It is currently 12:57 AM in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I cannot sleep. It is currently 9:57 PM in Denver, Colorado. This is why.
My flights went well and the day flew by (probably because I lost a couple of hours). Now I am actually tired so sleep is in order, eh? Oh Canada...
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Party Pics and Thoughts
So it's Sunday night and I leave on Wednesday morning around 4AM. Wow. I remember posting "Only 140 days until I leave for Semester at Sea" on my Facebook months ago and now it's finally time! 2 days!!! Honestly there are so many moments when it still doesn't hit me that I will not be in the US for the next 3 1/2 months. So hard to believe. But it really hit me hard yesterday when I was visiting my mom and saying goodbye to that side of the family. Eeek!
My flight on Wednesday leaves around 8AM and I have a 4 hour layover in Toronto. Then it's off to Halifax, Nova Scotia. My grandparents are coming with me to Hailfax to see me off and then they are traveling around Nova Scotia. I've never been to Canada so I'm pretty excited about it, even though I will only spend one day there. No idea what we will do! I board the ship on Friday, I think around 10AM. They have to search through ALL of my luggage once I'm on board. I'm not really sure what I will be doing most of Friday, but the ship doesn't depart until 5PM. Possibly touring the ship with all of the parents and getting moved in? Saturday, the 28th is orientation and I start school on SUNDAY the 29th. Crazy, right?! School on the weekend...
I've been up in Boulder a bit lately hanging out and everyone there is preparing for school. I even went to the bookstore and it was just so odd to me that I wasn't buying books and I'm not starting classes tomorrow.
The next few days I'm going to be saying my very last goodbyes and PACKING. Ugh. I have most of my toiletries and supplies packed (doesn't sound like a lot, but think about almost 4 months of shampoo, meds, travel supplies, school supplies, ect... it adds up). Now I need to work on clothes. Hope to have that done tomorrow.
Zach helped me to put a BUNCH of movies onto my computer so I will be able to watch them while I'm at sea! :) Thanks dude!
So here are some pictures from the Bon Voyage party. It was a blast!
My flight on Wednesday leaves around 8AM and I have a 4 hour layover in Toronto. Then it's off to Halifax, Nova Scotia. My grandparents are coming with me to Hailfax to see me off and then they are traveling around Nova Scotia. I've never been to Canada so I'm pretty excited about it, even though I will only spend one day there. No idea what we will do! I board the ship on Friday, I think around 10AM. They have to search through ALL of my luggage once I'm on board. I'm not really sure what I will be doing most of Friday, but the ship doesn't depart until 5PM. Possibly touring the ship with all of the parents and getting moved in? Saturday, the 28th is orientation and I start school on SUNDAY the 29th. Crazy, right?! School on the weekend...
I've been up in Boulder a bit lately hanging out and everyone there is preparing for school. I even went to the bookstore and it was just so odd to me that I wasn't buying books and I'm not starting classes tomorrow.
The next few days I'm going to be saying my very last goodbyes and PACKING. Ugh. I have most of my toiletries and supplies packed (doesn't sound like a lot, but think about almost 4 months of shampoo, meds, travel supplies, school supplies, ect... it adds up). Now I need to work on clothes. Hope to have that done tomorrow.
Zach helped me to put a BUNCH of movies onto my computer so I will be able to watch them while I'm at sea! :) Thanks dude!
So here are some pictures from the Bon Voyage party. It was a blast!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Bon Voyage Party
Had the Bon Voyage party in Boulder last night at the Qualla house. It was great and really nice to see everyone again. :) At the end of the night I accidentally threw away Banafsheh's contacts and I felt really horrible! Today I'm going to my mom's and my sister and Chris are coming over and we are BBQing.
I've packed all of my toiletries and I'm working on clothing and extras. I feel like I have so many different drugs packed for the trip just in case. Benadryl, Claratin, Melatonin, Ibuprofen, Doxycycline... Ahh! I'm so nervous that I'm going to forget something important. The restless sleep has already begun in anticipation of the trip. I'm super sad to leave everyone behind though. :(
I found this rough schedule on a semester at sea blog that I can't recall right now. So exciting!!! But it also reminds me that I DO have class while on board, which I often tend to forget.
On another note, I am not going to spend hours on these blog posts articulating every feeling or situation perfectly. Limited internet, limited time. I'm keeping my own journal which might be more detailed. Be prepared for me to talk your ear off when I get back. Haha :)
3 DAYS!!!! <3
I've packed all of my toiletries and I'm working on clothing and extras. I feel like I have so many different drugs packed for the trip just in case. Benadryl, Claratin, Melatonin, Ibuprofen, Doxycycline... Ahh! I'm so nervous that I'm going to forget something important. The restless sleep has already begun in anticipation of the trip. I'm super sad to leave everyone behind though. :(
I found this rough schedule on a semester at sea blog that I can't recall right now. So exciting!!! But it also reminds me that I DO have class while on board, which I often tend to forget.
