Long Overdue Like a Birthday Card

Soooo, a lot has happened since I acquired my awesome TMNT pj's back in August. I got a job at The Living Planet Aquarium, which involves me going around to all of the elementary schools and teaching the fourth graders about the water cycle. Although it wasn't exactly what I was looking for, it has some neat benefits. Because the job is with the schools, I get federal holidays off and I get the summers off too. yep, no working during the summer for Jekka. I can hike to my hearts content, and maybe even take a trip to the aquarium in Atlanta.

Why Atlanta? They have whale sharks. ^_^

I summited Mt. Nebo, which is the tallest mountain along the Wasatch front. Here's a couple pictures of that.This is the ridge that takes you to the false summit. The real summit is only 10 feet from that, and this next picture is of me sitting on it. It was one of the biggest accomplishments of my life.
But that's not all!! The unbelievable also happened!!! Check out THESE pictures.....
That's right, my family and I...WE MET DREAM THEATER!!! They came to SLC for a concert last month, and afterwards we noticed a small group of people hanging around some tour buses in the back. So we wandered over there, waited for almost an hour and THEN THE BAND CAME OUT!!! It was like an unexpected dream come true, an item that I didn't consider for my bucket list because I didn't think it would happen. But it did!! I got the signatures of all of the band members on my Train of Thought shirt, which is white so you can see them really good.

Also in September, Kamelot came to SLC and so Mom, Dad, Chris and I went to that. It was loads of fun, but we didn't get to meet the band. And next month, Fair to Midland is coming to Utah!!! yeah, I'm stoked! December 9!!

So, that's the most exciting stuff that has happened. My goats are doing fine. I don't get to see them very much because of work. Lord Byron is behaving himself too. Thank goodness.

Er, yeah, that's about all. Toodles!

TMNT!!!!

So, I was at Wal-Mart today, walking around and being bored while Mom and siblings picked out pants for school, when I saw the awesomest thing ever.....

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pajama pants!!!!

Of course I got them! I saw them at Hot Topic several months ago and wanted to buy them, but they were a whopping $20 and I didn't have that kind of money on me. But at wally's world they were only $14. yeah, I felt happy about it, so I bought them.

Now I have a TMNT t-shirt and pants! ^_^

Harry Potter

Again, it's been several....days. But I've been very busy with grueling trips to San Diego where I tested the salt concentration of the Pacific Ocean at Oceanside beach, and the capacity of the waves to carry a human on a boogeyboard from waist-deep water to the shore. I have to report that it is very probable for the waves to do that, it's just a matter of timing when the boogeyboarder hops on the crest. That's a little more tricky.

And the ocean is salty. Very salty.

Of course, I've seen Harry Potter 7-b (as I call it). I thoroughly enjoyed it although I wanted more Gringots and invisibility cloak. However, it reminded me of a very funny posting I found ages ago on mugglenet.com. So, in the goodness of my heart, I decided to post it on my blog. If anyone should know who it was that orginally wrote it, please let me know because I would love to give them the credit they deserved. It's awesome!!

