Interesting...

Hmm... this will be interesting...

or....

I guess we shall see...

Work...

So much work for such little fruit.

Thanks to my Gastroparesis, I really shouldn't eat the skin of most fruits and vegetables. Which also means that I am not getting all the good nutrients from them either. :(

These apple slices plus yogurt and sweet potato chips are my dinner. Yummy!

Feeling girly...

And Pretty!!
:)

Because I have no shame and want to show off my experiments.
So super easy!!

Curls...

I have been curling my hair nearly everyday for the last week {I think} and I love it!
The only down fall is when it falls flat in one or two obvious places but oh well it isn't really that big of a deal in the long run. :)

Day 1 {the first day I actually went out in public with curls for a WHOLE day}

Day 2 {or possibly 3?}

Then at the end of the day after it had "relaxed".

Day... umm... I lost count and I actually didn't take a picture for every day but you get the idea.

Anyhoo, I love it. I really want to try getting it permed now.
Once I save up money, per usual.

To do...

-Laundry {Check}
-Peruse Facebook {Check}
-Wash/Vacuum Car {Check}
-Bank Reconcile {Check}
-QuickBooks training {Check}
-Walk around the block with Ruby {Check}
-Charge Kindle {Check}
-Chemistry homework
-Anatomy flashcards

Awww... procrastination at it's finest.

Themes?

I was perusing my favorite blogs while trying to decide whether or not I wanted to try to eat something {I had my braces adjusted this morning so my mouth is a bit sore} and I started wondering if I should have more themes on this blog to make it more bloggy.

Then I wondered, well what themes should I do that would actually keep me involved and interested?

Some of my favorite blogs have a specific theme for specific days {which is pretty cool and I like the idea} while others only have one or two themes for the entire blog {which seems easy}.

I already have my Random History theme which I think I should start updating on a specific day of the week so that it is more reliable and interesting. Maybe Mondays or Wednesdays?

And then I got distracted looking at Pinterest for theme ideas. I should probably eat something....

Then back to studying for REALS!

People...

I am not here to do your homework for you.

Pretty soon I will put my foot down and stop this "tutoring" mess, I have my own schoolwork to focus on.

[End Rant]

Truths...

Alcohol can bring out the absolute worst in people.

Braces...

A guy at school just told me that he liked my braces...

Ummm.... thank you? I was caught off guard by that, he told me I looked adorable....
Adorable as in I look like a tween??

Oh well, he walked off right after that.

I need a nap....

Got bored...

AKA procrastinating. :)
The other night I was getting ready to go to bed so I took my hair down from its ponytail, I was amused that it looked very much like a 90's full-volume head of hair.
So I took a picture with my cell phone. {which explains the poor quality}

Today I decided to curl my hair!
I enjoy telling people that I fail as a redhead because my hair does not curl naturally. I know that I want to try perming it but have not had the time, money or enough trust in the stylist  to have it done yet.

{Warning! No make up is worn in the following pictures}

This styling took me roughly a hour to complete {which is why I have not fixed my hair this way for a regular day} and I was hoping to go running with my friend {maybe get some looks from the college athletes out running too} but alas, she was not in town tonight and I do not like running by myself.

Anywho, now to go scrounge up some dinner. :)

Ramen...

I love Ramen Noodle Soup.
Ok, just the noodles really.

When I first started living on my own and money was tight, I would buy Ramen in bulk. Even now when nothing else sounds good, Ramen is my go-to meal. Then {back in the day} I started looking for ways to spruce it up with whatever I had in my kitchen {which usually wasn't much}.

Today I made a new combination:
-Ramen noodles {obviously}
-Garlic salt instead of the seasoning pack
-Breaded chicken patty {diced}
-Real Bacon bits
-Egg {I finally learned how to cook the egg similar to egg-drop soup}
-Creamy Italian salad dressing
-Shredded Cheese


I am the kind of person that does not really like a lot of broth in my soups so after I cook the noodles and egg I usually drain most of the water off.
The dressing is there to keep it from being too dry.

To me it was wonderful and different but I know that some people would not appreciate my various cooking experiments.

Says a Lot...

