(162-164) I'm Back

I got home on June 29th...so just a couple of days ago.

(162) I spent my first night at home uploading 1500 photos and showing and explaining them to my family.

(163) The next day (yesterday) i slept in til 10 am. I then spent the whole day on my computer uploading photos to photobucket and facebook. I spent hours catching up on three episodes of the bachelorette. My day flew by. And i am not use to it staying light so late. That is surly throwing my time off..not to mention the 19 hour time difference. I didn't fall asleep until 3am.

(164) I woke up at 11am when mom came in my room and left the cat to get me up. I poured a coup of coffee and finished that paper that i planned to write before i left. The benefit of writing it after i got back: i actually enjoyed writing it. I had a better understanding of Maori culture. I ate lunch once the paper was finished. Me and mom went out and i turned in my paper and journal then we got our nails done. I got back home and found out my 3 besties are all going to be home this weekend. So much happiness right around the corner.

***

New Zealand was absolutely wonderful.

My words can't even begin to explain how much fun i had, the awe i was in, or the friendships i made. 

Photos can't capture this country's beauty and vibrant colors.

I wish the trip would have been longer and that all of my friends and family could have been there to experience everything i did.

New Zealand Recap

Over the next few days i will try to give a recap of my 21 days abroad.

(NZ 1)

Flew from LAX (6/7) to Auckland(6/9)...we lost a whole day due to the time difference.

We landed around 5am and had a full day ahead of us.

-orientation 

-lunch at Da Vincis

-sky tower

-dinner at waterfront cafe

(NZ 2)

Got lost on our way to the AUT Marae

-It was pouring

AUT Marae-lesson on maori language and leadership

(lunch included)

dinner on our own

-me and joanna walked to the grocery store

-ate left overs in the hotel room with Anna, Joanna, Cassie, and Nicki

(NZ 3) 

Muriwai Beach

-rained on us

Auckland city tour

free time

-me, joanna, and anna walked through town

dinner at O' Hagans

Foxx's bar to watch rugby

-was very crowded...me, anna, and medora left after 15 minutes and got a taxi home

(119) SO it begins

Another week has begun

AND it happens to be my last week of school for the semester which means it's finals week.

It also means it is doom week.

But lets start with today:

*church

*lunch w/ the p-rents at In-N-Out

(animal style fries and 1/2 of a hamburger)

*shopping at Sam's club

*came home

*cut coupons

*took a nap (2-4pm)

*pulled out my textbook and paper requirements

*did a little research

*made a rough paper outline

*got unmotivated

*watched lots of house renovation/garden tv shows

*ate a lot throughout the day....felt like an endless pit

(enchiladas, pasta, dr.p, diet coke, pirates booty)

*the rest of the night was wasted away on my computer and watching tv

*I am hoping now that i am napped up and soda up'd that i can stay awake and do my study guide

SO on tuesday my 8 pager is due and i have a final for that same class. I have a 90% in the class. If i want to keep an A, i really need to do well (get an A) on the paper and test.

I am off to try and be productive in the final hours of tonight. You can see how that went tomorrow.

(100) Successful 100th day

Wow I can't believe i have been doing this blog for 100 days. 

Now there are just 400 more to go.

Today was so productive. And im not even being sarcastic. I avoided distractions and stayed focused on finishing my paper.

I worked on it before class, after class, and between classes. It was done being written at 12:30. I read through it to check for errors. Afterwards i went to class. As soon as i got home i edited my citations. (i wanted to make sure they were done properly) By the time the paper was complete it was 9 full pages of text. I believe it was the longest paper i have wrote.

It was such a relief to have it done and know that i wouldn't be stressing about it while at work or frantically writing til the wee hours of the morning.

Once the paper was completed i printed it out and then sat on the couch and relaxed. I ate tacos around 4:30 before i went to work.

I was gone from 5pm-12:20am

A long night but well worth it.

I made decent money and had an enjoyable night.

Now i am going to sleep and know that i will sleep well because a stressor has been eliminated. I love having things done ahead of time...even if it isn't even that early.

(99) Productive Monday

I am going to try to stay productive and not spend too much time on this blog.

Morning

*Picked up my stuff from around the house...cleaning ladies came today

*skimmed through my articles and started highlighting important info for the paper

*got out of class and continued research and writing my paper

Afternoon

class

*volunteered....2-4pm....it was such a wonderful afternoon. Some of the people remembered me and were happy to see me again.

*Home and immediately got to work on my paper.

*Ate dinner......left over steak 

*Got back to work on the paper

Night

*the paper writing continued

*at 10pm i had 5 pages done, so i have 3 more to go. 

*I am taking my articles up to my room so that i can lay in bed and continue being productive and then fall asleep whenever i get tired enough.

*Tomorrow i will finish the last 3 pages. But i must say, I am feeling pretty good about being productive.

(i even fit in some background tv time)

(79) Success and a plan

Spring Break is officially over.

I woke up at 6am and never really fell back alseep during my 15minutes of "snooze."

My mind was ready to start the day and I was motivated.

Before class started i was able to finish up one of my paragraphs for the paper i was working on.

Unfortunately i didn't have my book, so i couldn't get more done at school.

It was a good back to school day post spring break. (i know that is a horrible and unclear sentence but i've been writing for hours...cut me some slack)

I got home around 2:15 and immediately went back to working on my paper.

At 4 i went with erin to look at a studio apartment.

I got my baby fix there. We had gone outside to look at the parking situation. A mom and her little girl were outside. The little girl toddled over to me and put her arms out. SO I asked the mom if i could pick her up. The mom had no problem with that. SO i got to hold this adorable little girl. She was maybe one years old.

I got back home around 5. I ate dinner and then i realized i was too tired to do anything productive. I took a nap from 6:30 to 7:15. When i woke up i got right back to working on my paper. The paper was done by 9:45. It was supposed to be a minimum of 6 pages, mine ended up being 8. I think i did well-normally i did the minimum, so i feel good about doing more than that.

Here is the homework plan for the rest of the week:

tuesday: write my miniproject paper between classes.(due wed), Start my micro teaching assignment.

Wednesday:complete micro teaching assignment(due thursday), research for parent project.

Thursday: Complete the outline for the parent project (due friday)

It is not going to be a fun week but all of my nights are full, so my days have to be productive otherwise i am doomed.

(57) I'm a failure

So as this title states, I am a failure. I just don't really care about school that much. I have a paper outline due tomorrow. All i have completed is the shell of the outline and the references (which weren't even required). I really have no desire to do this. I looked at the grade breakdown for the class and this wasn't listed. I suppose it might be included in the grade for the actual paper. It can't be worth that many points, right?

Perhaps i will wake up in the morning and loads of information will just fill my head and then end up on paper. Note: this would have to occur before 7:30am. It's possible, but not likely.

The reason this paper isn't done is due to yesterday's laziness and todays happenings (including lots of stalling)

-church

-shopping at Sam's club (which always takes longer than expected)

-putting away groceries

-making a smoothie

-eating lunch

-sitting outside

-i did research (that's a start)

-took a nap

-watched morning glory again

-attempted to keep working on the outline

-picking up my stuff from the living room (the cleaning ladies come tomorrow)

-using facebook games to stall

-watched sister wives

-realized my homework is probably not going to get done and sort of don't care.

And in a half an hour i am going to bed and will hope i wake up inspired and motivated.

Basically i need a divine intervention.

Hope everyone had a good weekend and is refreshed and ready for another week.

Good Night.