Well, I am now officially a college student. Welcome to my newest update, full of pictures from my relocation 120 miles south from the home I've had my entire life. Pretty crazy to think that my "permanent residence" for the next 8 or 9 months will be down here and not my hometown.

09/18/2010

This picture is actually from the night before I left, last Saturday. Zack took my out to dinner and a movie (our last date night for awhile :( ) and we went to our favorite place in the entire world, Olive Garden. Yummy! Pictured is what I ordered - rigatoni with 5-cheese sauce, a breadstick and an almost-finished virgin strawberry daiquiri. So delicious. (Thank you, Zack!)

09/19/2010

Well, here it is: my office area of my dorm room that I share with my roommate, Emily. She's really nice and we both love our room, so that's good! You can see here my super comfy blue chair and my favorite John Lennon "People for Peace" poster. Overall I think that we have a good amount of space and I really like how my side of the room turned out - it reflects my bedroom at home pretty well.

09/20/2010

Wow. That's all I have to say. I took this the next morning (Monday) after moving in Sunday. It's Convocation, where all of the freshman class is together the only other time besides graduation. It was pretty insane. This is only a part of the sea of kids that were there.

09/21/2010

Sadly, college life was already taking its toll on me at this point and classes hadn't even started yet, so this isn't my most creative picture. Actually, we all are/were tired because of all the walking we aren't used to. I was sitting with one of my good friends, Ian (he went to my high school and is now at OSU with me! Check out his blog here.) near the RPAC (amazing recreational facility on campus) after standing in the sweltering 90-degree heat for hours, pushing through crowds to get our hands on free stuff at the big Buck-i-Frenzy fair. It was pretty crazy but I got a lot of good stuff for free and enjoyed sitting with Ian in the grass for hours. Pictured here is the view of the Ohio Stadium that we were looking at.

09/22/2010

This was the cause of major chaos in my floor/hall yesterday afternoon. This actually is the view from my room's window. I had gotten out of my last class around 4:30 pm and walked the ten minutes back to my room in a bit of a misty-rain type deal but figured the weather wouldn't get much worse. Boy, was I wrong! About 20 minutes after arriving back in my room, people on our floor started running around and asking if Emily and I were going to go downstairs. Of course, we asked why...apparently there was a tornado warning on campus. We looked out the window and THIS is what we saw. It was crazy dark outside and we were so high up that we could see/feel (our window was open) the leaves and trees swirling in the strong wind. We went downstairs with everyone else for a few minutes, but nothing really happened aside from some rain. False alarm - but the sky was pretty cool to look at.

09/23/2010

Today after my Calc class ended, I made a stop in the brand new amazing library on campus. It has 11 floors and on the top is a giant reading room surrounded by windows with amazing views of all sides of  campus. Unfortunately, all the little cubbies to look out the windows were already claimed and I didn't want to look like a total dorky freshman snapping pictures of everything I see (although I am) so I just pulled out my camera real quick to take this one from farther away from the window than I wanted. You can see the RPAC (the grayish building with the glass windows on the right) and then the two residence hall towers. Beyond the towers is the Olentangy River and West Campus, where the Agriculture/Environmental Science buildings and some of my classes are located.

I've got a lot of updating to do, don't I? Here goes nothin'!

09/13/2010

Monday I spent part of the day with my Aunt Cherie and my cousin Courtney. We went out to eat lunch at Olive Garden (mmm) and then went to a few farmer's markets to check out the fall produce. Look - sweet corn, corn husks and pumpkins are all pictured above! Love fall. I bought one of the small pumpkins in the bin on the far right. :) The market was called Bender's and it was fantastic!

While there, Courtney and I saw a sign for free kittens...and who can resist free kittens?! So we went and played with them for a bit. :) I have never seen kittens so tiny. The one I'm holding in this picture was the smallest and was sooo adorable. Courtney is in the background. It was so hard not to take it home. :( Why can't they allow kittens in dorm rooms?

09/14/2010

The next day, I went out to lunch with my mom and my grandparents. Afterward, we went back to my grandparents' house and I pet their old kitty, John. He was pictured in one of the pictures from a few days ago, stalking something in the woods. Here, his tongue hangs out in sheer happiness while I scratch his ear. How precious!

09/15/2010

I took a few minutes on Wednesday to make my favorite cookies - pumpkin spice. Mmm, I absolutely LOVE anything with pumpkin in it. I made these once last year (the Betty Crocker mix is pictured also - very quick and easy). They are absolute heaven. If you see the mix, buy it and make it, you won't be let down!

09/16/2010

Yesterday I went with Zack down to Ohio State to fill out paperwork for a new job I got as a waitress in a restaurant called Sloopy's Diner in the Ohio Union. Afterwards, we met up with his sister (who is a student graduating this year at OSU) and then wandered a bit around town and campus. It was fun! Pictured above is my residence hall! Count up seven floors and that's where I'll be living this year.

