train tracks take two.

today megan had to go back out to the train tracks to take some more pictures in a "different lighting" for her photography class. of course i was more than happy to join her in this adventure. it was raining, and beautiful, and i figured i could get some pictures of the train and the wooden building that i didn't get to last time. so we headed out and it was really fun ... again.

i really like how the rain falling down the sides of the train makes it look like a zebra or something.

this was megans rainy picture taking outfit. i liked it. i knew i wouldnt lose her.

it was very muddy and wet from the rain, and like any good college student, i definitely did not let this muddy opportunity pass. really i was surprised by a mud pit that looked like a firm layer of mud, not so, i feel i have a better understanding of how quick sand works though.

we also stopped on the way home and took some pictures of the beautiful tree blossoms. now this is something you definitely dont see in az.

im still not sure why i find taking pictures to be so entertaining, but it is definitely one of my favorite past times. its so calming and relaxing. and it is a good thing to do when you feel like you just need to get away for a few minutes, whether you need to get away from homework, roommates, or just life, its wonderful!

today i am thankful for:

* megan! (haha, it seems like i am grateful for her a lot, but i am!! im not really sure what this semester would be like without her!)

* rain!! i absolutely love the rain. it is pretty much my favorite thing in the whole entire world! and i love being able to just walk in the rain, there is such a feeling of freedom and carelessness when you walk in the rain, and it is wonderful!

* trains, while i do not like riding in trains very much, they do make pretty cool pictures. (not to mention when you are falling into the hidden quick sand mud pit they are very sturdy for grabbing on to so you dont totally biff it.)

* cuddling up with a big blanket and just feeling warm and happy. it is so amazing.

<3.

*

paulo freire.

today was my day to give my GIANT REPORT in my history and philosophy of education class. for this giant report we are given an influential educator and we must research them and then give a 5 to 10 minute presentation on them and also write a 2 to 5 page paper on them and how their philosophy influences me. i was given the brazilian educator Paulo Freire.

we have known about this presentation since the second week of class, but, like any good college student, i waited until yesterday to start working on mine. I have been thinking about it though, and how i wanted to go about my presentation, and what would work best with freire's philosophies and so yesterday i printed out about 8 articles either about freire, his philosophy, and his book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed. I sat down and read read read. I feel like I know this man inside and out. I put together a power point, which is what most of the other presenters have used for their presentation, but then, i decided not to use it. a stressful move on my part, but on the first slide of the powerpoint i put in part of his theory that says that "students should be involved in their own learning." so i got up for my presentation, pulled up my slideshow, told them who my educational giant was and read them the first page of the slide, and close it!! people looked very confused and could not figure out why i was not using my powerpoint. i then just pretty much told them it was time for them to get involved with their own learning and asked what they needed to know about freire to feel like they understood his philosophies. it ended up going really well and the teacher afterwards said she was impressed by how much i knew about freire. i was so glad! i had been so nervous!! ("all night" nervous to be exact, dont tell my mother;) but she actually ended up using both my paper and my presentation as examples of how people should be presenting. crazy!!! it makes me feel good, but at the same time i feel like the half of the class that already presented was glaring at me because their presentations apparently did not reach "my standard" and then the other half was glaring at me because now they had to make sure that their presentation reached "my standard". oh the difficulty of getting good grades. well, that is it for now. i should probably finish my homework for interior design.

today i am thankful for:

* the ability i have to function off of little to no sleep.

* a brain that, although it has difficulties sometimes remembering my life, is very capable of remembering the life of paulo freire.

* megan! (again, yes, it is true) and that she was willing to curl my hair (so i could look "professional" for my presentation) while i took a small nap. :)

* naps!!! i love naps. i love sleeping in the middle of the day! and today was one of the first days i actually felt i could nap because i hadnt slept much!

<3.

lime cilantro rice and steak marinated in soy sauce.

this is a real quick blog, just because i felt like blogging. today for lunch i had a most delicious meal! i made myself some lime cilantro rice and some steak marinated in soy sauce.

it is definitely one of my best creations so far this semester!!

today i am thankful for:

* food and all of the many delicious flavors in the world.

* curling irons.

* jayce!!! i love to text and talk to jayce, he is my favorite!!

* music music music. i have been listening to music a lot lately, and it makes me so happy.

