Christmas Countdown

In case you don't follow me on other social media, I recently discovered that there are exactly 100 days between my birthday and Christmas. As I have a fondness of counting down the days to Christmas, I was A) happily surprised by the coincidence and B) shocked that it took me 21 years to figure that little connection out. (In case you were wondering, there are 71 days till Christmas.)
I don't have any exams this term, so I'm going to be done school on December 5th. I'll have almost exactly a month off, and I'm quite looking forward to it. I have many plans, most of which involve some form of creativity. I'm hoping to work on two quilts. My friend asked me to make a quilt out of t-shirts she doesn't want to throw out, but doesn't want to wear. The other is a quilt that I've been putting off for about 5 years, for a lady at church. That quilt will be much more time consuming and difficult than the t-shirt quilt (hence why I've been putting it off).
And of course, I'll continue my tradition of making a gingerbread house from scratch. I'm thinking of doing a gingerbread train this year. I feel like there's a lot of potential with things that you can put in the carriages of the train.
Back to reality, I had 6hrs of class today. This was particularly harsh because I usually have Fridays off. The timetable this week was messed up because of two 'reading week days'. I'm not feeling too stressed about schoolwork this term so far. It definitely helps that I'm only taking two courses. One course is worth 4 credits, so I have the workload of 5 courses. But only having to worry about assignments, groups, and due dates for two courses instead of five is making it easier.
I am hoping to get some 3D printing done this weekend. I'm currently printing 3D tiles for the board game Settlers of Catan. I've done one so far and it turned out really well, so I'm hoping to print one for each resource by the end of the term. I'm also tweaking a keychain I made last year. Interestingly enough, a friend asked if I would print some #GBDA keychains for her this weekend - she wants 6! I'm happy to do it, but you can only print one thing at a time and 3D printing is a long process (a Settlers of Catan tile takes ~3hrs). So we'll see how it goes. At least once you've started the printing, you don't have to do anything till it's done. I might be spending a lot of time on campus this weekend. But to be honest, I don't mind it. There's hardly ever anyone there on the weekend, so you basically have the building to yourself. And now that they have massive beanbag chairs, it can even be comfortable :) I'll set my laptop up and watch the last couple episodes of Stranger Things.
Until next time!

369. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?
Ever since Emily went to New Zealand, I've been wanting to go! So New Zealand. #screwschool

Summer's Over?!

This marks the beginning of my last week as a User Experience Design Intern at D+H. I originally had a 12 week contract, but that was extended to 15 weeks (it could have been 16, but I asked for a week off so I could go up to camp for a week). I can’t really tell you about the projects I worked on, but I’ve really enjoyed the work I’ve been doing, and I’ll be sad to leave. Although, there is speak of me potentially working part time through the school year, which would be awesome (not to mention a foot in the door for when I’m looking for a job when I graduate).

This week may be a slow one. It’s hard to start working on projects when you only have 5 days left. Usually the things I work on don’t take too long, but I often follow projects along and help out when they need it. Hopefully I’m not sitting idle (and yet here I am, writing a blog post).

One thing that I am definitely going to miss is the desk set up I have here at D+H. I only ever sit in a hoteling station, but I’ve claimed this one as my own. I have two monitors (one being the laptop monitor), a keyboard, and a mouse. It’s great. I plug my laptop into a docking station and boom; I’m hooked up to everything. I am definitely going to want a desktop monitor for this upcoming school year now. My laptop screen just seems so small on its own.

I’m excited to be going back to Stratford and seeing all of my school friends again. However, I’ve definitely become used to the work-stays-at-work life, and going back to having to do work outside of class will be an adjustment. I think the fall will be a very busy time. I have classes, I might be working part-time, I have to write a work report about my internship, and a professor at the Stratford campus is running an optional course called GBDA X. The idea is that it’s a course where we can decide what we’ll learn to an extent, he’ll give us projects and things to work on, and at the end of it, we’ll have something to add to our portfolio. It won’t count for marks or credits, but the hope is that it utilizes a bunch of the technology and resources that the Stratford campus has, like the 3D printer and Oculus Rift. I’m really interested in seeing what the professor comes up with.