I want to go explore! I want to go out into nature and feel life all around me!
Instead I am stuck in this cafe surrounded by the life of annoying "college" kids.

I need to try and set up a picnic day with family and friends or something!

Urgh...

I have a headache.
I should be studying Organic/Biochemistry but am having a hard time actually starting.
I have a test tonight but I fell pretty good about my understanding of the material.

A part of me wants to work on my story a bit and another part of me wants to take a nap.

About to munch on a cheese strudel muffin in an effort to wake up and hopefully relieve my headache. {Sounds delightful doesn't it?}

I like sitting in the cafe at my school because I get to see all the different people that pass through. I must admit I enjoy the distraction that people-watching provides me.

Sometimes the people in here are incredibly distracting and it makes it harder to focus on writing or studying, so then I have to get the discipline to get up and leave.

Bleh.

Slowly...

Knocking down the writer's block.
So far I have written 7,420 words in my story.
I have been writing a little bit here and there since it popped back into my head the other day. I even go out of bed and wrote down some storyline ideas just to get them out of my head so I could go to sleep.
I usually start working on it when I am overloaded on studying and the internet no longer holds my attention.

I wrote a little today then proceeded to look for pictures that resemble what I have in my head as to what the characters will look like.

Now to to home.

Study buddies...

Feeling like an episode of Community.

Checking in...

I enjoy getting good deals but I have never really been one to go out of my way for a deal on anything.
My mom introduced me to getting second-hand clothes at The Salvation Army and I will admit I have come away with a couple shirts that I really love.

Anywho, I found some cute sandals at Target today for only $6 so I grabbed them.
I really didn't need them and I probably shouldn't have spent the money on them {even at that low a price} but it is really hard to find cute {adult} shoes in my size, so yeah... {please disregard the calluses on my feet I have not had a pedicure in a very long time and I prefer to go barefoot often}

I have been listening to a lot of Jazz lately, I enjoy the way I seem to be able to feel the emotion in the music.
Chet Baker {one of my favorites}, Elvis Costello, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, etc.

I remember when I first started listening to jazz, I was 19 and I was dating a boy that played the trumpet. I wanted to like the things that he liked so I went to a store and started browsing the CDs. I stumbled across a CD with Chet Baker's most memorable songs and just bought it on the spot without ever even hearing his name before.
I discovered Elvis Costello in a similar way {well sort of}. I was listening to NPR a lot at the time and every now and then they would run a segment on an artist or musician. Elvis Costello was about to release a new CD so he was being interviewed and I liked the song snippets that were played and I also liked the way he spoke about his music. So needless to say, I went out and bought on of his CDs shortly after that radio segment.

One thing that annoys me is that I seem to have misplaced both of the before mentioned CDs when I moved. I have been listening to their music on YouTube in order to prevent myself from running out and repurchasing their CDs.  One day though.

I decided to make myself a small cup of coffee a little while ago and then decided that I needed to take a picture of said coffee! Then I wanted to have a neat background, so I pulled out a notepad and started writing a random part of my story {See Random About Me #1 at the end, I am writing a story} which I like to do with my fountain pen.
Ended up writing about a page and a half before my camera battery was charged up enough to snap a picture.

I have had it in the back of my head from the beginning that I wanted two of the characters to fall in love with one another, eventually, while they are struggling to get through the mess they are put in. I know I want there to be tension between them {as in they don't really like each other at the beginning and get angry often}. I don't know if this little snippet will actually end up in the final story but it was fun to write it anyways. My fountain pen was going a little crazy on me but I still love it {pretty cheap one from a craft and art supply store}.

Now I kind of want to pull out my rough drafts and actually work on the story...
It is currently 14 pages long with 6,683 words and I am on the 5th chapter {some chapters will be shorter than others because I am trying to focus on one character's perspective/storyline per chapter}.

Here is an excert from the prologue...

The pain was excruciating. 

The healer woman was kneeling at my feet chanting gibberish and suffocating the tent with her burning herbs. I wished she would go away and leave me to my struggles. The child was strong; I could feel it as he tried to help me in his birth, stretching and moving.

So tired...

