College. Can't Say I'm Loving It.

Its probably a really terrible idea for me to be writing about college right now.

Honestly its very overwhelming. Extremely. All I can think about it how in the world am I ever going to complete a semester.

That probably partially due to freshman orientation. The professors idea of keeping everyone super busy so they're not homesick, but really its exhausting everyone out of their minds.

Let me just say, I am majorly looking forward to going home this weekend. (hopefully) I am going to need a break and a chance to recharge before coming back to campus. That is the introvert coming out in me. But I have never been around or talked to so many people constantly in my entire life. I really should have been prepared better for this.

But on the other side, I have met some fun people in my class. Yesterday I was waiting for my friend/cousin to get out of her meeting and I was wondering around looking for something to do while I waited. I was walking towards the door and I saw outside two people sitting just chilling and talking. Well the guy I had met earlier because he was in my orientation group, but the girl I didn't know. But I was like hey, I'll try something new and just put myself out there. So I went and sat down beside them and started chatting. Well it turned into a very entertaining conversation that several more people joined in on and when Rebekah got out of her meeting she joined us too! (though I think she was a bit shocked that I was talking to random people. I think I surprised myself!) So that was my one entertaining accomplishment of the week. We'll see if it happens again...

Classes started today. I had three things I had to be at right in a row from 10:00 to 1:00. They went well I think. I mean I don't know. I've never sat in a class before. It was kind of overwhelming and scary and claustrophobic, but I felt accomplished too. I'm kind of nervous about how much homework I'm going to get. I really don't know, and I really hope it doesn't become and overwhelming load. (I think that is the word of this post. Overwhelming.)

So I'm at college. Can't say I'm loving it. But I'm hoping I'll become accustomed to it.

Mostly though, I just hope I survive the week.

Off to College...!!!

The count down has begun. The very short under-two-weeks count down. That's right I will be an official college student (or university student, depending on where you are in the world) in a little over a week.

Where has my life gone?! Like wow this all kind of is happening fast.

Actually technically for one I'll be a normal student and person. You see for the first time in my life I will actually be going to school. What, you ask? I never did school? No, I've never been to school. #LifeOfAHomeschooler Yup, homeschooled. So actually sitting in class will be an entirely new experience. Now I'm not worried about the academic side of college. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to handle the class work just fine. It's the going to school every day and sitting in class but that I'm a little sketchy on. I mean, what if my teachers boring and I fall asleep! (Ok that probably won't happen but whatever)

As far as academics, I'm actually ahead in college already. As a homeschooler one of the benefits was that I could take college classes ahead of time. You know, dual enroll. Which is what I did thanks to the help of modern technology. I've really actually already finished a semester of college and a lot of my gen ed courses. Which I am so thankful for now! Because of that this semester I've actually been able to pick and choose what classes I want. And I think I've selected some interesting ones.

So what exactly am I studying? Well I haven't completely made my mind up yet. I'm a girl of many diverse interests. (Did I ever tell you about the time I wanted to be a fighter pilot?) For now I am majoring in Business with a marketing option. But I am also taking a film course. I really enjoy anything that has to do with films and their making but I'm skeptical of actually majoring in it. (even though I'd kind of like to) So I thought I would take the first course in the major (since I can) and see it I like it. It's obviously called Introduction to Film and I'm pretty excited about it. I think it'll be a fun class! But I am also taking some Business classes. And no, it's because I actually like business stuff believe or not. I know a lot of people do Business because it's kind of generic, but I actually like it.

So that is kind of the gist of my college plans. Freshman orientation starts on August 22 and classes begin on the 26th.

I am very excited and nervous all at the same time. And everything is crazy around  here right now. But mostly I am curious and I can't wait to see what is going to happen!

A DOCTOR WHO TAG?!?!?!

I tried to resist. I really did. BUT A DOCTOR WHO TAAAAGGGG!!! yeah I knew this was coming... :D :D

Felicity nominated me for this after she posted it over on her blog. So thank you dear! You have made me a very happy fangirl.

So on with the questions!

1. Who is your favourite doctor?
 11. Always eleven. He just so quirky and funny yet so brave and inspirational. He never ceases to put a smile on my face. And Matt Smith plays him brilliantly! His acting and portrayal of the character are so spot on. Every episode is good.

 

2. What is your favourite story?

"Vincent and The Doctor" is one of my favorites. Not only is this one of the time travelling history episodes (which often tend to be my favorites),but this one also has a lot of underlying depth to it. I really just love this story. The end almost always puts tears in my eyes. Its really inspirational.

