Days Go By

Holy moly!  Why is it already late-ish July?  I know I've done a lot this summer, but it seriously feels like the clock is ticking and I've done very little.  Italy? Check! Work? Check!  Hmmm...those are two good things, right?  I guess I've had little pleasures here and there like the concert, hanging out with friends, swimming, etc.

I go to camp on Tuesday and will be gone for 3 and a half weeks.  When I get back I immediately start preseason for field hockey which means I'll be heading back to school everyday...Now that sure makes me feel like the summer is over.  Anyway, I'm really looking forward to camp and as much as I dread the end of the summer, I look forward to field hockey.

Today is my sister Natalie's 19th birthday!  We are actually going to celebrate her birthday tomorrow because she's going to a concert tonight.  I can't wait for her to see the present I got her.  Wait for it...Wait for it...it's a Shakespeare tissue box cover!  Sounds weird, but I have a feeling she's going to looooooove it!

Good Life

I had a less than pleasant night last night but today made up for it almost completely.  I had a good morning at work (can you say, "I love photoshop!"), then I went riding and had a pretty fantastic lesson.

Two more pairs of breeches that I ordered (multiples of a pair that I liked) arrived in the mail.  These are the pants.  I love almost everything about them:

• They look fancier than they are because of color, material, and awesome euro seat design.
• They have coolmax in them which is great for summer although they feel very sturdy.
• They are about $100 less than tailored sportsman (although I love those I think these are just as good and even fit kinda nicer hehe).
• They have the side zip which I love and look really good with my belts.
• I feel like a boss when I ride in them...and because they are like bargain breeches compared to TS I actually can ride in them for lessons (now I have a total of 3 pairs).

Now for the one con:

• The CS2 system on the bottom (comfort sock system?).  It seems like a well intended idea that I would probably love if done a little better but it just wasn't working for me.  The bottom is meant to accommodate any sized leg without using velcro to be more comfortable.  But, for me it started off fine but throughout my ride I felt a rubbing and realized it had slid up and was indeed rubbing.  I will try to find a solution to this because I already bought the 2 more pairs and I just love everything else about them...

I satisfyingly unloaded the dishwasher...pinned some stuff on my pinterest...browsed Rue Lala (here's an invite)...aaaaaand planned my evening around watching 90210 on Netflix.

Sounds like the good life to me!
Oh, and enjoy this hilariously true statement:

Where Have I Been?!

Enjoying my summer, that's where!  Italy was absolutely incredible--definitely one of the best vacations yet.  Now that I'm back I'm happily working as a camp counselor and just soaking up the sun.  I go off to camp at the end of July, but for right now life is about as good as it can get.

4th of July was great--we saw a nice fireworks show and perfectly escaped the rain (it started right as the show ended!).  We went with some friends and had a pleasant time.

I made a very productive trip to Target the other day.  I got some accessories for my room and new bedding.  Wow! It looks sooo good!  Lately I've been going a little crazy with the online shopping, though.  I bought a new camelbak water bottle (the insulated kind!), a vera bradley travel toiletry bag, new riding breeches (4 pairs *cough* *cough*), aaaaaand a cute bikini top.  Hmm...Maybe I should lay off for a while...

After a little chink in perfection I think I'll be able to ride a few times this week (as opposed to 0 times last week...).  After a clunker of a lesson two weeks ago, I really want to push myself to improve before camp where I'll be riding 5 times a day!  I am soooo excited to go (which reminds me, I should tentatively start packing in case I need to buy anything new).

Well, that's about all that's necessary for this little update.  Take a look at some of these pictures from Italy!

P.S.  I went to an LMFAO concert a few weeks ago!!!

Ciao Italia!

Tomorrow we leave for Italy.  I am so, so, so, so excited!  I am packing tonight because although we have an evening flight, I don't want to be stressed tomorrow.  Tomorrow I think I may actually head out to Barnes and Noble to pick up a few books for summer reading...

This week I was definitely living it up--summer style!  Late nights, sleepovers, pool, movies.  It was a nice little preview of what's to come after I return from vacation.  When I return I will be starting my job as a camp counselor, but that's not all day, I still will have my summer nights!

