13 in '13

So this was my mini bucket list for 2013 and how I did.

1. Go back to Mexico.  Even if it's just for a weekend like last time, I'd love to spend some more time there!

2. Write more.  Maybe even write a novel?  That means a 50,000 word document according to my friends at Nanowrimo.  That's just kinda my goal.  Who knows if anyone will ever see it, but I think it'd be cool to have written something that long.  I have something now that's at about 38,000 words, and I honestly cannot imagine writing anything longer than that since that took just about everything I had in me!  So the goal's to write more, but it'd be nice if I could conquer 50,000 words.  As of December, I haven't really completed anything, but I have been writing more.  So at least it's getting out.  Every once in awhile I have a sudden strike of inspiration and have some word vomit for about two days...and then it's gone.  Lol. ;)

3. Run a mile.  Rachel has this app called Zombie Run that might help inspire me.  The zombies are right behind you--runnnnnn!

4. Go to a wedding.  I'm not sure if this'll happen since no one I know seems very close to marriage...  Maybe I'll just crash a stranger's wedding. ;D 7/20/13 and 11/23/13.  Turned out to actually be someone I know!

5. Figure out where the heck I'm transferring to!  Check...let's go to Las Cruces!  Moving to NMSU--8/18/13.

6. Contribute to my church more through preludes, participating in leading worship, helping with the little kids' Sunday school, maybe even youth group? Started joint-leading a Sunday school class for 4th and 5th graders with Rachel in February.

7. Get a job. 4/6/13.

8. Share the gospel with someone.

9. Reach 60 followers on this leetle blog.  3/16/13!

10. Have at least three or four sister dates with Chloe.  We both love those times together. #1: 3/14/13.

11. Start a savings account...and actually keep money in that thing.

12. Live to be 20.  See?  Easily attainable.  Also...I'm having a really hard time thinking of these goals. Check, 8/24/13.

13. Do something reckless and unexpected.  I am not a spontaneous person--totally stresses me out--but I'd like to try and branch out from that this year.  Maybe I'll go skydiving.  Or bungee jumping.  Or get a tattoo.  Or...not any of those.  But I'm sure I can think of something. :) 11/16/13.

this is: 2013

1 // At the beginning of the year I attempted a 365 photography project.  It didn't last very long, but I like looking back at some of the pics I took.
2 // Chloe had a big party for her 7th birthday!
3 // I battled my way through my second class on teaching math.  And in February my dog died. :(
4 // In March I figured out how to make my own candles.
5 // Rachel, Ellie, Chloe, and I spent the day at the zoo together.
6 // In April Rachel and I went to San Francisco to visit Jorge.  It was the first time either of us had ever flown before!
7 // We walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, visited the beach, Alcatraz, and Chinatown, and had an adventure.
8 // We explored a lot of downtown SF.
9 // During the summer Jorge came to visit us for a month.  We rode the tram up to the top of the Sandias.  And in July I got two cartilage piercings in my right ear!
10 // Toward the end of Jorge's visit he, Rachel, Ellie, and I drove up to Carlsbad Caverns for the day.
11 // At the end of August I moved to Las Cruces to go to NMSU!
12 // September 14, I bought my first car.
13 // I also went to my first football game!
14 // In October I went to a conference in Colorado with RUF (Reformed University Fellowship), the large Bible study group I've joined at NMSU.
15 // That month I also went to Angel Fire for a weekend with my family, and also pierced my nose.
16 // In November I hiked Tortugas Mountain in Las Cruces!
17 // I also went to the ABQ aquarium.
18 // And Jorge visited us for Thanksgiving.
19 // December 12th I finished up my classes for my first semester at NMSU and came home for a whole month!
20 // One of the things I did on my break was go with Rachel to the graduation of one of our closest friends.

At the end of 2012, I honestly had no idea all this would have happened in the span of just 12 months.  I visited NMSU for the first time in March, with the sole purpose of waiting to transfer til Spring 2014, and somehow got everything together in order to transfer Fall 2013 instead.  It's been an incredible journey!  God is so good.

Here's to 2014!

Christmas break

Though I promised myself I would meticulously document my 10 days of Thanksgiving break, these are the only pics I managed to take.

 Aww.  They're just so cute. :)

And now...I am finally on break!!!!!

Everyone just join with me for a moment of enthusiastic rejoicing.  After having 10 days off for Thanksgiving, the last thing in the entire world I wanted to do was go back for 10 measly days, take finals, and then come home again.  But I decided maybe taking my finals would be a good idea and headed back to NMSU.

Those 10 days honestly felt like the longest of my entire life.  Anticipation is really horrible because it makes time drag by.  Plus my finals weren't really that hard so I was bored out of my mind.  Here's some of what happened.

 

I took a bunch of selfies, and my hair sort of went crazy.  Seriously, where did all this curl come from all of a sudden?

I painted my nails a lot.  And then made myself sick off the fumes because the ventilation in my dorm room is not great.

 

I read a lot.

Some actual studying did happen in the middle of all that.  I also went out to lunch with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, who I haven't seen in awhile.  It was great to spend time with them!  Then I went to dinner with my grandparents.  And finally, I took care of finals, packed up, and came home.

Yesterday Rachel and I went to the graduation of a close friend of ours that we've known for eleven years now.  And today I reread a book that I used to love when I was about ten.

It was still just as good. :)

And now I'm so glad to be home for an entire month!  I'm going to try and get a ton done--hopefully lots of reading, I have an insane idea to try and teach myself to knit (again), and also enjoying Christmas, New Year's, and Chloe's 8th birthday (how did she get so old?!).  It's so nice to be home, both with my family and church family.  I forget how awesome they all are until I go away for awhile. :)

There will possibly be more updating on this dusty old blog while I'm on break, but I'm not promising anything.  At the very least I'll put up my resolutions for 2014 and maybe go over some of my favorite books that I read this year. :)

Merry Christmas!

the day I climbed a mountain

Today I woke up with nothing to do for the day and decided I'd check something off my bucket list.  Number 13 on my 13 in '13 is "do something reckless and unexpected".

