Adventure #60: Spring and Spiky Things

This week has been crazy! I'm on Spring Break at the moment, and have done something new or seen something beautiful every single day for the past several days. 

Yesterday, I walked around downtown Boise for a couple of hours in the rain. I visited Dutch Bros, Rediscovered Books, The Flying M, and any other store that seemed interesting. I went to Pie Hole for dinner, and then walked in the rain some more while I ate pizza. 

I started a new series on Netflix called "Tales by Light", too! I would highly recommend it. The show follows photographers through a few of their projects, and shows the act of photography from the photographers' perspective. I think it's beautifully done, and terribly fascinating.

On Saturday, I spontaneously decided that I had waited long enough, and it was time to cut my hair. I hadn't realized how tired I'd become of my hair being obectified, needing to be brushed twice a day, and feeling so heavy. Those cells had been with me for a very long time, and I had no idea how liberating it would feel to let them go. It's also been freeing to not be able to hide my face anymore, and to not be able to remember what I look like now. I've never had my hair this short before, and I love it! Before and after pictures! 

             

Other of my adventures included walks through the cemetery near our house, walks down by the river, and walks downtown. It feels amazing to be able to go anywhere whenever I feel like it! I don't worry anymore about who I'll run into, or whether or not someone else would enjoy going with me somewhere. I just walk. 

I went shopping for the first time in a long time! Over the last few holidays, I'd been given several gift cards that I decided to use to start making my room feel more livable. At the moment, I have a borrowed bedside lamp that lights up my whole room, and all of my clothes, books, and possessions are in boxes. Still! It's my own room, and I love it. And now I have some lights on the way!

Also I sat down in the grass on campus, and made this thing out of the spiky seeds that drop all over the place. That was a good day. 

On Thursday, I hung out at Camel's Back park with my friend Kris. He put up a couple of slack lines and both showed me up and got me addicted. It's so difficult! We also met Lola, who is the happiest dog I think I have ever met, as I made clear in my snapchat of said happy dog. Then we got Mexican food, walked around another park, and stared up at the clouds for a very long time.

I finally wrote a resume, too! I had been very afraid to in the past, so I'm grateful that I was able to get started on it finally. We'll see how that goes!

I also have gone to coffee with a few friends recently. I met up with my new friend Veronica and we had wonderful conversations about life. I met with my friend Rachel today, and we also had great conversations about life, and laughed at her baby's cute faces! She is incredibly adorable, and lucky to have such a great momma. I've taken myself out for coffee a few times now, and have gotten back into reading, finally! I started "Between the World and Me", and while it's a difficult emotional read, it is incredibly important. I'm very glad to be reading it.

Wow okay, that was a lot. It's been a busy week! Thank you for reading, and I look forward to writing more now, as my adventures seem to be more frequent with the coming of Spring and my newfound determination to remind myself of my freedom. Happy first-day-of-Spring to you, and I hope the sun and rain bring more adventures for you, as well! ^_^ <3

Adventure #52: Snow Day!

I finally made it out in this record-breaking snowfall! To be perfectly honest, during the entire time, I was somewhat concerned that I might get stuck. The snow was easily up to my knees! And! I measured one of the icicles on our roof at more than 5 feet! We're almost caged in by now. 

Even though I couldn't stay out there long because my hands became painfully cold quite quickly, it was such a beautiful day and I'm so glad that I got to take some pictures and be in the cold. I feel so grateful to have grown up in a place where I could take sunsets, snow, and a hearty bird population for granted. These past couple of years have been such an amazing lesson in appreciating all kinds of beauty that the world has to offer, whether it be human or plant or weather pattern. I am truly humbled. 

Adventure #47: Christmas Gifts!

Yesterday, I got to put together Christmas Gifts for my friends and my family! I was such a fun day of music and wrapping paper. My step mom got me a little worried that I'd given too many gifts to one of my friends, but two of them I'd gotten before Christmas and hadn't had a chance to give them to him... So hopefully he doesn't feel like it's too much, and knows that I just give gifts cause I like to :) As for gifts for my family, I sent my little brother and sister books and little stuffed animals that are so cute! I made a typewriter print for my other mom, and found a way to overlay a drawing of mine! I'm really happy with how it turned out :)

Today I'm making a gift for a gift exchange in my women's class, and I think it will turn out great, too ^.^ I might post pictures. I just realized I probably don't post pictures often enough because it's a huge hassle with my phone... I'll try to be better about that.

In other news, I'd forgotten how comfy my unicorn kigurumi is! I don't plan on forgetting that again!

In other other news, registering for classes at BSU has been a pain, but I think I've almost got it figured out! I have to wait for a couple of professors to send me permission numbers for a couple of my courses, and then I'm all signed up! I managed to schedule everything, too, so that I'm done by noon every day. I'm super excited about that.

So yes. Thanks for Christmas, friends and family, unicorns, and good school advisers!

Adventure #44: A Walk in Winter

I walked...

Not to escape

But rather to grant myself

the crystal air

untouched snow

and slowing river

Companions to my restless thoughts. 