Do you want a good laugh?  Picture me hobbling around with a grimace on my face while my friend just laughs at me for my misfortune...We decided to do this little 10 minute workout.  It's 1 minute each of 7 different ab workouts and then 3 sets of 25 jump squats/10 pushups.  I thought it sounded like a piece of cake so I went ahead and tried it on Wednesday.  My goodness!  I could hardly walk the next day!  Then, for some bizarre reason, I did it again on Thursday, and then again today!  I am incredibly sore.  Usually it only takes a day to recover from things like this, but I don't remember ever being this sore from a workout...  It's probably a combination of the fact that I have hardly worked out all spring and also because I did it 3 days in a row with no day off.

Anyway, despite having issues walking upstairs/downstairs (downstairs is the worst!), sitting on the toilet, sitting in chairs, sitting on the couch, getting up from a chair, getting up from the couch, and probably a whole lot of other things, I feel muscles under my squish! teehee ;)  This little workout reminded me that I definitely want to be super active this summer (and not just active as in busy, active as in fit).  

Also, I rode in my new saddle today.  It was a dream except for the fact that my stirrup leathers hadn't arrived yet so I used nasty, crispy, crunchy ones from a school saddle.  My butt just makes it because I took the risk in buying a half size smaller than usual.  Anyway, this saddle is extra motivation to well maybe not have such a large behind! haha  Oh, and because life just works that way, my beautiful new leathers arrived today in the mail...after I went riding... HAHA

I have to get packing now...I'm not sure what the computer situation will be in Italy, but I probably won't be able to post anything.  I will definitely return with great pictures, so get ready!  Arrivederci!

Pool Party

Yesterday I had some friends over at my house for a celebrate-the-end-of-school-and-beginning-of-summer party.  It was really fun!  Even though the weather was less than desirable I still had a good time.

The rain held off long enough for us to be able to swim before dinner (even if the air was cold, the pool was heated to 86 degrees!).  We had chicken fajitas for dinner which were definitely crowd-pleasers.  Then we watched Mrs. Doubtfire and made s'mores inside.  I had originally hoped to use the fire pit outside if it had been a typical summery feeling night, but alas, we did the winter style s'mores and made a fire inside.

It was a great way to get everyone together one last time before we go off on our own summer plans and don't see each other until September.  Inevitably, I do usually see my closest friends a few times over the summer, but this was a good kickstart to the summer festivities even if it was 60 degrees and drizzly...

Also, I'm basically in crunch time for packing for our family vacation to Italy.  We leave on Saturday so I really should get myself together...I know what I'll be doing tomorrow...

Summer Freedom

I officially finished my last bit of academics for this school year on Friday when I took my AC1 final.  As a whole, finals weren't bad this year (come on, we're freshman, how bad could they be??) except for Latin.  Latin was that bad...I won't even go into how I screwed up the easy stuff, completely blanked on the hard stuff, and basically drowned on paper.  BUT, it's over and done with now ;)

Now that I'm free I've been able basically enjoy life more.   Sometimes people forget that school honestly stresses out kids...a lot.  It's a full time job...even more so considering we can't leave it in the cubicle at the end of the day.  It's our life.  Yeah, I know, it's important, everyone does it, blah, blah, blah.  But, I can guarantee that what we do in school now is more pressure-filled than "back in the day."

Anyway, I've officially sorted through, packed up, and organized all of my school things and won't be seeing them until September.  That even inspired me to clean my room.  Basically, I'm feeling a positive snowball effect!

Here's my agenda now that school is out:

1. Hang out with friends I haven't seen in a while
2. Have a party to celebrate the end of freshman year
3. Prepare for Italy (shop, pack, learn Italian...)
4. Read Harry Potter like it's nobody's business
5. Spend time with the family
6. Be thankful I go to private school and don't have another month left like the public schools do...

Ok, I've basically done a lot of the stuff on this list already.  I've seen friends, I'm having a party Wednesday (small gathering), I've had umm..multiple shopping sprees to get ready for Italy (but haven't actually packed yet), read Harry Potter, went out to dinner with my family, and aren't I always thankful I go to private school?? 

Some other things on my mind:

• Horseback riding.   pfff...this is it's own post! Let's just say it makes me dizzy in the head thinking about it (ok, not really, but whatever, it sounded good!)
• I'm going to Boston tomorrow for a class trip woooohoooo!!
• I ordered new towels for my bathroom (random, but a total excitement for me nonetheless)
• I got a new saddle...finally after searching for a bajillion years (ok, maybe just a few months...)

