"Once they begin to move, no more news comes out of that area." - War of the Worlds

....which pretty much covers my status until after October 4th...when I will be moved into my new house and will have time to converse again with the Internet....

"OOPS? No, Ed. Oops is falling down an elevator shaft. Oops is skinny dipping in a school of pirrahna. This was no OOPS. This was AAGGHH!"

First let me explain my morning....wait...let's start last night...hell...let's get a good look at this week....

Monday was a holiday....I worked....then stayed up LATE working on my physics homework.

Tuesday was spent sitting crouched over that same physics HW...then class...then work...then at work till 12:30pm finishing that HW with one of my bosses (I LOVE YOU SCOTT :)).

Wednesday was class/HW from 8 am until 8 pm....then home to read up on lab work for today.

This morning (Thursday) I woke up @ 6 (yes dang it, that is early) because I have Geology lab @ 8 am...which really is a crime in itself...but I woke up, let Chloe outside, and went into the bathroom to shower, make-up, hair....etc. Let me just say...at this point I knew I was tired and this week was taking its toll, but I was wholly unaware that I was in a bad mood.

Sometime in the middle of this ritual, I hear my roommate come out of his room and walk to the bathroom. He stops when he sees me in there, and I just turned and said, "Sucks to be you huh?"

WHAT?! He hadn't done ANYTHING wrong except walk in on me and my bad mood! I mumbled my apologies to his dropped jaw and shut the door for his protection.

When I was ready to head out, I went downstairs and saw that my other roommate had cleaned the living room and dining room while I slept (THANKS B)...normally a real mood lifter...but evidently not.

I got to school, got my soy Chai latte and went to lab...at which point I walked in right as he was beginning lecture and spilled my latte all over the table.

(aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggggghhhh......normally that would be in caps, but I lack the energy...)

So I ran to the bathroom to get towels, cleaned it up and proceeded to test a bunch of rocks...

When it was over, I thought "Finally, a BREAK!" I had every intention of curling up in chair for half an hour (before starting my microbiology lab report) and reading something educationally worthless! Like a smut novel, or Harry Potter....

So on my way to my favorite cushy chair on campus, I stopped for another latte since I got 2 sips from the first one....and I saw this girl....

Let me first say that this girl was LARGE...I know large....she was MUCH larger than that... and she had one of those walking cast/boot things and one crutch (both of which I am also intimately acquainted)....all of these factors meant she was going SLOW....but come on, poor thing was probably in a worse mood than me!

So as I waited for her to pass so I could get to my cushy chair, these two guys in the frat boy uniform (polo shirt in some neon color, khaki shorts, and deck shoes) come up behind her and start loudly going "Damn! That girl is BIG."

And that's when it happened...I accidentally (on purpose) lost my second (HOT) latte of the day all down the front of their uniforms....

I really am not fit to be around people today....

"I've heard a rant like this before!" -- Dogma

Rant Day....(in no particular order)

10) Organic Chemistry is the HARDEST CLASS EVER....if you are an engineering major and you think that ALL of your classes are harder than this one...then you should have picked a different major....cuz it's just you!

9) Yes....I have read the Twilight Series and actually enjoyed it! BACK OFF!

8) No, I have not seen the Bond movies and have no immediate plans to correct this....

7) Truth is about perception....If I say you have an accent, it is because I perceive it to be true....If you say that I am the one with the accent, it is because you perceive that to be true....we are both right....can we please move on now?

6) High heels hurt. Yeah they look good, but I don't always feel like re-attaching my toes when I get home, so I don't usually wear them. If I do feel an occasion is special enough to wear heels, please do not make a big issue out of it, because odds are I will have kicked them off in about an hour anyway.

5) Yes, I am often considered "One of the Guys" in our little group, and I will shotgun a beer and belch right along with you, pound your fist when something funny is said, and laugh at fart jokes....but please remember that I am a girl....so if we are running late because I can't decide if these shoes match that purse....adjust! (And maybe this would go faster, if you would be "One of the Girls" from time to time and tell me which ones match!)

4) Chipping a nail IS a big deal...

