Dear LiveJournal,

I miss you. I'm always here watching over you, even if I don't write much right now.

School started yesterday. It's okay. I have a class about parasites and a class about horses. Did I ever tell you I hate horses? I hate horses. I have to work at a Horse Festival later this year. I also have a class called Livestock and Meat Evaluation. We're going to a slaughter house in April. I don't think I'll enjoy it much.

I move into my new apartment this Friday! It was a birthday gift to myself, and to the many people who have had to put up with me living with them for the last two months. It's a one bedroom right by the university. It's a really small complex away from the main road, so Momma should be able to go out during the day. I plan on getting some foster kittens after I move in.

Anyway, I have a animal genetics class right now, so I have to go. Bye!

I think not having my own place is really taking a toll on my self-esteem and confidence levels. I'm living with Alex for the next two weeks until finals are over, then with my dad until sometime in January. I don't like imposing on other people, and in this case, it's Alex's roommate and my step mom.

I probably could have gotten a new apartment, but just barely. I don't function well with next to nothing in the bank, so the next month and a half will be good for saving up.

In the meantime, my life will involve a constant cycle of: study, work, knit, sleep.

Just watched a horrifying video about the fur farming industry in China.

There is absolutely no aspect of my life that I have the right to complain about.

Sometimes I want to think life is full of karma, but then days like this happen and I have to remember that a lot of bad things that happen are my own fault.

I am sick and I have three tests this week. I also have a small paper due on Wednesday that seems like a much larger task because I'm sick.

That's okay though, because my boyfriend called me a minute ago to say he was bringing soup over.

http://www.modcloth.com/store/ModCloth/Womens/Outerwear/Coats/True+Blue+Coat

Yes please!

It's been a while since I've written something here. Sometimes when I manage to have a life, I get really busy and don't write about it. I think that sounds about right.

It's been raining pretty consistently over the last week, so I've been taking pictures of mushrooms whenever I get the chance. I'd like to get some other types photographed before I upload them. I missed out on a bunch of fairy rings earlier because my camera wasn't charged.

School is okay. I've set some pretty ridiculous goals for myself (straight A's so that scholarships will be more realistic next year), and I'm falling kind of short. I've gotten some low grades in my biology, biology lab, and animal science classes. That's pretty nerve wracking considering that I'm always attending class and putting hours into studying at home. We're doing primarily cell biology in all of those classes right now, and the concepts just don't sink in like they ought to. Math is just as difficult for me, but at least after hours of working on it, I finally get it.

There's a five week equine "camp" in Scotland this summer that I'm eligible to go to (assuming I can pay for it). I don't really have a huge interest in horses, but it will look good on my applications to veterinary school and it's an opportunity to learn about them. I might do that, and I might also try for a six-week veterinary school internship available in Scotland the summer after this year.

I've given up looking for a job in Fayetteville until next semester. I feel like I have enough experience to be hired at almost any restaurant I apply to, but my availability is terrible. That will get fixed when I schedule classes next time. In the mean time, I'm working Thursday-Sunday and giving plasma twice a week. I'm letting the money from giving plasma sort of build up in case I need some emergency funds.

Alex and I were planning on going out this last weekend to sort of celebrate our three-months-of-being-togetherness, but I caught a cold and he caught the flu. I'm just about over it whereas he's still pretty sick, but doing better than before. I'm always sort of surprised when I count the time we've been together. It seems like it's been much longer. Getting to see him at night helps me push through a 10-12 hour school day.

I'm getting around to updating my Ravelry account on a weekly basis. You should probably look at it! I'm working on a MegaMan hat for Alex at the moment. Jared Dunn offered to pay me for a black/white beanie, so that's probably next.

I took about three or four people off my friends page today because I consider tweets and picture dumps to be spam after a while. I like those people too, but I keep missing other people's entries because of all the stuff being shipped over to LJ.

I have a lot of hours at school (19), but I feel like I have huge breaks where I could be taking more classes. Maybe once all the classes have assignments due, I'll appreciate it, but until then, I'll just bum around on campus or at the gym.

I posted this on Facebook, but it's deserving of being cross posted.

I filled out a three second survey and I got a $10 amazon gift card.

What should I buy.

Alex and I are back from spending a week in Texas. It was awesome and I took far less pictures than I should have. I'm inevitably going to make myself work crazy long hours this weekend to make up for money-spending guilt, but I'll eventually write up a summary of what we did.

In the meantime, I'm going to try out for the University of Arkansas wind symphony this fall. Try outs are in about two weeks and I'm not familiar with the music at all. Also, I sold my nice flute long ago and all I have now is my backup flute. It doesn't reach the two bottom notes regardless of how hard I try, so that's going to be an issue. We'll see what happens!

Leaving for Texas in like five hours! Just waiting on Alex to get out of work and pick me up.

The OneUps concert last night was pretty fun. I started getting a really terrible headache half way through, so Alex and I went over to a hookah bar to get away from the loudness. We went back later on to say goodbye, but I was feeling sick to my stomach at that point. I passed out as soon as we got home.

So today was my appointment at Planned Parenthood to have my new birth control installed. Aside from sitting in the waiting room for two hours, it went pretty well. I kind of spazzed out when I thought the doctor-in-training was going to be the one handling the needles, but she was just observing. The numbing process was the only painful part.

I was unaware this would mean I couldn't carry heavy objects for a few days, but my boss said it was okay if I take tomorrow off. Bonus.

Afterward, Jessica and I went to the mall to look at clothes. I wanted to pick up some dresses for Austin. Also a pair of sunglasses, some comfortable shoes, and a new bag. I found none of these things, and every shirt or dress I put on fit horribly. This put me in a really bad mood for a while. However, I have tomorrow off now, and it's a brand new day to try on clothes.