So I know this a jumbled mess of a blog post, I definitely need to get better about focusing these things...I think it's partially because it's the first one in a few weeks.  But don't worry, they will get better, more organized, and hopefully more frequent now that I'm out of school.  I'll also be sure to put pictures and doodads besides just plain words.

Almost There!

So this is going to be a really mini post.  I am in the middle of review week for finals.  In 10 days I will be done with all work related to freshman year!  I'm really busy right now with review but I think I will be prepared for my finals come Tuesday (math and bio on the same day! yuck!).

Anyway, I have a lot of things on my mind right now, but of course I have no time to blog about them with finals looming... But, I will mention some mini things that won't take a lot of time.

1. a few of my friends are at a One Direction concert tonight  (have fun, guys! I wish I was there!)
2. I plan on having a pool party to celebrate the end of finals/school year
3. I had Chipotle for dinner tonight ;)

So, that's my mini, random update. Expect some bigger, meatier, all-around better posts once I'm on summer break.  

Stop and Smell the Roses

Sometimes I get so caught up in school that I forget to realize that there is life existing outside of school.  This weekend, for example, I had a wonderful time just slowing things down.  Don't get me wrong, I still did a butt load of homework, but I did some other fun things too.

• I unwound with some junky tv
• I went out to dinner (just me and my parents, no sisters!)
• I baked my mom scones for Mother's Day breakfast
• I gardened with my mom on Mother's Day
• I had a great time taking pictures at my weekend house (I got some really great reflection shots because that was my photography assignment this weekend)

Overall, I was able to really decompress this weekend which was a nice treat.  Unfortunately, as soon as I got back to school this morning a whole flood of problems, irritations, thoughts, and other daily troubles came back to me.  It's great to unwind sometimes, but then it feels pretty awful to have real life come back and settle on your shoulders.

I don't have to worry too much longer, though, because I only have 5 days of classes, 4 days of review sessions, and 4 days of exams left.  Whew! 

It really is starting to sink in that soon I will be on summer break with almost 3 months of no school.  My oldest sister is coming home from college tonight, so we're opening gifts for my mom tonight instead of yesterday.  

Oh, and as a last minute thought, you know sometimes you need a break from things or people you love? It's like you spend every moment of your time with them that sometimes you just need time away from them.  Not alone time, just time with other people...

The pond was full of critters this weekend.  I got pictures of most of them, but there was a huge bullfrog that kept getting away from me!

I especially love these tadpoles.  It's so cool to see an animal in sort of "textbook" style.  You always imagine just a frog and maybe the younger tadpoles, but these guys look like they're pretty far along...maybe next week they'll have the beginnings of legs!

I'm Doing the Limbo in Horse World

Ok, Sunday was such a great experience.  I had never been to a show away from the barn before with Zeus.  I'd say we both did pretty fabulous, but it was a "learning experience" nonetheless.  We got 7th in dressage and then moved up after jumping to come in 5th overall.  So either we did something right, or a few people did something wrong. haha ;)

So the dressage test got me a little discouraged.  I looooove practicing dressage at home and really connecting the with horse while I ride, but I just don't think I like competing in it.  Jumping on the other hand, I love nailing it during practice, and then when it comes time to the show, I love it then, too.  

I think this experience just tells me that a.) Zeus is not a dressage show horse (or a show horse or a dressage horse for that matter).  He is a school horse--and a mighty fine one at that.  and b.) I looooooove jumpers (but I already knew that!)

So the best case scenario for me would be to be riding a horse that can keep up with what I want to do.  It breaks my heart to think that it is pushing Zeus too much to do what I want to do with him while still having to haul beginners around the rest of the time.  He's such a trooper...

Plus, I would really love to advance as a jumper rider.  I'm lucky (and unlucky!) enough to live in an area where there are huge rated shows.  Anyway, my dream would be to ride in one of these.  And unfortunately, neither Zeus, nor my current barn in general, is suited for this.  

And thus we have limbo.  I'm torn between staying at a place I absolutely love and going somewhere to advance my riding "career".  My current barn is so friendly and familial feeling.  My trainer is amazing.  Zeus is my love.  But, then again, I'm being restricted here because I can only go so far with these horses and this barn.  That's why I'm contemplating going back to the barn where I first started off for sorta the same reason that I left.  I used to think I didn't want anything to do with shows.  But, I'm realizing more and more that the occasional show is kinda like a soccer match.  Sure you can practice all you want, but it is just not the same as showing your stuff at a real match.  The same goes for riding it feels like.  