Cue a huge gulp.  I hate spontaneity.  Spontaneity sucks.  General lack of spontaneity = happy life.

So obviously the thought of actually being spontaneous was cringe-worthy.

But still, I decided I wanted to do something like that today.  So I looked at my bucket list and there it was: #68: climb a mountain.

And since one of the gentlest, easiest mountains ever is here in Las Cruces, I decided to go for it.

Tortugas Mountain, also known as 'A' Mountain, is pretty much a giant hill.  But to me, who's never climbed a mountain before, it was rather daunting.  I almost drove away when I got there (this might also have been due to the fact that the only other person there was a creepy man just sitting in his car in the parking lot, but thankfully he left).

But I decided to just go for it.  And here is the story.

Starting out.  Here we go!

The Organ Mountains.

So many cactus. :(

Right around the "I am dying" part.

I made it to the top!  Wait...it's a lie.

At this point I almost turned around, but decided I wanted to go and see what exactly was at the top.  Besides, the hardest part was definitely behind me.

I feel like this probably has some sort of meaning...

It's the A!

At this point I spotted someone who could potentially have been a creepy murderer, so in an attempt to head in the opposite direction while still going towards the top I somehow got off the trail.  So then I fought with a bunch of cactus and spiky underbrush until I finally found the path again.

Made it! :D

It's an observatory!  Thanks to my astronomy class, I'll definitely be visiting this place if it's ever open to the public.

 A Clockwork Orange, anyone?

I spot my grandparents' house!

I should mention the wind at this point.  I don't think I have ever, in my entire life, experienced wind like there was on that mountain.  It wasn't too terrible right at the top, but coming down I literally felt like I was about to be blown off the mountain.  It was incredible.  But I was really thankful for it because my annual dose of spontaneity hit me at a very inconvenient time so it was pretty much high noon when I started out and I would have been dying of heat without the wind.

 Back at the bottom!

 I think I pretty much followed the path with the dotted line, although I might have deviated from it a bit at the beginning.

I'd love to hike A Mountain again soon!  Or maybe the Organ Mountains; that would be awesome! Who knows. :)

I could call this a "life update"...

...but really I just don't want to study for my exam tomorrow. ;)

Hello!

For starters, I got my nose pierced!  This exciting event happened about two and a half weeks ago, and of course I got a cold a couple days after the piercing. Haha.  I really like it though. :)

Classes are going really well.  I have to give a persuasive speech in just over a week, and I still don't have a topic chosen, but hey.  I'm living on the edge. ;) Hopefully it'll come to me soonish.

My astronomy class is super interesting--just learning about all there is in space and just how big it is!  It's hard to comprehend.  My communication class is okay; it's my least favorite class mostly because I just feel like it's a waste of time.  Oh well.

My intro to special ed class is fascinating.  The amount of information being given to me to learn and memorize is kind of overwhelming, but at least it's interesting.  I joined a group called SNEA (Student National Education Association) mostly because I just needed something that said "I'm involved on campus" for my application to the College of Ed, but it's actually a pretty interesting group.  Tonight we went to help out at a fall festival at one of the elementary schools.  It was awesome to just be at a school and be working with kids!  I've missed that.

Nerd that I am, my math class is definitely tied with intro to special ed as being my favorite class.  I have an awesome teacher and am really enjoying the class (even if we're all roasting together in the tiny, stuffy classroom).  I had my second exam today and it went super well, which is awesome!

And that's about it!  Still working on getting to know people, both through Bible studies and classes.  It's a slow process, but God is so good and faithful!  He has given me far more than I ever expected.

See you in another two months. ;)

Aggie Football : : NMSU vs. Minnesota

So last night was my first NMSU football game.  Apparently our team isn't that great?  Not that I really care...I was so lost it wasn't even funny.  But amidst blinding sun, hundreds of loud sweaty people, and more profanities being carelessly slung around than I'd ever experienced before, it was actually pretty fun.  I didn't get a ton of great pics because the sun was shining right into my lens, but here's a couple from yesterday.

I put my hair up immediately after taking this pic because it was about 10,000 degrees outside and i just could not deal with my hair down.  I was still miserable.

I thought this was our team, but it actually turned out to be Minnesota.  Their team colors are apparently about the same as ours, so I was totally confused.

It's Pistol Pete!  He's apparently sort of our mascot...I think.  Gah, I'm so not wholly into this college experience yet.  But Minnesota's mascot was "The Golden Gopher", so pretty much anything is better than that. ;)

There's our team!

And the band.

And then Pistol Pete galloped around the stadium on a horse.  I was sure he was going to fall and kill himself.

Everyone booed Minnesota heartily when they came out.  I felt really bad for them...obviously not all into this school spirit thing yet. ;)

Go Team!!!

The...kickoff?  Is that even what it's called?  I'm so clueless...  I actually completely missed the start of the game because I was busy looking at the cheerleaders throwing themselves into the air and then, all of a sudden people were already cheering and shouting.  I was so lost...  But anyway, I took this picture just to pretend I'd actually been paying attention before. ;)

I left right before halftime because I was just bored to tears, so that's my first lesson--come after halftime so that I can actually see the end of the game.  But apparently we lost anyway, so it wasn't a huge deal.

So...football.  Not all it's cracked up to be, in my limited experience.  Those quarters last forever!  And I pretty much melted into the bleachers.  Still fun though.  We'll see what the next game is like! :)