09/17/2010

And let the stressing commence! Today I got all my stuff I want to take down to Columbus with me together and packed it up (with the help of my Dad - thanks Dad!). I leave Sunday morning, so tomorrow is my last day in town. It's so surreal, I can't believe it. I'm super excited to go! (Note that I don't say "leave" because I'm not excited to leave behind my mom and dad, boyfriend, friends, kitties, bed, house, car, etc; but I am VERY excited to go down and start my new life!) This picture doesn't show quite all of everything that I'm taking down. I was a little overwhelmed, but it's done now!

I'm staying at my Dad's house tonight and we went out on his deck to look at the lake this evening and noticed a great blue heron had just landed on his dock. This is the best picture I could get of him - I love those birds!

09/11/2010

Doesn't this just look AMAZING? I tried to get as close a shot as possible so that I could convey the deliciousness of this donut. I'm a sucker for a good maple cream-filled donut, and that's that. Yesterday I finally got the first one I've had in a long time and it was just heavenly.

There really is nothing else to say about this picture, haha.

09/12/2010

My mom spotted this photo-op tonight during dinner - the spiderweb is perfectly illuminated by the evening sun. Pretty cool, huh? Also, my dad's Old Town canoe is in the background.

This is my accomplishment for the day! I meant to take a "before" picture but I completely forgot...but before this old jewelry box looked like this, it was all pink and blue and yellow and covered in flowers and girlish writing and basically looked like it should belong to a 12-year-old. In fact, I've had it since I was probably 11 or 12, so that would explain that. Let me just be honest: I was really embarrassed to take this to college because it looked so juvenile. Also, new jewelry boxes are SO expensive, so I decided to repaint this, buy some stickers to decorate it (the black swirls on the side panel and the top) and use a stamp I made in an art class two years ago on the three front drawers. I loved that stamp and have always looked for another way to use it, and I finally found it! I drew the design myself (two daffodils intertwined because they are my birth flower) and carved it into a little rubber block to make a stamp and voila! I think the stamp itself and my whole jewelry box turned out pretty good...and instead of $50 for a new box, I only spent 99 cents on the pack of stickers. :)

Well, tonight was my last night for a long time at my job I've held for the past two years. I've been a cashier at this local grocery store, Marc's, since my junior year of high school. Although the job itself has never been too great, I work with some pretty fun people so it was a little sad to leave tonight (but it was mostly a relief!). I say that tonight was the last night for awhile because when I am back in town for winter and summer breaks, I'll continue to work there as they switched me to temporary rather than part-time. That was nice of them. :) So long for now, Marc's...I can't say that I'll miss you too awfully much.

So, it's rapidly becoming clear to me that this blog works best for me and my schedule (and I'm not even in college yet!!) when I update every few days rather than every day. (Although I have and will continue to take one picture per day - haven't skipped one yet!)

09/07/2010

This probably sounds really bad, but I don't remember the name of this flower (my mom will kill me if/when she reads this because I'm sure she's told me a million times). Although flower names are not my forte, taking pictures of colorful plants that catch my eye indeed is. I love how this flower looked up close because it looks like it has little tentacles or something. And the color is gorgeous!

09/08/2010

This is yet ANOTHER one of my four cats, Isabel. She's obese beyond belief...we call her the Blimp, unfortunately. I just thought this picture was cute because when you scratch behind her ears she goes crazy, and yesterday she happened to be rolling all over the ground because of it. (not my foot, by the way)

09/09/2010

Today, before work, I went and spent some time with my friend Katie. Katie just got out of the hospital so I was keeping her company since she can't do much right now. A constant source of entertainment in her household is her CRAZY dog, Zoe. She's hyper and always misbehaves (but is sooo cute!). I started snapping pictures of her and this was one of my favorites. If you click it, you can see her cute underbite...she's got one tooth that sticks up; she looks so silly!

Since today was Labor Day, I spent my day with my family, including a picnic lunch at my grandparents' house in Copley. They have a kitty named John who they let wander in the woods that surrounds their house. John was basically a rescue and he's old and has many battle scars, but he's still a good old cat who hunts when he gets the chance. I took this picture of him wandering down into the woods on the pursuit of some little creature.

On the way home from my grandparents', my Mom and I stopped so that I could pet these two gorgeous horses. They were just standing behind the fence on the street my grandparents live on watching us as we approached so we just HAD to stop and give them some attention. :) They were both sweethearts, of course, and the little tan one on the left tried to nibble my hand because he thought I had some food for him! The bigger brown one on the right was absolutely HUGE though. I have never seen a horse that big. I don't think he looks too awfully large from the picture but he was sure a big beauty.

I have decided that I want more than anything right now to take horseback riding lessons. I've always sort of wanted to but today's experience made me decide for sure. I'm already looking into a couple of stables that might be able to just give me one lesson sometime before I leave. (T-minus 13 days!)

Look at me, slacking again. But I've really been busy and not home too much lately, so now I've finally got some free time to update this. This is gonna be a lonnng entry.

Thursday 9/2 and Friday 9/3 I went on a spur-of-the-moment trip to Niagara Falls, Ontario with my Dad, his girlfriend and her kids. It was my first time seeing the Falls and they were sooo gorgeous. I had a good time.

09/02/2010

This is by far the best picture I got of Horseshoe Falls lit up. It was the first night we were down there and at night they are beyond beautiful. I loved it.

