30 Things I Wanted to do Before I was 30.

So remember that list? 30 things to do before I’m 30? Well, 30 has come and gone and I’m sure you all are dying to know how it turned out. (Or you completely forgot, and/or never cared that much to begin with.) Either way, I have finally published the results:

1. Get married √  Done, and happily done.

2. Adopt a dog 

Ugh, no. Curtis doesn't want a dog. He doesn’t want to take care of it. I don’t really either, but it still seems like one of those things you have to do at some point in your life. Ah well, there’s more life to live I guess.

3. Travel to China 

Ha! When I win the lottery, sure.

4. Write and illustrate a story √

Welll, I did adapt and illustrate the Comanche Nation’s story of How the frog became a Toad for a project for my Native Arts class. It was well received. So I’m counting it.

5. Reread the Bible 

I’ve read parts of the Bible over again many times, but I’ve yet to actually tackle some of those Old Testament books again. So this one’s a no.

6. Cut my hair really short √ 

And recently grew it back out again. My hair is now the longest it’s been since before I joined to Navy.

7. Go whale watching 

Sadly never did. Maybe never will.

8. Learn how to make Salteñas 

Still want to, still haven’t.

9. Participate in a political campaign √ 

Well, I did attend a Ron Paul rally, and signed a petition, and voted for the first time since I voted for Bush in 2000. (Oh the naiveté!)

10. Host a Christmas party 

We visit friends, they don’t visit us. Ah well.

11. Finish reading the Wheel of Time series 

No, after failing twice to make it through the 3^rd book, I finally gave it up. Too boring. I did make it through all five of the Game of Thrones books however.

12. Earn an Associates Degree√ 

Useless, but fun to say.

13. Buy a rat and train it to be friendly 

You know, I got another hamster and loved it, but haven’t gotten around to a rat just yet.

14. Beat one of my Wii games 

Never did. And I gave away my Wii. But I did play a video game to completion. I beat all of the main quests and sub-quests of Skyrim on the PS3. Ironically, it’s one of those games where you can never “beat” it, because it never ends. So I’ll still have to say no on this one.

15. Learn how to type properly 

Ha! I am hunting and pecking as I type this… so No.

16. Get involved with a church ministry √ 

Well, I did go to Bolivia and volunteer in a Christian children’s home, so yeah, I’m saying yes to this one.

17. Attend a science fiction convention 

Nope.

18. Buy, assemble, decorate, and furnish a miniature house 

Sadly, no. We don’t have room in our house right now.

19. Talk to a doctor about my social anxiety√ 

Yes, didn’t really help. But maybe I wasn’t bad enough to be helped. Introversion is not a disorder.

20. Grow vegetables in a garden 

Still no backyard.

21. Dye my hair a different color√ 

Well, the many grey hairs popping out of my head forced my hand on this one. I do it every month now.

22. Go to an NHL game√ 

Yes, it was very fun, and I’ve already blogged about it.

23. Quit smoking for good 

Sure, I did this loads of times.

24. Take karate again for at least a year√ 

Actually taekwondo, but I’m still counting it.

25. Start a retirement fund 

Ha! That’s a good one. No, it looks like I’ll be in the workforce until the day I die.

26. Have the guts to donate blood 

Never had the opportunity. In the Navy, they asked us all the time, but as a civilian, strangely I’m never given the chance.

27. Get another piercing 

What, am I 16 years old? Grow up. Please.

28. Kill a centipede 

Still never faced that fear. But I still have nightmares about them sometimes.

29. Put together a 1000 piece puzzle√ 

Yes!

30. Visit Mexico 

Does Bolivia count? It doesn’t. In my defense, shortly after I wrote this blog, the kidnapping rate sky-rocketed in Mexico, so the Marines were forbidden to go there. 

The Worst Thing I Will Ever Eat

Wow. So this weekend, I accidentally ate the most disgusting thing I will ever eat in my life. Me and Curtis hang out with some friends in Fort Worth once a month and it’s been a new tradition of ours, to go out and try an exotic restaurant together.