3) I have a black thumb...plants left in my care WILL die...I have accepted this....so should you...

2) I will leave the clock on my nightstand there...yes, it has been blinking for over six months now, but I am sure I will set it eventually....leave it alone!

And the most important....

1) Irish car bombs do NOT taste like chocolate milk....what the hell kind of milk was your momma feeding you? Men the world wide try to pass this lie off on unsuspecting women...this lie is second only to "Just the tip...."!

"--Mac, you ever been in love? --No, I've been a bartender all my life." - My Darling Clementine

I have said many times that being an adult really stinks....

Responsibility as a whole is just much less than it is made out to be! The only upside to being in your twenties....alcohol.....and that's just sad.

Unfortunately, alcohol costs money. Even for me! My roommates are all bartenders around town, so admittedly, my costs are significantly lower than those of your average Austinite, but I have a problem there.

I have the income of your average poor college student....but the elevated, more expensive taste, of someone in my age range that has done the binge drinking thing and now actually cares what the stuff tastes like.

This is HIGHLY problematic.....for me and my VISA....

So I am sitting at home paying bills the other night, complaining about my empty bank account, when my roommate comes in and hands me a wad of cash for this months bills....

"THAT'S IT!", I yelled. "I am sick and tired of working three times more hours than you guys and bringing home less money!"

And that is when inspiration hit! Make the alcohol work for you!

So I did.....tomorrow night is my final night of a two week bartending school! I LOVE IT!!! Not only will I make more money...but now I know what is in all the drinks being ordered around me....therefor making a better drinker too!

I seriously don't know why everyone doesn't tend bar.....

"When the music stops, the rest is silence." - Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Music is such an emotional mine field for me....

For some people looking at a painting evokes an emotional response....for me, it is music....

Many of you don't know that Logan is a VERY good piano player. He sits down and plays the most beautiful classical pieces.

When I am tired, I make him play me to sleep sometimes. He knows he has to start with Ave Maria....it's my favorite!

Anyway, he has been practicing Moonlight Sonata lately....and it is official people! I no longer think that the saddest song in the world is George Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today"....oh no....it is Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.

Man....we are going to need more Kleenex if he keeps this up!

"What else am I gonna do? Stay here and learn?? Road trip!" - Road Trip

This summer I got the chance for a once in a lifetime trip....

My very good friend Logan worked as a bartender in a lodge in Alaska for the summer. About four days before his last day of the summer, I flew up there.

I got picked up at the airport and immediately went to a bar...since they don't close till 5 am there....when I was tired...and NOT sober...everyone just kept saying "Welcome to Alaska!"

I spent the next four days living here....

We camped here and it was amazing....however, the one thing I wanted to do on this trip was fish....sooooo....

AWESOME!

This is Logan and his fish...but when telling the story at the bar later that night....

"Man that fish was THIS BIG!"

The next two weeks were spent driving from Cooper Landing, AK (on the Kenai Peninsula) to Austin, TX....the drive actually takes about four days if you drive straight there...we didn't!

My first glacier! The first day we drove from Cooper Landing to Copper Creek, AK and stayed at another one of the Princess Lodges (where he worked) since we had been camping awhile and were just gonna do LOTS more...our first night on the road...

The next day we made it into the Yukon territory in Canada.

We found a random Forestry Reserve....pretty sure you are NOT supposed to camp there....

However, if there had not been a SCHEDULED blackout that night, we could have gotten gas and left town....THEIR bad! Oh well....the sunrise the next morning was worth it all....

On the road somewhere in British Columbia the next day.....

BEAR!!!! Sorry for the water spots...but I was NOT getting out of the car to take that picture!

We made it out of Canada after just a few days...we spent the one night in Washington at my cousin Andy's apt outside of Seattle and then headed into Oregon....now I don't know about you, but I knew there was a coastline there...but I had no idea....

The next night we camped in our very first legitimate camp site....for the record our first night in Oregon we tried...but they were all full....so we found a river with a waterfall.....and hey....no one asked us to leave....anyway...so this night we consecrated our camping extravaganza with s'mores....