I know I will never have a horse as long as I'm living under my parents' roof and I know I will never be one of those girls who shows every weekend and goes to Florida and misses basically the entire winter of school.  But, I don't really want to be one of those girls.  I'm happy playing hard and training hard in my lessons and then occasionally showing my stuff.  

Luckily, despite my parents insistence that riding is merely a hobby that they can take away from me at any time (which they have done) they are willing to let me ride at all.  I can always count on having my weekly lesson (unless of course I'm being punished).  And, even though I only get to ride once a week, I get to go to riding camp in the summer.  My dad is actually paying for my new, near budget-less saddle.  I think for my parents, they think that if they can outfit me with all the material possessions that I could ask for, then I wouldn't mind only riding once a week and not having a horse.  Oh, parents...

And speaking of saddles and limbo, I'm also in a state of saddle limbo.  I just listed my old saddle on consignment with Beval Saddlery and am in the process of shopping for a new one (thanks, Daddy!).  I'm looking for a definite upgrade from the Collegiate I used to ride in.  I've tried a bunch of really nice saddles and it feels rather luxurious being able to ride in top of the line saddles for my once a week lesson. hehe ;)

Anyway, I'll definitely have a post when I finally decide on a saddle.  

Oh, and only 7 days left of classes and then review days and finals!!!! Summer, here I come!! :D

Mini Update on Frazier Combined Test

I will do a longer post later about my day at the Frazier Farm combined test. Overall, it was a fun experience. Let's just say that things ALWAYS turn out differently then when you're practicing at home.  But, that being said, I was super proud of how Zeus did today and I enjoyed myself.

I got 7th in dressage but the jumping results weren't ready before I had to leave.  When I found out how I did overall I'll put that in my next post.  I'm also in the process of uploading a TON of pictures.  My mom took over 200!

It went from me thinking I would be by myself with my trainer to having my mom, dad, aunt, uncle, and cousin come watch me!  I really liked having all that support there.  Plus, my little 4 year old cousin looked absolutely precious feeding a carrot to Zeus.  She was about as big as his head! ;)

Rue Lala!

Rue Lala

Have you guys heard of it?  It's like Pinterest in the sense that you need an invitation.  But it's for shopping!

They offer huge sales on designer clothes, accessories, etc.  It's the real deal.  No knockoffs.

I'm waiting until a favorite name turns up and then I'm sure I'll go a little online shopping crazy!  The sales change daily so it's worth it to check often.  You can even have them send you reminders.  (I have a Vineyard Vines reminder ready for tomorrow!)

Anyway, that link is an invitation at the top of the page if you're not already a member.

Punch in the Face--REBOUND!

If you've been reading lately, you'll know that I have been having some not-so-great days lately...

To be less ambiguous, I'll explain why Friday particularly was so bad.  Originally, I had run for class president for 10th grade.  I sort of knew I wasn't going to win, considering who one of the other candidates was (think friendly, popular, super outgoing...).  Well, it was still a mini punch at my self esteem when I heard he won--with no run off!

Not to worry, I still had a chance to run for student council rep.  I wasn't really worried at all for this considering I was a rep this year.  Anyway, fast forward to Friday when I found out I didn't even get voted for rep.  It did not compute!  There are a whole slew of reasons why I think the results were bogus, but I'm going to keep them to myself.  Had it been Friday afternoon when I wrote this post, yes, I probably would be listing them (in addition to reasons why I hate people in general) ;)  But, I've had the weekend to get over it.  Every time I think about it I still feel a mini punch in the gut, but oh well.  As my mom continues to say: Student politics are fickle.

Now, I'm viewing this as a learning opportunity.  At least I tried.  I gave a speech in front of my whole grade.  I may have even left some ideas that stuck with the people that did make student council and will hopefully consider them for next year.

Anyway, Friday was such a down-in-the-dumps day for me that I didn't really fully appreciate something good that also happened.  My trainer, Barb, asked me if I'd take my favorite horse, Zeus, to a combined test that they're going to next weekend.  I like to think of this as proof that at least some one, somewhere values what I do.  There are plenty of other riders that could've taken Zeus to the show (just as there were a whole slew of candidates for student council), but, it was ME that was asked to take Zeus!  YAYAYAYA!!!!