I’m going to be commuting to Stratford for the first couple weeks of class. At first, I was really excited, because I love driving. Now, I’m thinking that this is not going to be the blue skies and sunshine I was imagining. Aaron and I will be spending some quality time together I’m sure. Him sitting in the basement playing video games, and me sitting at the kitchen counter doing homework and watching Netflix. But it should be good. We’re hoping to go see the London Airshow when it comes to town. And we’ll probably go out for dinner for my birthday, because the rest of the family won’t be around. This will be the first time I’ve been home for my birthday in a while. And then Mom and Dad decided to peace out. Alison will be in Toronto, so it’ll be me and Aaron.  

Success

132. Do you smile at strangers?
Sometimes. If they smile at me, definitely.

133. Trip to outer space or the bottom of the ocean?
Oh wow. Probably space. But man there's still so much we don't know about the ocean when it's so close to us.

134. What makes you get out of bed in the morning?
The thought that I'll be wasting my day if I don't. Also class (but not anymore!!!) No more early morning Fridays ever!!!! Aw yea!!!!

This is on John Green's website under his FAQ for TFioS and I loved it so much:

Q. Do you think Gus is a heroic character? What about Hazel?
A. Yes, I think Gus is a hero.
For me, the hero’s journey is not the voyage from weakness to strength. The true hero’s journey is the voyage from strength to weakness.
And to my mind, that makes Gus very heroic, indeed.

"Self Portrait"

This is a "self-portrait" (kind of) assignment that I have to do. I've organized the pictures by theme horizontally and by colour vertically. I wasn't sure if the colour sorting was too weighted? As in, the the right column is too bland/neutral? Should I skip the colour organization?

My Life: A Summary

- minimum of 5 hours of studying each day

    - 2.5 hrs each for econ and business (I'm doing a chapter a day; I thought it would take me 45mins to an hour for each chapter, since I'm just reviewing what I've already read, but it's been taking me at least two hours)

- doing an image for my bookwork assignment for my art class

- which never turns out how I imagine in my brain

- so that just depresses me

- cause my hands are not the artist my brain is

- lack of sleep

- second and third winds, preventing sleep when I can actually have it

- drowning my sorrows in tea and baked goods (Timmies has these really good red velvet muffins right now)

- I like tea better with sugar, I've discovered

- which, you would think, wouldn't be a big deal

- but it is because the caf has sugar

- and I don't. So now if I want tea with sugar, it has to be when the caf is open

- which is never when I feel like tea

- going on an awkward outing with a boy that likes me

- drinking bubble tea on said outing

- which, quite frankly, was disgusting

- the bubble tea, that is

- there's this kind of middle aged man that works at Renison, doing maintenance stuff and odd jobs and whenever I see him, I just smile. Cause he seems like one of those guys that would just be really great to hang out with, like he would always be happy

- tea/sugar update: I've stolen some sugar packages from the caf

- but they're sugar alternatives, so I'm sure it will not be as good

- listening to Coldplay's "Fix You"

- avoiding my 5 hours of studying by writing this post

-  oh I also forgot to mention the hour of photoshop tutorials I need to watch

- because heaven forbid I don't know how to use the eraser tool and I need to watch a 5 minute video on it

- complaining to the void (you guys) about my problems

- which are nothing compared to the problems in Africa, which were mentioned in this morning's service

- I'm sitting by a window and these two squirrels keep running back and forth

- two mid-terms, a presentation, three chapter readings, and an assignment all (due) on Friday

- residence weekend brunches are my fav meals of the week because they have baked beans and pastries

- eating said pastries despite the fact that I already had a muffin

- I forgot to mention earlier that the muffin I got from Timmies was fresh baked; that's the pro of being up early, they've just opened and so everything was still warm and soft and gooey on the inside

- listening to Coldplay's "The Scientist"

