dayhiking down to granite rapids by way of this creek that ran through a canyon.

That morning I was definately sick. I looked and felt it and almost didn't go with them to the rapids, but that would have sucked, so I went. Hiking through that canyon was awesome. We literally had to use the rocks on either side of the creek to lift ourselves off the ground to avoid taking any unwanted swims. When we got out of the canyon, though, it was hot and there was no shade and we were walking along a dry creekbed. We passed some rafters who had been waiting years for a permit and they were camping right before the rapids. When we got to the rapids i set up my thermarest pad and slept the day away. Before we left I got to see some kayakers getting ready to run the rapids, but I missed the rafts going down and I never got to see the other side of the rapids.

The next day we'd be hiking back across the tonto to that first campsite by that town. Part of this trail was really scary and I pretty much refused to go further at some parts unless Matt was holding my hand. I'm not afraid of heights like my aunt is, I'm just afraid of falling and not being able to stop myself sliding for a long time through a lot of cacti. I'm not into trails that lean towards the lowerside. When we got to the campsite we decided to stay in the same place as we did before so we could start early and get out of there quicker. This time a ranger did come by, but luckily he said it was fine that we were camping there. We started up at 4:30 am and got up the cathedrel stairs(crazy ass steep part of the trail) right as the sun was coming up. Everyone says that going up takes a lot longer and is a lot harder than going down but for our group at least it was the opposite. You have a lot more control of your balance going up, and between me not liking those slidey parts and my aunt not liking heights, it took us a little while going down and not nearly as much time going up...not that it was any easier for me drinking more water than I needed to so that I was peeing every 5 minutes. Going to the bathroom in the canyon had to be the worst part. There's just absolutely no privacy in the canyon. Yea you can go behind a rock, but people can still see you on that side. Not to mention some of the lookout points have those binocular thingies. I can just imagine people looking through one, seeing me pee, and going "look mommy that person is peeing!!!" I never got "walked in on" but it definately was not my favorite part of the trip, I like peeing in the woods much better. By the end of the trip though, I didn't care, you could walk right by me while i'm peeing and i'd probably just be like hi!!! It was a little more difficult when we were almost at the top cause there were a lot of day hikers who wouldn't understand the concept of having to pee right off the trail, but I was sick, and I had to go, so there was no stopping me ;).

At the end of the trail I was pretty much ready to just sit right down and stop going. I was almost out of water and they kept saying it was just right over there, but every switchback we took, the end was nowhere in sight. And then Brian showed up just up the trail, wearing only his platypus and i was like TAKE THIS THING and he said "Thats what I came for" and he carried my pack the rest of the way, and I still barely made it back up. But I did.

I know this post has gone on but I haven't even begun to talk all about the trip. The canyon is amazing, when we flew into las vegas we flew right over it, and its like there's no one bit of flat land, and when you think about the fact that you're going to be backpacking in there, it feels a little hopeless, like how the hell do you walk and find your way around something like that? We joked that the grand canyon was where the asteroid hit and wiped out all of the dinosaurs. I got a lot of pictures(not nearly enough) and they're good, but they don't even begin to capture the immensity of the canyon.

You can find them at www.tecstudio153.com just go to my name under photographers and you can check out all of my other pictures also.

Yes, I hath riseneth, Zuteth

2007-03-31T22:28:11Z

It has been a while. I haven't written because my last posts weren't getting any comments except from the loyal Zut. I figured a dramatic reentrance would harvest a satisfactory number of posts and they will dwindle away and I will disappear again and it'll be a trend. Because I'm a comment whore. Thats right.

So anyway, over spring break I went to the grand canyon for 6 days backpacking. It was awesome awesome awesome. I was sick by the 3rd day to later find out it was a virus. I thought it was just allergies. My throat was hurting like mad because there was absolutely no humidity and the only thing i had to help it was water. My aunt had some cough drops but on that day 3 when i was just starting to get sick, our campsites were attacked by super genius ravens who could open zippers and they STOLE the cough drops. I swear on my life this is true.