I think I might have to splurge and buy myself a pair of Dankso's for work. Off Ebay, of course.

Alex and I are going to Austin, Texas in about three weeks--August 2nd and 3rd. He used to live there, and I used to live in New Braunfels/Seguin, so we know what's up! At some point we're going to San Antonio also. We're going to make a list of all the stuff we want to do. I think Salt Lick Barbecue, Chuy's, and Waterloo Records are on the list.

I tried out Priceline's Name Your Own Price thing. We ended up getting two nights at the Wyndham Austin for the same price we were going to spend on a not-so-nice-hotel.

I wish that when women had positive experiences with birth control, they would post about it.

I went to Planned Parenthood yesterday, and they totally refused to give me an IUD (I understand why, but some doctors will do it).

They recommended Implanon to me, which is kind of like Norplant before it was taken off the market. It's a little stick thing that's implanted into your arm under the skin. It lasts for three years, so that's nice, and Medicaid is going to cover the entire cost.

BUT, this kind of stuff makes me wonder if this is a good choice or not: http://au.messages.yahoo.com/lifestyle/womens_health/185/

D:

So I received an Arkansas Medicaid card in the mail last week and I had no idea why. Turns out, it's a family planning something or other from Planned Parenthood. I get free exams and stuff now :D

I put up lost cat fliers around the apartment complex Monday night and Momma was back home by Tuesday morning. She'd been staying in people's houses each night apparently. She's back home though, and that makes me happy.

Everything is going pretty damn good, except for I'm canceling my trip to New York. It's a long drive, and I figured I'd be saving $300 in gas money/hotel by not going, and making $400 if I kept working that week. I'm only going to be able to work two days a week once school starts, so I have to save every penny. I'll see everyone at MAGFest though, I promise!

Hey! Here's my schedule for the fall! GO!

• Principals of Agri Microeconomics


• Intro to Animal Sciences


• Intro to Companion Industry


• Intro to Livestock Industry


• Principles of Biology w/ Lab


• English Composition II


• College Algebra w/ Lab Review?

The Animal Sciences and Companion Industry classes are only 8-weeks each, so it's not quite as bad as it looks, but it's still 18 hours after all is said and done.

I had school orientation on Wednesday and Thursday. I have 18 hours worth of general science classes, animal science classes, and a math class scheduled for the Fall. They start at 8:30 and end at 5:20 with some breaks in between. While this is exciting, it makes it really hard to work. Most of my shifts at work are from 11am-2pm or 5pm-10pm. I'm going to have to see if I can come in a little later at night to work the dinner shifts.

This also makes me realize how little I'm going to be able to work during the school year, and how going to New York in two weeks might be a terrible idea financially :( Jessica was not able to go in the end. My friend Jesse said he was interested, but it's a matter of whether Wal-Mart will give him a week off. If not, I don't think I can afford the gas or stand the monotony.

Friday, however, was much much better! Jessica, Alex, and I drove out to the Buffalo river to go canoing. It started out kind of rocky when my car was rear-ended in Springdale. There isn't much of a bumper left, but it's been resolved.

Because of the accident and being re-directed three different times by locals on the river, we didn't get to a canoe renting place until about 1pm. It was too late to launch by then, so we found a sweet camping spot someone suggested. This was our backyard for the day. We ate a lot of junk food, went swimming, drove up to Family Dollar to buy shitty inflatable toys, went swimming again, made a fire, made some smores, and watched shooting stars.

On Saturday, we drove up to Buffalo River Canoes. Three adults is really one too many for a canoe, but we made it happen, even if we did get stuck in shallow water a lot. We floated from Erbie to Pruitt. About an hour into the trip, we got our shit ruined when we hit a corner too hard. The canoe flipped over and our stuff went everywhere. At some point during all of this (most likely it fell from a tree we hit), a snake got into our boat. It was a water moccasin D: This really badass guy in front of us turned his boat around and helped us get the snake out. I say badass, because right after all of this, the same guy turned his boat around and paddled up the river when he heard a kid screaming (presumable he flipped at the same turn we did).

We got home at a pretty decent time Saturday night. I think we watched some Deadliest Catch and took a nap before Alex had to go to work at midnight. It was a great weekend.

Also, this is for hillarygayle: While we were being shuttled to the canoe launch, the driver asked where everyone was from. One couple said they were from Weiner and that they knew you! I can't remember their first names, but their last name is Cunningham (sp?) and that the husband raced with Kelsey a lot.

I have been sick since last Friday, when I went to a hookah bar with otakunoshi. It's caused me to act like a huge diaper-rash covered baby, so sorry if you've had to interact with me :(

I went to the doctor today however. He gave me a shot of something and told me to pick up a prescription later, but doctor was more expensive that I anticipated, so maybe not. It's just a sinus infection. My dad pointed out that I'll drop $500 on a cat's vet bill, but I won't take care of myself. I don't know how I feel about that comment.

Everything else has been pretty great. June is going to be full of so many god damn activities, then New York in July.

I laid out by the pool on Thursday last week. A couple of days later, I broke out with water blisters all over my arms.

I didn't get a sunburn or anything, just a bunch of blisters.

I'd use sunblock, but that contradicts the point of sunbathing to tan :/

I lost all of my music when my hard drive asploded itself last month, so I've been trying to build it back up again. I can remember a couple of artists or bands, but not a lot.

If you know of a band you think I'd like, give it up! please. I'm trying to get into nerdcore and 8-bit stuff lately, but anything works.