50 Ways to Annoy Voldemort
(or 50 ways to considerably shorten your lifespan)

1.Ask him why he doesn't have such a cool scar
2. Ask him if he has any grey poupon
3. Wake him up by singing Aretha Franklin's "I will survive...."
4. Greet him in the morning with a sarcastic, "My sir, you look particularly menancing today."
5. Get a pair of finger puppets resembling himself and Harry Potter. Re-enact all of Harry's victories over him in a spectacularly childish way. Be sure to give them both squeaky voices
6. Smile during Death Eater meetings and say you taught him everything he knows
7. Chew bubblegum all the time. Should he address you, your only response will be a series of huge bubbles in succession, the last of which will burst everywhere and make a mess
8. Dance the funky chicken
9. Ask him when was the last time he took a bath
10. Pat him on the head and give him flowers when his plans are foiled yet again
11. If you ever need to say "like taking candy from a baby," be sure to add "Of course, SOME of us might find that harder than others." Stare pointedly at him
12. Play "knock and run" at his bedchamber door every night
13. Call him "The-Man-Who-Let-The-Boy-Live"
14. Ask why the Dark Mark couldn't look like something "more socially acceptable"
15. Insist that you have meet chunks of cheese with more cunning plans than his
16. Pinch him. Make sure he squeals
17. Be cheerful
18. When he tries to impress you with his powers, say, "Awwww, lookit! Voldie's got a twiggle!"
19. Try to teach him to play a mouth organ
20. Roll your eyes during plotting sessions and say things under your breath like, "You're the boss, boss" or "It's your funeral."
21. Teach him how to spit tobacco
22. Taunt him about his middle name. "Marvolo? What's that, a washing detergent?"
23. Keep a good behavior chart. Award points and give out gold stars
24. Magic-marker Potter style glasses on him while he sleeps
25. Apparate into and out of his room rapidly. Do this non-stop for one hour
26. Play cards with him. Tell him he has no poker face and how does he expect to rule supreme without one.
27. Let off party-poppers in his face whenever the urge strikes you
28. "Did you even have a girlfriend? EVER?"
29. Tell him he should really try the 12-step program for Evil Overlords-Evil Overlords Anonymous
30. Anytime he enters a room, insist on entering first and announcing him grandly
31. In these announcements, fake a trumpet noise and give him an equally fake drumroll
32. Exclaim sarcastically, "You're breakin' my little heart here, Dark One" whenever he starts to talk about what has caused him to become who he is
33. Encourage him to think "happy thoughts"
34. Ask him to give you written summaries of his sinister plots for revenge and war. Correct his spelling
35. Mock his choice of Quirrel as a host
36. Tell him you think a yoga class can cure him of "his wicked ways"
37. Get the song "Mr. Tamborine Man" stuck in his head
38. If he's having an evil-plotter's-block in one of his scheming sessions, wingardium leviosa a lightbulb to float above his head. Turn it on. Look offended when he gets angry and say, "I thought I was helping!"
39. Tell him constantly to stop repressing his anger
40. Buy him a stress ball
41. Hint that he is only a character in a book and will never triumph
42. Call him Tommy-boy
43. If you're feeling gutsy, call him Voldie-poo
44. Whack him in the arm and say "mosquito" every few minutes
45. Say he looked better under the turban
46. Eat his pet snake. Offer him some
47. Teach him to steeple his fingers, lean back, and say "Eeeeexcellent!"
48. Start drawing outlandish parallels between his life story and Star Wars. Talk at great length
49. Be generally in awe of him and never look away
50. Imperius his Death Eaters into a rousing chorus of "All Things Bright and Beautiful"

Whew! That took a while! I'll have you know, I found this after the fourth book was published but before the fifth one was released. Still makes me laugh....

No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!!

Weeding sucks. It sucks like a bucket of ticks. Especially when you find the little prickly weeds that bite into you when you're least expecting it. . .like the Spanish Inquisition.

Then again, you cannot expect the Spanish Inquisition. They come at you like POW! and there's nothing you can do about it.

So, I was scrolling through the pictures I took on my mission and found this one. I have a tone more of these smoking ones, but this one's my favorite.

Yeah, that's about it for this post. I'm so proud of myself. Second time in one month!

Nihon ni ikou!

So, I realize I'm doing a super duper good job of staying up to date with my blog. I think it's been more than a month this time around since the last time I wrote. . .well, I'm pretty sure I mentioned going to Japan, so I'll just say that it was uber fun. Here are some pictures. Many of them are the cooler ones, mainly from Kyoto and Oosaka region.
This picture says to not feed the birds. . .because they will poop anywhere, including people's laundry.

This was funny. So, Chris and I were at Asakusa (located in Tokyo) and we kept being approached by Jr. High school kids who were on a school field trip from Hyogo-ken (Kobe region). They had an assignment where they had to interview a foreigner, get a picture taken with them, and then have the foreigner sign their paper. Well, I stand out with my blond hair and light skin, and Chris stands out with his height. So, we got stopped often by groups of boys and girls, and at one point got them to take a picture with our camera too. It was the first time I had ever autographed anything, and was hunted down and practically cornered.

We went to the Fushimi inari jinja (shrine) in Kyoto. As you can see by the pictures, you walk through more than a thousand torii gates. and i mean more than a thousand, because the path goes up and around the mountain. We walked/hiked it all and there were torii the entire way. It was really cool, and very pretty. The top picture is where the path splits, and you can to either way to end up at a little shrine; and from there you can hike around the mountain.

On Sunday, we went to Chris' bean area (his very first area for his 2-year mission career), Toyooka. We went to church there, got to meet and play with the members, and then high-tailed to the neighboring area for a baptism. This baptism was done in the ocean, more specifically a bay area. But it was a very neat experience. I had always seen a baptism done in a baptismal font in a church, so this was really neat. What was also amazing was that once the missionary (the one on the right) began to say the baptism prayer, everything became quiet. All the cars, boat, and ocean noises disappeared, and all you could hear was the prayer, the birds, and the wind blowing through the trees. It was a very calm and peaceful feeling and I felt very close to Heavenly Father. I'll never forget this. And that second picture is the three of us outside the Toyooka church. Happiness!

So, yep. That was my Japan trip. On top of seeing new sites, I had real takoyaki (octopus cooked in balls of dough), and onabe (veggies and meat cooked in a pot of yummy-flavored broth) and had real Kobe beef. good stuff. I have many more pictures, but so that the server doesn't get overloaded, I'll replace my lovely picture of the Turtles with pictures from the trip. I'll try to do it often but. . . .we'll see about that! MUAHAHAHAAAAA!!!