....I'm gonna finish this post later

touchedinflames @ 2007-03-31T16:34:00

2007-03-31T20:34:25Z

Boo

Oh the Crazyness

2006-11-19T21:30:46Z

So I went with matt to work so that I could get some pictures of the 40 foot waterfall on the guy's property. The pictures will be on photobucket soon. So to make a long story short my big ass view camera thats not actually mine is broken and later that night I pretty much got walked in on by my brother. The. End.

le meme

2006-11-16T00:18:35Z

(2 Points) My first name:
(1 Point) My last name:
(5 Points) Take a stab at my middle name:
(3 Points) Who was my first celeb-crush:
(2 Points) Where do I live:
(3 Points) What am I afraid of:
(2 Points) Do I smoke:
(3 Points) Do I drink:
(3 Points) How many siblings do I have:
(2 Points) Do I have children:
(2 Points) Do I get along with my parents:
(4 Points) What's one of my favorite things to do:
(2 Points) How many piercings do I have:
(3 Points) What's my favorite type of music:
(4 Points) What's my favorite TV show:
(3 Points) What's my favorite animal:
(2 Points) What's my favorite color:
(3 Points) Name something I hate:
(4 Points) Name a talent I have:
(4 Points) What kind of shoes do I wear:
(4 Points) Do I have any pets:
(2 Points) Who am I dating right now:
(5 Points) What am I studying in school:
(5 Points) What is the color of my room:
(4 Points) What are my political views:
(3 Points) What's my religion:
(5 Points on creativity) If I were stranded on a desert island, what would I bring:

The Flip-Flop

2006-11-13T15:26:21Z

Its really strange how when the girls are just not apt to be nice to you, the guys are nicer than ever. All of the guys in our group -- scott and josh and kollin and kevin and such, they all now smile and say hi to me. The one that took me aback the most was scott, I walked out of my door and from all the way down the hall scott goes HI HALLIE! and scott and I have this joke that I'm intimidating cuase he's really really tall so usually I act mean and he acts scared but lately its all smiles. I like nice people.

One guy that hasn't been nice though is my brother. He and claire were fighting yesterday and it made me sad, and the bitchyness was all on brian's side, claire didn't do anything. He woudln't give her a hug! So I was like just give her a hug and he looks at me and is like YOU stay out of this its not your place and its not your apartment. Well its Matt's apartment too, I'm not sure if he forgot about that. But then claire and brian went into the bedroom and had a talk and they came out and claire was like its ok we're not fighting anymore, and that was that.

On a lighter note, Math was cancelled today!! So I'm gonna take a nice shower and just chill out until noon.

I need a break

2006-11-12T22:33:02Z

Lately I'm just not feeling the love anywhere. For some reason it seems like people will go out of their way to not hang out with me, or they're mad at me for something I'm not aware that I did. I'm sorry if I haven't pleased everyone in the past week its pretty much a matter of a shit ton of work. I'm probably just paranoid though. I mean I take stupid things as clues to the "yea we're not inviting you cause you annoy us" routine. Like last night Sarah, Matt(not mine), Megan, and Bobby went on a double date and Megan and Sarah set up the whole date while I was there and no one even thought to suggest making it a triple date. And I mean I don't care, Matt doesn't like dressing up for dates anyway, and he wouldn't have made it home in time...but why not ask anyway? And then on friday I asked megan if she could swing by Holton with me so I could turn in my lease forms and she was like no I have too many tests next week I have to study and then maybe an hour later Sarah comes in and asks if she wants to run with her and she's like YEA! And ok...running is good for your health, but going to Holton wouldn't have taken very long, and then she decided that she -did- want to go to Old Navy like I had also asked earlier but of course it was too late to swing by Holton. Oh well. I'm silly and paranoid, I think a break is much needed and soon. Yay for thanksgiving!

blech

2006-11-10T17:19:43Z

I'm depressed for no good reason except hormones. I hate this feeling, I'll cry about anything and everything. And I miss Matt, weekends frustrate me because he has to work, and I have nothing to do. Next semester I'm getting a weekend job. I need to go turn in my prelease forms for next year's apartment but I have no one to take me.

Off the streets!

2006-11-10T03:06:09Z

my mom agreed to let me stay in a studio apartment next year. I'm going to the realty hopefully tomorrow to turn in my prelease form and hopefully I'll get one of them, preferably the one thats right near brian and matt's apartment. The end.