- this post is taking longer to write that I originally thought

- apparently my time judgement is just completely off these days

- I went to the bank

- but forgot it was Sunday and the morning

- so it was closed

- so I couldn't get the loonies I need for laundry

- so that will be interesting when laundry day comes around (Wednesdays)

- I read on the bus

- because that's the only time I can find to read

- and I've really missed reading

- my tea has gone cold because I've been too busy typing to drink it 

- strawberry danish and red velvet muffin down, bread pudding to go

- I was going to try and stop eating to much in the pathetic hopes that I would look half decent in my bathing suit next week

- but to hell with that

- speaking of next week

- I can't even get excited because I have so much stuff to do

- including packing for next week

- which I'm stressing out about

- cause I'll probably forget something important

- like my bathing suit

- and I'm going to have to haul it all to Stratford

- don't even get me started on Stratford right now

- I am just about done with that place

- more specifically the campus/courses/professors

- damn this is taking a long time; listening to Hunter Hayes' "Invisible"

- I just dropped a piece of my bread pudding -_-
- my skind is really dry
- like, never before in my life has my skin been this dry
- the skin over my knuckles is cracking and splitting
- it's not like I needed that skin anyways

- the LEGO Movie got 97% on Rotten Tomatoes

- which makes me really happy

- cause I want to see it

- but now I really want to see it

- just watched The LEGO Movie trailer

- here, you can too:

- yeah and now I'm basically just stalling to avoid work

- oh hey I can do my daily things

- (the squirrels just ran by again)

91. Best room for a fireplace?

a cold one?

Sherlock: Character everyone likes but you don't.

Probably Anderson. Everyone hated him up until season three, where he was the only one who believed in Sherlock. And I really liked learning more about him in this season. But I'm still not a huge fan though.

I'm sitting pretty on the throne / There's nothing more I want / Except to be alone

- The Love Club, Lorde

QOTD #59

59. Take a vitamin daily?
When I'm at home, I take this adult gummy vitamin thing. I'm not actually sure what it gives me, basic vitamins, I guess. But I don't when I'm away at school.

Happy New Year!

To ring in the new year, I thought it would be cool to create a 2013 in review. Because if I'm honest, it all feels like so long ago and I've probably forgotten half of it. So here is my 2013 in review:

- submitted university applications
- got my G2
- took guitar lessons
- got accepted to 3 universities
- got rejected by one university
- went on a cruise
- bought a new lens for my camera
- graduated high school with honours 
- worked at FCC for the summer
- got a laptop
- started university
- saw Justin Bieber's star in Stratford
- turned 18
- became obsessed with tumblr
- folded 87 paper cranes
- improved my guitar skills
- got a new phone
- surprised my BFFLAAT at the train station
- made 3 new friends (and other acquaintances)
- created a gif for the first time
- took my fangirling to a whole new level
- visited my BFFLAAT in Toronto
- saw Catching Fire in ULTRAVAX
- made my first ever animation
- decorated my house for christmas all by myself
- finished term 1 of year 1 of university
- made 14 glitter jars
- started spontaneous dancing
- travelled to Ottawa
- made 226 blog posts
- made 2.5 quilts
- read 45 books
- baked 1500+ cookies (at camp while I was working in the kitchen, and at home. Technically I didn't bake each cookie at camp myself, but it sure felt like it.)


I'm sure I've forgotten lots of things. But this is a lot!

Andrew Garfield

Italian Lesson

In English when you say the year, 1995 for example, you can say it either as "one thousand nine hundred ninety-five" or as "nineteen ninety-five". Most go with the latter. However, in Italian, you don't have that option. You have to say it all out. So 1995, for example, would be: millenovecentonovantacinque. All one word, too. To break it down: mille-nove-cento-novanta-cinque, which is thousand-nine-hundred-ninety-five.
Hope you enjoyed your lesson!
(I was more doing this to point out the length of saying the date, rather than actually teach you anything.)

i before e...