On another note, I am not going to spend hours on these blog posts articulating every feeling or situation perfectly. Limited internet, limited time. I'm keeping my own journal which might be more detailed. Be prepared for me to talk your ear off when I get back. Haha :)
3 DAYS!!!! <3
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Coming Soon!
I'm leaving in 20 days! I honestly can't believe that! I booked my trips through Semester at Sea on Monday to the killing fields in Cambodia, the Taj Mahal and Varanasi in India, and a safari in South Africa! They were pretty expensive, but I'm only doing 3 and I've heard the accommodations are really nice! I'm also going to book a trip to sleep on the Great Wall and explore China, but I'm booking with a travel agent so I'm not going to book quite yet.
Right now I'm just getting prepared for the trip. Buying shampoo, bug spray, batteries... It's coming up so fast.
I sent my camera off to get fixed a few days ago and I'm praying that it will be back in time. I have a damage plan, but Best Buy does not fix DSLRs themselves so they had to send it to Sony. They are rushing it and I told them that I really need it in 2-3 weeks. If it is not back they said to come in and they will see what they can do. I am going to have a heart attack if it isn't here in time!!! :O But I'm hopeful.
Yesterday I went shooting with Zach and Haynes and it was pretty awesome! It was a little intimidating at first (especially after Zach did his safety briefing, "This will probably hurt your leg really bad and you'll bleed out before e reach the car, but this one will just blow your leg clean off) but then it was really fun and exhilarating!
Then I drove to Banafsheh's and we proceeded to drive to the Rockies game! We were a little late by the time we parked, walked there and got hot dogs (yes!), but didn't miss much. The game was awesome and we won 6-1. Back-to-back home runs! Fun stuff! I really want to go again soon! :)
Today I went to PINKBERRY with Chelsi! :) I am in love with Pinkberry! If you haven't had it you need to try it immediately. Not kidding.
Right now I'm just getting prepared for the trip. Buying shampoo, bug spray, batteries... It's coming up so fast.
I sent my camera off to get fixed a few days ago and I'm praying that it will be back in time. I have a damage plan, but Best Buy does not fix DSLRs themselves so they had to send it to Sony. They are rushing it and I told them that I really need it in 2-3 weeks. If it is not back they said to come in and they will see what they can do. I am going to have a heart attack if it isn't here in time!!! :O But I'm hopeful.
Yesterday I went shooting with Zach and Haynes and it was pretty awesome! It was a little intimidating at first (especially after Zach did his safety briefing, "This will probably hurt your leg really bad and you'll bleed out before e reach the car, but this one will just blow your leg clean off) but then it was really fun and exhilarating!
Then I drove to Banafsheh's and we proceeded to drive to the Rockies game! We were a little late by the time we parked, walked there and got hot dogs (yes!), but didn't miss much. The game was awesome and we won 6-1. Back-to-back home runs! Fun stuff! I really want to go again soon! :)
Today I went to PINKBERRY with Chelsi! :) I am in love with Pinkberry! If you haven't had it you need to try it immediately. Not kidding.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
"Random thoughts from people our age…"
Haha I found this on another blog (sorry, can't remember the name!) So random, so brilliant. [italic= ones I really like] :)
1. I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.
2. More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me.
3. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.
4. I don’t understand the purpose of the line, “I don’t need to drink to have fun.” Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they’ve invented the lighter?
5. Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you’re going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you’re crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
6. That’s enough, Nickelback.
7. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.
8. Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the “people you may know” feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?
9. Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn’t work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ’s. We just figured it out. Today’s kids are soft.
10. There is a great need for sarcasm font.
11. Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the f was going on when I first saw it.
12. I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I’ll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone’s laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I’m still the only one who really, really gets it.
13. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
14. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
15. I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
16. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.
17. A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.
18. Was learning cursive really necessary?
19. Lol has gone from meaning, “laugh out loud” to “I have nothing else to say”.
20. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
21. Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.
22. My brother’s Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, “Cuz we beat you, and you hate us.” Classy, bro.
23. Whenever someone says “I’m not book smart, but I’m street smart”, all I hear is “I’m not real smart, but I’m imaginary smart”.
24. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear what they said?
25. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
26. Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using ‘as in’ examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss’s last name to an attorney and said “Yes that’s G as in…(10 second lapse)..ummm…Goonies”
27. What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?
28. While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it…thanks Mario Kart.
29. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
30. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
31. I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
32. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
33. I would like to officially coin the phrase ‘catching the swine flu’ to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an overweight woman. Example: “Dave caught the swine flu last night.”
34. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.
35. Bad decisions make good stories
36. Whenever I’m Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don’t mind if I do!
37. Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?
38. If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
39. Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I’m from, this shouldn’t be a problem….
40. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you’ve made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything productive for the rest of the day.
41. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don’t want to have to restart my collection.
42. There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
43. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
44. “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this ever.[Hahahaha]
45. I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV.. There’s so much pressure. ‘I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren’t watching this. It’s only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?’
46. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What’d you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?
47. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
48. When I meet a new girl, I’m terrified of mentioning something she hasn’t already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.
