Yer Up.

What better way to celebrate graduating college than to go spend two weeks in Europe with one of your best friends and her so-cute baby? I submit there isn't one. At least not for me. It was seriously an amazing two weeks. Here-- let me tell you a little about it.

Kusel Castle
One of the first days I was in Germany, Bonnie, Asher and I visited a castle. It was a view I could get used to... and did get used to. Guys, I want a castle. The above picture was taken from the top of this cool tower... it's a pretty good representation of what southern Germany looks like at a glance. There are hundreds of green, rolling hills spattered with trees and lined with tons of fields. The fields are all neatly cut and of many colors, so it looks really cool (especially during particular growing seasons, apparently). In the lower valleys, usually snuggled in patches of trees, are villages. Bonnie's house is in one of those little snuggly villages. It was super cute, but we're not to that part yet.
Asher and I were wary of each other at first. Mostly him of me, but we sat down at the castle and worked some things out. We've been great double-chin buddies ever since.

Kaiserslautern
Um... this was the only picture taken while we were in Kaiserslautern. But it was pretty cool--my first encounter with a German city (as opposed to a village, and not including Frankfurt since I was only in the airport there). I also had my first Kebab there. Oh man. Delicious. Oh, and some ice cream! Delicious-er.

Rudesheim
I remember Rudesheim a little better than Kaiserslautern since we took some pictures... it was way cool, too. I loved walking down all the little cobblestone streets, lined with stores and their signs hanging out over the walkway. It felt very... European. It was also cool that you could turn a corner and bam! All of a sudden there was a church there. And you were like "oh." And then you went and looked inside and were like "ohh." Haha... anyway. It was just a really cool atmosphere. There were a lot of people, but it wasn't loud and it was quite clean. With the great weather we had and the beautiful sunshine it was an overall delightful experience. Oh, and we got some brats. Mmm...

Henschtal
After we got back home from Rudesheim we went on a walk through Bonnie's village. It's so little! The streets are so small that the parking spots painted on the sides of the street go halfway onto the sidewalks! Otherwise you'd be blocking, like, half the street. Instead, you're only blocking, like, a third of it. It's also really small area-wise. There weren't so many houses, but they were all really cool. I especially like how everyone had cool doors. There were farms surrounding the village... I'm not sure if they were technically part of the village... all I know is they made really great scenery looking out Bonnie's windows. The view from her backyard is so awesome we actually sat on her porch and painted there one day.

Did I mention she has cows in her backyard?

TrierAsher's middle name is Trier, so he was particularly excited to be there, can't you tell? Actually, I think he was hoping his first trip there would be with his mom and dad, not Mom and Aunt Nikki. Eh. Oh well. He ate some Peach flavored puffs and got over it.Man. Everyone looks really excited to be at Trier... haha. It actually was a lot of fun and we were all happy. I'm just not so great at pictures, and that one of Asher was unusually serious. But yeah. I did let Bonnie take this picture of me in front of the Porta Nigra. Trier is the oldest city in Germany, and has a really cool history. You should go look it up sometime if you're ever bored.

RamsteinWe went to Ramstein one day to check out their "Flohmarkt," or flea market. My dad was hoping I could bring back some German coins for him (from the pre-Euro days). We thought we might have some luck there, and we did. Bonnie even bartered for me... in German!

Phew. That's a lot for one post. Let's take a break.

Yer Up. Part 2.

Paris
I was chatting with Bonnie a day or two after we got to Germany when she told me that everyone who goes to Europe wants to go to Paris, and that if I didn't go I'd regret it. "Sooo... I think you should buy a train ticket and go." Oh. Um. Ok. So I did. Good thing I went to New York semi-recently, so I knew how to use the Metro. That wouldn't have been easy to learn in a foreign language speaking country.
I started at the Arc de Triomphe...

Then I visited the Royal Palace, the Louvre and the Orsay...

I got lost several times, but it's REALLY hard to get lost in Paris and NOT run into something cool. Take this bridge for example! It was covered, both sides, end to end, top to bottom in all sorts of locks. Cool, huh? I also ran into the Basilica, the Justice Building, Latin Quarter (wow... how do you stumble upon the Latin Quarter??), and other cool things.

I saw Notre Dame, too... but the Hunchback had a day off.

My last stop before heading back to the train station was the Eiffel Tower. Pretty freakin' sweet. Paris again sometime? Yes, please.

