The Garden

I decided to start a garden this spring, since I'm home. It's not much and mostly in pots, but hopefully we will get some yummy things out of it. Here are the starting pictures.
Bell Peppers

The Window box outside the blue room - which is Ashley's office where my bed is for the summer.

Zucchini

Lavender

Mom's tomatos (the marigolds discourage slugs apparently?)

Dill and Rosemary

Basil

Strawberries on the Topsy Turvey. It's an experiment, but I think it will work.

Summer To Do List

As I was walking home from my last final today, I had a thought. I can read whatever I want to! I don't have to look at a Norton Anthology for four whole months.

First thing I'm going to do is finish reading Little Women. We had to read part I for a class, but I want to finish it. I have to start getting back into German, so I'm going to try to read in German for a few minutes every day. I have the first Lemony Snicket book in German. I really want to read some more Dickens. Then there's all the sequels that are coming out! So much reading. It's a good thing I really want to go to the beach :)

I want to plant some things. Maybe some herbs in little pots, or one of those hanging blueberry plants.

I'm considering following my sister's footsteps and doing some writing?

I want to sew another dress. But maybe this time I'll try something new. A blouse or pants or something interesting.

COOK!!! Cooking for one is no fun, now I have a family I can cook for and lots of recipes to try. Watching the Food Network has given me a lot of ideas.

Run a race. Perhaps a half marathon?

Any other ideas of fun things to accomplish?

Accomplished

So I should probably wait to write this post until AFTER finals, but I need a little mental break right now. I was chatting with one of my favorite professors the other day (we were walking the same way after class) and he asked me about my classes and how the year was going. I said that I'm just feeling so accomplished. I should mention that the reading list for his class was about 20 books long (no joke). Some were just excerpts, but we did read at least 5 full novels. Because his class was all about early American bestselling novels, we read a lot of stuff that people always talk about (but rarely have ever actually read). We read Pilgrims Progress, which I now can see in so many other things. If you've read Little Women (which we did), it's all over that book. We read Ben Franklin's Autobiography and Pamela and Robinson Crusoe and so many others. That was just one class. Add those books to the ones that I've read in my other English Classes and I am ready to go! Sticking with the English major was totally the right thing for me. Imagine reading the bible for the first time then looking around and seeing how it is EVERYWHERE! That's how I feel each time I read a new book.

Even though I don't exactly enjoy writing papers, I will do it if it means that I get to participate in these classes. I really love discussing literature.

A little side note on this professor. I had him for my advanced writing class last year, decided to take this class from him and worked my schedule for next semester around taking another class from him he's that awesome of a teacher. He showed up to class the first day wearing a bright yellow suit jacket and a sunflower tie. He is about 6'5" or taller and relatively young (I think he has two elementary aged daughters). His whole thing is Adam and Eve, so he always brings that up - reading East of Eden with him was a blast. He paces when he gets excited about something. So if you bring up something in the discussion and he gets loud and starts walking around, you know you are on to something good. He wears bow ties occasionally and his wife makes them for him (they are really fun, not just solid colors).

Summer Internship

I've been emailing back and forth with a friend of ours who works for the Public Affairs section of the Church about a summer internship. He was so nice trying to get me a paid position, but that didn't work out. However, I am still going to do it because it is going to be so much fun planning and working at events that will include getting to meet the Church Big Wigs. I'm not sure if I can say, but let's just say that perhaps my German will come in handy...

To Do List...

Somehow, I kept thinking "oh, I've got time!" and not doing my homework, and now I have about a week to finish all these things.

1. 4-6 page essay on Frederick Douglass' Narrative (I have about 2 pages of random word spew done)
2. 1,600 words on an 18th century American text - most likely it will be Little Women, though I haven't chosen yet.
3. 8-10 page paper on an environmental issue and it's history.
4. 3, 1 page mini-biographies (moments in my life) for my family history class
5. Finish reading Little Women. 135 pages left.
6. Go to the Family History Library in SLC (It takes about an hour to drive there) and do research for at least 3 hours and write a report on my findings.
7. Prepare my lesson for church.
8. Finish my essay for creative writing. This will involve talking to some people about their favorite birthdays and adding that into what's already written.
9. Creative writing portfolio: revising my short story and essay.
10. Writing journal: A lot of half page, written entries and 4 full page entries on contemporary essays that I've read.
11. Work on Saturday and most likely Monday.

Then I get to study for my Finals, only one of which will be killer, two will be hard, and one will be no sweat.

This is why I had to turn down the nice guy that sits next to me in History who asked me out.