except after c

weirdly inefficient

Gloves

Today I bought touch screen gloves. (When I say touch screen gloves I mean gloves that you can keep on while using a touch screen, in case that wasn't clear). I didn't buy them because they were touch screen, but because I needed gloves (WHY IS IT SO COLD OUT), and they were only $3. I was skeptical as to whether they would actually work. However, I was pleasantly surprised when they worked and the tips weren't too fat so I could still text.
Also, little bro, I don't know what hot chocolate powder you sent me to school with, but it sucks. Flat out, makes horrible hot chocolate. I don't know if it's because it's old or just because of the brand. Anyways, when I'm home this weekend, I'm stealing the Timmies hot chocolate powder and nothing can stop me.
This is a new song that I started listening to because iTunes was like, if you like Bastille, you'll probably like this too. And I do, so I thought I'd share it with you. It's Dreaming by Smallpools.

Costumes

Here are some of the costumes I saw today:
- witch
- luffa
- Mario
- Luigi
- fairy
- Bananas in Pyjamas
- mime
- Edward Cullen (it was kind of scary how good of a costume it was. He looked like RobPattz, had shimmer stuff all over his face and dark circles around his eyes. He had a grey dress shirt and jeans on and he carried an apple around all day. He even kept this pained expression on his face!)
- Captain Crunch
- mermaid (the daughter of one of the employees of Renison)
- scarecrow
- gypsy
- cat
- angel
- Isabella from Phineas and Ferb
And me, as Mary Poppins! I am pretty happy with how my costume turned out. (Even thought it ended up costing me way more than I thought it would).

My floor also decorated:

It was hard to take picture because it was so dark. But here's what we did: we covered the walls and doors with garbage bags, hung cobwebs, a scary ghoul thing that moves when you open the door, bats, little ghost guys, bones on the floor, etc. We covered the lights with red tissue paper so everything glows red. Then we took red paint and put handprints on the garbage bags. My favourite part is we got cards that make sound and put them in the door hinges, so now when you open the door, you get sound effects! One screams and makes the duh-duh-duuuuh sound. The other one is the Harry Potter theme song, which I'm not really sure how that's related, but whatever. Oh, and we have a motion activated talking pumpkin :)

Bridesmaids

My floor just watched the movie Bridesmaids. And after all the commotion after it first came out, I was expecting great things. I knew it was one of those movies that wasn't really that great, but was so funny that it didn't even matter. But I have to admit, I was sorely disappointed. I don't know, maybe I just wasn't in the right mood, but I did not find the movie entertaining. Maybe it was built up too much and I was just expecting too much. There were some funny moments, but not funny enough to even remember. I don't know what the last number of paper cranes I'd folded was, but I have now folded over 80 cranes. I have to admit, they are starting to lose their charm. I still love my really big one. Maybe tomorrow I'll get around to posting some pictures. I made a paper crane family :)
The school work is starting to pour in and I really need to sit down tomorrow and get stuff done. I keep panicking because for some reason I'm just really messed up with my dates right now. I keep thinking that it is later than it actually is. Not that that means I'm going to delay working, but I just don't need to be putting so much stress on myself. Today in astronomy we were assigned two assignment that involve tracking stars. We get to use telescopes (which look really funny, I'll have to take a picture when I get a chance to use it) and maybe even the observatory. But it means sitting out in the cold and the dark. I'm not going to be alone though, my friend is in the same class and we are allowed to work in groups so we are doing it together. Today during my break between classes I played guitar. I decided since it was so nice out that I would play outside. I actually played just outside my bedroom window, but it was nice to have a change of scenery. And to let you all know, I was complimented twice, thank you very much! But my back hurt after from leaning over my guitar. I am going through my iTunes library and seeing which songs I can play. That's a big thing for me, being able to play a song that I enjoy.

Posters Make Me Happy and My Room Prettier!

