Picnic by the pond

On Monday I had Adriana, Jeremy, Damien, and CJ over a picnic. The weather was perfect for a day outside, warm and sunny but not too hot. Actually I believe it was the first day of fall. We set up at the back of the property behind the pond; it was strange because even though I live there it felt like we were camping with the cars parked in a little half circle and the camp chairs and picnic table set up. Adriana and Jeremy enjoyed chicken while I stuck with salad and Damien enjoyed grapes, grapes and more grapes! Baby CJ had his own food later on; although I think we (CJ and I) were wearing as much as he ate :D

After food, Jeremy helped pull out my dad's old flat bottom boat so Adriana and I could paddle around the pond. We all joked about whether or not we would sink since the boat sprang a small leak when we first got in, but it held up okay. We saw a lot of minnows in the shallow side of the pond and a few small-medium sized fish when we were quiet, but the coolest thing was this little tiny frog that went hoping across the surface of the water before diving down deep and swimming away. He was the cutest little thing!

Jeremy took a turn around the pond too, but he chose to go about in his kayak, grinning and posing for pictures. Then it was back to the bank to help Adriana get a fishing pole set up for her and Damien. They fished for a short while, giving me an opportunity to grab her camera and get a couple quick pictures, but they didn't have any luck with the fish. Maybe next time. :)

By that time the sun was starting to set and the mosquito's started coming out, so we decided that it was time to pack it in. I had no desire to be eaten alive!

I had a great time getting outside and enjoying the benefits of living on all this beautiful property, and getting to know knew friends; sure hope we can do it again soon!

Branded for life

I have always wanted a little tattoo somewhere inconspicuous but have never gotten one due my phobia of needles.....until now.....

I recently had the mandarin phrase "nai li" tattooed on my low back, and now I am feeling very brave like I can conquer anything!

Separately the first symbol means "to endure" and the second one means "power" or "strength". Combined the phrase means: "endurance". Its only about 1 1/2 in. long x 1 in. wide, so its pretty small, but boy did it hurt!!!

My reasons for getting the Mandarin phrase for endurance are: #1 - I am getting into the sport of endurance, and # 2 - because my main focus of study after my AA is going to be Chinese language, art and culture, and then one day I hope to build a career on that. With Chinese and Endurance being such a big part of my future it felt like the perfect tattoo. It looks really urban and cool, and I am really happy with the way it turned out!

School stuff

As most of my friends and family already know, the main purpose of my move down South was for school. I am currently taking: Basic College Math, English 1o1, Sociology and Digital Photography. I handed in my first assignment in English this week so I should know how I did on that one soon (probably an A or B)....my first math exam was 64%....gulp.....so that needs work for sure. I signed up for the free math lab here at the college and I am hoping it helps. On the positive side I scored a 92% on my first exam in photography so that was good news indeed!

More updates later...

Here we go again...

I tried having several blogs on here before but couldn't keep up with them so I deleted them....I ended up sorry for deleting my horse blog and so started it up again this summer. Now I have been thinking that there is alot more going on in my life then just horses that my family (now far away) might like to know about so here I am starting blog # 2..... again. :)