Lesson learned.

When snowboarding at altitudes far from your normal living elevation, drink lots and lots of water, or you will get dehydrated.

I got to go to Keystone all day yesterday, which was absolutely awesome. I am super sore, but it was worth it. However, even though I threw a water bottle in my jacket pocket, I never refilled it, and am now paying for it with a monster headache. I fell asleep last night at nine pm, and didn't wake up today till eleven. I then went and ate some food, checked facebook, and was back to bed for a three hour nap within an hour. Ahhh, Sundays. Now it is seven o'clock and I should probably start thinking about studying for my two tests this week. Oh boy. But, now I know to drink lots of water while snowboarding, so I don't end up with a bummer of a headache. Mom and Dad are going to visit me next weekend, and I'm pretty excited to eat some real food and see Lola, because I know Mom is going to bring her for me :)

Some trick, some treat.

Trick: It's 1 in the morning and stringing together words right now isn't such the best idea. I'll update everything else when sleep isn't at such a premium.

Treat: Pictures of the long anticipated peacock costume.

(update - i just read the first full sentence; completely unintentional. told you writing at this hour was a bad plan.)

meh

that's all i feel like saying;

meh.

another week, another weekend;

meh.

shower, laundry, essays, cleaning;

meh.

getting no response, having no clue;

meh.

meh.

meh.

meh.

ameritrip

two days and i saw so much;

new york city's lady liberty,

philadelphia's independance hall,

chicago's sears tower and

denver's grey-green mountains.

my weekend adventure was just that,

an absolute adventure.

flying standby to popular destinations

resulted in much waiting and not knowing,

but also ended in a side trip to chicago's

rogers park to crash at a friend's apartment.

although i hate to say it, it's really so very true;

even more than visiting and catching up,

i loved the traveling, like i always have.

perhaps it helped i was traveling with friends,

or that new york fell upon fresh eyes,

but new york was certainly the highlight of my trip.

from times square to central park to just walking around,

(i've only ever been in manhatten),

there aren't many parts of the city i don't like.

i even navigated without a map. and i got around like a local.

it's easy, really; 'streets' run east to west, with numbers that

help locate them, southern streets are lower numbers,

northern streets are higher ones.

Avenues run north to south, with lower numbered avenues

being to the west, getting higher as you walk east.

everything is in a grid pattern, except broadway,

but it does what it wants.

philadelphia, denver or chicago do not have such

practical street naming practices, unfortunately.

my room is still an absolute wreck with my luggage

and all, but i'm being productive regardless, so it's ok.

i also would like to inform you that i didn't take any pictures.

at all. the whole entire trip.

i pulled out my camera on the bus trip to new york,

and decided that instead of trying to take pictures

to remember everything about it, to catch the right shot,

to line things up and make sure eyes are open,

i was just going to enjoy every moment of it,

with my mental camera rolling every instant.

it was really, surprisingly, so nice to not worry

about taking the perfect pictures of everything.

added bonus?: i didn't look like a tourist.

especially without my map.

hopefully i'll be able to keep up my traveling escapades,

but with my college student budget, we'll see how it goes.

i'm certainly looking forward to ohio, though,

i hear lola really misses me.

I think I talk to you best when I sing...

I sing about almost everything.

- Manchester Orchestra

i decided i don't care much for the word 'should.'

and that i'm not blogging as much as i need to be.

but, there are several exciting updates, and i know for a fact

that a big reason i didn't blog last sunday was due to my lack of news.

update #1: in less than 96 hours, i'll be here: philadelphia. i'm going to visit Nabil and i honestly couldn't be more excited. i love cities and old campuses, so hanging out in philadelphia will be so neat, especially with him.

update #2: in less than 72 hours, i'll get to see dad! he has work in salt lake city, a coworker in golden, and me in fort collins. not only will i get to see him, which will be great since he didn't fly out to colorado with us when i moved out, but he's also going to take me to the airport, because we'll both be flying out the same morning, which is so much better than having to take a boring old shuttle. plus this means i miss school thursday and friday. double win.