Since I don't have Adobe Illustrator, which I need for an assignment I'm working on, I thought I'd search out the lab on campus that does have it. Of course, it would be in the building that is on the exact opposite end of campus from me. So I packed up my laptop and camera and hiked across campus. Only to discover that a professor had booked the lab and I would not be able to use it. It looks like there is a time when I can use it tomorrow, but using this lab is going to be more difficult than I thought. My back hurt by the time I got back. Cameras and laptops are heavier than they appear. Renison, the building I live in is also the home of Waterloo's East Asian Studies and there is currently an East Asian Festival going on. The floors have been challenged to fold the most paper cranes. The prize is sushi for the floor. At first I didn't think my floor was actually going to try but then our don said that we were. So I was folding paper cranes in all my free time today. I've folding over 30 so far. We have until the 26th to hand them in. It's one of those things where you think you're doing well but there's probably somebody on a floor somewhere that has been folding cranes non-stop. Oh well. My hands are getting sore.

This week there is a poster sale in the SLC building. Some of my friends were going and invited me. I said I'd go but wasn't planning on buying any because posters can be pretty expensive. I took my wallet though just in case. They had tons of different posters: tv shows, bands, singers, quotes, art, typical poster things (like the Periodic Table). I was shocked. They had them set up in these zig zag rows. It was a little intimidating. The posters also varied in size. Most were standard poster size, but they had little ones, medium ones, skinny and long ones. And some that were huge. I'm talking 45+ inches across. And they were basically all under $24. That's how much the huge ones cost. If I had room, I would have bought a huge Starry Night print. The standard sized ones were $8-12. I was impressed. I ended up buying three. Two are small and one is long and skinny:

I love them. I bought them with some money I got for my birthday. I love them! They make me so happy. There was a Sherlock one, but I didn't like the design really. Shame.  One of the friends I went with was having trouble deciding which ones to get so she's going to sleep on it. She also wanted to measure how much wall space she had. There is a lot of wall space (relatively speaking, of course) but it's all very broken up, there isn't a lot of big spaces for posters. That's one of the reasons I got smaller ones.
I am going to see how many more paper cranes I can fold and then go to bed. I am going to try going to bed at a more regular time. I have a really hard time falling asleep here. It doesn't help that my roommate has gotten into the habit of staying out late. It's not like she's out partying or anything, she's studying or working. Sometimes I don't see her all day. But she'll come in and see that I've already gone to bed. And proceed to turn the light on and do various things. I'm ok with her turning the light on briefly to get ready for bed but then she needs to turn it off. She usually ends up doing more work. I'll have to talk to her about lights out again.

That's It. I'm Offically Done.

High school, that is. Well, I was done yesterday. But same thing. It all seems so surreal. I am going up to camp tomorrow and staying up there until the end of week one, which isn't until July 5th! SO long.  But it is going to be so much fun! Just got back from having sushi with some friends, some of which I will probably not see in a very long time. It's hard not to think of this time as the end of everything
It is the end of
1. High School
2. Seeing most of my friends every day at school
3. Youth Group
4 Sewing (kind of...at least regularly)
5. Scrapbooking (I'm taking a SMASH journal with me to university, so that's kind of scrapbooking....)
6. Living at Home
7. I suppose #6 also means no more allowance...
8. Seeing my family everyday
9. Having my laundry done for me (that's a big one... Shout out to my mom for all the years she has been doing my laundry and hardly ever complaining)
10. Parents paying for sushi
It's going to be a tough life.
And I know, "I should be thinking of all the beginnings!" Yeah well here's what I think:
It's the beginning of
1. Living with a stranger
2. Going to a brand new school knowing nobody
3. Living away from home for good
4. Eating cafeteria food every stinking meal
5. Realizing how much everything actually costs
6. Not having a vehicle to drive (or be driven around in)
7. Having a room half the size of what I'm used to
8. Did I mention living with a stranger?
9. Having to share a bathroom with the entire dorm floor
10. Having to pay for textbooks
This doesn't seem all too bright. I don't know what you guys are thinking with all this "new beginnings" crap.
Nah, I'm just joking (kind of). I know that it's a big change but change is good. And I'm so blessed to have my parents supporting me along the way. But you also have to see how there are some down sides to all this.