WWS :D

2006-11-07T14:46:01Z

So at the beginning of this semester, about the end of august, I ordered the B-Sides from World Without Sundays, with a special request for autographs. So by this time I just figured my order got lost and figured when i had some money in my account again I'd order it again. Yesterday I find myself in the post office with a notice of a package in my hand. Sure enough, its my world without sundays, complete with all but one signature from Grecco, who has been out of town. So I figure when I go to LA I'll chill out with WWS and get mah Grecco signature. The CD is amazing, I would suggest everybody buy it. I rocked out to it while developing film yesterday. And it was really crazy cause on the counter next to the cd player, was a Decemberists cd. I had also had a crazy urge to wear my WWS shirt earlier that day...so I was all good musiced out and it was nice. And it makes my hopeless photography situation less stressful cause I'm happy even if I know I'm going to fail. By the way those pictures will be up on my photobucket within the hour.

Homeless

2006-11-04T23:28:40Z

So I don't know how I seriously thought I would be able to room with matt next year. I'm dillusional and in a dreamworld. So really I have no place to go next year. I am not spending another year in a dorm. Kenzie and Megan tried to find a 4 bedroom and they'll probably search some more but all of the places are far from campus and not near appalcart routes, and even if I do get my license, which I better, I won't have a car. Plus that still leaves matt sol. I hate social laws, why can't people just be logical and economical instead of being all stuck in the dark ages where if a couple is living together and not married they're automatically sluts.

What an odd night...

2006-11-02T14:49:17Z

So my allergies are getting worse, probably partly to do with the weather change, and I didn't have any sudafed on me because I was sleeping at Matt's last night. So I chugged some benedryll and went to sleep in a drugged stupor. You know how you get when you're in drug enduced sleep...nothing matters, and nothing really makes sense. So there I am, sleeping, and the door opens, and I kinda wake up and I'm just thinking that its Justin and there's this guy standing in the doorway and in my drugged state I didn't find this weird. Then Matt goes "can I help you?" and this guy is like "can I crash here tonight?" and of course matt went "no" and this guy seriously fought with him on this "why not?" "because I don't know you" "come on man let me crash here tonight I'll pay you" "no I don't want your money" "Come on man how much do you want so I can crash here" "I don't want anything, you can't crash here" and the guy seriously kept this up for 5 or 10 minutes and of course at this point I'm not in a drugged stupor anymore and I'm like wondering whats gonna happen next. But finally the guy leaves. So 5 minutes later Matt goes outside and finds Justin and they're talking about the weird guy and he apparently walked all of the way into Katie and Lauren's apartment, opened Lauren's door, turned on the light and turned it off and then stood in the hallway. Its really lucky Justin was there or who knows what would have happened? Then Matt went upstairs to make sure Claire's door was locked and finally came back to sleep, but it was a while before I could do that. I don't know what Lauren and Katie do, but normally the door is locked in Matt, Brian, and Justin's apartment, but sometimes it gets overlooked because Justin's generally in and out. But anyway, waking up at 7:30 was a very difficult feat but here I am, and I'm about to go to math lab.

I'm glad Matt woke up, I would never have noticed anything weird, that guy probably would have fallen asleep on the floor and I woudln't have noticed until the morning...or worse. There are characters on King Street thats for sure. This is why I make such a big deal about Megan locking the door at night, stuff crazier than that happens in dorms, there was an instance, quite possibly in this very room, where a guy tried to crawl into the window in the middle of the night, and I won't even get into the worse stuff, but yea, lock your door at night, keep the crazies out.
It was also freezing this morning, whereas yesterday was hot. I didn't have the right clothes but I DID have an extra pair of jeans...so those went on...and I was pretty much ok walking to class and back to my dorm...but for this class I'm prepared.

The Decemberists!!!!

2006-10-31T02:58:27Z

AAAAH such an amazing band. Of course, Matt and I were late because Atlantas roads are SCREWY and we got lost. But finally we found the Tabernacle and the place was packed already. We found a place to stand on the first balcony where there were seats but a security guard was like you can't stand there, so we made our way up to the second balcony and found seats in the front row but we had to lean forward the whole time to see the band. The show was amazing, his voice really is that awesome in real life. They played several songs off of Picaresque, and a few from their new album. The Picaresque songs included Engine Driver, We Both Go Down Together, and 16 Military Wives in the Encore. 16 Military Wives was really fun, he grabbed someone's cell phone and played around with it for like 3 minutes and then all of the sudden he puts it to his ear like he's called somoene and starts singing again. Then, he made the audience to the lade da de de da de doodeedadeeda in sections and of course I was screaming it at the top of my lungs. I swear he looked at me at least 3 times during the show, I was really one of the only people in the top balcony going nuts. At one point in the show he grabbed a polaroid camera from a guy in the front row and started taking pictures of the audience and band members until he ran out of film, I wish I was that guy. I'm kinda sad I didn't bring my camera, but oh well, next time I won't forget ;).

