Georgia Rain?

So I guess in the high desert, when it rains, it pours. Who knew? I like it, though!

The SF Crib!

As I sit here at home, sick again or maybe still, I think to myself "I should post some pics of the house." So here they are. Perhaps it'll help the family rest easier knowing that I'm not living in a dump with more roomies who are crazy and refuse to pay the bills. The front of the house currently looks like a used car lot. I'm waiting for a notice to appear on the front door saying that complaints have
been filed and that we have a certain number of days to reduce the number of cars out front. There was at one point room for 2 cars in the garage, but with the new addition going on and the conversion of the current garage into an entertainment room, the cars shall remain outside until the work is done, hopefully around the first of the year.
Behind the house, is a continuously growing wood pile that I get to do some work on. I'm gonna be all rough and tough and buff and stuff...I think anyway!
Here is a pic of the living room (all set up for me and my sickie self to sleep on the couch and watch movies) and also one of the master bath. It has a jacuzzi!














Due to the fact that I'm sick and that we're trying to figure out how to arrange everything so that there's room for the things in the garage to fit inside during the remodel, the rest of the house is a mess...photos to come later.
And here is a photo of the porch that I love so much (bbq included, of course)! Trust me when I say that the photo doesn't really do it any justice. It's the most glorious place ever to sit. We have perfect views of the sunsets all year and a now mouse-free place to smoke sheesha and waste the evening hours. We even found a use for all of the rope lights that I used to have in my dorm rooms and decorated a little bit. It's not quite the feng-sue feel of room 113 in Crimont, (Mal and Lex, you know what I mean) but it's pretty awesome just the same!

Flashback to the Derby Fire

It's been just over a year now since that fateful night when the Derby Fire tripled in size to over 200,000 acres and, almost instantaneously, blackened the entire Stillwater Valley and changed things there forever. While things are still nowhere near what we all remember "home" looking like, for those of us who didn't get burned out, home it remains.


A lot has changed since last year, yet so many things have remained the same. Houses that were mere smoldering holes in the ground 12 months ago are popping up again, larger than before, while grass and weeds have grown over the places where others used to lie. People who used to be called friends, no longer come to visit, bitter that our home stands while their cabin does not. And oh the tourists, a danger to all of us, are everywhere still, coming up to catch a glimpse of the landscape, blackened. They nearly drive off of the road, at 15 miles per hour even, because they're too busy gawking to pay attention to the road or the cars of locals behind them, trying to ignore the changed scenery, anxious to get home.

If the above sounds a bit bitter on my part, I must admit that it's because I am, a little. We fared far better than many others, and for that I am eternally thankful, but it's hard to let go of the fact that one of the most beautiful places on earth, one that I am lucky enough to call "home," is not how I remember it.
In time, I know that the change will become less devastating and that tiny trees will eventually blossom into the great big trees that I played under as a little one. Until then, I'll hold onto the memories of what used to be and keep looking forward, way into the future, to the day when home and the Stillwater Valley is, once again, one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Around the World GU Style...5 months later...

