Remebering AL4

As I woke up this morning fretting about rough drafts I have due tomorrow, a lab exam today, and a closing shift I have to report to tonight I thought nothing of the date.
Until I got on facebook.
My mother's status brought back a rush of emotions
"Remembering AL4 today and hope to see many of you at Alki tonight."
That stormy Thursday night, 6 years ago was suddenly crushing down on me.
The AL4 crash was more catastrophic for me than the attacks of 9/11. 
The event was real and hit closer to home, that could have been my mom. 
An Airlift nurse by the name of Jennifer Culkin wrote a memoir a few years back, and it ends with the crash.
To read that is the strangest experience... to see something you thought was so intimate splayed out for the world to see.  I love the book- its one of my all time favorites, but I still get goosebumps as I read about her reaction to the crash.

Lois, Steve, and Erin would not want us to grieve anymore, but to live our lives to the fullest and enjoy every moment. Every laugh, every child, every glass of wine. 

16 years with no end in sight.

Right now I can say the longest consecutive activity in my life has been going to school.
This year marks the beginning of 16 years.

That's 76.1% of my life spent in school, more than (barely) two thirds of my life.

As I sit at my dining room table struggling to figure out why the geography of the Middle East was conducive to the spread of Islam I start thinking about how nice a change would be...

No, I don't want to work at PH for longer than I have to, so I'll keep chugging along with my essays and tests and labs, but a change would be nice.

I'm not exactly sure what that means.

Many of my friends are getting married, and some even have kids.
Both of those sound nice, but not realistic for where I stand.
I don't have my degree so a parent approved wedding isn't an option.
A child out of wedlock would be frowned upon by most of my family, and would make getting my degree harder from what I've heard.

There's nothing that can really change unless I decide I want to take a year off from school- which I wont, because I refuse to work for minimum wage longer than absolutely necessary.

I'm not saying I have a bad life, just a monotonous life for the time being.

Ready to be done with being the student; ready to be the teacher...

No Class!

YAY my first class of the day was cancelled!
Which means my first class is at 10 o'clock!
My 7 hour Wednesday is now only 6 hours!!! WOO!!!
SO EXCITED!
Guess what, I also got to eat breakfast this morning, how crazy is that?
I need to eat breakfast more often, its a good way to start the morning!


HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!

Fall? Are you here to stay?

The coolness of fall keeps teasing us here in Pullman. Here for a few days and gone for a week.
Leaves are starting to change, and the crisp fall smell is in the air.
I can't wait for October so I can do some minor Halloween decorating!
Today I wore a sweatshirt to class! It was wonderful!
I'll stop boring you with my wishes of fall.

Life is otherwise boring in Pullman.
Going to classes, going to work, going to bed.
That pretty much sums up my life as of right now.

Oh! A bit of news...
I was inspired by my father's new blog for his art so I've started my own.
I'll try to update it regularly but no promises.
I post poems, stories, art- old and new.
Here's the link:
http://mywritingmyfiction.blogspot.com/

From none to many

I went from getting very few hours at work (~13.5 a week) to having many (24)!

I'm not complaining, I need the money- I had to ask for an $80 parent loan today. EEK!
Unplanned expenditures are part of life, but not any less stressful. Thankfully my savings account is growing slowly! I've got October's rent good to go, plus a little extra. I've got my utilities paid, and food is stocked, but those damn random expenses.

Of course this is one week I have midterms and exams AND I get my max number of hours. I think I'm balancing it okay. Homework is all caught up on, studying is on track, and papers are in their drafting stages. Obviously, I have enough time to even write a little blog.

Fish

At some point we've all gone into a pet store to buy a fish...
And have been met with the 20 questions game, and the "this isn't right for you" looks.
Why is it that pet store workers must assume that anyone who's coming in to buy a fish is stupid?
Today I had it, I told the guy off and that I knew what I wanted and what would work in my tank.
He seemed off-put by it.
David said I was a little aggressive about it.
But this guy was treating us like idiots.
First question they ask (as they should) is what size is your tank. This is good- I can appreciate this!
But then they go on to assume that you've never done this before... ASK ME! Ask me what my experience is! I volunteered at the Seattle Aquarium! I worked hands on at the touch tanks and in the "Window to the Sound" tank. I helped set up the "Window" tank!!! Come on! I'll tell you this, it will make your life easier. You can go help the mom and her little kid who want a new "nemo". They need more help than I do. I just need the damn fish out of the damn tank!
By the way our new clown plecostomus has settled in nicely in his new nice home.