49. I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it’s on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
50. Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles…
51. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
52. Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
53. It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.
54. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
55. Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn’t know what do to with it.
56. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I’d bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time…
57. My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day “Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?” How the hell do I respond to that?
58. It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.
59. I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit. [I've always thought this!]
60. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
61. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.
62. The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There’s nothing like being made to feel like a fat kid before dinner.
1. I wish Google Maps had an “Avoid Ghetto” routing option.
2. More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me.
3. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you’re wrong.
4. I don’t understand the purpose of the line, “I don’t need to drink to have fun.” Great, no one does. But why start a fire with flint and sticks when they’ve invented the lighter?
5. Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you’re going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that no one in the surrounding area thinks you’re crazy by randomly switching directions on the sidewalk.
6. That’s enough, Nickelback.
7. I totally take back all those times I didn’t want to nap when I was younger.
8. Is it just me, or are 80% of the people in the “people you may know” feature on Facebook people that I do know, but I deliberately choose not to be friends with?
9. Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn’t work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ’s. We just figured it out. Today’s kids are soft.
10. There is a great need for sarcasm font.
11. Sometimes, I’ll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what the f was going on when I first saw it.
12. I think everyone has a movie that they love so much, it actually becomes stressful to watch it with other people. I’ll end up wasting 90 minutes shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone’s laughing at the right parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a millisecond earlier) to prove that I’m still the only one who really, really gets it.
13. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?
14. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.
15. I think part of a best friend’s job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.
16. The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish a text.
17. A recent study has shown that playing beer pong contributes to the spread of mono and the flu. Yeah, if you suck at it.
18. Was learning cursive really necessary?
19. Lol has gone from meaning, “laugh out loud” to “I have nothing else to say”.
20. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.
21. Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron test is absolutely petrifying.
22. My brother’s Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads. Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired about the name. He explained, “Cuz we beat you, and you hate us.” Classy, bro.
23. Whenever someone says “I’m not book smart, but I’m street smart”, all I hear is “I’m not real smart, but I’m imaginary smart”.
24. How many times is it appropriate to say “What?” before you just nod and smile because you still didn’t hear what they said?
25. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!
26. Every time I have to spell a word over the phone using ‘as in’ examples, I will undoubtedly draw a blank and sound like a complete idiot. Today I had to spell my boss’s last name to an attorney and said “Yes that’s G as in…(10 second lapse)..ummm…Goonies”
27. What would happen if I hired two private investigators to follow each other?
28. While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and instinctively swerved to avoid it…thanks Mario Kart.
29. MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.
30. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.
31. I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the shower first and THEN turn on the water.
32. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.
33. I would like to officially coin the phrase ‘catching the swine flu’ to be used as a way to make fun of a friend for hooking up with an overweight woman. Example: “Dave caught the swine flu last night.”
34. I can’t remember the last time I wasn’t at least kind of tired.
35. Bad decisions make good stories
36. Whenever I’m Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don’t mind if I do!
37. Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every year?
38. If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.
39. Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I’m from, this shouldn’t be a problem….
40. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you’ve made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything productive for the rest of the day.
41. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don’t want to have to restart my collection.
42. There’s no worse feeling than that millisecond you’re sure you are going to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.
43. I’m always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I did not make any changes to.
44. “Do not machine wash or tumble dry” means I will never wash this ever.[Hahahaha]
45. I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV.. There’s so much pressure. ‘I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren’t watching this. It’s only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we still be friends after this?’
46. I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Dammit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What’d you do after I didn’t answer? Drop the phone and run away?
47. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.
48. When I meet a new girl, I’m terrified of mentioning something she hasn’t already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.
49. I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it’s on shuffle, then I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.
50. Why is a school zone 20 mph? That seems like the optimal cruising speed for pedophiles…
51. As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.
52. Sometimes I’ll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.
53. It should probably be called Unplanned Parenthood.
54. I keep some people’s phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
55. Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn’t know what do to with it.
56. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, hitting the G-spot, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey – but I’d bet my ass everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time…
57. My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day “Dad what would happen if you ran over a ninja?” How the hell do I respond to that?
58. It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the link takes me to a video instead of text.
59. I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit. [I've always thought this!]
60. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.
61. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.
62. The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There’s nothing like being made to feel like a fat kid before dinner.
One month!
One month from today I will be boarding the MV Explorer and beginning my journey around the world with Semester at Sea! Ahh! Right now I'm just lost trying to figure out which trips I will take in each of the countries. In many places I'm torn between doing trips with Semester at Sea (which are very expensive, but already organized) or doing independent trips (which are cheaper, but something could definitely go wrong).
Some things that I really want to do:
-get a soccer jersey in Spain
-visit the killing fields in Cambodia
-take the bullet train in Japan
-visit the Great Wall and the forbidden city
-go on a safari in SA
-visit Robben Island
-buy a custom dress in Viet Nam
-get a pocket monkey (haha, just kidding!)
-visit the Taj Mahal
-buy a sari
Check out my website and my Flickr! :)
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