Struthof
On our way to Luzern, Switzerland we stopped by the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in France.
The camp is located on the side of a beautiful hill, overlooking a gorgeous scene of mountains and valleys and millions of trees. It was especially sad that such a beautiful place has such a horrible history.
We saw the prison where they kept prisoners who misbehaved. The bigger doors led to small rooms where they would cram up to twenty prisoners at a time. The smaller doors are isolation cells. They're too small to lie down in or stand in. Many of those prisoners died after being cramped up like that with only bread and water for up to three days.
The Natzweiler-Struthof camp was especially known for the medical experiments that went on there. Needless to say, the experiments caused slow, painful deaths for many.

Luzern
For our multiple-day trip I chose for us to go to Switzerland. It was awesome. :) It was just so pretty! I know I keep saying that about, like, everything in Europe. But, well... it all is really pretty. You've just gotta go there someday to see for yourself if you haven't already.
We climbed a tower on a wall (the big stone kind they build during times of war and stuff) to get this picture. It was a lot of work, but what a view!We almost went on a boat cruise... but then we didn't. But we sat on a boat for a little while. It was a nice boat.
We got to see this cool "Lion Monument." It was built as a memorial to Swiss guards who died in the line of duty during the French Revolution or something. The artist was promised a certain amount of money, and they didn't deliver in the end. To show his distaste for the poor form of his commissioners, the artist carved the hole in the wall that the lion sits in into the shape of a pig. Can you see it?

We were pretty wiped out after Luzern, but we did find time before I left to paint, hit up a chocolate factory and do some other fun things. What an adventure. :)

failing :(

Last Winter I enrolled in "Greek and Roman Mythology," in an attempt to fill my letters credit. I walked into class the first day, feeling ambitious. I talked to my neighbor for a few minutes and thought "she and I are going to be great friends." The teacher passed out the syllabus and began going over requirements for the course. I dropped the class almost before the hour was up. The same thing happened with "Humanities of Asia" last semester, except I think it took even less time for me to drop it.
This semester I enrolled in "Masterpieces of English Literature," which turned out to really be "Masterpieces of British Literature." Yes, we read such classic and ever-so enlightening tales as Beowulf and The Faerie Queene. (And by "we read" I really do mean that we read them. Including me.) I HAD to take the class if I wanted this to be my last semester, and I did want it to be my last. So I took it. My one and only goal for the class? To get a "D" letter grade (the minimum grade required for the class in order for me to graduate). I took my final today, and I know you're wondering whether I met my goal. The answer is no, no I did not.
Instead, to my dismay, my calculator reported that even if I were to get a zero on both my final paper and in-class final I would still get a 68.6% in the class. What's worse, I got my paper back right before I took my final, and I got a 94% on it. There was no way I could get less than a 78% in the class, even if I got a zero on my in-class final. FAIL.

sushi with touille

I was trying to think of things I've been doing lately so I could blog about them. It's pretty much been school, school and more school. Filling in some of the cracks between the 'school' and 'school' part has been my friend, Natalie. She's in my major, and her desk is on the other side of mine in the studio. She's at school a lot, too, so I see her more often than pretty much anyone. She's almost all I do all day. Anyway, in celebration of our BFA shows going up we went to sushi a little while ago. It was delicious. But then we started getting full. And we were afraid of being charged for any sushi we didn't finish. So we started arguing over who had to finish off what. Finally we got it down to two pieces. I choked down one, and she... well... 'took care' of the other one.

Yeah. She's that awesome.

post-graduation fun

I'm graduating soon--did you know? I want to do some fun stuff before I start the rest of my life and this is what I have so far:

1. Drive my stuff down to New Mexico with my buddy Natalie. It's fifteen hours, but she's totally game. Already you know everything there is to know about her: a. She's an awesome friend b. I think she's great c. She must think I'm great too d. She's crazy. And yeah.

2. Go to the hospital to see the newest Heiner baby! If that baby waits to come until after I've left for #4... she's gonna have some serious explaining to do. I keep missing the Heiner kids being babies and dangit! It's not gonna happen again.

3. Spend about two weeks with Bonnie and Asher (and maybe Ian??) in Henschtal. Well, and touring around, of course. :) I'm very much excited for this one. We're supposedly making/finalizing plans soon... as soon as I get the rest of my stuff done so I can actually graduate. Asher is so stinking cute! Essentially my nephew, too. I love all three of those kids.