Our fish tank's population is now:
One clown plecostomus
Three tiger barbs
One algae shark
One silver fish we don't know the name of (told it was a silver dollar, but it's definitely not!)
One red eye'd tetra

Fair Results!

Drum roll please

!!!!!!!!!!

I entered two photos in the Palouse Empire Fair. 

AND

They both were awarded "Second Premium" in the Digital Color- Adult class!
Not bad for my first attempt at competitive photography!

A moment of Reflection

 

Rising from the deep: Pearl Harbor

One of my photos and ribbons on display

!

Food for Thought

A lot of people know I'm hesitant and fairly cynical when it comes to religion- I'd rather look to science for answers than to faith. I don't know if its how I was brought up, or how I learned to respond to years of "Hey do you want to go to Church/Youth group with me? It will be fun" and then hours of awkwardness.

This was recently posted on my facebook by a friend:

Quite a few friends posted that the world would in fact be better without Islam because of the horrors of 9/11. I was shocked and offended by this idea!

Its my personal opinion that the world would be better if faith was used as a tool of personal betterment and not as a tool to hurt or ostracize others. If faith was a completely personal thing and it was agreed that no one's faith was better than anyone elses.

I've grown up in a post 9/11 era and have seen the Islamic community ostracized by the acts of a few radical members.

But what about Anders Behring Breivik? A fundamentalist Christian who went on to murder 80 innocent people Norway this summer.

Do we now ostracize the Christian community for the actions of Breivik?

No.

It cannot be said for sure that 9/11 or the Norway massacres would never have occurred if there was no religion, but they were both religiously fueled.

People will always hate each other for meaningless reasons, and religion seems to be a key component of it in our world right now. Rights of gays to marry (why hate someone for who they love?!), abortion, and even the curriculum in public schools are all effected by religion in public policy that are meant to create an "our way or no way" idealism.

Muslims and Christians worship the same God/Allah. Yet, what is it that causes them to fight? I honestly have yet to find a rational reason behind this.

I love it when I meet people who are happy and comfortable with their lives and their faith. If you're happy, I will never say anything against it as long as no one is being injured because of it.

I, for one, love my life without religion. My moral compass is simple, "Do the right thing". I follow my gut, and let others live.

Sick

Ugh  my weekend came to a close with a nasty head cold turned stomach bug that floored me for most of the day. I'm feeling better, and am now hoping that this will be almost gone tomorrow so that classes are not miserable.

I also feel obligated to make mention of the date.
Today is the 10 year Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks as we all know.
So, I take this moment to bow my head and thank my lucky stars to have my family, friends, and loved ones still safe and sound in my life, and to have been spared the horrors of that day.

Fun Saturday!

Got up and went to the farmers market this morning! Got a huge zucchini (gonna make bread!) and some farm fresh corn. Had some great girl time with a friend and got to laugh a lot!
Tonight, David and I are going to the local fair and rodeo. It will be a lot of fun! Its dinky and nothing like the Puyallup I grew up attending, but still fair in its own way!
I submitted 2 pictures to the fair this year, so I'm a little nervous to find out how the judging ended up! I'll be sure to let you all know as soon as I know! Wish me luck!
Thus far this has been my hardest semester on record... and I'm only just finishing the 3rd week! Ahh! That's okay though, because I'm really getting into the teaching aspects that come just before the student teaching. Its very exciting.
Other than that its just been hot here. Nothing really to report otherwise.
Work is going well, school is hard but good, David is good, the gliders are great as usual!
Sorry I'm so boring :/

The youngest 9/11 victims

Did you know the youngest victim of 9/11 was only 2? Did you know there were 8 children on the planes that hit both the Towers and the Pentagon?

8 children perished that day and have been overlooked by so many.
We think of the emergency responders, the office workers, and the families of the dead.
But what about these children taken so cruely?

♥ Christine Lee Hanson, 2 ♥ David Brandhorst, 3 ♥ Juliana McCourt, 4 ♥ Bernard Brown II, 11 ♥ Asia Cottom, 11 ♥ Rodney Dickens, 11 ♥ Dana Falkenberg, 3 ♥ Zoe Falkenberg, 8 ♥

We must also remember the work of the day care teachers of WTC Tower 5.
Without instruction or hesitation they saved 10 children, ages 4 months to 3 years from the debris of the falling towers. 

Let us remember All who perished on 9/11 as the ten year anniversary draws closer.
No one forgets where they were that day, and no one can say they weren't effected.