Until next time, catch ya later!

One month and two weeks later. . . .

hello everyone! I bet you all thought I was dead! Ha ha! I'm not! Well, not yet at least.

So a lot has happened since Spring Break. I survived April which includes finishing up two projects, several papers, and acing two tests. It also includes a rather uneventful but still enjoyable Easter Break, and taking a grueling exit exam from the Biology department. How did I do? No idea. I forgot the website that I took the test at, so I can't check my score. How did I do. Okay. I had a ton of questions about plant physiology, but at least I got the question about the lac operon! Thank you Dr. Karpel for drilling that into us!

So, May came along, and finals was relaxing. Then. . .I graduated! whoopee! I know you want to see pictures, but again I have to get them from Dad's computer, which means that it may be another week before you see them. But, being a graduate and about to embark on a search for a job and an apartment to room with the Elvish pirate gypsy, you can expect a lot more posts from me.

So, I will be gone for another week as I am going to NIHON!! yeah, I'm excited. I'll be sure to post some pictures of that too. Oh dear, I need to get my camera fixed! blah!

So, I want to put up some pictures of the best Ornithology lab ever, but again, that's somewhere else and so It's going to have to be another post. so sorry. I know many of you are itching to see what I am up to in my life. After all, this is supposed to be a blog about my many adventures. Oh dear, I'm really letting down the purpose of this aren't I?

I will get on that! No more lazy kitty! Wait, hold on. Let me uncross my fingers. Grrr. . .mmmrrrf. . .hm. They're stuck. Hold on. I know exactly how to fix this! *goes off to get a jackhammer*

Try to stay locked together after this fingers!! MUAHAHAHAHAAAA--drat! I need two hands to work a jackhammer. grrr. Well, I guess that means I'm not going to stop being a lazy kitty. Yes, that was a double negative. they come in handy every so often.

EXPLOSION!!!!

Spring Break

Actually, it's after spring break, but I was busy enjoying doing nothing but read and watch Chuck that I didn't touch my computer except to do the little homework I had. But, it was fun.

The hiking expedition consisted of going to Capitol Reef Nat'l Park and doing two hikes. The first was the Grand Wash which was a long 5 miles of open canyon but great bouldering spots. Chris and Mike were all over those. And then the second hike was a bit more fun being Sulfur Creek and 2 of those 5 miles were scrambling around waterfalls. It was also very entertaining to watch Mike try not to get his feet wet, to which he succeeded.

The second day was good ol' Coyote Gulch. And unlike last year where we had a whopping 62 people from Paul's work (US synthetic), there was only 20 and boy was it nice. Not only did we hike along at a comfortable pace, but the take out point only took us 20 minutes instead of two hours!! It was lots of fun. I love that hike. I was so bummed that it was over, but the weather's getting good again and so more hikings will be coming!!!

On top of all that, we stopped for the night in Scipio and so I got to see the Elvish Pirate Gypsy minion fiend for a little bit! That was very happy. She's got a boy in her life at the moment and he sounds really cool.

So the whole thing in Japan is really sad. All of the missionaries in the Tokyo and Sendai missions have been accounted for, and all have been moved out of those two mission areas to Kobe, Nagoya, and Hiroshima (which being reopened to accomodate them) due to the nuclear reactors. As for the members, the two I am emailing are safe and sound as well as their friends, but I have yet to send off a letter to my other friends. I just don't know if the postal service is running or not in those areas because of the radiation threat. But I might just write and send one and then wait to hear back from them.

Wow, I realized that's not my usual random-happy posting. Next time will be a bit more exciting.

Toodles!

Small Balls of FIRE!

Being a college student has its benefits. You can choose when to have your own classes. You watch announcements closely for free dinners and stuff, but most of all you throw the most awesome parties ever.

I went to one of these parties last night. Here's what happened.

So Mandi's friend, Jacob, invited Chris, Mike and I to his party last night to play Mario Kart to our little hearts content. so we go over to his place, and walk in to see three of his roommates cooking something on the stove. It smells terrible, so we ask them what they're making and they say, "smoke bomb."

A little stunned, we go downstairs and ask Jacob, who repeats that they were making a bomb. so we shrugged it off, thinking no big deal (such a college student) and start playing Nintendo. Well, we then hear a whooshing sound from upstairs and see light flickering off the wall. next thing we know, the guys from upstairs are yelling at us to get out of the house and we all run upstairs.

The had set the kitchen on fire. I could barely see through all the smoke, but I was able to make out a little patch of fire on the floor and a lot of heat on my face. I, as well as everyone else, got outside okay. We were a bit shaken up but then we all started exclaiming how awesome and intense that was. Sure, we could of died, but nothing like ending the party with a bang!