First off, let me do some explaining. "Around the World" is a senior event at GU that occurs the weekend before finals spring semester. Typically there are 5 houses that seniors gather at on a chosen Saturday and each house represents a certain country, serving drinks of that country (hence, the name "Around the World.") Due to some last-minute concerns, 2 of the houses backed out, so we only went to 3 houses, the first 2 each representing 2 countries. Basically, the idea is that the party starts at noon and ends when everyone passes out. In no ways is this event a proud moment in any senior's life, but it's definitely a day worth documentation. Primarily because photos are the only way for many of the participants to "remember" what really went on that day! Please note the awesome fanny-packs that many of us were sporting...in them were our ID's and disposable cameras. If they were lost, the damage would have been minimal considering the contents. What a great idea, right?
HOUSE #1: France & England
Time: ~12pm
Drinks served: Mimosas and Gin and Tonics
Food served: Costco pastries, including muffins
Okay, so mimosas are alright at noon, but gin and tonic is never alright! After dumping out numerous cups of gin and tonic, I managed to get a hold of a couple of mimosas, thank the lord! Starting out slow was the plan and it was upheld...a couple of drinks and a poppyseed muffin, and with smiles on our faces, we were headed to house #2.
HOUSE #2: Italy and Germany
Time: ~1:30pm
Drinks served: Wine and more wine, and Jägermeister
Food served: Pizza
After waiting in line for what seemed like hours, I managed to get a hold of some pizza, Dominos. Sadly, I picked all of the cheese off and fed it to Wes...booo! I manged to avoid the Jäger almost completely and sipped on some wine a beer while we were there, for what seemed like forever! House #2 was only a few houses from ours, so we all took numerous trips back to the house to use the non-outhouse restrooms and to help some strangers clean up bloody noses and other random injuries or mishaps. Carlo Rossi in plastic cups? We're classy at GU! Mallory even came out to play, completing the circle of drunken 303 roommates, and we even have pictures as evidence! House #2 is where our classmates slowly started to fall...but the survivors trudged on to house #3!
HOUSE #3: Mexico
Time: ~4 pm
Drinks served: Margaritas
Food served: Chips and Salsa
As you can imagine, house #3 is where things really started to get out of hand! And yes, that is a kiddie pool full of chips and huge bowls of salsa. What a happy place indeed! For one reason or another, we were not at house #3 for very long. Supposedly we were getting kicked out by the cops (who were present, but had been all day), but rumors flew and I later heard that the sophomores who were renting the house decided to kick us out so that they could keep the remaining 8 kegs! I think that Emily went on a mission later in the evening to recover one, but was unsuccessful. How unfortunate! We were at the house long enough, however, for Wes and I to get into a water fight that quickly turned to a margarita fight. Soaking wet and equally sticky, we headed back to 303.
The day called "Around the World" was one of many, many smiles, as well as some not-so-happy faces and most definitely a Sunday of hangovers. I spent several hours on my front lawn after the event, drying off and sobering up. I made a few phone calls, in hindsight, a bad choice, but eh well. I'm sure the phone call home was not one that made my parents smile out of proudness (if that's a word) but I bet there were giggles to be had on both ends! Out of pure luck, I was scheduled to work an overnight at work on Sunday night, so I hit the hay early after Around the World, and after a few good hours of sleep, got up to study for my Microbio final for the rest of the night. I then proceeded to sleep through the rest of the day. Had I not had to work, I'm sure that I would have been "hurting" quite a bit more than I was because I would have, no doubt, closed down the bars with the other Around the World survivors of my senior class.

Work and, of course, Shrimp

My first week of work at the vet clinic was a success, I think anyway. Many hours a day spent on the flippers is currently my biggest concern. Sitting down at work is hardly an option, lunch for some reason, seems to be the same way...seldom an option. Perhaps I better start eating more for breakfast. A very efficient ice-maker has become a necessity in my life, as icing the feet seems to keep me at a functional level. An easy fix, I suppose. At any rate, I haven't been able to perform any procedures worth mentioning on my own yet, but I can tell you that I've cleaned up more poop, pee, and vomit than YOU have on any given day. I guess that's some sort of an accomplishment? Speaking of accomplishments, I have yet to bring home a fuzzy little critter, despite a lot of pressure to do so. Hopefully I'm able to hold out for a long time. Wish me luck! I believe Keith mentioned something about 2 years...

My week straight out of "Meet the Parents" has come to an end and all of the main characters have returned to their respective hometowns for the time being. The shenanigans of the 3 K's were a sight to be seen. And all of them, especially the tall skinny one, succeeded in giving me $hit for a solid weekend. I love it! I also learned a valuable lesson this weekend, brothers who don't see each other often, when reunited, are a nearly unstoppable force. The chaos of one of them alone is at least quadrupled when their forces are combined. I don't want to think of what could happen when the 3rd one is brought into the picture!

And so I continue to settle in here in the desert where, for some reason, its been raining almost every day. One more known visitor will be arriving shortly and who knows after that. Perhaps its MY family's turn to make a trip south??? Visitors always welcome! I have shrimp, if that helps.