Anyway, she said that they might be going.  I really hope I'm not getting my hopes up for nothing...

But if we are going--WOOHOO!  I'm so excited!! It's at Frazier Farm on May 6th.  And you can guarantee that it will make for some super awesome blog posts!

Butterscotch Cheerio Treats

Nice, Mel! ;) She was on the farthest courts from the stands and I couldn't get any closer...lucky I had my new zoom lens!  I did get some really cool shots of random girls on the closer courts.

Ok, after lots of bad news and an overall bad day I really needed to take my mind off things.  I went to the movies with my sister and downed a large popcorn and a box of pretzel m and ms while watching The Lucky One with Zac Efron.  Well, it helped a little bit...

I decided that I would make something easy for Mel's tennis match today.  And by easy I mean no-bake, using up ingredients I have on hand, and not spending more than 20 minutes on it.  Well, Butterscotch Cheerio Treats it is!

Butterscotch Cheerio Treats

Ingredients

1 bag of marshmallows

1/4 cup cup plus 2 Tb butter

7 cups dulce de leche cheerios

unknown amount of coconut that I had in the freezer*

*I'm not sure if I actually added enough coconut to make a difference in flavor or texture, but I wanted to use up the remains of a bag so I tossed it in...

Directions

1. In a large bowl dump entire bag of marshmallows and butter.

2. Microwave for 1 minute or until butter is melted.

3. Stir in cheerios and butterscotch chips.

3. Spray a 9x13 pan and dump marshmallow-cheerio blob into it.

4. Spray your fingers and press the mix evenly into the pan.

5. Let set up for about 30 minutes (you can put it in the fridge to speed this up).

Yes, you guessed it.  This is just rice krispie treats but with cheerios and some other crazy stuff mixed in.  I also used a spastic amount of butter but I was using up the butter that was in our butter dish so that's how I came to this amount.  Hey, whatever works... ;)

I cut it into 24 squares but you can definitely cut however many you'd like depending on what size you want.  

There was only about 1/3 cup of coconut left in that bag so you can just pretend it's not there...

Bowl o' marshmallow (uhh and butter!)

Stiiiiiiir

Mmmmm butterscotch...and some stupid leftover coconut (except coconut is not stupid, the amount of coconut I used was stupid)

Spray your fingers...do it or you will not end up with a pretty pan like this.  You will end up with a chunky monkey pan that's half stuck to your utensil.

Isn't he cute?!!?? 

I resisted these guys until after the match...and then I had 2 small ones biggest ones I could find.  They were super yummy.  I definitely think the cheerios held up well with the butterscotch chips because they were similar sized if you get what I mean.  But, I think there's something about a classic rice krispie that just trumps all others...  Lucky for me I bought 3 extra bags of marshmallows at the grocery store this morning.

Inspiration?

The bread lasted barely 24 hours...maybe 25.  I brought one and half loaves to school (sliced) and it was gone by the end of the day.  And I may or may not have had half a loaf after school...  I can definitely say this bread is better the next day after having been in an airtight container over night.

Grrrr...I should start making stuff that I don't like to eat.  Perhaps my next post will be Bacon Brownies.  Other people will eat them (which is what I aim for when baking) but I will be able to resist (I don't like bacon).

Y' know, that doesn't actually sound like a bad idea at all....HAHAHA get ready everyone..I'm gonna make bacon brownies!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Tagalong Bread

(from Something Swanky)

Don't you love those weeks (and days) where you're just happy to be alive?

The little things that make life sweet...  Owning your bio test.  Hearing people say they wish you had been elected student council president.  Hearing people say they will vote for you for student council rep. Going to bed early.  Reading a good book Harry Potter.  

Well, this is one of those weeks for me.  And, to top it all off, I don't have much homework!  What does that mean?  I'm baking something for adviser group, of course!  Chocolate Peanut Butter Tagalong Bread to be exact.  

Chocolate Peanut Butter Tagalong Bread (yields 2 loaves)

adapted from Something Swanky

3 cups all purpose flour

3 T cocoa

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 lightly packed brown sugar

1 T baking powder

2 t baking soda

1 box of tagalongs, crushed

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1 t vanilla

1 1/2 cups milk

1 large mashed banana

2 T oil

1 egg

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Whisk together dry ingredients, reserving a heaping tablespoon.