update #3: in less than 144 hours, i'll be here: new york city. only a two hour bus ride from philadelphia, it's probably, hands down, one of my favorite places. Nabil has never been before, either, which means I get to introduce him to the magic of the city that never sleeps. we were able to get crazy cheap bus tickets too, so it won't be too bad on our college student budgets. i for sure want to visit times square and central park. even though i've been to new york city two other times, we have somehow managed to never make it to the famed park. so hopefully we'll get time to visit there, times square and wherever else we may end up. i'm going to try really hard to not make this a spending money kind of trip because, number one, i don't have a lot to spend and number two, i'm not flying to the east coast to spend my time in stores with nabil, but rather take everything in, because while fort collins and denver are certainly large cities, they pale in comparison to nyc. i'm really stoaked.

update #4: since i'm a nice person, i decided to buy myself some new snowboarding gear for my birthday, which just so happens to be tomorrow. i ended up scoring a burton winter jacket,

snowpants that look like jeans, a sweater, a hat, and a thermal shirt and pants for under $130. how's that for bargain shopping? since i know mom will ask for pictures anyway, i just beat her to the punch. so bam, pictures! i didn't take one of my snowpants because i had already put them away where i store things and it wasn't worth my hassle. but, i love the coat and the crazy thermal pants are super comfortable!

update #5: i think i'm beginning to develop martha stewart syndrome. i have always enjoyed crafting, making things, being creative, or just messing around, but in the last 48 hours, i've painted an alligator, decoupaged a frame, decoupaged a notebook, and am planning on making some killer stationary/cards. wooo. here are pictures, because i like pictures. and i've got this neat bracelet, two actually, that's just a friendship bracelet with neat designs and whatnot. it's made out of several different colors and is pretty intricate, and i've met a few people who know how to make them, so hopefully i'll be making bracelets soon too! haha, crafting was honestly all i did on friday night, besides go to michael's to buy craft supplies. best friday night i've had in a while.

update #6: i believe i am out of updates. classes are going alright, nothing too crazy, and snow should be here before i know it. i'm crazy excited, but nervous too because i haven't been out on the snow in a pretty long time. but things are going good and i'm in great spirits because of my quickly approaching adventure. also, the mountain's trees don't change colors during the fall. the leaves just tease us and get yellow tips and then the leaves fall to the ground, so an east coast visit will be so great to see what a real fall looks like, once again. i wont be posting next sunday, as i'll be gone, but hopefully i'll be able to put pictures up for you from new york city and philadelphia later that week.

"Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between reslessness and exhaustion. Then, when you're no longer thinking ahead, each footstep isn't just a means to an end but a unique event in itself. This leaf has jegged edges. This rock looks loose. From this place the snow is less visible, even though closer. These are things you should notice anyway. To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top. Here's where things grow.

But of course, without the top you can't have any sides. It's the top that defines the sides. So on we go... we have a long way... no hurry... just one step after the next." - Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

I didn't blog yesterday because there really wasn't anything I could think of to blog about. However, I realized that that's not entirely true and I talk enough, so I should be able to put some words down. So here we go.

Every morning I wake up and change the countdown date for my trip to Philadelphia, to visit Nabil and see New York City. It's safe to say that I'm pretty excited to see a cute familiar face, and to tour the city that never sleeps. While sitting in art class, I was talking to the kid next to me, and found out today was his birthday. I then realized that my birthday is also coming up and I had completely forgotten. I had been so preoccupied focusing on my trip to even notice what was before me. It really isn't significant, but it reminded me of this passage from ZATAOMM, which I posted above. I don't even really know how I stumbled across the book, probably because I read too many classics and liked the title, but it is one of the most though provoking books I have read. Just like climbers solely focused on the top of the mountain, we all too often miss the sides, the part of the mountain that actually sustains life. That's all I really have, besides pictures. I hope your Monday isn't rainy, windy and ridiculously cold like it is here.

This picture is just adorable.