This is Logan with about four "Puerto Rican" mallows (I say mallows in reference to the greatest baseball movie of all time...Sandlot) in his mouth....he wouldn't eat the first couple because they were too Cuban....if you don't get where we were going with this....it is probably for the best!

One of our MANY campfires....of which I never had to make a single one....thanks Logie!

One of our camping nights in Oregon had us camping with some girls from Portland that we met and shared our illegal campsite with....they were awesome and taught us a new drinking game....it's basically repeating odd phrases in a certain order....MUCH harder than it sounds...but let me just say....One Red Hen Double Duck Double Drink!

The next day we hit northern California....but let me take this time to introduce you to the two other members of our traveling crew....Scratchy (won by Logan bowling in Anchorage)....and Gladys....(Gladys is my parent's GPS system that my dad let me take with us....we had to check in every day....so my dad could hear Gladys' voice!)...

The coastline in California is of course beautiful....but we went a little more inland than that....why? Because I was DYING to see the Redwoods!!!

Once we got into central California, Logan couldn't stand it anymore....he had spent the summer in the cold in Alaska and needed to go to the "beacher"....so we bought some strawberries from a roadside vendor and some champagne and celebrated the warmth on the beach for a day!

We spotted this beach and fell in love....it was kinda a hike down there...but that meant that all day there were only three or four people there other than us!

Remember that hike I told you about....guess who got to haul that cooler in the background down there....AND back up....NOT this girl!

BUT IT WAS SOOOO WORTH IT!

Logan decided to jump rope with the sea weed....

Drinking our champagne out of our plastic cups....classy....and MAN was that water cold!

As the sun set on our beach....we hit the road....

We were headed for southern Cali for a night with more of my cousins....however, Big Sur happened....

We ended up at an Irish Pub for dinner....it was a really cool brew pub with actual Irish people and TONS of beer....we had some burgers and the random hippie lady at the table next to me took my onions and tomatoes....WEIRD! She freaked Logan out so he took his food and left me there to deal with her....GOOD friend!

We ended up stuck there for the night...NO GAS! So, we camped again.....

It should have been good sleep, but THIS guy wanted to get up WAY earlier than we did....

At this point, we sadly left the coast and headed inland....right into the wine country....

And from the wine country into the desert.....

Now this is where the trip got....well....detoured....

Coming into Nevada under the sunset you see above, we saw a sign for Las Vegas....and the conversation went something like this...

Logan: "Ever been to Vegas?"

Amy: "Yeah, I went on my 21st birthday....it's kinda awesome....you?"

Logan: "No....how far away is it?"

Amy: "About an hour, why?"

Logan: "Well, we don't have time to stay or anything, but it would be kinda fun to drive down the strip at night and see the lights."

Amy: "For sure! And we are so close it would be stupid not to at least see it!"

Logan: "It's a shame we can't stay there though....we are gonna have to find a place to camp anyway....but I'm sure the hotels are ridiculously expensive!"

Amy: "Actually it is Wednesday...we could probably find one pretty cheap."

You see where this is going?? So basically, the sun went down on the desert....

The picture of the sun coming up on Vegas from our hotel room...and we are NOT early risers.....

Over the course of the next three days....(after deciding that the first few days of class are TOTALLY useless anyway)

We walked along the strand after our "nap" that morning....

The water show at the Belagio....

Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Restaurant....mmmmmm........

Logan chillaxin....

Then I made the mistake of asking him what he was looking at....

It's a good thing I have a sense of humor...

So we shopped...with alcohol...I LOVE VEGAS....

Risky Business....

A night out on the town....the before shot....

Note the machette scar....you REALLY don't want to know that story....

At dinner that night we met a random Australian...her name is Liz....and she played with us!=

We got dressed up for a club....however, we ended up at all night bowling....it's right up our alley....OK YEAH...it is a bad joke...I know....

And the AFTER picture....this was taken at about 10 am the next morning...I think we look good after all that!

After sleeping it off, we hit the road one last time....over the next 24 hours, we drove from Las Vegas, NV to Austin, TX....

However, we did it via the Hoover Dam....

Then the Grand Canyon.....

And then FINALLY....

Our EPIC trip had ended....I can't wait for the next one!