It being a smoke bomb, the fire died down quickly, but their neighbor whipped out a fire extinguisher and put the rest of it out. The police and fire department showed up and sucked out all the smoke and hosed down the place. After an hour we were allowed to go inside.

Man, that kitchen was toasted. Everything was singed, the microwave was melted, and a lot of the cupboards were scorched. Funnily enough, none of Jacob's food was touched. But, the kids just got off with a warning, and one of the boys' parents actually own the house so they don't have to worry about angry landlords; just angry neighbors. But, it was awesome.

We played super smash brothers after that, and I got to finish my cactus cooler. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to finish it from all the smoke and ash, but the fire and smoke stayed in the kitchen so it was still good. Ha ha! I was in my first fire and it was started by a bomb. Oh, it was awesome.

And tonight, SUU is doing a showing of Harry Potter 7 and so Chris, Mike, and a bunch of other friends are going to go see it. It's turning out to be an awesome week! I wonder what will happen next week. So, yup. That's all folks! Until next time, stay tuned!

I'M NOT DEAD!!

I'm not dead yet! I think I will go for a walk! I feel happy! I feel happy!

Seriously, folks, I'm not dead, I'm just enslaved by the evil textbooks and reports until May 2011.

So, how's that all going? How's cell/molec and ornithology doing? cell/molec is still listed as unspeakable for good reasons, but ornithology is by far my favorite class. I love it. It's so much fun. Although we had a quiz today and I think I failed it miserably. But, it was one of those days-weeks. I don't want to study. In fact, I refuse to study today. I took a nice long nap, figured out rides with brothers and friends for this extra-day weekend ahead of us.

not to be confused with Extra-pair copulations, but we won't go there shall we?

Biology World: *gasp* Jekka! You didn't just say that?!

That's how nerdy I am. Curse you Darwin!

So, I'm still reading harry potter, still working on my secret project for mother's day. Now mom's going to badger me about but I ain't saying a word! nope! not one!

Writing? ha ha! It's not happening. I'm hitting the sick-on-being-on-the-computer-all-day-so-I-don't-want-to-have-anything-to-do-with-it syndrome. That's why I'm looking forward to having no school. I'll actually want to write again. Although, my goal for this extra-day weekend to at least do a bit of writing even if it kills me. I kinda hope it does. Nothing like getting killed by your own story to make your day, eh?

Well, I'm off to post on Mandi's blog. She's leaving very soon now for Japan, so I'm going to have to do something about that. Curse school!

Ta ta! Not TATA, but Ta ta!

>:P

It's the second week of classes. I've already written two papers, had one discussion I was completely lost in, am trying to write two other papers--one of which is a project proposal--and figure out a full-scale project proposal. Along with that, I'm trying to rack my brain for chemistry stuff because apparently I'm going to need to know that for lab?!?

So, if you don't hear from me on behalf of Mandi shimai, or just from me in general, you can rest assure that I have literally fallen off the face of the earth and will not emerge until May 5, 5:00 pm.

It is all Cell-Molecular Biology's fault. There's too much to do, and if my teacher keeps it up like this, I'm not going to be able to study for the tests because of all of the assignments he's dishing out. That's all. I've ranted about this too much already.

On a happier note, I went night climbing yesterday. It was quite thrilling but very cold. Even though my headlamp wasn't working very well, there was a full moon so we could all see pretty good. It felt nice to be on real rock instead of plastic. We did the kingpin at the bowling alley (just up the canyon). And now I am pleasantly sore. It's wonderful!

So, yeah, hopefully I won't become to stressed and frustrated with school. I guess SUU isn't going to let me go THAT easily. They're going to wring me for all I'm worth. *sigh* Not fun.

But I'm learning about birds!

The Wiggly Giggly Unicorn Under the Stairs

The title has nothing to do with what I am currently thinking. In fact, I'm not really thinking at all. I'm just hanging out at the counter, typing, waiting for my baked potato to finish (I have been craving one for the past couple of days), and trying to decide if I want to read Harry Potter or type up more of my story.

As the Father Lord just said, "Errrr, ruckum shmuckums!"

So you know, that's as deep as this post is going to get. No post on Sundays! Hee!

I should write, but I also really want to read. I know half of you are yelling, "go write you silly! how are you going to publish it if you don't finish it?!"

Answer: Technically, it is finished, I'm just typing it up because a lot of editors and publishers want the full manuscript, either that or the first fifty pages. I wrote it first in a notebook because that's what I wanted to do, but now I'm typing it up and fixing a lot of things.

The other half of you are yelling, "Stop dilly-daddling and make a decision already! If you want to read Harry Potter then go read it!"

Answer: But I should write. . . .

See, this is how I end up doing nothing with my free time. I can't make a decision and next thing I know, I'm being attacked by giggling unicorns and stalked by Midnight Furies demanding a belly-rubbing. So, I'll figure something out. . .

Buh-Bye!