3. Stir in wet ingredients, careful not to over mix.

4. Add chocolate chips and crushed cookies to reserved dry mix and toss to combine.

5. Fold in the cookies and chocolate chips until just distributed.

6. Pour batter into 2 greased and parchment-lined loaf pans.

7. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. (one of my loaves took 36 and the other took about 40)
8. Cool before cutting with a serrated knife.  

imagine there is a lovely jar of peanut butter...

whisk, whisk, whisk

crush, crush, crush!

 shake, shake, shake!

Combine the wet and the dry and you get something AHmazing

But as soon as you add the cookies and chocolate...

You get batter o' heaven

Sorry for these extremely lackluster photos.  My mom is on a trip to Gettysburg and borrowed my camera.  I probably could've gotten better pictures with my iPhone, but I decided to use my old sony cyber-shot for the directions...Oh well.

See!!? This iPhone picture ^ is better!  Can you believe how good the cameras in phones are getting...

As I was cutting this bread I enjoyed the ends...and then I fixed myself a little dessert (ya' know, just making sure it's suitable for my adviser group tomorrow morning):

I enjoyed it with a good book... :D

But then of course it seemed too much like breakfast after dinner so I just needed to do this:

Yes, that is whipped cream.  And yes, this piece is considerably thicker than the previous one.  One slice of this bread technically has 1/24 of a banana in it so it's healthy! ;)

A New Lens and Some Amazonian Goodies

As a reward for my good grades because my mom wanted another lens for "my" camera a new lens came in the mail the other day.

I got a Nikon D3100 for Christmas that came with a really good, basic lens that works in about every situation you could think of.  It's an 18-55mm and has served me well in my photography class this semester.  But, whether it be me or my mom, the both of us wanted a nice zoom lens.

And now I'm about to reveal how I do my research for just about any product.



DRUM ROLL, PLEASE......



Enter, Amazon.  It's my go-to place for everything.  I look up reviews on the most random things.  I just bought a pair of Lilly shorts (don't worry they were actually from the Amazon-Lilly store, not some weirdo knock-off) from it.

Electronics to beauty products, ebooks for my kindle to discontinued candy, Amazon has it all.

Anyway, back to my research.  Basically I just started searching Nikon lenses and found one that wasn't $1,000 but still had good reviews.

Voila! http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-55-300mm-4-5-5-6G-Nikkor-Digital/dp/B003ZSHNCC/ref=sr_1_17?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1334700676&sr=1-17


I think other people are realizing that Amazon is an awesome place to get whatever you want.  For Christmas, besides getting a super awesome camera, I got 2 $50 Amazon gift cards!

"What should we get Valerie for Christmas?"
"I don't know.  Does she still like Polly Pocket?"
"She's 15...I don't think so."   (actually, Polly Pocket was the coolest thing ever!!!!!)
"We could get her a necklace."
"Ok, does she wear gold or silver?"
"Uhhh!  I give up let's just get her an Amazon gift card."




So I know some people do not like receiving gift cards because they think they're impersonal.  Well, I am NOT one of those people.  Honestly, if you don't know what to get me...get me a gift card to a store that I've mentioned I like.  Here's a list to make things easier:

Barnes and Noble <----- I have over $200 on my card thanks to the compiling of book cards from birthdays and Christmases past...
J. Crew
Gap
Rugby
Ralph Lauren (if you really want to put A LOT on the card) ;)
Local jewelry stores
Department stores in the area
Amazon... teehee

Just don't, I repeat don't get a me a gift card for Forever 21 unless you want it to sit in my wallet, unused until I finally decide to take 2 hours to sift through junk to find something halfway decent to spend it on.

Anyway, back to the Amazon gift cards.  I recently entered a photography contest that my school library was hosting.  The contest was to take a library book with you on spring break and take a picture of it.  Well, I took mine to Naples, Florida and took a picture of it on the beach.  The top 5 pictures either got a movie theater gift card or an Amazon gift card.  And thanks to this picture I now have a $15 Amazon gift card! yay!

Oh, and my second choice picture was this one.  But, just in case I didn't feel like sharing my beach bod with the librarians...or with the rest of the school (they emailed everyone the winning photos) I decided against it.  But, I still think it's cute.

FYI, I did not actually finish start this book.  Rather I enjoyed my Harry Potter books and my kindle.  But come one, isn't vacation about reading whatever you want??

Enjoy the spring!