I've finished both the 5 page essay and my portion of the powerpoint due tomorrow, so I'm gonna go to sleep nice and early tonight.

touchedinflames @ 2006-10-26T14:14:00

2006-10-26T18:44:59Z

So I'm chopping this thing up for the benefit of your friends pages.

Wednesday Matt and I drove down to Atlanta to spend the night. We went to REI and picked up my sleeping bag. Its pretty, I'm excited. We spent some time in REI and gawked at all of the gear we know we need but can't afford.

We got up bright and early and made our way to Florida. Ah Florida...it was so warm. I have now officially had the free orange juice given at Florida Welcome Centers, it was lovely. Everyone on the trip ended up staying at the same campsite in the same little area, so it was really convenient. We picked up all of our gear that night and were asked to meet up at 8 in the morning.

Friday's dive wasn't particularly the greatest time I've ever had. We started out getting weighted for neutral buoyancy but we were late so we were rushed. They figured I would need a lot of weight because I was pretty much double dressed because I knew I'd have problems staying warm. So they gave me 19 pounds. And off on the boat we go. Its hot...its really hot, we all can't wait to get into the water. So finally we reach our destination. We're in Rainbow Springs, its basicaly a system of springs and it has a start and a finish, so its pretty weird becuase you're thinking its a river, but its not, the water shoots up out of the limestone all filtered out and clear. And its 72 degrees year round. So we jump into the water and we're all like aaaahhhhh relieved and stuff because those wetsuits are HOT. It turns out the last person to use my regulator chewed the mouthpiece off so as to make it difficult for me to keep it in my mouth. But its too late to fix that, we're on our way. This was a drift dive, the only time we got back on the boat was to switch tanks. So it was kinda like follow the leader from here and we went down into the springs and it was really pretty and we saw these crazy fish called garfish and they have really long snouts and razorsharp teeth and it was like WHOOAAA those things are cool and apparently matt got circled by one and thats a little freaky but still awesome. But I had a bit of a problem...I couldn't equalize. You know when you're on a plane and your ears pop so you yawn or hold your nose and blow in order to make it better? Well its a lot more difficult in water and happens a lot easier. If your sinuses are clogged it doesn't really work at all. I couldn't get down very far because my ears were killing me so I was kinda hanging out above people, and matt was nowhere in sight, he freakin left me and I was all alone and flipping out about to cry cause I didn't know what to do. Then Ed(our instructor) started doing skills tests down below but I couldn't get down there and finally Regina finds me and tells me to go up and I tell her I can't equalize and she was like ok we'll try to do it slowly and I got a bit down but not really and then we were already on our way to the next spring. At this point I was like, I don't want to dive, diving's just not for me, I just wanna get back on the boat. But I didn't, I sucked it up. We got back on the boat and switched tanks and then got back in promptly and I took a 2 pound weight out of my bcd and Regina took it back to the boat. So now i'm carrying 17 pounds. Its a little better, It was a little easier to equalize cause I wasn't sinking quite so quickly but it still hurt. We did a lot of skills tests there before we went on including the buddy tow and when i was towing matt it was like we weren't going anywhere and I asked him if he was kicking and he was like yea and I kinda forgot about currents making it hard to swim very far. But we made it, we passed the skills tests, and we were on our way to the next springs and then all of the sudden there was the boat ramp and we were getting out.