3. Who is your favourite companion?

Amelia Pond! I love how spunky and adventurous Amy is. She and Eleven get along really well together. And I love Amy and Rory together. They're adorable. Ooohh and Captain Jack from the earlier seasons. He just makes me laugh. :D

 

4. What was the first story you ever watched?

First episode? Funny you should ask. :D So I'd heard about all the Doctor Who stuff and thought I'd give it a try just once. So I clicked on the first episode I could find and it happened to be "The Rings of Akatan" with Eleven and Clara. Amazingly I liked it and continued to watch more! I have since gone back and seen all the new seasons.

5. What is your favourite series/era?
 Definitely The Eleventh Doctor and Amy and Rory. So basically seasons 5 and 6.  

 

6. What is your favourite pre or post regeneration story?
 I do like the funny bit when 9 regenerates into 10 and he looses his hand and sword fights on a spaceship. That one always makes me laugh.

 

7. What is your favourite TARDIS desktop theme?
Eleven's first Tardis interior theme. I like all the gadgets!

8. What/Who are your favourite villains?
 THE WEEPING ANGELS cause they're just so cool and creepy. I love that episode "Blink". Actually one of the first Doctor Who episodes I watched. I really just love how creative a bad guy they are. Budget cuts? No problem! We'll just create a creepy villain that is a statue when you look at it and doesn't move. No need for special effects here!

 

 

And that's the end! Only eight questions I know. Kinda sad actually. I love talking about Doctor Who!

 

Until later!

 (And remember DON'T BLINK don't even blink.) :D

An Alaskan Adventure: Part 2

<<< That is the view from atop what they call haystack mountain. Which is another 4 miles up the dirt road from the homestead. Its apparently called "haystack" because there is this rock formation that looks like a haystack from below.

So continuing onward, after that first night which I spent at the homestead with my family I was whisked away to stay elsewhere in town for the rest of the week with the other bridesmaids. I knew Kaylee of course and I had met one of the other girls before but the rest of them I didn't know. I am a bit of an introvert so before I went up there to the wedding I was a little concerned as to how this was going to work out. I knew I could do and put up with just about anything, but I really didn't want to feel awkward or uncomfortable the entire week. But these other Alaskan girls I met (and most people up there really) were really welcoming and friendly. I immediately felt at ease with them, which was a huge thing off my mind. And like I said actually all the people I met in Alaska were very friendly. Typically when you go places like this people really don't like outsiders or tourists, but I found that Alaska where we were it was completely different. They tried to make everyone feel at home.

So the next few days were spent getting ready for the ceremony on Friday. Which included a lot of hard work but also a lot of play. On Tuesday night all the girls went out for a bachelorette party. Which turned out to be a blast. At one point they all decided to go swimming in the river. I opted out of that one because it was cool out and I was already cold. I took pictures instead. haha Apparently the river was even colder because they all came out shivering. :D

Oh and here's a random picture of me and a horse I found in Alaska. :D

The day after that we had the rehearsal dinner out at the homestead. I found the whole thing amusing because we didn't actually rehearse. We rehearsed the wedding the next day out at the ski lodge where the actual wedding was going to take place. At the rehearsal dinner we just ate hamburgers and played games.

And on a side note, this entire week I had no cell phone service. So I really had no way to get in touch with my family the whole week. I was just hoping I was where I was supposed to be and wouldn't get left anywhere! lol It ended up working out fine... Which was good...

Then Thursday we actually rehearsed. And it poured down rain. And the wedding was outside. So we rehearsed in the pouring down rain. And when you weren't concerned about getting hypothermia in July it was actually kind of funny. Very memorable.

And then we've finally gotten around to Friday. So that morning there was a wedding party breakfast out at the homestead, and then everyone was supposed to get ready and do pictures after that. Now the night before one of the girls was designated to do everyone's hair for the wedding, and she decided to put curlers in my hair and the maid of honors hair. Which led to the question of what were we supposed to do the next morning when we were eating breakfast with all the family and the groomsmen. At which point Leah (the maid of honor) was like "well I'll leave them in my hair if you do". And I was like well as long as I'm not the only person doing it! So, yeah, we showed up at the wedding breakfast looking very, er, disheveled with curlers in our hair and no makeup. It was, uh, a great lesson in humility and self confidence. LOL But it did work! My hair was very curled when those things came out. And my hair does not curl easily

I'm on the right. You can sorta see my dress here as we stand in
 the ceremony waiting for the rest of the peeps to get to the front.
Gorgeous location though, notice the trees in the background.

After breakfast everyone got ready. And once Kaylee out her wedding dress on there was basically lots of crying for the rest of the day. Tears of joy, I think? haha. :D

And we did all the bridal party photos. Which you're supposed to stand there and smile while you get eaten alive by mosquitoes. They've got TONS of misquotes up there. Its kind of ridiculous. But hopefully the photographer was able to work around that.