I had an exhausting {aka totally awesome} weekend.

I have sweated so much more in the last 5 days than I think I ever have.

Thursday - Worked out at the gym with friends from school
Friday - Worked in over 100 degree weather loading and unloading pecans from people's cars
Saturday - Worked again, then went to the football game and sweated for a good couple hours straight
Sunday - Relaxed for a little while then went on a spontaneous date {some sweating while walking around downtown}
Monday - Relaxed some more, then went walking around the university campus in the heat with my friend

Now I am trying to wind down from all of it {including two mornings with a stomach going through a revolt against me}.

I wish I was in as great a shape as these ladies...

One day I hope to reach that goal but I know not to push myself too hard, otherwise my stomach might secede from my body in protest.  

Off to take a shower and wash off tonight's sweat and grime.

Sportsmanship

I love watching sports {except golf, man talk about snooze-fest}.
I may not always understand what is going on but I still enjoy the games.
What I really do not understand is when there is bad sportsmanship on the field or in the stands.
At the end of the day it is a game.
Yes it is an expensive game and can make or break the player's careers as professional athletes but it is still a game that is meant to be fun.

I recently went to the first game of the season for my favorite college football team and had a blast.
In the row behind me there were a handful of fans for the opposing team. I made sure to shake their hands and wish their team good luck. They were good fans towards their team and, for the most part, my team as well.
At the end of the game I told them their team played a good game and wished them a safe trip back to their hometown.
{Oh yeah my team did win, by the way.}

During the game there were a couple instances of bad-mouthing or shoving on the field {to which I yelled "Grow Up!"} and it always makes me wonder....

If little kids can show good sportsmanship....

And burly men in kilts can show good sportsmanship....

Why is there so much bad behavior throughout mainstream sports {or any sport really}?

Shame.

So much Shame.

Good Deeds...

I like helping people however I am able to.

In my organic/biochemistry class there is a deaf woman who cannot take notes and watch her sign language interpreter at the same time.

I had taken notes for a disabled man in my math class last Spring so I volunteered to scan and email my notes again.
I have a bit of dyslexia so I write my notes in different colors so they are easier to read and later study.

I am a little proud of my note-taking abilities.
Particularly my line drawings {I think they look quite nice}.

Example A:

Example B:

This one was a more difficult example that we had to work on our own. I will admit it took me about 3 minutes whereas the previous ones took me about 30-60 seconds.
{Why yes, I am being boastful! I feel impressive that I understand these concepts so quickly!}

Anywho, I am happy that I can help this woman to continue her education and be able to fully experience the class.

College...

Is a place for higher learning, personal & career growth and maturity.
Or at least that is how I perceive it.

At my school there is a "cafe" area that you can eat your food and work on homework or study in relative comfort. This was my preferred spot to eat my lunch/dinner while I was taking summer classes and it was very nice {mainly due to the few other students and great staff}.

Now it is Fall semester.

There are {naturally} more students now and a good portion are the right-out-of-high-school freshman.
Most of these kids {I say kids because they act as if they are still in middle or secondary school} are loud, obnoxious, rude and down-right crude {aka hoodlums}.
There are even a few that are so arrogant and aggressive, that I would not want look at them "wrong" for fear of being confronted or assaulted.

I still eat my lunch/dinner in the cafe, but I keep to myself {usually with homework or my computer}.
When I want to do some heavy studying I go to the library, because it is one of the few places that people will act accordingly with their surroundings.

What happened to the scholarly and respectful atmosphere that college and college students used to have?

Just sayin' :)

Here, let me give you a Hand...

I was confusing metacarpals and metatarsals during my studying session this morning and since I am a visual person, I came up with the following solution:

Granted I probably shouldn't label my entire body {I sure as hell will not be allowed to take any tests in such a state} but this does help me remember in the long run.
I did consider taking a photocopy of my hand and then labeling the picture but I did not want to use the copy machine at that moment. I later found a suitable picture online and printed it for labeling.

Anywho, back to studying!

Metatarsals are in your feet, by the way. :)

Update...