When we were getting all of our stuff together I could hardly move, I was dehydrated, dizzy, and tired. I really just wanted to lay down and die at that point. But I somehow managed to get all of my gear together and get in the car. Matt didn't know the way back so he followed Ed and Regina but they stopped at walmart and then Ed bought some fresh shrimp from a friend of his and we're just sitting in matt's car and I seriously want to just die. I kept thinking about quitting and already at the point of wondering whether I'd get my money back for tomorrow's dive and the 20 dollar certification card and how disappointed matt would be and if my parents would be mad that I spent all of this money for nothing and how I would break the news but I kept my mouth shut and kinda whimpered a bit on the way back cause not only did I feel like I was going to die, my jaw hurt so much and I kept having to pop my ears which made my jaw hurt more from opening it and matt ran and got me some water which kinda helped but not really. And then Ed said he was gonna pick up Regina at walmart and we could follow him when he comes back around and we were waiting a while for him but he wasn't coming so matt just decided to risk getting lost. We didn't get lost, and for lunch I figured I'd only be able to eat peanut butter and jelly because of my jaw so we went to the supermarket and picked up some food and went back to the campsite and ate and then I tried to take a nap, all the while still thinking about quitting. And then we discovered our new neighbors...a huge group of families full of kids, and the guy talked to matt and was like they screwed up at the office and they were supposed to have 3 sites together but we ended up right in the middle of them and we could move if we wanted and matt was like its alright. And then I'm laying in my tent and this little girl gets UNDER the dryfly of our tent and just stares down at me and I close my eyes and I'm like ok just wait till the parents get her away just pretend you're sleeping and then an even littler boy almost walks into the tent when the parents finally yell at them. So I've had it and I know i'll never sleep so I call matt and find out where he is and I go over and I'm like can't you just ask him if he wants to switch so they can be together? So we end up switching and i'm like yesss peaceishness. And I'm feeling a little better so we decide to kind of explore the town a bit so we got in the car and drove to what we figured would be the ocean. And it was the ocean, with the nuclear power plant right there, oh its beautiful. And it starts raining but we get out anyway and walk along the short stretch of beach with the enormous flock of seagulls and we see a pier so we're like lets check it out. And we find out its a fishing pier and we're lookin around in the water and we see a manta ray! it was sweet. I was excited. Then we checked out the boating dock which had a clear view of the island with the nuclear power plant and then it was running late and we needed to meet Ed and Regina to sign more paperwork.
So we left and we went on over to the campsite and Ed cooked us shrimp and it was really good! So I had several of those and finished the paper work and we left to go get dinner and we ate at a seafood restaurant and matt had steak and I had shrimp scampi and we had a crazy nice waitress and she was all giving us suggestions left and right about food and stuff to do in town and all that jazz. and then we came back and went to sleep cause we had to get up at 5:50!! in order to be ready and at the dive shop/dock at 7 am.

Saturday I gave a Manatee a backscratch, WHILE snorkeling right next to it!!!! Ok, Matt, I'll admit it, it was worth getting up at 5:50 am. Ed fixed my regulater so it had a new mouthpiece and also told me that I should be using my lips more than my teeth to hold it in my mouth, so I tried that and it worked. So after we swam with the manatee, and after the half hour it took for the manatee to finally leave the boat(it really liked us), we were on our way to our first dive. We stopped the boat in really shallow water that stank and had some really nasty looking algae growing, and there was this small creepy looking narrow streamlike area blocked off with 4 white posts so that boats couldn't go through. This was where we were going. In order to get to the other side, because the current was running out, we had to dive to the bottom and literally crawl along the bottom by grabbing rocks and hand holds to pull ourselves to the other side. It was really awesome because it was dark but the water was really clear and all of the sudden everything was really bright, and when I got to the other side I found our group and one guy was chasing a rather large turtle. I watched it for a while and then just kinda hung out when all of the suddne people were congregating in a circle so I figured I'd check it out. The guy caught the turtle, it was pretty cool. When everyone was through, we got seperated into groups so we could do skills tests and Matt and I and two other people went with regina for a tour of the springs while we were waiting for the other group to finish with the tests. I wasn't having as much trouble equalizing today(I took out another 2 pound weight so I was carrrying 15 today) and I actually got all of the way to the bottom and we saw some really pretty fish and it was fun. We all passed our skills tests with Ed and then Matt and I were the first two to make our way out of the area(which was called three sisters by the way because they were 3 springs). We all got back on the boat and made our way to the second dive. This dive was deeper and there was almost no visibility. I couldn't get all the way down because I still couldn't eqalize as well as I needed but I did watch a blue crab kind of scuddle along a ledge, he was pretty cool. We went over to another spring pretty closeby where another group of divers were and when they left we did some skills tests and then matt and I were again the first to go back to the boat, this time using our compasses to navigate ourselves back. On the way we were told to tour the third spring and there were some really pretty fish including some that had like a zebra pattern and they were really big. We would have spent more time in that area but because the visibility was so bad we left. Ed was really disappointed and kept apologizing that it was so crappy but we had all passed, and were officially certified. This dive was so much better than yesterday's. I think a lot of the reason why it was so bad had to do with nerves, because everyone concurred that this was a better dive, even though you would assume the day before's would be nicer, since there were more springs and it was a lot clearer. I was happy to leave feeling like I actually could scuba, and wanting to go again soon. After we ate lunch, matt and I went over to the dive shop and I bought myself a kid's mask(IT FITS!!! yay) and a snorkel with a purge, so hopefully I'll be going out again soon, I'm gonna try and convince my dad that he wants to scuba again. Ed invited us all to feel free to go and practice in any of his classes whenever we want so that we dont' get rusty and forget. But the trip wasn't over yet, Matt and I weren't leaving until the next morning.