This picture reminds me of my mom and the time she had sushi with Dad when they were dating. Technically, we're never supposed to bring the story up again, but I'm in Colorado, so there's not much they can do. Hee hee :)

To be known

I think, no, I know that it is in human nature to want to be known. To be acknowledged and recognized is part of our social desires, and being in a place where nobody knows you by sight is a tough thing. Having hung out with a lot of other out-of-state students, this seems to be one of the biggest parts of adjusting to a new life in college. I've been fortunate enough to find a fun group of kids who are all so different from one another but are part of the crucial community that I have become a part of. Last Tuesday night, as I went to Young Life on campus, I got the opportunity to spend my weekend at Crooked Creek Ranch, a gorgeous Young Life camp in the mountains, directly west of Denver. Although I was the only one from my group of friends who went, I was quickly pulled into the group of people who have dedicated their lives to helping spread the love. Although it felt nice to be back on campus, it feels even nicer to be part of another great community.

This is a video I captured during the ClaimJumper, a huge swing we went off of. Obviously the camera didn't stay like I had it, so if you put your right ear to your right shoulder, it makes a little more sense. Haha, basically proof I did it :)

So it goes.

This last week has been crazy.

Not only have classes moved beyond the syllabus readings

and standard protocol procedures, but more meetings,

gatherings, info sessions and registrations have kicked off.

Right now the western sky is bright, while to my east it is dark,

and lightning jumps between the divide while people cheer in the arena

for their fighting Rams, the football team that's not favored to win in the

traditional showdown between neighboring schools.

My eyes are dry from staying up too late watching Little Miss Sunshine,

a favorite movie of mine that I'll never turn down,

and my legs are too tired from walking to go moisturize them with eye drops.

As I get into the real swing of things, I can say that college isn't bad.

My workload is heavy at times, but does is my want to do well,

so they are evenly matched.

The weather is a pleasant consolation for the days filled with homework,

papers, practice problems and studying. The scenery isn't bad either.

In a little over four weeks, I'll be on the east coast, and I couldn't be any more excited,

although I have a feeling the city will only call for me to change my mind, once again.

But in the end, I'm going to go wherever I go and enjoy it for all it's worth. City or not.

Begin

Where do I even begin? Less than seven days ago I was saying goodbyes, and now I'm uttering at least twice as many hellos. My belongings are still in my trunk, clothes are scattered on my floor, I've yet to write as many stationary letters as I had hoped, but college, thus far, is great. Although the first few days were uncomfortable as everybody scrambled to make fast friends, things have worked themselves out and I've found a family of other out-of-state students. Classes start tomorrow, and I'm excited to have a schedule, even if it means a little bit more work. The food here is good and I get made fun of for eating lots of yogurt and granola, but I don't care. Yesterday I got to go swimming and cliff diving in the Poudre River which was loads more fun than hanging out around campus with nothing to do. The day before, I got my bike lock stuck, and made the acquaintance of two of Fort Collin's finest. And they still weren't able to unlock my bikelock. Hah. But today I bought myself a new one, so I'm off to pull my bike out of the basement and ride off to Old Town to eat some pizza with new friends. And clean my room. :)

It's funny...

...how things work out.

As I prepared to leave, (Monday at 3pm), I decided to make a list of all of the people I needed to see, restaurants I wanted to enjoy and places I wanted to visit one last time. A natural born task-master, I was able to get through a large majority of everything, except for a 3 different individuals and 2 places. Hanging out with Forrest last night, I ran into one of my friends who was on the list, but couldn't track down, Ildar! He works crazy mad hours, so the fact that he was actually out in public, let alone the same time I was, was pretty cool, and only the beginning. Once we found out our flight time got pushed back (from 6am to 3pm, which is fine by me), I'm now able to enjoy biking on TowPath (weather permitting), and visit with the two lone individuals left on my list! The only thing I will miss out on is eating at House of Hunan. I guess it's not so bad to have a reason to return to Ohio though, hehe. With our flight changes, it also allows me to cross to items off of my 2009 to-do list, which is something I've been thinking a lot about lately. So it's just funny how everything works out in the end.

Everything will be alright in the end.

If it's not alright, it's not the end.