4. Do something adventurous with Stephanie, since she's also graduating.
Steven and I went skydiving for his graduation and what should have been mine (if I had been on-top of things enough to graduate in four years instead of five), so that's out. Also, Stephanie is being a little lame, so anything TOO wild is out of the picture anyway. I mean, she suggested driving all the way back up here just to go to Lagoon. Wait... seriously? She's going to be living here for the next four years. She can go then. Also, if she wants to travel why didn't she think to suggest Disneyland or Knott's Berry Farm or the beach or something? That whole area of California is four hours closer and way cooler! I think she might just think it would be too overwhelmingly fun. So. Have any suggestions for us? Besides horseback riding in exotic Mesa, please. I've already eliminated that option too. I'm thinking more along the lines of 'see a movie.'

5. Begin the rest of my life in Cruces. Someday the 'as a fish-lady' part will be added on. But not yet. Once I get my own place. First I hafta take over Cruces.... I will rule that tiny town!

drama at the drive-thru

I took Kara up to Iceberg tonight, only to discover she hates ice cream... and was fasting?? Convenient coincidence... Anyway. We peeled out, I kicked her to the curb and headed over to Little Caesar's. A large pizza and a bag of Crazy Bread for only $6? Yes, please. Hugely long line and stupid drivers clogging the entire parking lot? Never mind. How about Arby's? An expensive, but reliable, choice. And no line! How convenient.

Girl: Welcome to Arby's. May I take your order?
Me: Yeah. Can I have a #9?
Girl: Can I get you a Pepsi with that?
Me: ...Uh. Well it IS a combo, right?
Girl: Yeah.
Me: Oh. Well can I have a Root Beer instead?
Girl: Sure. Would you like to upgrade that combo to a medium or large?
Me: A medium's fine.
Girl: Would you like to try some of our new, delicious CinnaBites for just a dollar?
Me: *sigh* Sure.
Girl: Alright. That'll be $7.95 at the window.
Me: Thanks. (drive up to the window, and three or four other cars are soon following)

Girl: Welcome to Arby's. May I take your order? Out of twenty? Would you like fries with that? (she disappears for a moment for no apparent reason).
Guy: Hey, that crispy chicken is gonna be about five minutes. Is that okay?
Me: *sigh* Yeah.
Girl: (reappears) So that's two number sixes and a four? Would you like to upgrade those to mediums or larges? Here's 10, 11, 12 and five cents. (re-disappears)
Guy: Um... would you be okay with roasted chicken instead?
Me: Sure.
Guy: Want me to add on lettuce and tomatoes for the inconvenience? (I smile and nod, slightly shocked a chicken sandwich wouldn't come with lettuce or tomatoes, and he starts walking away) And maybe some onions?
Me: (to myself) Onions?! Nooooooo! (commence sitting with my bymyself for a minute or two, moping about the impending onions and less-fatty/tasty chicken... a long time to be in a drive-thru, especially while you're hungry and moping)

Guy: Did she give you your CinnaBites yet?
Me: No. (the guy is clearly frustrated now)
Guy: (hands me a bag). Sorry. We're really understaffed tonight, and she forgot to drop your CinnaBites, so here's what we're gonna do. I obviously upgraded your fries to a large and we're also gonna give you that crispy chicken. And your CinnaBites, but those will be a minute.
Me: (think to myself "How delightful!" and I offer to pull into the parking lot on the other side to wait)
Girl: (mysteriously re-appeared in the middle of our exchange) Yeah, you could do that.
Guy: We can't have the customers pull out. It's night (motions dramatically towards the ceiling with his hand).
Me: (totally confused)
Girl: (to Guy) Okay, but there are, like, three cars behind her and it's already been six minutes! Do you realize I could get fired?! (turns to me, and sugarcoats her voice) Yeah, if you could pull into the parking lot that would be great. Oh, and would you like a shake for the inconvenience?
Me: (after making sure Guy isn't close enough to hear) Yeah! That'd be great.

I pull around and the girl comes out a couple minutes later. I leave for campus, where I take inventory:
2 chicken sandwiches, 1 roasted and 1 crispy
2 large fries
1 large drink
1 small shake
1 thing of CinnaBites

The CinnaBites were really gross, but considering the upgrades and entire extra meal I got for ordering them, totally worth it. Kelly and I dined like queens, and I waited for less than ten minutes altogether. Not bad, not bad. Arby's? A new favorite.

saving lives... one pint at a time

I used to think that the worst part of donating blood was that prick they give you on the end of your finger to check your iron levels. While that vicious little episode is no longer in first, it's a close second to them leaving you hooked up for a good few minutes after you already filled the bag. My arm started feeling really heavy and like it might've been bloating. I got really squirmy and was very uncomfortable, but at least I didn't get sick/pass out like others who have been hooked up too long. Who knew I'd bleed so fast? 3:59. A new personal best, I believe. Think you can take me?