There was this really sketch trail we went on called the Birding Trail. It was mostly pinelands at the start of it and hardly any said birds. All of the sudden the pinelands stop and its sawgrass as far as you can see. Right where this section of the trail started were a number of tracks. There were deer tracks and then in the same direction were alligator tracks...hmm. There were actually several tracks from alligators and they were pretty fresh. Now, most of you have seen my photography and seen that I'm not too afraid of getting close to alligators, but thats usually in open spaces where I could get away if I needed. This was a narrow trail with sawgrass and wetlands on eitherside...not much room for running in zigzags. So we turned back.

We went further down the road to another trail. This one was a lot less sketch and there was actually someone else there. It was a kind of narrow trail that ran between 2 decent sized bodies of water, which appeared to be like small ponds, kind of like open areas of the everglades. After stepping through an unavoidable puddle I knew immediately that it was salt water, it was kind of surreal to me how automatically this thought came to me. The other guy on the trail was fishing, and seemed to be catching quite a lot. So I told matt I wanted to fish, so we turned around and went to the closest bait shopped and asked what we needed to do to get our licenses. And we called the number and BAM we could legally fish in florida, and left with a bucket of 50 live shrimp. We went back to that trail again first because it closed at sundown, and we found out that would be because high tide was coming in and almost completely covering the trail. Matt caught a blue crab, but all of the fish that we saw jumping just weren't biting, or rather they were biting alright, but they were thieving our bait and not getting hooked. So as the tide started to get really high we decided to try out the fishing pier. There were sooo many people there, but we managed to find a spot. Casting into the wind is difficult. Again, the fish merely stole our bait without getting caught. There were a few close calls but no catches. We fished until the sun went down. One guy on the pier actually caught a garfish and everyone on the pier looked at him and were like "I thought those were freshwater fish" and the guy was like yea but this is pretty much brackish water. It was pretty cool, the fish broke the line before he got it all of the way up, but everyone got a pretty good look at it. As it got later stingrays started getting caught. This made me pretty sad because the only way to get the hook out was to use pliers and throw it back off the pier, and they had to step on them so as not to get stung. One guy was having a lot of trouble getting it back in the water, and i was surprised he didn't kill it. Matt and I soon got hungry and left and pretty much after that we slept and left.

When we got back it was around dinner time. I still needed to go to the lab tonight and so did matt, so we ate some fast food and emptied the car and drove over to the tech building. of course the photolab was closed -all- of break so I woudln't be able to finish the contact prints due tuesday, so I emailed my prof and asked for an extension, which he gave.

When I woke up in the morning I was itching all over, but I figured it was just the bites I had gotten in florida. The next night I was itching all night and could hardly sleep, when I woke up in the morning there were huge scratches on my leg and it looked like a cat had gotten to me, when really it was my own fingers. This along with a lot more bites than I had gotten in florida. It turns out the sand fleas took the trip back with us, and were living in my room. For the past three days now I've been itching like mad and I've basically refused to sleep in my room. It should be okay now though I hope. Sand Fleas can't live in NC.....

Overall the trip was amazing, and I'd love to be back in florida now. Sophomore year is beating the shit out of me, especially photography, I'm so tired of the stupid view camera, especially now that we have to work on the architecture project, architecture bores me, i'm not inspired. I usually find I don't have enough time to get any of these assignments done and still do well in my other classes. But as soon as the architecture assignment is done I can work mostly on the computer and not have to rely on the lab hours.