09/03/2010

I think this is another really cool picture of Horseshoe Falls. The next morning, my Dad and I walked along the entire length of both the Horseshoe and American Falls. This picture was taken while I was standing on an overlook right on top of Horseshoe Falls. The water was moving so fast it made me feel dizzy!

The Maid of the Mist, in the mist! That boat ride (which I later went on after taking this picture) was by far one of the coolest things I've done. We got soaked, but it was so worth it. I like this picture because you see the boat entering the crazy amounts of mist coming off the Falls.

Friday night after we drove home, I went to a free local Zoso concert. Zoso is a Led Zeppelin cover band (my favorite band of all time) that does by far the BEST job of impersonating the real thing - they are known as the "ultimate Led Zeppelin experience." They all embody each member of the band so well and do a great job playing the music. That night was the third time I've seen them, and because it was a free show at a small venue (so good seats no matter what), I rushed out to see it although I was exhausted because they are so good that you usually have to pay for tickets. They did a great job as usual, playing a lot of songs off of the "Houses of the Holy" album.

09/04/2010

Since last summer, I have volunteered a bit of my time every couple of weeks at a place called the Mustill Store. It is run by the Cascade Locks Park Association and situated along the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath trail. I work as a store greeter for towpath bikers and hikers in this little renovated canal-era provisions store. It's really a fun gig and I've learned so much about Akron and canal history. I meet really interesting people, too. Saturday was my last day volunteering there (for awhile at least) since I'll be moving to Columbus pretty soon here.

Later that day, I went on two hikes with my Mom, both at a park called Silver Creek, part of the Summit County Metro Parks. Those two hikes were both of our first hikes for the annual Fall Hiking Spree I've done since I was a kid. Visit the link I posted, it will give all the details about the spree. It's a really fun and worthwhile way to get out and enjoy the beautiful fall weather and our local parks!

This picture that I took on our second hike showcases a really cool contrast of color in some fall flowers alongside a small pond. I thought it was pretty.

09/05/2010

I took this picture today during a hike my Dad and I went on at Cascade Valley park, another of the Metro Parks and my third Hiking Spree hike (I only need 8 to finish!). The trail we hiked has some beautiful views of the Cuyahoga River and I liked this picture because you can see the river and some cool rocks, and my Dad looking thoughtfully out into the water. :)

Okay, last picture for this entry. Tonight I made (for the second time) an AMAZING Roasted Tomato Basil soup, using all of my plum tomatoes (3 pounds) and basil leaves (3 cups) from my little garden. It was sooo good...the only problem was that I added a bit too many red pepper flakes when I was sauteeing the garlic and onion and although the flavor is great, there is quite a bit of spiciness that sneaks up on you when you eat the soup. Ah well, I love spicy foods so I don't mind too much.

This recipe is by far one of the best - I don't even like tomato soup or tomatoes and for whatever reason, I can't get enough of this soup. A great way to use up all the produce from overactive tomato plants as well: you can freeze the soup and have a great taste of summer in the middle of winter.

Alright, I slacked a little on the updating, I know. My bad. But hey, I've been busy!

First off, we've got another cat picture. I just couldn't resist snapping this one.

9/1/2010

This is another one of my cats, Ginger. I don't mean to seem like an old lady who sits around all day and takes pictures of her kitties, but I mean, we do have four of them in the house and if I am all out of inspiration like I was tonight (attention: excuse alert...I was exhausted from seven hours of work, thankyouverymuch), kitty pictures come in handy.

Anyway, Ginger (who is a boy - gender mix up, whoops!) likes to knead on this white blanket I've had since I was a baby. We think it's because it smells like me and for a long time, Ginger was "my" kitty (or I was Ginger's owner, as they do seem to pick their owners rather than us picking them). Every evening he comes in my room and meows like crazy until I let him knead on his blankie. It's so strange. He gets this dazed, lovey-dovey look in his eyes that you can see in the picture. Weird cat.

8/31/2010

The above picture was taken Tuesday night when Zack and I went to see one of my all-time favorite bands, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers live in concert. (What can I say? I'm a classic rock junkie.) They were playing at one of my favorite venues, Blossom Music Center. It's a really cool outdoor place that does have a small pavilion but sitting on the lawn like we were is the most fun, I think. I have never in my life seen Blossom so packed full of people (and I've been to 5 or 6 different shows there). This picture doesn't really do it justice.

We were seated somewhat far away from the stage (because that's kind of how all the lawn seats are but the vibe is just so fun) so this is one of the best pictures I got of the band. Tom Petty himself is in the middle holding the guitar, wearing black and red. You can also see him in the top and bottom screens of the three screens on the right. They played all of my favorite TP songs: "American Girl," "You Don't Know How it Feels," "Won't Back Down," and of course, "Free Fallin'." They only didn't play my one favorite, "Don't Do Me Like That," but it was still an absolute blast. For 60 years old, Tom Petty is still an amazing performer.

I liked this picture because even though it was on the big screen by the stage, you can see how much fun he's having performing. I think that night was one of the best I've had in awhile. :)