Recursion

A while ago, (well, a loooong time ago), I was bored and so I looked up funny things you can do with Google. You know, like when you search Google Gravity and hit "I'm Feeling Lucky". Or if you search "do a barrel roll". One of my personal favourites is "askew". When I was searching through the various tricks, I came across that if you typed "recursion" into Google, it will say, "Did you mean: recursion ?" But it would be spelt the same way. At first (and up until now) I thought Google had just made a mistake.  But now that I'm studying for computer science, in which I learned about recursion methods, I finally understand what Google was doing.

re·cur·sion  

/riˈkərZHən/

Noun

1. The repeated application of a recursive procedure or definition.
2. A recursive definition.

 If that doesn't make sense, basically (at least in computer science), something that is recursive is something that calls itself. I would try and explain that using methods and other computer science stuff, but none of you are going to understand it, so I won't bother. Anyways, when Google says "Did you mean: recursion ?", the word is a link to the word being Google searched. So when you type in recursion and click on the link from "Did you mean: recursion ?", you get the same result: it called itself, therefore causing the Google search of recursion to be recursive itself.
Needless to say, I love Google.

It's Over

Today was my last day of high school EVER.  I can't believe it. This last semester has flown by. It doesn't feel like it's done. Partially because it's actually not, I still have to write exams. And that is the reason why I am refusing to let myself believe that it's actually ever. Get back to me on Monday and I'll say differently.  I don't know if you remember last year I talked about how I was making Battleship for my computer science class?And how in the end it didn't really work? Anyways, this year for our final project, we did Reversi (aka Othello).  This year we actually got it work. It didn't have some of the features we had hoped for, but at least the main game actually works, which I am extremely happy about.  After exams, I head up to camp. Then after camp, off to university. Then after that, a job/career. You can throw a family in there too. Then after that retirement and grandkids. And of course the inevitable death. (Unless they've invented life preservation or something. Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think I would want to live longer than an average life really...well, to 105) Wow. my life is basically done. Haha. But seriously. I can't believe how quickly everything is going.  My dad painted the driveway today, and for some reason he used this stick:

I'm presuming to stir the paint? The better question is, where did he get the stick? Did he cut it off our tree because he thought, "Gee, I really need something to stir this paint with. Ah, look. A tree." We will never know...
I had a party the other day, and one of my friends randomly brought flowers, and I have to say, some of these roses were the most photogenic roses I have ever seen:

And this is a wasp repeller thingy. I'm not really sure why I was taking pictures of it, but I LOVE how this one turned out:

One last thing, my friend told me about this new movie that's coming out, and I'm so excited. It looks like it's going to be a great movie, funny too!

I have to admit, at the beginning when it said the biggest movie ever assembled, I thought after that is was going to say "... IN LEGO". Ah well.

Prom Day

This morning has changed my life. Today, for those who don't know, today is my prom. Now, a lot of people (mainly girls) didn't come to school today. But I figured I didn't need to miss an entire day of school. And my math teacher said she was teaching a lesson, and I didn't want to miss that. However, I didn't want to look tired so instead of waking up at 7am like I do every morning, I woke up at 7:30. I have art first, and so I figured it wouldn't be a big deal if I showed up late. So I wake up and I'm getting ready and I'm not looking at the clock, because I just want to take my time and not rush. I get to school an what do I hear? A song playing over the PA system. Let me explain the morning PA system at Oakridge to you. They play random songs before classes when people are arriving. But then Mission Impossible starts playing in the last 5 mins before you have to be in class. When I arrived, a random song was playing. So do you see how this changed my life. For the past 4 years I have been getting up at 7 and making it to school on time when I could have been waking up at 7:30 and still have plenty of time to make it to school before the bell. I could have been sleeping an extra half hour every day. And I would discover this when there's only a month left of school.

More Photos...Hopefully

Ducks...and A Swan

As requested, here are some of the photos from my Art Trip. 

Or I guess not because my computer is being stupid.

Well I got these ones to work...