Russian food was great, Lebanese food was awesome (mainly because I discovered that after all these years I have developed a taste for Hummus, which is now my new favorite snack) but this week we went Jamaican.  I wasn’t that hungry, so I thought I couldn’t go wrong with a bowl of soup. Here’s the description from the menu:

Mannish Water (Goat Soup)

A real Jamaican favorite! A flavorful soup containing goat meat, garlic, scallions, cho-cho, green bananas, scotch bonnet peppers, and spinner dumplings.

Okay, the name was sketchy, and goat meat isn’t all that great, but how can you go wrong with a garlic, meat and dumpling soup? Well… I’ll tell you how.

When they said “Goat meat”, we were to somehow know that it meant goat “tripe”.

If you don’t know off hand, let me give you a definition of tripe, taken from an online dictionary:

“The rubbery lining of the stomach of cattle or other ruminants, used as food”

Tripe is apparently then, not food, but something “used as food.” And this is what was in the soup.

The first sip, I was like, “Oh that’s not as good as I was hoping.” I thought I could add some salt, and it might be okay. But then I started to see chunks of stomach and intestine.

I thought, well, I’ll just eat the dumplings and skip the nasty bits and I’ll be okay. But then as I tried that, I began to realize what exactly the nasty bits were, and that the taste of them had permeated the soup, and that by drinking even a sip of the broth, I was drinking the stomach and intestine of a goat.

And one of my friends had ordered the soup too, and he was going through the same process as me, and at about the same moment, we both gave up. When our other friends noticed our disgust, they got curious and decided to take a taste of our Mannish Water. One of them gagged horribly and then almost threw up right there in the restaurant.

There was just something about it. I could taste it off and on for the next 24 hours.

Since then I have researched “Mannish Water.” It seems many people like it, and I can’t begin to comprehend why. Apparently it got its name because some Jamaicans believe it increases male virility. One site said:

“People in Jamaica revere Mannish Water, the same way that Americans do with milk. Jamaicans believe that Mannish water has powers within it that make people strong and healthy…”

Okay, Americans don’t REVERE milk. Nor do we BELIEVE that milk makes people strong and healthy. We KNOW it has calcium and Vitamin D, and it is the natural source of nourishment for growing babies. Those are facts. The Jamaican beliefs about Mannish Water are myths. A male does not become more virile when he eats something nasty. Tripe tastes like crap, mainly because it comes from the body organs that literally make crap. That’s not a fact, so much as it’s my opinion, but it’s still true.

And that is the story of the worst thing I will ever eat.

A Quickie

This morning me and Curtis started packing for our trip to Texas for the holidays. After a couple of hours, this is what my suitcase looked like:

And this is what Curtis's looked like:

For a four day trip, I'm honestly not sure which is more ridiculous.

Finals

Well, apparently this is all I do anymore. I just blog a brief summary of my life every time a school semester ends. No reason to be creative or anything.

But well... better than nothing I guess. This school semester was fun. Though not as fun as the one before. Things are always more fun when they are new. I also had such a hard time in one of my classes this semester that I do believe I'm going to get a B in it. *gasp* The horror!!!!!

My other classes were wonderful. My US history teacher frequently quoted from my essays, (while not identifying me of course... I know what I wrote...). My drawing teacher was, as usual, kind and encouraging, and my Graphic design teacher gave me better grades on my projects than even I felt I deserved. She once told me that I was "easy", which is a good thing, if taken in context. You'll have to take my word on that. You obviously weren't there.

I will now decorate this blog with my final projects from my graphic design and drawing classes. I know I don't post very many pictures these days, but seeing as it's just me and Curtis, you can probably just make up your own pictures of us from memory. (I'll give you a hint, just think of how we looked last time you saw us, and then imagine us a little bit fatter.)

This was my drawing final:




And Graphic Design, the assignment was "Life and Death":

Way too much fun

Well, I have a lot of homework to do this weekend, so naturally, I spent the last two days doing all kinds of other things.

For one, I've been having a blast using what I've learned in Photoshop so far. By that I mean I've spent the last two days making pictures of hamsters doing all kinds of things.

