We flew in on the 20th and for the first night there, I spent it at Sarah's. It was kind of a lot awesome that I was able to go to her graduation since it was on the 21st. She was going to ASU and now has an English degree. She graduated with honors and was nominated for the dean's something-or-another.
That's her! At least, I think that's her. It was kind of hard to tell. Most of the time she was hidden behind a very large Polynesian man.
After the graduation we all went to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate.
I nearly died. Yes, yes I did gain ten pounds over the break and I'm not exaggerating.
That night, Sarah and her family were going to head back up to make it back home for Christmas but we still found time to go see the Hobbit. Which was absolutely amazing. I've only seen it three times so far now but I can imagine I'm going to see it quite a few more times while it's still out. Everything about it was great. I don't even care that they tweaked the story a bit with Azok, it was so flawlessly done and I know why Sir Peter Jackson did it. I'm glad people like Richard Armitage's performance. He is really a wonderful actor and I'm trying really hard not to get my feathers all ruffled up whenever someone mentions how much they love him now because of the Hobbit. I remember being in High School and googling photos of him in the library instead of doing my school work. Like I said, trying really hard not to ruffle my feathers. Moving on!
I had to say goodbye to Sarah when my parents picked me back up on their way back from getting Cindy and Michael at the airport. The next day, we went to Tortilla Flat, population of six. Every time we come out to Arizona, we go there. It's a restaurant in the middle of nowhere that you have to drive an hour of curly mountain roads to get to. They have good food and dollar bills from all around the world covering their walls!
Doesn't my grandmother just look so thrilled to have me as a granddaughter? Haha
Us at the halfway point to Tortilla Flat.
Another long lived Arizonian tradition of ours is to go hiking up Superstition Mountain. This year was a little different because we actually hiked. When we were all a lot younger, we used to be vigorous hikers. Over the years, we've gotten a lot more pathetic. In the past couple of years we've merely just walked a little over the easy trails on the bottom of the mountain and then hurried back to the picnic tables to eat our lunch, never even breaking a sweat. This year we had Michael with us and unfortunately for my feet, he likes to do things that torture your body. Like climbing all the way up to the top of a mountain.
This was our trail. At first, we just hiked up to Green Bolder. I like Green Bolder. It's nice at Green Bolder. I was satisfied with making it to Green Bolder. Michael wanted to make it as far as he could to the top. Both he and Cindy played to my pleasing people side and convinced me to go with them. We were on the wrong trail so we had to cut across Prospectors View Trail and then off roaded it a bit by accident, we just didn't see the clearly marked trail. We made it eventually to the trail that led up into the mountain. I don't know if you can see, but the map says it's not drawn to scale. The map is really not drawn to scale. From the Basin to the 4300' point takes an hour and half. Sadly, we only made it to the Basin. Another hour or two up would mean another hour or two down as well and it was already getting kind of late.
Looking up from the Basin
It's also apparently called the Bowling Alley. There were some people there playing tennis with bouncy balls up and down the rock.
Looking down from the basin.
See those tiny little things in the distance? That's where we started and it's also 3500 feet below us.
By the time we did get down, I was completely and utterly tired and could barely move my legs. As I would tell my brother in law in a few days, I don't exercise and I eat what I want. I have come to the realization that I really don't like physical exercise. I'm in love with the idea of being healthy and hiking and walking in woods, going for runs, and stuff like that. I don't like actually doing it. That being said, it was a very sore Christmas.
This is the gingerbread house that we made (technically before we left for Arizona). I completely stole the shingle idea from Stephanie because I'd never seen that done before and I thought it was cool. You can also see that our gingerbread house is not made of gingerbread. I actually can't remember a time when we ever used real gingerbread. I think we've just always used gram crackers.
Christmas was nice this year, we actually had breakfast before opening presents. We're (meaning me) are usually too excited to sit down and eat before running into the room with the tree in it. Not this year, I ate a whole waffle and allowed everyone else to do the same before we walked in together to see the tree and presents for the first time.
My Grandma made a delicious dinner and it was a nice quiet Arizonian Christmas.
The next day, Cindy and Michael left after Organ Stop Pizza and my other sister, Lorie, and her Husband and Evette came for a few days! Evette is now 1 year and something odd months old. She knows how to work iphones and ipads like a pro and that is why I have about three hundred photos that all look pretty much like this.
She would take three or four photos of herself, look at us and giggle and then do it again. That kept her busy for about half an hour or so. I haven't deleted any of them yet because I don't have to heart to. Not even the few that she had covered the lens with her thumb.
With Lorie and Adam, we got to do all the things we did with Cindy and Michael kind of over again.
We did go to a (fake) ghost town that they built a few years ago. It was too late for their train ride and mine tours so maybe we'll have to go back in the future for that.
I had a photo of me and Adam hiking in the trails but I was making a weird face. Delete, whoops!
Ignore me being a goof, and my dad being so somber and focus on how cool Superstition Mountain looks!
Now, we're back home and I'm back at school. The day we flew back, I was also scheduled to work so I drove pretty much straight back to school in order to get there in time for my shift. Since Sarah and Stephanie were both still in town I spent new years eve/new years day with them. I've been working every day since. Even on the 2nd which was my mum's birthday. I had lunch with her and then rushed to drive back again. Feels like I'm doing that a lot lately. I guess I am glad that we kind of celebrated her birthday along with my grandpa's on the 29th of December when we went out to Miner's Camp.
Tomorrow is the start of the new semester. I'm slightly anxious just because I have earlier classes than last semester and I'm going to have to wake up even earlier than I'm used to now. I'm going to be taking...
Genetics
Problems in Genetics
Organic Chem I
Physics I
Physics I lab
Combinations Racquets
I'm excited for genetics and problems in genetics. Not so excited for Organic Chem, especially since I won't be taking the lab for the chem class until next semester. Physics... well I've been avoiding physics since High School. The Racquets class is my last gen ed class forever. From how on, everything is going to be for my major or minor. I'm kind of sad that my archery class doesn't just count for the physical education credit but whatever. I'll get to blow some steam playing tennis. I like tennis.
I guess I never posted about last semester. I didn't get my final grades back until things got really busy and during the break, I was away from technology as much as I could. I ended up with an 3.89 last semester. All A's except for an A- in my ocean systems class. Funny how that was the class that I was most looking forward to at the beginning of the semester and by the end, it was the one I hated the most. I am so disappointed in the lack of discussion about sharks.
Work is going well, I feel like I've adjusted into the rhythm there and no-one hates me. Well, maybe one girl hates me but there's not much I can do about that. I've been getting a lot of job offers now after I've already gotten one. Just the other day Old Country Buffet in the next town over asked me in for an interview to be a server. Servers at buffet places make me laugh.
Anywho, I guess I should at least figure out where my classes for tomorrow are going to be. Stephanie has had strep throat and I was wondering what we did wrong because I don't have it yet. I was really looking forward to being sick and unable to do or go anywhere for a while. Oh well.
We should have held hands.
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