I have successfully finished the first week of Fall semester.
I am going to be slammed with studying and homework for the foreseeable future.
With that said I will try to post something at least once a week on Random History but cannot guarantee it.
I will have to fit in a part time job along with my studies this semester so that considerably decreases the time that I will be blogging.
Anywho, I have to start looking for a job now before my school work gets too bogged down. :)

I Hate You

Mosquitoes!!!

I hate how sneaky you are and how you seem to think that my body is an All-You-Can-Eat buffet!!

Silly...

Every time I see Dale, I am reminded of you...

Argh...

My brain hurts! :(
I took the second (of five) practice ACT exams that came with my ACT prep workbook today.
Overall I increased my score by 5 points. {I am not sure if that is good or not to be honest.}
The math section is still kicking my butt, mainly because I know jack crap about trigonometry and the way they word the questions can be very confusing.
To top it all off, each section is timed.
Ridiculously timed.
As in 60 math questions in 60 minutes.
Most people might think that amount of time is not that big of a deal but for math dummies like me, it is huge. 
I end up guessing on several in the hopes that I picked the right answer.

I take the ACT on Thursday {as in three days from now} and then I start the Fall semester on Monday.
I still have to buy my textbooks!! Crap!

Stuff...

I was looking around my apartment/room and I came to the realization that I have a lot of stuff. : /

Small things that I have collected in the last 6-7 years.
Elephant figures from the Texas State Fair, gifts from old co-workers, art projects from high school, etc.

I came to the decision that these things either need a face lift {spray paint} or they need to be donated to The Salvation Army.

I need to be honest with myself and get rid of the things that I don't need or use on a regular {at least once a week} basis.

That includes clothes, shoes, belts, and bags.
Fortunately, I am pretty good at letting things go.
{Except my books and my paintings, of course!}

Couldn't Sleep...

I mentioned that when I get bored I doodle, right?
{See Random About Me #7}

So last night for some reason I couldn't wind down to go to sleep and ended up doodling on scrap paper.
Which led me to doodling on my hand, which then led to my forearm.
You get the idea.

Every now and then I think about what it would look like if I had a tattoo.
{See Random About Me #5}

I usually relieve myself of this curiosity by drawing something on the desired area and then just looking at it for a few minutes.

Nothing fancy, just random swirls and marks.

I had this randomness going all the way around my forearm from wrist to elbow.
When I put the black on it reminded me of scanning a sketch into Photoshop and then coloring over it to make web comics {or other cool images}.

All of my scribbles were washed off shortly after taking these pictures. :)
Can't do that with a real tattoo!
{Which is probably one reason why I don't have any!}

Studying...

My desk tends to get pretty crowded whenever I am studying.
I like to spread out so I have everything I need right at my finger tips {in some cases literally}.
The ACT prep studying isn't too bad when it comes to that so far.
Pretty much contained...

I have two tables set up in an upper case "L" shape to make my desk space. There are definitely stuff on here that don't need to be, but I have no where else to put them.
The coffee is a must!
This is actually one of my Mom's coffee cups that I borrowed {and returned} from that morning.

At this point I am already into chapter 15 of my workbook {only one more to go before the practice tests} and wondering if I should get another workbook.
{Can you tell that I REALLY want to get a good grade??}

ACT Studying and Shame...

I always thought I was pretty good when it came to English (grammar, punctuation, etc.), but after going through the first 4 chapters of my ACT prep book I realized that I am not much better than most {semi-intelligent} people.
{Pretty sure I made errors all throughout that sentence}

I can read sentences and usually tell when something is off, which helps keep me on the higher end of the grading scale at the end.

Fortunately, this book is very helpful and I will definitely be keeping it for future reference. :)

Pretty sad when English is your native language and you still can't get it right! :/

Books Update

I came into my room and noticed that I had left a book open on the bed that I had been reading earlier and it reminded me that I haven't listed my current reading list in a while.

So below is a list of the books that I am currently reading. :)

{1} Dracula by Bram Stoker
{2} Mad Kings and Queens by Alison Rattle & Allison Vale
{3} Troublesome Young Men by Lynne Olson (said book on bed)
{4} Living Judaism by Rabbi Wayne Dosick
{5} The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien
{6} Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
{7} Gideon's Sword by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child (I actually finished this one yesterday)

I have a feeling I am forgetting one or two more but I can't seem to find them, maybe they are in my car or backpack...