I'm going to see the DECEMBERISTS this weekend. That is all..thank you and goodnight

Stolen from Luanne

2006-10-17T03:41:58Z

Soundtrack of your Life...

So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...

Opening Credits: Overs by Simon and Garfunkel

Waking Up: Punk Stop This Train by John Mayer

First Day At School: Little by Little by Oasis

Falling in Love: Dirty Life by Ima Robot
End Moraine by Sparta

Fight Song: Mr. Bojangles by Sammy Davis Jr.

Prom: We Both Go Down Together by the Decemberists

Life is Good: Wednesday Morning, 3 AM by Simon and Garfunkel

Mental Breakdown: F-Stop Blues by Jack Johnson

Driving: I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford) by Elton John and Kiki Dee

Flashback: Your Song by Elton John

Getting Back Together: Traffic in the Sky by Jack Johnson

Sex Scene (original was Wedding): A Well Respected Man by the Kinks

Paying the Dues: You Oughta Know by Alanis Morissette

The Night Before the War: Estate Sale by The Eels

Final Battle: Help! by the Beatles

Moment of Triumph: Earth Linger by Portishead

Death Scene: Nishani Yaar Di

Funeral Song: Rodeo Clowns by Jack Johnson

End Credits: Homeless by Paul Simon

Habitat for Humanity

2006-10-15T18:56:25Z

Saturday morning, way too early, I went to the Habitat build. It was freezing, my fingers and toes were all numb. Basically what we did was dig a trench for drainage pipes, detrash the lot, and clear away the trees that were cut down. For the majority of the time I was on tree duty, along with Brian, Matt, Megan, and Sarah. We threw trees, it was fun. Cold, but fun. Then I slept the afternoon away until Matt got home from work earlier than expected and we ate dinner and had a baking party at Super Nate's. Mmmmmm banana nut bread. This morning my back hurts...oh yes indeedy.

I'm excited for this week. Just 3 days of classes and then Matt and I are off to florida to get certified in scuba. So far on the weather forecast highs are up to the 90's...bad for matt, good for me. :D We're camping out at this crazy posh "RV Resort" It apparently has a pool, wireless internet, and like tennis courts. Oh yea...we're really roughin it.

howdoyouaskyourparentsifyoucanmoveinwithyourboyfriendandstillhavethempay?

le shiver

2006-10-12T15:28:06Z

It got COLD!!!!!!

Halloween

2006-10-08T18:34:03Z

My LiveJournal Trick-or-Treat Haul
touchedinflames goes trick-or-treating, dressed up as a wench.
daeriel tricks you! You get a piece of paper.
elf_evenstar gives you 12 dark green licorice-flavoured nuggets.
emmasjournal_06 tricks you! You get a broken balloon.
heavens_day gives you 15 blue apple-flavoured gummy worms.
juvenile_philos tricks you! You lose 12 pieces of candy!
lalaith23 tricks you! You lose 6 pieces of candy!
lea_c tricks you! You lose 1 pieces of candy!
quakerkody gives you 15 softly glowing chocolate-flavoured gumdrops.
tanzmitbjorn gives you 14 purple coffee-flavoured jawbreakers.
zutulu42 gives you 14 tan grapefruit-flavoured gummy worms.
touchedinflames ends up with 51 pieces of candy, a piece of paper, and a broken balloon.
Go trick-or-treating! Username:
Another fun meme brought to you by rfreebern.

I've picked out my sleeping bag, my gear list is now thermarest, trail shoes, a bladder, and some stuff sacks

r@Wr

2006-10-05T14:03:53Z

your livejournal wedding by loversareliars
Username
you will marry:	Matty
on:	September 18, 2040
the wedding singer	briliant_freak
the priest is	defenestrated_w
objects to the wedding	jimmys_got_milk
has a heart attack during the ceremony	luvmeanddespair
spikes the punch	jackieo81
your jealous ex	zutulu42
number of people to attend	125

If LiveJournal Were An Insane Asylum by Duvessa
Username
Afraid of Water	zutulu42
Talks to Invisible People	jaredcampbell99
Plays With Raisins	daeriel
Shouts at the Walls	jimmys_got_milk
Attempted to Escape	heavens_day
Escaped--and Killed Everyone	quakerkody
The Security Guard	betamademedoit