Half-way done with the week!

We planted these awhile ago and they've been fairly neglected. They've grown quite a bit since this post, and they seem to have especially flourished with the rain from the hurricane. 

 

A rainy day picture, since it's been raining a TON recently! I like the blurriness that the rain-drops gave the trees. I'm still trying to figure out what my camera can do, and what's out of it's limits.

HDR-ish style giraffe from our travels westward, recently. I think he was posing for me. :)

A flower from the conservatory that was also part of the zoo. I have no idea what kind of flower this is. Any ideas?

Knowledge is power and flowers are pretty!

The theme for 'Prompt Me' this week is school, which is appropriate for me since I went back to classes this week.

It's been an interesting few days of school so far, which has included a few, erm, snags...along the way.

• I drive to campus, and haven't quite figured my way around yet. But I have managed to find decent parking. If I got to campus a whole lot later, though, I'm thinking the spots would be filled up.
• My classes are tiny compared to what I'm accustomed to: 7 others in one class and 20-30 in the other.
• Long story, here: not necessarily that interesting!! {You've been warned!!} SO, this weekend we stocked up on what was left in the water aisle at the grocery store. I'm not a huge fan of drinking bottled water, so I've been trying to drink them to get rid of them faster.  Between classes I figured it would be nice to eat lunch outside and study. I om-nom-nommed on my apples and green soup, and, lo and bohold, I BECAME THIRSTY. Silly me, I reached for the water in my bag, twisting the lid to open it and... IT FIZZED ALL OVER. All over what? It fizzed all over the bench I was sitting on. My super expensive textbook. My shirt. My pants. AWESOME- I did not know it was carbonated/sparkling water, and was not overjoyed by the minor explosion. Luckily, the bottle of water was not pointed at my face, which I later read on the bottle that it should be opened away from one's face. **plays the "The More You Know" sound** \endstory
• After the water bottle incident and drying out, I tried to look for a new area to sit which didn't involve so many wasps and bees flying around. I headed for a library nearby, and opened the first door. Then I opened a second door.....aaaaaaand, I'm pretty sure I set some sort of alarm off with lots of flashing lights and sirens. So I didn't wait around to figure it out, and just decided to go back the way I came from. Awesome story, right? That is where the Urkel soundclip (below) comes in.
Did I do that?
• Unlike every other physics class I (or the Mr.) have ever been in, we do not get to use formula sheets on quizzes or exams. Calculators probably aren't allowed, either, I bet. Maybe we'll be each be granted an abacus for the second test if we all do really poorly on the first test. har har har.
• My drive back from school was alarmingly fast. I'm hoping I wasn't evading the law in some awesome high-speed chase that I wasn't aware of, but it concerned me based on the way the earlier part of my day had gone.

________________________________________________________

Switching gears away from school, the theme for 'Picture Perfect' this week is plants!

I took this pic in my sister's yard (hey, em!!) when she was explaining my camera settings to me. I really haven't messed around with much on my camera and so she was helping me learn about the 99% the camera's features that I've been neglecting to use. I think this was my favorite picture of this plant, and I used the 'vibrant' setting.

This picture was taken while visiting the sister's local free zoo + conservatory. I like her picture a whole lot better here since you can see reflections, shadows, depth etc. way better. My camera didn't do too bad of a job fwiw, but I can definitely see the role that camera quality plays in making a nice composition. 

Another pretty flower in the conservatory. :)

  

Being busy, a poll, and summer rain

The skies have finally given in and we're getting some summer rain!  Finally, I don't have to feel guilty about getting work done inside. It's been so pleasant outside the past few weeks, that it just seems like I should be doing something outside. Today, I will hopefully be a phenomenal powerhouse of paperwork, name-changing, and form-filling.

On a side note, the poll results from theotherstufforg said that bath gifts ARE generally a favorite! We have another poll up, so check it out by going here. You can vote on your favorite bath scents, and you can pick multiple choices, if you prefer. Do it! em and I will appreciate it!!!

I thought the texture from the raindrops was pretty awesome. I took this with my phone, which is usually not my camera of choice, but I liked it. {Yes, the plants are all in a sad state- pretty sure we planted them too late.}

Linking up with The Daily Wyatt and And Then, She Snapped.

Awkward and Awesome Thursday

Awkward

Filling out medical, insurance, academic, and other types of paperwork is awkward because my last name is consistently "wrong"/not updated, I record a former address, and fill out the Mr.'s phone number instead of my own.   The people reading my forms must be confused... Most notably, I keep writing the wrong address on the 'return address' part of the envelope. Hopefully I start remembering these things better!!

People enjoy disregarding the painted parking lines. A lot.  Why? I have no idea.

also, this car had no license plates.

Wandering around big buildings, being lost, but refusing to stop to look at a map. Even when a map is nearby.  That is totally my own stubborn fault for feeling awkward.  

Awesome

I ventured out for the first time since I've been here...by car, alone...and I made it back a-l-i-v-e! Mind you, the GPS was solely responsible for leading me to and from the correct locations.  When I tried to guess which way to turn by myself, my instincts were wrong almost every time. Thank goodness for the GPS!!

The Mr. has this Friday {tomorrow} off.  Hooray!

I learned the reason why I sneeze when I look at the sun or a bright light.  It's an evolutionary relic called the photic sneeze reflex or ACHOO syndrome, dating back to cave-man times {which is how all the best stories start out}.  The sneezing was an automated reaction that occurred to clear the debris from said cave-man's nose when exiting the cave, so that he could breathe better and smell more acutely when he left the cave.  The sun was an automatic trigger that said to the cave-man's brain, "Hey, we're going outside and need to breathe to be able to smell predators- like bears.  MAKE ME SNEEZE!" And now you know.  You're welcome! :)

Some of the seeds we planted a week or two ago are growing!  Well, not all of them.  Time will tell if they've been over-watered or if they'll sprout later.  Hopefully they sprout!

I'm actually not a huge fan of marigolds, but I was hoping that they'd keep the bugs away.  I hope the snapdragons catch up fast!!

Linking up!