It's been a whole week since I blogged last- crazy! But I've been too busy out here in sunny, gorgeous California! It's snowing in Provo, so it's been good to be not there. Anyway, I have a few minutes, so I thought I'd update the world (or at least the very few people who read my blog) on what I've been up to lately!
I'm in California on a trip with about 70 people from the BYU Landscape Management program, including our professors and BYU Grounds people. We came to participate in PLANET SCD (See previous post Pest Management for more information) and to spend a few days in sunny California. The event was over the weekend; I placed 2nd in my event, which was fabulous and astounding. When they announced it, I was totally floored. Also, I did a beautiful job of being a social butterfly at the career fair, and landed several interviews, and two internship offers for this summer.
Today, we spent the day at Huntington Gardens, which was gorgeous. So many lovely things were growing there! And tomorrow, we're going to the beach! So, I'm going to soak up some lovely sunshine! And also, I plan on enjoying the lovely company of my funny friends in my major...
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Mickey Rooney & the Ponies
This is our band name. We are currently in the market for instrument playing people, but Stephie and I have the vocals pretty well covered, probably. We even have worked up a set list:
- Breakfast at Tiffany's
- 50 Nifty United States
- My Favorite Things
- Celebration
- Spice Girls (any, and all, of their songs)
Sunday, March 22, 2009
For My Friend...
I was talking to a dear friend the other day, and this quote came to mind, but I couldn't really put my finger on it. So I wanted to share it with her now, because I found it!
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.So, there you are, my dear. Love you lots- now, start glowing, huh?
-Marianne Williamson
Text Messages
I have to admit, I rather like texting. I like that it lets me communicate necessary information quickly and accurately, and I like that I can send quick love-note type messages to people at any time during the day, and they'll get them, and know that they're loved! But sometimes text messages can be a bit ridiculous, like when it takes six hours to have 5 minutes worth of pointless conversation.
Last night I went out with a couple of friends from home, and one of them brought another one of his friends. I guess this guy doesn't have a fabulous history with girls or something, but he was very nice, and kind of fun. Anyway, so this afternoon just before church I got a text message from my buddy from home, and a ridiculous conversation was born:
Friend: So what do you think of my friend?
Me: He was nice... Why?
Friend: Think he was cute?
Me: I wasn't paying attention for that. I'm still basically holding on to being in love with someone else.
Friend: Haha ok, im just trying to hook you up homie
Me: Thanks, friend, but I'm still healing from the last one.
Friend: Yea its cool no worries
Me: Thanks for looking out for me, though!
Ok. So what does this teach us about text messages? Well, first off, we can learn that people have atrocious grammar when texting. Also, they sometimes try to sound cool, which is entertaining, but not necessarily effective. "Homie" just sounds silly in text format. Also, this conversation started at about noon, and ended at about 6:45. That is nowhere near six-and-three-quarters-of-an-hour worth of communication.
Also, it would have been a much more awkward conversation to have on the phone, so it probably wouldn't have happened in a world without text messages, saving me from mortification. Except that I'm not mortified or anything close to it. So I guess what it all boils down to is this: if there were no such thing as text messaging, I would have had one less silly story to ramble about!
Last night I went out with a couple of friends from home, and one of them brought another one of his friends. I guess this guy doesn't have a fabulous history with girls or something, but he was very nice, and kind of fun. Anyway, so this afternoon just before church I got a text message from my buddy from home, and a ridiculous conversation was born:
Friend: So what do you think of my friend?
Me: He was nice... Why?
Friend: Think he was cute?
Me: I wasn't paying attention for that. I'm still basically holding on to being in love with someone else.
Friend: Haha ok, im just trying to hook you up homie
Me: Thanks, friend, but I'm still healing from the last one.
Friend: Yea its cool no worries
Me: Thanks for looking out for me, though!
Ok. So what does this teach us about text messages? Well, first off, we can learn that people have atrocious grammar when texting. Also, they sometimes try to sound cool, which is entertaining, but not necessarily effective. "Homie" just sounds silly in text format. Also, this conversation started at about noon, and ended at about 6:45. That is nowhere near six-and-three-quarters-of-an-hour worth of communication.
Also, it would have been a much more awkward conversation to have on the phone, so it probably wouldn't have happened in a world without text messages, saving me from mortification. Except that I'm not mortified or anything close to it. So I guess what it all boils down to is this: if there were no such thing as text messaging, I would have had one less silly story to ramble about!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Pest Management
A week from now, I will be in California and will have recently completed a competition in Pest Management at the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET) Student Career Days (SCD). Yikes. About a month ago, I knew nothing about pests, and even less about the management of them. Now, however, I have committed to memory a list of 125 plant pests, their common and scientific names, their common host species, control methods, etc...
My very least favorite part about cramming for this competition event has been the ID part. Because, you see, not only do I have to know all of the information about these pests, but I also have to be able to identify them based off of the damage they do or what they look like at any one of their many life stages. Without the ability to identify them, I will absolutely fail. 0%. Maybe even -10 %.
Now, this would not be so miserable for me if it weren't for the Scales. I mean, other things are gross, but the 19 different varieties of scale just push me over the edge.
Scale is a very small insect. It crawls around on plant stems until it finds a nice spot, at which point it sinks its little sucker-tongue into the plant, latches on, and starts sucking.
Once a scale has chosen a home, it starts leaking. Or maybe oozing is a better description. Either way, it excretes a sticky mess of liquid that hardens into a protective shell. At this point, it has become an utterly useless parasite. It just sits sucking away the life of the plant until winter. Then the female scales lay their eggs under their shells, they die, and the eggs live in a nice cozy shell until spring, when they wake up to do the same thing as their nasty parents.
And I have to be able to distinguish between 19 different types of scale. Like Cottony Cushion Scale:
Or Magnolia Scale:
Or, my personal favorite, Wax Scale:
Anyway, I am tired of scale. It's not my favorite thing at all.
My very least favorite part about cramming for this competition event has been the ID part. Because, you see, not only do I have to know all of the information about these pests, but I also have to be able to identify them based off of the damage they do or what they look like at any one of their many life stages. Without the ability to identify them, I will absolutely fail. 0%. Maybe even -10 %.
Now, this would not be so miserable for me if it weren't for the Scales. I mean, other things are gross, but the 19 different varieties of scale just push me over the edge.
Scale is a very small insect. It crawls around on plant stems until it finds a nice spot, at which point it sinks its little sucker-tongue into the plant, latches on, and starts sucking.
Once a scale has chosen a home, it starts leaking. Or maybe oozing is a better description. Either way, it excretes a sticky mess of liquid that hardens into a protective shell. At this point, it has become an utterly useless parasite. It just sits sucking away the life of the plant until winter. Then the female scales lay their eggs under their shells, they die, and the eggs live in a nice cozy shell until spring, when they wake up to do the same thing as their nasty parents.
And I have to be able to distinguish between 19 different types of scale. Like Cottony Cushion Scale:
Or Magnolia Scale:
Or, my personal favorite, Wax Scale:
Anyway, I am tired of scale. It's not my favorite thing at all.
Bloggers Anonymous
I am an official blogging addict. I love it. I love letting my feelings explode all over into words. And, I am pretty sure that it is fitting that post 12 of the week should be about my posting obsessiveness. It's a little crazy.
Friday, March 20, 2009
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