Tuesday, May 24, 2011

¡Emily ha llegado!

No big deal, but Emily is kind of in QUITO. However, she´s not on her own computer. Therefore, she unfortunately cannot share the amazing pictures she´s already taken, nor can she fully explain all the awesome stuff she´s already experienced..

I have pages and pages of stuff on Word that I´m basically using in lieu of a journal.. Internet connection is a bit limited here, so as soon as I´m able, I´ll post a buttload of stuff about what I´ve been up to. This post is simply proof that I am indeed alive, and a promise to post something actually informational as soon as I can :)

Thursday, May 19, 2011

exotic animal sightings and continued preparations


I'm getting my tourist on. 

WHOOO ONLY TWO DAYS until I leave for QUITO! Unfortunately, I still have quite a bit to pack.. which is why I probably shouldn't be a-bloggin' right about now. whatevs, whatevs. 

(sort of) exotic animals

proud parents. 

This happy lil family has been chilling at our house for quite a while now. See how the one on the left has his/her neck down? Those are called effective scare tactics. The one on the right is literally hissing at me. It was actually kind of terrifying. 

However, in spite of their fair warning, I hung around to get a couple pictures of these perturbed geese. Does this mean that whole "practicing being brave" concept (from the previous post) includes making familias of geese angry?

Just look at those cutie-pie goslings..I guess I would be protective of those little guys, too. 

This picture isn't exactly fantastic quality.. but it's my favorite bird of all time- a painted bunting! It has a nest around here somewhere and we have occasional sightings. It always makes my day when I see one! 

Here's a better picture that does the (male) painted bunting a little justice (via Google Images)



An exotic animal indeed- the Morkie. a cross between a Maltese and a Yorkie. also known as Junebug.

 
Caroline felt guilty about dropping the poor 5 pound Junebug, so she kissed her to make up for it. When it occurred to her that the scene was moderately cute, she wanted me to take a picture of her kissing Junebug. She kept cutting her eyes across to my camera to make sure I was documenting all of the cuteness. 


Wednesday, May 18, 2011

things I've learned today

I love learning! (especially now that I'm not graded on it, heheh:)) People have all sorts of little lessons to teach you.. least of all when you're expecting it. 


what Rachel and Caroline taught me:




Today, she taught me that no matter how wonderful of an education I get, I'll probably never know as many things as I knew in high school. My tenth grade English teacher warned us of this phenomenon, but I never believed him until now.


It all started when Rachel asked Emily for help balancing a chemical equation...


That simple question she asked made me realize that not only had I completely forgotten everything of or related to chemistry, but I'll also never know how to balance a chemical equation again. EVER. 


It's quite ridiculous to think about the sheer breadth of information we're taught in high school compared to college. I remember back in the day when Emily was a wee fifteen year old, she could balance a chemical equation like it was nothin'. 


The weird thing is, my failure to balance a chemical equation doesn't bother me. AT ALL. My six year old sister randomly offered me some insight into this perplexing conundrum: "Sometimes my brain forgets things. but that's okay. I think my brain forgot some things so I could learn new stuff. My brain would esplode (spelling based on pronunciation) if I knew that much."


love the logic. 


Caroline, a couple weeks ago, trying out that whole "modeling" thing.


what Joseph taught me:


Today, Joseph taught me that sometimes you have to "practice being brave." 


Several months ago, Caroline innocently(?) threw a frisbee intending to show off her impressive skills as Joseph obliviously ran by. 


As it turned out, Joseph happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and he experienced no less than a.. painful collision. The devastating crash left him scarred and emotionally bruised for weeks. He shrieked every time a frisbee flew within a ten foot radius of him. He had, in fact, been conditioned to associate frisbees with pure terror. 


Today, however, Joseph picked up a frisbee on his own and asked me to play with him. Everything began as expected. Joseph continued to shriek every time he saw a frisbee flying through the air (even if my aim was a "little" off and it was heading fifteen feet away from him).  


I asked him why he screamed every time I threw a frisbee towards him and he replied that he didn't know.. he only knew he didn't want to get hit with the frisbee again. 


I asked him if he could try to be brave and stop screaming (to be honest, it was hurting my ears a bit). He replied, "I guess being brave just takes some practice." 


By the end of the hour-long frisbee sesh, not only did we discover that Joseph can throw a frisbee more accurately than I can (yet another thing I learned today...), but he also caught the frisbee four whole times! He was beaming with pride at the thought of this feat. It was really quite adorable.. love that kid. And it was a fantastic lesson for me as well. 

I don't have any pictures of the frisbee sesh, but I find this one absolutely hysterical. He's just waiting to hear back about that modeling contract.


and last but not least.... what stumbleupon taught me: 


It's possible for life to be a Disney movie:


UP IS REAL LIFE


...and so is Cinderella.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

back in btown!

It's great to be home.

As much as I miss absolutely everything about college.. it sure has been wonderful to relax. I've had virtually no responsibilities for the last week.. I think my ultra laziness is partly imputable to the stress of last semester. I also think it's a mental preparation for the (almost certain) imminent stress of the next seven weeks (ECUADOR IN FOUR DAYS!)

Guueeesssss who had a soccer game on Saturday..


This guy did!!


..and so did his sister!


In the middle of the game, Caroline runs over to me and my mom on the sidelines, hands us two yellow flowers she had just picked, and tells us not to lose them.. during the game. 
..yet another example of how my little sister is perpetually in her own little world. 


Tuesday, May 10, 2011

sooo...

As silly as it seems.. I am legitimately quite terrified. Why, you might ask? Because I still have one looming final exam before summer officially begins and my freshman year in college comes to an end? Is it because in eleven days, I'll be traveling to South America (Quito, to be exact) for the first time in my life? Am I scared because it will be my first time out of the United States completely by myself?

Nope, good guesses though. I'm terrified.. because I'm freaking starting a blog.


I know. Quite a terrifying prospect, isn't it.

I'm not exactly sure why the prospect of creating a blog is this terrifying for me. I think my apprehension stems from this crazy idea that when people look at this site, they'll actually read what I write. Scary stuff, I know.

Soooo, in my quest to conquer this apparent fear that people will listen to what I have to say, I'm starting a blog. Hopefully, it'll serve two purposes:

1. to conquer my aforementioned fear..
2. to document/reflect upon my trip to QUITO, ECUADOR!

I'll be there for 7 weeks this summer and I honestly could not be more excited! more details to come later :)

goodnight all,

Emily