<3.

big jud's.

since yesterday megan and i have been planning on visiting the filling station (delicious hamburger place) today after she got home from class. she came home and we headed off on our way. however, in the saddest turn of events in my life, we made it to the filling station only to find out that they now close at 3 monday thru thursday. we were very upset, but, megan suggested we make a visit to big jud's. i have not been to big jud's yet, although i had heard about it many times and have been told it is one of those, "must do"'s while up here in rexburg, so i decided this was good idea. now, big jud's is famous because ..... they have a ONE POUND BURGER!!!! i know what you are all thinking, thats disgusting. and you would be right, it really is disgusting. it is huge! not many people can finish a whole big jud's by themselves. so ... if you do finish a whole big jud's by yourself, you get your picture on the wall! and you get a t-shirt. so it is probably worth all of the sickness and, excuse my language, vomiting, just so you can get a t-shirt and get your picture on the wall!! well, needless to say, i was not even about to try and eat one, i got a normal sized hickory bacon burger. it was pretty good, but not as good as the filling stations bacon cheese burger! so good! anyways, right after you order your food they bring a small plate out for each of you, and some ketchup and FRY SAUCE!! (one of my favorite things about rexburg = fry sauce. i love it!!) megan explained to me that they bring you these things for you to have something fun to do while you wait for your food. this is what megan did.

and this is what i did!

i definitely was not bored while i waited for my food! i also enjoyed looking at all of the pictures on the wall of people who had eaten the big jud. i was impressed by a lot of them. the pictures of the people who have finished a one pounder probably take up a 2ft by 4ft space on the wall. then they have pictures of people who have finished a double pounder and those pictures take up a 2ft by 2ft space on the wall. and then there are about 4 pictures of people who have finished triple pounders, the most impressive there was a picture of a "team eating", but the two people who ate and finished a triple were two 12 year old boys! impressive! but, the most impressive, and disgusting of them all, was a father son team, (son was probably around 12 as well), and together they finished a FIVE POUNDER!! thats right people, five pounds of hamburger on a bun, and these two ate it all! along with fries and a drink, because you have to finish those too for it to count!. i think big jud's would be really fun to go to with a bunch of people, you could order the big jud, split it, and end up paying like 2 dollars a person. nice. all in all it was really fun, but i would rather go the filling station any day of the week.

today i am thankful for:

* a mother who taught me enough for me to know that trying to eat a one pound hamburger by myself is NOT a smart idea.

* megan!! megan is always willing to go places and do stuff with me, and it makes life fun!

* and again, megan! haha, megan helps me plan fhe every monday and i dont know what i would do without her help.

* stephanie, and the fun times we have talking in fake accents and watching boys skateboard around church parking lots.

<3.

freak snowstorm.

that's right. it is exactly what it sounds like. today, around two i left my house to go and take stephanie out to the fire chief's house to return some of his nephew's things to storage. as i left the house i was so happy about what a nice day it was. warm and sunny. perfect rexburg weather! stephanie and i drove out to the fire chiefs house and as i sat in the car waiting for her to return the items i looked around and noticed some, peculiar clouds, rolling in from the south. stephanie got back in the car and i pointed them out to her, and she told me they were rain clouds. if only if only. i should have known, rexburg does not believe in rain clouds. well, we went to sonic to get some drinks and the wind started blowing real hard. stephanie was sure it was going to blow my car away at any moment. but it didn't. then as we were heading back to stephanies apartment, it started to rain, but soon, the rain started to have a visitor, named SNOW! no big deal, it was little tiny snowflakes that melted as soon as they hit my window. we parked in steph's parking lot and in about 30 seconds the tiny snowflakes turned into giant snowflakes and stephanie, in her shorts and t-shirt, decided that she was not getting out of my car until it stopped! stephanie was also pretty sure that we were going to get snowed in to my car. so we spent an hour in my car while it snowed really hard, and we got a little bored. so we wrote things in the foggy windows, two girls came out from the apt. under stephanies and one was taking pictures and the other one looked quite upset about the situation, after a few minutes they went back inside. about 5 minutes later, the upset girl came back out and yelled, "WHY ARE YOU SNOWING???" on the top of her lungs and went back inside, it was hilarious. then stephanie decided that we needed to do a weather report. it was so funny.

just for your reference, there was no tornado, that we know of, and cars were not really sliding around the parking lot ... not yet at least. well, now here i sit, 430 and and the sun is back out and the skies are blue, and i am guessing that if i went outside it would be nice and warm again. oh rexburg, how you confuse me with your bipolar weather.

scripture of the day:
Alma 26:6 Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds; but when the storm cometh they shall be gathered together in their place, that the storm cannot penetrate to them; yea, neither shall they be driven with fierce winds whithersoever the enemy listeth to carry them.

today i am thankful for:
* arizona weather, and not having to worry if it is going to suddenly snow in the middle of may.
* stephanie, and her ability to make being "snowed in" a car so much fun.
* fireplaces and blankets that keep you warm and toasty after you come in from crazy snowstorms.
* phones that can take videos.
* cheap cherry limeades from sonic!

<3.