Adventure #43: Acquaintances and Succulents

On Friday, I finally got to visit my friends at BSU! We got Dutch, played with a kitten named Charlie, traipsed around Winco, and made a blanket fort! My friend Kolby and I stayed up super late talking on Friday night, too. It was really great because it's been too long since I've had a friend around who I could talk to like that... I needed to be reminded of how important it is for me to communicate with other people on such a significant level. Then the next night, I stayed up and just hung out (which means fell asleep on the floor) while Kolby and his best friend Derek played League. That was fun for me, too, cause I kept waking up laughing at their jokes xD Then we slept in the blanket fort until about 4 in the afternoon. I wish I had pictures of it! It was so cute all lit up with Christmas lights ^.^

Prince Charlie crouches behind my shoe for protection

From when it first snowed this winter!

I also was able to talk on the phone with one of my favorite humans ever, and she and I might be able to see each other when she makes it home for the holidays!

As for the succulents part of this post title, I got to buy some new glassware to celebrate me finding a place to live! Until this morning, it was practically a done deal, but a new option just fell into my lap. So I'm considering that and working on meeting with the three other girls I might be able to live with! They seem like such amazing people, and I could live in a house with a lower rent than the apartment I was planning on. So we'll see! But either way, there will be plants!

Future Homes for Plants

Whatever happens, I'm scared, excited, and grateful. It was so wonderful to see my oldest friends, and to get to spend time with brand new ones. I'm looking forward to living on my own, growing some plants, and making friends with more new people.

Adventure #39: Finally Kind of an Adult

Adulting! Yes, Google, that is most definitely a real word because I said so ok.

I made phone calls today. I called BSU about my application status and deadline. (I missed the November 15th deadline for all of my admissions materials because they sent me a letter saying what else they needed, and I didn't come home until last Wednesday for Thanksgiving... And whoever put the letter in my room didn't think to tell me that I got a letter from the university I will be attending in the spring. But whatever because admissions lady said it won't change anything for me since I'm an in-state applicant. Yay!) Unnecessary information.

I called to schedule my driving skills test for tomorrow morning, too! Wish me luck! I passed the written test today, and I have no idea why I was ever worried about it... Thanks IB for making me a fantastic test taker.

I called my high school to please have them mail another copy of my transcripts to BSU. Yay again!

And my step mom and I got into another argument. All I wanted to do was call my favorite goober and be consoled, but I walked over to my Gramma's house instead because she loves me, too. We took a nap, watched an interview with Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky of the Open Russia Foundation on the news, ate mac salad, and chopped up apples for applesauce. It was a good day. My Gramma is also the one who took me to my test today, and I'm so grateful for her. <3

I started reading Emma, yesterday and it is very enjoyable. It has been way too long since I've read a book, and I'm so happy to be doing it again... God I've missed books... This is for a scholarship that I'll be applying for in May, too, so it's for fun and for monies. I'm excited to be writing analytically again, too!

Also I went for a walk on Saturday. It was so gorgeous... The air was perfectly crisp, the light was soft and blue, and the clouds were impeccably wispy.

Anywho, that's pretty much it for the last couple of days... Wish me luck on tests and applications and all, if you can spare a few good thoughts :) Thank you, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your evening <3

Adventure #35: Oh Right That Blog Thing

HAHAHA i am not very good at this sometimes.

No excuses, I don't know what happened. I just disappeared for a few days, and I am certainly not ruling out aliens as a potential culprit. Is that stereotyping...?

Anyway. I am leaving for Standing Rock tomorrow!
And I was supposed to start my novel yesterday! Damn aliens.

Will update you on Standing Rock!
Will start my novel today! There's still time!

Sold t-shirts for Standing Rock today and yesterday!

Here's the design!
Yay! About 45 t-shirts sold already and I had to tell people to stop asking me for more cause I had to send the order to Kepa so he could start making the shirts. So that was sad and difficult because I didn't want to let people down... But now I have to ask for the money from people which is even more difficult... I'm so surprised that so many people wanted shirts and shared the Facebook post! I thought we might sell 25, but no! More than 25!

Yay again! So that's what I've been up to. Might start college at BSU next semester, but more on that later. 

Okie bye <3

Adventure #32: BSU Game!

I went to my first college football game last night! BYU @ BSU.  It was a super close game, very exciting, very scary. I had a lot of fun! I used to be a really big football fan. It was one of the only things that my step-dad and I shared. He taught me all about it, helped me keep up with our teams, and I watched almost every game with him that I could. He and I don't talk anymore, but my love of football remains. It was really cool to go and be able to enjoy the tension, the excitement, and the cold.

PC: Cassie T

But the night was not without hiccups, as other emotionally relevant events occurred. I missed almost the entire third quarter because I was on the phone with my friend Drita, really trying to figure some things out... I cried the whole time... A lot of people stopped to make sure I was okay, and that actually helped a lot to be reminded of all the caring people in the world who are willing to set aside time to stand in kindness. I really needed that... I also noticed that there were no females who talked to me or made sure I was okay in those moments, and that sucked, only because I would have thought that the relationship between women in general was stronger than that... In light of that observation, I plan to be the demonstration of a caring woman whenever I see another in a situation like that.