...and starting tomorrow I will be reading/studying/working through ACT for Dummies.

I take the test in roughly two weeks and I want to get as high a score as my brain will allow. I took it about 6 years ago and received an average score {which I think is pretty good considering that I did not study for it one bit} so I am hoping I do better this go around.

Most of these books I have put on hold in order to focus on school but I always keep at least one in my purse for the times when I need a break or something else to do.

Good night! :)

Grades...

Almost forgot to post my grades from the summer session.

Drum roll.......

Chemistry - A
Medical Terminology - A

Woohoo! I thought I would never get through those classes!
For the record I took both of those classes during an 8 week session. Fall and Spring sessions last for 16 weeks. {Not to brag or anything but that was A LOT of info to learn in 8 weeks}

I also became friends with a girl in my chemistry class. We seem to have a lot of the same interests so hopefully this is the beginning of a good friendship. :)

Girly Stuff

I found a new clothing website that I love! :D

Shabby Apple
{www.shabbyapple.com}

I love the dresses so much, this is the kind of classy clothing that I would love to wear.

Speaking of classy, I watched "Mr. Hobbs takes a Vacation" with Maureen O'Hara and James "Jimmy" Stewart the other day with my mom. I thought it was really cute and funny. The humor is dry and you have to be paying attention to get some of it but I really enjoyed it. :)

 Jimmy Stewart reminded me of my own grandfather and Maureen O'Hara was just beautiful and classy.

Test - Random History page

So since I decided to something other than use this blog as a public diary I spent most of this morning figuring out how I wanted it to work/look. :)

I now have a separate blog just for Random History but it is linked with this one and looks almost exactly the same.

One day I will also have link from this blog (and the other blog) to a website for my photography. :D
First I have to have the money to pay for the website!!

Anywho, I am excited about this new adventure in my life.

Boneheads...

Seriously guys, if you have a girlfriend don't give out your phone number to girls who like you.

It is rude and disrespectful towards your girlfriend and cruel towards the other girls who thought they had a chance.

That is all.

Tons...

Of flower pictures plus tons of pictures of my nephew. :)
I will upload/post them later. 
Had a great Saturday, got to spend time with family and wear a cute dress that I had been wanting to wear.

I will definitely be wearing this dress in public in the future. I was worried that it would be too short but it really isn't too bad.

I have "the touch" with my nephew according to my dad. I love walking him around and humming to him until he falls asleep and then I just hold him while he is out. It is the best feeling to have a baby fall asleep in your arms. 

Gotta go fold laundry now. :-/

Thinking....

Of starting a website for my amateur photography where people would buy prints or download.
One thing that is stopping me is that I haven't been able to think of a creative name that isn't already taken.

I can't use my name because there is another photographer in Nashville that has by same first and last name and the same middle initial. :-/

hmm....

So far the top two ideas are:
Sterling 47 (atomic # of silver) Photography
Letter Box Photography

I like the first because I could shorten it to:
S47P
Which looks cool to me as a logo.

The second I could make a logo with a mailbox or something.

hmmm.....

Happy...

When my parents drink they get really happy.

It is so adorable and entertaining.

Plans...

So I need to study for my medical terminology midterm that is tomorrow.
I took my Unit 2 exam in Chemistry and got a 80% and considering how hard this class is I am okay with a B but I still want an A overall.

Anywho, so I should be studying.
Which means that I will take a nap first. :)

Yup. :)

Bleh...

Woke up this morning with an unhappy stomach. :-/
Somehow it got cold in my room last night and I could not produce enough body heat to keep it warm under the covers.

I gotta start feeling better soon, today is an all out study day for my Chemistry test tomorrow.

Better go make some coffee...

Handsome...

What? I think he is adorable! :)
Finally got him fully in the pool for nearly a hour, if we had left him in he would have fallen asleep in his floaty, but we didn't want him to get sunburned.

It was a great day. :)