And then off to the ski lodge for the actual wedding. Which went really well. (accept for the small part where I nearly fell off the stairs during the ceremony when I walked down to the front. thank goodness that my groomsman escort caught me lolol) (at which point we started to laugh in the middle of the ceremony and had to shut up quickly) (I think I am just a lunatic) (if anyone was going to trip it had to be me) But the ceremony was really gorgeous. Certainly a day people will not quickly forget.

Yeah, they're pretty cute together. :D

We stayed in Alaska for about 3 days after the wedding simply so we'd have time to do a little sightseeing. We visited the North Pole (some town called that not the real thing) which had reindeer. We also got to see a hot spring. Most of my family went swimming in it, but I didn't really feel like it. Something about swimming in Alaska just doesn't compute with my brain. And my personal favorite, we drove four-wheelers up to the top of the mountain. Which was SO much fun and the view was AMAZING!

Our four-wheelers at the top of haystack.

And then we flew home. (well there was other stuff involved but this post is really long and I'm sure you all are tired of reading it lol)

I'm still a bit jet lagged. The time difference there was pretty weird. But is was such a cool experience. I hope to visit the last frontier again one day!!

An Alaskan Adventure: Part 1

Also entitled "Alaska The Last Frontier" or "The Most Strange and Fun Trip of My Life".

Yes, I just got back from Alaska. Ya, that funny shaped state above Canada over by Russia. (I saw one of those amusing signs there that read "I can see Russia from my house". It made me laugh.)

Any of you watch any of those Alaskan shows on tv theses days? Cause I do (well my mom does and I get forced into watching them). Well my brother met this girl at college from Alaska and they got married last week. In Alaska. Which is a really long ways away. (Did I mention its a really long ways away?) And of course when I heard they were getting married and we were obviously going to their wedding in Alaska I immediately thought of every crazy Alaskan tv show where there are bearded mountain men and people get eaten by grizzly bears or freeze to death in the snow. (I've really got to stop watching reality tv. I don't like it anyway.)

But look! I lived! :D haha

And the most evil thing I encountered all week was some ferocious mosquitoes. (They've got some insane biting insects up there. like what even.)

But I'm getting off on rabbit trails; back to the story.

My dear brother of twenty was marrying a lovely Alaskan girl of the same age. And for the past several months our time has been consumed with helping them plan their wedding. Part of which was that I was happy to be asked to be one of her bridesmaids. (thank you!!)

Which then led to the adventure of finding a dress, but that's really a long story for another time. I did eventually get it two days before I left. (hehe oops) (no fault of my own) (seriously, I did try!) And the color theme for the wedding was lavender with cowboy boots, which was super fun! (hurray for not having to wear heels!)

So a week before the wedding date we climbed on an airplane for the 8-10 hour flight to the Alaskan wilderness.

As soon as we landed we were met outside security by our now Alaskan relatives and ushered into different cars so we could make our way to where we would be staying out on their "homestead".

The homestead being a generational property half way up a mountain and five miles down a dirt road in the Alaskan wilderness. Which obviously began our first adventure of the week.

I piled into a car with Kaylee (my bros girl and now my sister-in-law) and a few of her other bridesmaids while the rest of my family got into another vehicle. (actually both sets of my grandparents went on the trip which was so cool!) And as we drive halfway to the homestead we see what I would describe as a homeless/hitchhiker/crazy person beside the road.

Now where I am from it is illegal to pick up hitchhikers beside the road, but in the last frontier it is not illegal but in fact is encouraged. (Something about people being stranded and freezing to death when its 40 below...)

So when Kaylee sees the person she starts to pull over. Now this obviously inflicted a bit of, how shall I put this, freaking out on my part. And as I found out later, a lot on my parents part who watched the whole thing from the Yukon behind us. (my poor grandparents!) (yes, their car was called a Yukon which I found kind of funny) But as Kaylee pulled to the side and the "guy" got in the car I realized that he was wearing a mask and it was really Kaylee's younger brother. Turns out her family likes to play pranks and jokes just as much as mine does. Of course my parents didn't find that out until we got to the house 20 minutes later, but I was laughing pretty hard over the whole thing. But I'm pretty sure my parents thought I was about to be murdered by some insane gold prospector or something...

 

Anyways, I knew then that these Alaskan people were going to be pretty fun. They've got a great sense of humor!

 

I'm pleased to say we made it to the homestead in one piece. And the house they have up there in the mountains is pretty nice. I see why they like living there so much. And let me talk about the view! Talk about gorgeous! Alaska is one pretty place. I am now obsessed with their trees. If I had it my way I would have spent the entire week taking pictures of them. Most of the trees were Birch which have white bark. Basically fairytale trees.

 

But anyways, this post is already getting long so I think I'll write up a part two for later.

 

Until then!!