Enjoy!

Final Countdown

Well, my first semester at Cameron University is coming to a close. Next week is finals. It's been a good ride, all in all.

Cameron is a pretty cool college. With Art as my major, I found myself stuck with the same students over and again, which suits me just fine-- It's really the only way I ever get to know people. And my teachers were AWESOME. My drawing teacher in particular was very nice and helpful. She's the kind of person that operates on positive feedback, which I thrive under.

My English teacher was also pretty cool. I wasn't sure about him at first, but now I think he's great. Partially because he likes my essays, but also because he's funny in a dorky way that I can relate to. He also likes Zombie movies and books, proving him a man of good tastes.

So I have one busy week ahead of me. I have 4 essays, 2 art projects and 4 tests to finish. But I feel that I have used my time wisely (something which I never managed to do in high school or while I was at DLI) and thus, I will be well prepared for the week ahead.

I just love how anytime I am in an art class my drawing ability improves exponentially. Here is the proof: my last homework and in-class drawings.





Cool huh?

I am excited about the summer. In two weeks and two days I will be flying home to visit my family. In June I will start my summer classes. I will be taking Chemistry, with a lab. It is an unpleasant subject, I'm afraid, but having only one class will give me plenty of time to do it right, and hopefully I will also have some time to do some illustrations for the novel Curtis is writing.

I may draw some at home (is it strange that I still consider PA my home?) Charcoal is my new favorite medium for drawing, so if anyone, meaning mostly my mom or my sister has a photo they want drawn in charcoal, they should ask me when I'm there.

I Can't Blog Right Now.

Sorry, I just don't have time to blog today. I've got a stupid paper to write, a design project to work on and an Art History test to study for.

And to top it all off, Curtis and I won't be home at all Saturday because we're driving down to Texas to play role-playing games with some friends.

So yeah. No time for blogging.

So I'll just post another drawing and that's all I can do:

I just bought an ATB cd for 10$ that has 40 songs on it, three of which are more than an hour long. Now THAT's value! I didn't even have to listen to it before hand. With 40 different songs by the best DJ on the planet there's bound to be at least a few that I like.

I also got 9 pretty decent shirts at the thrift store the other day for 11$! This has been a good week for good values I guess.

But wait. I'm not supposed to be blogging. I'm supposed to be writing a paper.

Ugh.

Done!

Spring BREAK? Not really...

I don't really get how normal college students spend spring break going on vacation and partying. I have way too much homework for that.

So far I've had to write a 5 page essay for American Federal Government, a 7 page essay for English Comp, plus a revision of a previous essay.

I had to paint this stupid thing for Design class:

And now, the last thing I have to do is finish most of my 3rd Pastel Homework drawing for Drawing II.
I know, it seems like I'm almost done right? Just one drawing to go. But no... these drawings can take anywhere from 25-45 hours to finish. So yeah, I'll be working on it all weekend.

In other news, Curtis started on this low carb kick lately, so I was thinking. Maybe I should give the Atkins diet a try, you know, maybe lose 10 pounds before summer.

Well, I've been sticking to it for 4 days now. I have felt next to death the entire time. I'm exhausted, my heart pounds when I do the slightest physical exertion, and my today my muscles started aching. And I'm pretty sure I haven't lost an ounce of fat. Not even water weight. If anything, my muscles have depleted slightly, making my fat look that much flabbier.

And to top it all off, if I have to even look at one more piece of meat today, I'm going to die from excess vomiting.

So in other words, I officially quit, starting now.

Maybe instead I can get myself to do some exercise now that the weather's getting so warm here. Or maybe I can just accept that fact that at age 28, 128lbs may be as thin as I am ever going to be. I clearly don't have the self-control (or the neuroticism) necessary to change that.

The Life and Times of a Sports Fan

Well, for the first time in my life, I have become a true sports fan. A couple years ago, Curtis introduced me to his favorite hockey team, the Dallas Stars, and I've loved them ever since.

I recognize all the players by number, name, and/or position, and I can watch a game, not only understanding all of the rules, but also able to evaluate the plays and form intelligent opinions about them. It is truly weird.

