Singing in the rain

February has definitely been a fun month... if a bit on the cold, rainy, and wet side of the spectrum.  I continued working out regularly, lost 6 lbs (yay me!), got to spend a Saturday in Portland, received some lovely Valentines, spent some time baking, attempted to learn to crochet amigurumi, took a whole lot of tests, skimped on sleep, and February isn't even over yet! Yoikes!  I have two papers due next week that I am diligently avoiding, but I suppose I ought to start them soon.  Sigh. Oh, and again, I don't have nearly enough pictures, but I have a couple :)

I had a lot of fun making and sending some valentines :)

Cheese cake brownies and white chocolate chip  brownies :)
Sadly the cheesecake ones had to be tossed :(

My first-ever cake pops!

Cake balls :)

All wrapped and ready :)

Hope They enjoy!

My only picture from the trip to Portland- Ice cream from Salt and Straw...
Delicious!

    I definitely am going back to Portland sometime, it is so much fun to explore, and I want to try so many more things! I think the highlights were Powell's where I bought too many books, and walking around town at night trying food from the food stands :)
    Also, I love Monmouth.  I was running home from school in the rain a couple of days ago, sans coat or umbrella, and one of my professors from last term pulled over to offer me a ride home :).  I didn't need one (I was actually enjoying it... go figure) but it really made me day!
Ok, now I'll actually go work, haha

One of the best things about college

So, Friday morning, 20 minutes before I needed to leave for class, my roommate invited me to go to her family's home with her for the weekend.  We would be leaving partway through my last class... meaning I would have 20 minutes to pack.  Well, that's a no brainer right? Of course I went! :)

I love the flexibility of my schedule, and the ability to be spontaneous.  It's still occasionally irksome to be without a car, but I'm learning to swallow my pride and just be thankful to the wonderful people who help me.

New favorite (active) discovery- racket ball! It's tons of fun, but my arm is super sore. My roommate Shani loves it too, so we decided to meet up and play once a week. :)

In other news, Dellas Lineman passed away on Sunday and will be missed.  I didn't know him for very long, but he left a deep and lasting impression.  His zeal always touched my heart, and I know he reached many other people as well.

Also, we're having studies every other week at our house again.  Such a privilege!

Pictures? You want pictures? Aw, why not just listen to me ramble some more? Well, how about this:

Beautiful nature shot, looks warm, sunny, and generally desirable- jealous yet? Muahaha

Food shot- see the snickerdoodles I made? Well, they aren't around anymore.  They vanished between rounds of Settlers of Catan one night.

Care-package shot- my mother is amazing and obviously loves me.

Ok, ok so I don't actually have any pictures because I somehow always forget I can. You'd think I have no ability to even take any at this rate.  I'll do better next time... maybe... hopefully... possibly? Haha, now off to do linguistics!

Hmm

   Well, it's been a while... a long, long while.  In fact, it's been a move, a term, and a whole lot of adventures since I last posted.  I won't bother trying to fill in all of the insignificant details, but I will summarize a little. Here it goes:
   I moved to a little duplex in a tiny little town that is approximately in the middle of nowhere, and about a half hour-drive from somewhere.  I think that's about as obscure as I could possible make it, so I'll move on.  I spent an entire term frantically writing papers and having no social life, but I made the dean's list so I guess things even out.  I went to Alaska over break, learned to ski, got snowed on, then froze solid and flew home to thaw out.  Lately its been raining torrentially- the flooding is exciting, but it sure makes walking less fun.  At least I can bum rides from my awesome roomies!
   Between my lighter class load and getting some priorities straight I've had a lot more time and a lot less stress lately, which has done wonders for my outlook.  I've even started voluntarily cleaning my room, going to the gym, and doing homework ahead of time... No, I'm actually not joking, nor being sarcastic :)  I've also been doing more sewing, cooking, and crafts.  It's lovely, truly.

And now to illustrate! (With few pictures I actually took)

Picking Plums

Abby! (who has since moved, sadly)

Miss Heidi with her fedora

Art, one of the reasons I had no life

Mini cupcakes!

Mmm, quiche

Hangin' with Grandma

Lara's chapstick collection

Lara turned 16!

In other news, Special meetings were awesome, I love settlers of Catan, and I'm going to finish my homework now.  Here's hoping it won't be quite so long till the next post ;)