It's tomorrow it's tomorrow!

I leave for Israel tomorrow! Wow I can't believe it is here already. I am going on the birthright Israel trip and I have been talking about doing this for so long. It's amazing that tomorrow is the day. I am all packed! Well, nearly all packed, there are many details. Something about being in a desert for 10 days requires lots of attire. It's brutally hot during the day, which means lots of light clothes and sandals. However, it gets quite cool at night so I have to bring sweatshirts and pants as well. In addition to that I had to gather my toiletries, pharmaceuticals, trip itinerary, adapter, a journal, travel books, etc, etc, etc. 


It is a 12-13 hour flight and the second we land we start touring. So I had better get some sleep on the plane. I am debating staying up really late tonight so that I'm so tired tomorrow I will actually be able to fall asleep on the plane. My sleep is also most likely dependent on the number of loud people I have around me as well as the excitement of going to Israel!


Just wanted to do a quick post. I need to get back to going over my checklist and uploading some new tunes to my ipod.

Back in the Saddle

During finals I tend to neglect nearly everything except for my studies. So, now it's time to bring in some more balance. Since I've been home I've  been exercising again and have been active. Tempting as it was to just sit by the TV, I have done some productive things! lol. 


I ran and biked on Tuesday and then yesterday I went horseback riding. Gosh I'd missed it while at school! Above is one of my favorite horses I used to ride at the barn, his name is Macintosh. He is GIGANTIC. For those of you who know horse terms, he was a solid 17 hands (in people terms that means his back is 5'8). To this day I do not think I have met a horse with such a personality. It may be hard to tell, but in the picture above I am feeding him a strawberry nutri-grain bar. YES that was his favorite food. He always chewed with his mouth open but nutri-grain bars he always ate with his mouth shut so as not to loose a single drop. He'd eat just about anything though--goldfish, pepsi, granola bars, fruity lifesavers, peanut butter sandwiches, mints, and of course apples and carrots. He's also a loud guy, if he wanted attention, he'd start digging or stomping with his hoof. Or if I was leading him, he'd use his face to give me a shove, just to say "Hi!" Or the best is when he's in the wash stall to get a bath. He hates baths so he'd just walk around in circles. Eventually when he was tired of that, he would go to the bin where all the brushes and sponges were and he'd take them out with his mouth and drop them on the floor. When that was done he'd start throwing them with his mouth. He was definitely one of a kind!


Anywayyy Macintosh is no longer there, he was at the barn for sale for 4 years but his owners lived elsewhere and eventually reclaimed him. So yesterday I rode Pablo, who has a much quieter but still very sweet personality :) And he's a ton of fun to jump! 


Today I plan to go to the gym again. Riding sounds lovely but it's expensiveeee so once a week for that is enough. 


I think that's good for now. I had better wrap it up as I have a million errands to run at the moment (yet here I sit in my PJ's...) 

And so it comes to an end...

I haven't blogged in a while as I was quite wrapped up in finals. The only material I could have written about was the number of people next to me in the study room or the countdown of days left until finals ended. Not much else more exciting than that! So I spared you all :) 

I am now back home--had a great last weekend. My dad drove down Saturday morning and helped me move out. I couldn't imagine moving houses...moving out of a dorm was enough! The hardest part was all those little chotchkies hanging around, so much detail. After everything was finally moved out and the car was filled to the brim, we headed off for a nice last day in DC. First was lunch, then shopping in Georgetown for mother's day, then we went back to the hotel, rested, and got some dinner. Early the next morning we hit the road and had a nice smooth trip back. 

Home is great. Family time, quiet room, lots of time to decompress. 

Today I've been busy, I went to my mom's French class lunch (they do a lunch every now and then). I got to practice my French which was nice. In addition I got to see my former French teacher, who was here visiting from Zurich (where she now lives). The lunch was hosted by Isabelle, the French teacher of my mom's class. I find it so interesting the way people from other countries have such a different heir to them. I couldn't quite place it, but just the way Isabelle carries herself and presents everything is different, but a nice different. The other women in the French class are American so no other base of comparison there. My former French teacher is French but she became an American citizen. She's lived in so many other countries as well, so she has an interesting mélange of cultures. 

Soooo after that I went to the beach to promote the summer play group I've created. It'll be for 3-4 yr olds every morning in the summer. I'll do an interactive Spanish lesson with them (early language learning is the best time to do it) as well as other activities such as arts and crafts, music, games, and cooking. I handed out free lemonade and fliers. Hopefully this program works out! It's the first year I've tried something like this. 

And that's the story. 

Balancing with...a yummy lunch?

I was a bad blogger this week, I didn't blog, not even once! I've been working on this super-long project for my human resources class and my week was devoted to that. The final result: 31 pages gahh it's done!!


Last night my boyfriend and I had a study date, we both had plenty of work to get done. So yes, I was productive on a Friday night. Though only somewhat...you know how it is studying with other people, you start talking!


Remember when I said I was going to go to lunch at Jetties? That never happened last weekend, so we went this weekend. It was absolutely delicious and it's a gorgeous day. You can see my sandwich above--it's hummus, avocado, bean sprouts, tomato, cheese, carrots, and lettuce on multigrain (I always ask for it without cheese though, I'm picky and I only like melted cheese). We ate outside and enjoyed people-watching as an Avon breast cancer walk came through. It was a sea of pink shirts! They were just passing the halfway point at 13 miles. Mind you it's 90 degrees and humid as can be, I fully admire them for walking a marathon in that heat.


Later I had a presentation for my human resources paper which means all aspects of the project are done-da-done-done. I am so very happy :) I now have 3 finals on my plate, however, I think that eating out with friends has been helping me keep my sanity. It's a good way to clear my head and remember to breathe, relax, and laugh. In years past I'd lock myself in the library and eat all my meals there. That only resulted in information overflow and everything running together. This method seems to be working better because it constantly refreshes my mind. 


That's about it for now. Eating dinner and then studying...