This Counts as a whole new blog entry

Being a sports fan is fun and exciting. It means you have something to look forward to two or even three times a week. And there are some truly glorious moments, like when your favorite player breaks his goal-less streak by scoring two goals- one to tie the game with less than a minute left in play, and the second to win it in overtime. Which is the kind of thing that can have you whooping for joy on an ordinary Tuesday night.

This is three Dad, now we're even!!

And then there's that freak out moment, when you go to a live game, and see the same players you've been watching on tv, and you can't help grinning ear to ear, to realize that they are actually real people.

Four... Sarah takes the lead.

But, being a fan has some down sides as well. Like the unbearable disappointment when your team seems certain to miss the playoffs three years in a row.

There's the overwhelming temptation to slap down 100$ a ticket for awesome seats, then pay 10$ for parking and 40$ for two cokes and the worst personal pan pizza you've ever tasted.

Not to mention the rage you feel when your team is down, and the bizarre compulsion to punch the faces of the apparently Canadian man, woman and 8 year old boy sitting in the seats behind you, cheering at your misfortune.

Yes, It can be hard to be a sports fan, but I am must say, I am loving every minute of it.

And... five!

In case anyone is wondering what I am up to. My dad agreed to write a Facebook status for every blog entry that I wrote. It was a terribly unfair deal, I thought, so this was an attempt to even things out. Still, before you call me a cheater, don't underestimate how time-consuming it really is to split one blog entry into five and then post them in backwards order!

More Art

Our latest homework assignment in Drawing II was to pick a horror movie poster and re-draw it with a few changes that make it your own, including putting yourself and a friend or family member in it. This is what I came up with:

This is what it looks like right now, hanging up at school, next to some of my classmates work.

And this is what I had to do for my Design II class. It is a planar sculpture.

I think it turned out well, but we'll see what my teacher thinks. (No grade just yet.)

Anyways, fun stuff. A lot of work, but fun.

Drawing II Homework

This was my first art homework. I think it's done, but we'll see what my teacher says on Monday. It is kind of a self-portrait done in pastels. Not the greatest photo, but you get the idea anyway. It was so much fun!

Christmas and More

Aurora came to visit us this Christmas. She's finally old enough to fly on a plane by herself, so for the first time we were able to have her stay with us in our own house-- which was absolutely wonderful, I thought.

We didn't have a lot of money to spend this year, so we spent a lot of time at the house. Aurora and I did a alot of fun little projects together-- we made beaded necklaces, paintings, and play-dough ornaments for the tree. She seemed to enjoy it a lot, and was always trying to get me to take her back to the "art room" to make some more stuff.

She and I got along very well this year. In the past, our relationship was a bit more complicated. This year, there was none of that. She seemed happy to be with us and happy to accept me as her "fun step mom", which is how I always hoped she would see me. I really liked having her here, and I hope we can get her back for a bit this summer.

This Christmas we also got to go visit Curtis's dad and his Aunt Jackie. They were very nice; they bought us all gifts, and Curtis's dad cooked a Christmas dinner, with an absolutely delicious ham.

Curtis's brother and sister in law were supposed to come as well, but their little baby boy was born premature and had to spend christmas in the hospital, so of course they stayed at home to be with him. (He is doing just fine from what I last heard.)

Now for the new year. I have high hopes for 2011, I think. When we first moved here, I thought I would not be able to go to school immediately because I thought I would not qualify for in-state tuition rates. Then I found out that the local university here participated in the Yellow Ribbon Program, which is where the VA and the school split the extra tuition costs to help out of state students using the GI Bill. While I was in the process of applying for the program, the school approved me for resident tuition rates after all.

So, put simply, I can go to school. I'm starting in just a few days, and I will be studying for a Bachelors Degree in fine arts, with a concentration in graphic design. I have a drawing class this semester, and had to buy all these cool pastel sets, which are very fun to look at, but sort of have me terrified, because I have never been all that good at pastels. Curtis says I will get better, and that's the whole point of going to school, and hopefully he's right.