So, I am feeling a bit better now, and I'm so glad that I was able to rediscover my love of football, be reminded of kindness in the world, be shown how I can help to empower other women who are suffering, and be able to spend the night talking with people who care about me.

Adventure #31: Five Star Etsy Seller!

My first Etsy product arrived today at my customer's house, and she said she loves it! She says it's perfect and I was so awesome in communicating with her and stuff. And then she left me a five star review! Definitely made me feel good ^.^

The quote she wanted is one of my favorites:

"Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." - Rumi

I learned a few new Etsy things from this, too. Like that I can make a custom listing in the messages people send me (might charge me for the listing, but I'm not sure...). Or, I can have them purchase the 'custom item' listing, and then all of the reviews will show up together on that product when other people want to purchase something! So that's actually really exciting to me because I need all the help I can get with this thing.

Anyway, so yay! Happy people ^.^

Adventure #30: More Officially Moved

As of last night, I am now back in Meridian. I have like nothing with me right now except my notebooks, computer, and some clothes, but I'm here! The transition has been harder than I thought it would be... But I think I just have so many things on my mind at the moment. Just processing a lot of emotions and projects all at once and it's making me a little tired. Things feel right, though. I feel settled inside, and it's a good feeling.

Sooo I've listened to a ton of music lately because I need it. I've been refining my Spotify playlists for a few months now and I'm finally like really happy with them! Maybe I'll share some of those. I really love sharing music with people and I try to do it often. Sharing music with people is such a personal form of communication. In my mind, I'm sharing a little experience with someone that just says, "This made me feel something." So anyone who shares music with me is awesome because then they gave me a chance to feel something, and maybe I'll even have a similar experience with the music to theirs. That's an awesome thought, to me...

I've been drawing a bit. Still working on my staff because this design is taking forever and it makes my hands hurt, so I've been working on it in 4 hour spurts once I get over the hurts. Last night I started a drawing that incorporates the same pattern, and I like it so far... So here's that, and now you have an idea what my staff looks like on the bottom, too!

Breakthrough on my novel today! I am closer to finding a story to fit my ideas. I made some progress on my exploration of religion today, too, which I am very excited about.

Also. I have decided. When I am a mother, I will make sure my children have blankets and sheets specifically for forts, capes, playing outside, and any other joyful activity they come up with where blankets are a necessity. That is all.

In other news, Bitte climbed up next to me in this chair and cuddled with me for like an hour. I love her so much.

The End. Not really.

Adventure #28: To Albany to Home

We left early on Thursday morning out of Tacoma to head for Albany to visit my second cousin, and my Gramma's niece! We decided to come down highway 101 for the scenery and because my Gramma and I are cocky women who knew we could beat the worst of that monstrous looming storm. Haha so actually we did beat the worst of the storm. We had a few minutes where the winds were really bad and the rain was even worse, but that maybe only lasted for a half hour before we were back to the normal heavy rainfall.

Map of Our Route For the Trip

The drive was so beautiful! I was in awe the entire way. I'm still amazed that everything could be so green. We stopped a few places to walk in the rain, take pictures, and to drive across and back on the bridge in Astoria. I loved seeing my cousin, too. She's the sweetest person ever, and their family is going through a rough time right now, so I hope that my Gramma and I were able to cheer her up a little bit. Love you, Heidi <3

Astoria, Hwy 101

Pancho Gramma <3

Homies

Almost Home

Nap Time for Murdoch

Adventure #27: Reacquainted With The Rain

Listen to Giueseppe play the trumpet, he's so good.

Gramma jerks the wheel often. Tiny jerks. Little overcorrections that leave her and I in the Jeep twitching, wiggling side to side in the lane.

Rain flicks the car incessantly. A little brother poking you until the sensation softens and that small area on your arm turns numb. My ears become numb to the flicks and whips of the drops, and the sounds blur together into... Now I'm listening too closely.

The outpour collects on leaves above. Plopping clacking marbles down down on us. Smatterings of marble sky kisses.

Droplets blur together into rivulets into rivers. I hear their rivers, sometimes.

The sound and sight and sensation of the rain. The aura of rain. It seeps into our minds, our own personal fog. My Gramma's movements are softened as the rain flows through her arms, over her bones, weighing her hands.

The overcorrections are fluid, now a subtle weaving. Puddles on the road assist in tugging the Jeep to one side or another. Millions of tiny hydrogen bond hands pluck at rubber tires. Thank you, little puddles. Do you hear your rivers, too, sometimes?

Adventure #26: Long Walks on the Beach

My wonderful cousins and aunt took me to the beach at Chambers Bay today! It was grey and perfect outside. We could hear harbor seals, and even got to watch one catch a fish. And then he ate it! Yay seals!

We also made a game out of finding the weirdest things that we could on the beach. There were many. Such a great day with my crazy family <3

Locked in Love

Sea Snot? Ocean Barf?

Multi-Tasker

Just a Corn Cob

Missed the Party

I said, "It's bigger than you!" but she didn't hear me.
So she said, "It's bigger than me!"
Also his name was Gary.
She said we took him to the moon.
I told her I'd be sure to inform the world.
She didn't believe me.

Through  the Grate and Down Below