Quick Picture Post.

Just a few pictures from my recent journey to North Carolina.

I'm a sharp shooter! Yes sirree!

And we're both pretty excited about my shooting talents!

And Dad makes fire come out of his gun. (I didn't quite master that part.)

And here is Cheri hard at work on one of her beautiful mosaics!

And here is the Queen of Hearts reigning over my room! Thanks Cheri!

Overdue Update.

So... A lot has been going on since I last posted in April...

1. I moved back into my mom's house. That has been going pretty well so far. It's been a month since I moved in, and I don't think either one of us have wanted to strangle the other yet. So yay! Most of the time I am either at school, work, sleeping, or working on school work. I don't really go out anywhere anymore. I don't have time for any of that. Ha.

2. I started the summer session on May 11th. I am taking three classes right now--Biology with lab, Developmental Psychology, and Medical Terminology (bio and dev psych are accelerated six week courses). I am doing pretty well in them so far. I have gotten A's on every test and quiz that I've had in them. I'm happy with myself in the school area of life! That's definitely a good thing.

3. I dropped to part time at work. I only work about 20 hours a week now which is weird. I've worked full time for about 5 years now, and now that I don't I feel like I am forgetting to do something. The less work thing has definitely been a good thing. I can't imagine being able to do all of my school work while working full time. This course load is crazy for the summer.

And now, I must go to bed because I have class at 8 tomorrow morning. In Oviedo. Oy. Good night!

Don't You Dare Blame It On...

[small rant]

You wanna know a surefire way to piss a girl off ANY day of the month? Ask her if she's pmsing just because she happens to be in a not so great mood that day.

Go ahead. Do it. See if it doesn't get you in trouble--the silent treatment, a longwinded tirade. And say it again. Say that you can't wait for the pmsing to end. Thank God you only have another week or so of it, and then you're in the clear.

You know what? Ninety-five percent of the time, it is NOT pms! Ninety-five percent of the time, there is actually someTHING that has pissed us off or put us in a bad mood. And you know what else...? The fact that you keep blaming it on pms actually prolongs the bad mood/feelings I have towards you, and you just need to SHUT YOUR MOUTH.

[/small rant]

So how was everyone ELSE's day?

Champion of Water (Sports)!

In my dream last night I was competing in the national water polo tournament.

And I was freakin good.

How do ya like THEM apples?!

Mid April--End of Semester Sprint

Well, you'll all be happy to know that my blood test results from my doctor's appointment about a month ago revealed that I am practically perfect in every way! Dad says it's because I am half-English, and Mom says it's because I AM her daughter. Ha. So perfection on both sides...leads to me! :-D Heh. Well, I know I'm not perfect, but at least my blood results are!

The next two weeks are the homestretch for the end of the semester. I am already feeling the stress build as I worry about my grades. It always seems like the last month and a half of class is when everything falls apart. At this point, all I can do is my best and hope that it's enough. So fingers crossed for me...

The beginning of May will find me moved out of the house I have called home for almost a year and back in my mom's house for the duration of my time in nursing school. Widely known fact: my mother and I have a history of not really getting along when we live in close proximity to each other. However, we have both decided to make a real effort to make this work between us. It seems promising. I only hope that we can both follow through.

I picked up The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike at the library yesterday. I'm looking forward to reading it. I've heard good things about it. I'll let you know how it is when I finish it...

Random Post.

All right everyone, you should read this post from the bottom up because I posted the pictures in here wrong, and I do NOT feel like rearranging them!
And just so you know Grandma... I made this post just for you... You know, because I hadn't posted in so long. :-D



Since Smokey was then conveniently out of the way, Rascal took to exploring the backyard on his own... My roommie and I have great cats! :-D They always keep us entertained.


But then Rascal (Melissa's cat) came outside and chased around for a minute. Smokey decided it was safest to stay under the chair for the remainder of her time outside.

On this clothesline drying day, I decided to let the cats out in the backyard. Smokey explored a little bit...

Melissa mentioned to her boyfriend that she wanted a clothesline in the backyard... so he made one! :-D Now we can use the clothesline and save even MORE on utilities! WHOO! By the way, I now know that it is best if you don't hand your clothes in half over the line... It doesn't dry them well that way. Ya learn new things every day. Ha. I never did have much common sense.

Anna and I just hanging out after the game.

Went out with a couple friends from class to a Magic game two weekends ago! It was fun. And we hung out a little afterward! (Me. Mauricio. Anna.)

I think this is my favorite picture of her EVER! :-D

Smokey looks so pretty in the light!

This is the facial expression of my beautiful cat, Smokey, most of the time. :-D Well, really only when she's annoyed...

THEN you have an almost COMPLETE ball! I just have to hand sew the open patch closed. It's a semi-frustrating and time-consuming thing that I do not particularly like doing--mostly because I can't seem to keep my stitching hidden!

This is the time when you put the stuffing in... You don't want to sew it all up yet or else, well, it will just be a flat piece of fabric basically.

I don't know if you all remember, but a while ago (my first post I think) I said I was going to make a patchwork soccer ball... Sooo here is the progress on that!

A Day on the Other Side of Town!

Today I went over to the other side of town to visit with Grandma and Grandpa on the day after their 50th anniversary! Whoo! This post is going to be very picture heavy... And I don't know how to put the pictures on here so that you can click to enlarge them. If you end up wanting any of the pictures you'll have to let me know, so that I can send you the original file in it's unedited LARGE size. :-)


Ahem... Here we go...

On my way over to Grandma and Grandpa's house I decided that I would take a picture of Dad and Cheri's old house. I told Dad before that I would take a picture and send it to him because the house looks so different now, but I kept forgetting my camera. Whoops! Well, I remembered it today... Sooooooo, here is the house now...

Doesn't it look boring? The flowers in front of the porch are all gone. It just looks plain. Too sterile. Blah.

After taking this picture, I decided that I would make a little detour to a little lake... (and when I parked my car, the radio started playing You Can Call Me Al... Ha!)

Now, I don't know if everyone is aware of the story of Lake Como... If you aren't then you should probably ask my dad to tell you the story... Because, quite frankly, I just don't tell it as good as he does. But I will provide pictures to supplement the story that I think he now has the obligation to tell to the blogging world! :-D

There he is in all of his guardian glory...

I decided to sneak up on him from the side--you know, while his attention was elsewhere.
Just wanted him to see that I am NOT afraid of him! That's right.
And we are now best friends. I'll probably visit him every week...
While I was walking around the lake I saw this tree limb, and I had to take a picture of it. Dad, doesn't it look kinda like the kissing tree only on land? Neat! Oh! While I was taking in the pretty little grassy areas and such I realized that there are probably some caches in that area... I tried to find one with my naked eye, but it didn't work very well. I'm going to have to look that up for next time!



And now onto Grandma and Grandpa!



In this picture it looks like Grandma is admiring the little wheelbarrow serving dish and Grandpa is surprised. In reality, they both seemed to really like it. :-)

After a recent conversation that Grandma had with my dad it became obvious that Grandma NEEDS to grow herself some tomatoes... Well, Dad... Here. This is the area that I think would be the best place for Grandma to put a pot and whatever else she needs to grow her very own tomatoes. What do you think? I am certain though that the tomatoes should not be planted next to this little guy and his friend, the cactus...

Do you agree?

And now, I give you pictures of the couple who were at the 50 year and 1 day mark (and counting) of their marriage when I visited them! Enjoy!

(The card Grandma is holding says the number 50 on it as "proof"that it is true!)

Love, Nina

P.S. Ummmm Dad? It's your turn to post. And I do believe the people want to hear the story of the Lake Como Lions... :-D