But yeah, so here I am, happily married, having spent a great Christmas with Curtis's side of the family, looking foward to art school, my tuition fully paid for, and I'm thinking-- could life get any better?

Well yes of course it could-- I could live closer to my family in PA, Curtis and I could have more money and I could make some friends, and maybe we could buy a house, have a baby or at least get a dog. All in good time though, for now, my New Years resolution is to live more in the present, and I have to say, the present is looking pretty darn good.

A Blog about a Happy Birthday

Last Sunday, Curtis and I went to his mom's house for the afternoon. She got the whole family together to go out to eat with us, both to say goodbye and also to celebrate my birthday. Curtis's mom, Vikki, got me a cake and a present and everything- it was so sweet. They were all so kind to me and made me feel like a part of the family. We had a great time, and it was a for me, a very happy birthday.

And the answer is...

Well, this has been a long time coming. We finally figured out where we're moving- and it's not anywhere we expected. It seems like every time I say I'm moving close to home I end up eating my words. Although we will be getting progressively closer with this move, but still not "close".

But anyways, We're moving to Lawton, Oklahoma.

Curtis just got back from a trip out there for a job interview. He rocked the interview, and was offered a good job that he is very excited about. He will be training Army guys at Fort Sill to do the kind of things he's been doing in the Marines for the last few years.

I'm not sure what I'll be doing. I can't go to school there for at least a year, because it would take that long to establish residency in order to qualify for the in-state tuition rates that the GI Bill covers. I suppose I will get a job, but I certainly have no idea of what that might entail. I'm just gonna wait and see.

Lawton is a small town in southern Oklahoma that is surrounded by even smaller towns. All very rural. I kind of think that will be neat though- it will be a nice change of pace from living in Hawaii and California. Plus, Dallas/Ft Worth is only 3 and half hours away, so if we need a fix of big city culture, we can get it on the weekends.

We will be within driving distance of Curtis's dad and brother, so I will probably get to meet them finally. That will be cool.

Overall, we're just extremely relieved and happy to finally know where we're going, after several long months of uncertainty.

We'll be leaving on September 15th, if all goes according to plan.

Sayonara Facebook

Well, I decided to ditch facebook. Thing was, I realized it had ceased to be fun for me and instead had become a source of guilt and shame. Guilt because it would take me forever to get back to people who contacted me. Shame, because every now and then I would get a rare extroverted streak and message or comment, only to feel mortified afterwards. (Social Anxiety in action.)

I think a lot of people feel more outgoing online because of the semi-anonymity of it. I never felt that way. I figure, if you embarrass yourself online its worse than if you do it live. In real life people quickly forget your social faux pas, and only the people present have to know that it ever happened, whereas online, your stupidity remains, available to the public for all eternity.

So that's that. What's done is done. If anyone wants to keep in touch with me it will have to be through blogging or email, or preferably, when at all possible, we can meet in real life.

On other news, Curtis and I got to see Michelle Obama speak at Camp Pendleton a couple weekends ago. Actually we had to go see her speak, Curtis was volun-told to go. Here is a picture Curtis took of her on his phone.


It is not a good picture. Clearly the phone camera focused on the wrong black woman. Ah well. We were much closer than this looks. It was kind of neat I guess to see the first lady, but showing up two hours early to get through security and then standing (there were no seats) in the hot sun with 3500 other people waiting for it to start, the country music blaring through the loudspeakers serving as the only form of entertainment, was not even close to tolerable, much less fun. Still, I had no idea there so many cheesy, patriotic country songs in existence. Indeed, they found and played two hours worth of them. You learn something new every day.

We did not learn anything new from M. Obama's actual speech.

And my final story for the day... My watch broke a few months back, and I've been reluctant to buy a new one, seeing as how money has been tight around the Helsley household-- and will be until we finally move. Fortunately, this weekend I got a happy meal which included a watch as the toy- can you believe it? And to think I was going to blow twenty bucks on one... So glad I held out. Luckily I have freakishly small wrists.




I think this will help me fit in better with the extremely young kids that I have found myself surrounded by at college.