Manila Jenn???

I'm moving!!!

Luke will have the summer off. I won't be in school but will be working full time at It's All About the Dogs. Luke and I decided to "take the next step," and live with each other for a couple months this summer. Because my current home is already crowded (three women and three large dogs in a small home), there was no way Luke could move in with me here. I've been looking for awhile and have had a really hard time finding anything (most renters won't allow dogs). I found a room for rent in Manila (a tiny beach town between Arcata and Eureka) on craigslist. Originally, I preferred to live in either Arcata (near school) or Eureka (near work). I thought it over a bit and decided living in the middle would work, too. The home (it's actually a trailer, lol) is 8 minutes from school and 8 minutes from work. Perfect! It's on a huge lot, at least an acre large. The entire thing is fenced in. I brought Mushko with me to take a look at the place but he didn't care to come inside. He ran around the yard with my new roommate's dog the entire time. She, Cassie, has a five year old yellow lab, Ruby, very cute dog! The trailer looks like any ol' trailer, it fits in well with Humboldt County. There is a large garage currently used for storage and exercise equipment. There is also a sun room which is where Ruby spends a lot of her time... Mushko and Ruby will have their own room! Best of all, Cassie seems awesome. She is super nice and very easy going. She's also in a long distance relationship with a guy from Chico so it seems as though we have a bit in common. Scratch that, being 6 minutes from the beach might be "best of all," lol. If I walk briskly, it takes about 6 minutes to get to the beach. It's hard to jog with Mushko in any residential neighborhood because he has to be on a leash and wants to pee on every other bush. Jogging with him on the beach, however, is awesome! He doesn't need to be on a leash and if he pees, he can surely catch up with my slow butt. Anyway, I'm super excited. Cassie will be in Chico almost all summer so Luke and I will have the place to ourselves for the most part. I have a very good feeling about all of this, can't wait to move! (I'll probably move mid May, after finals) Here is a picture of where I'll be at (tiny green arrow):

If the pic doesn't work, mapquest the 1900 block of Locke Street, Manila, CA. :)

Redwood Park

I'd love to post a few pics of Redwood Park but it's dificult to post pics on this blog. Anyway, I've added them to my photobucket album. Try this link: http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/scboarder21/Redwood%20Park/?start=all

If it doesn't work, use the link from any of my other postings to open photobucket and then look for the Redwood Park album. It's beautiful, enjoy!

Hello

So it's been awhile since I've posted. Not too much has happened. School is going well, work is good, Luke has been visiting me, and Mushko is having a blast. I've been hiking Redwood Park quite a bit lately. It's beautiful! I'll add a link to pics below. We've also been to the ocean a few times in the past couple weeks. I'm very excited about going to Vegas next month. I've been too busy with school and work to socialize much and can't wait for a girl's trip to Vegas. I've been trying to eat better and exercise more so that I'll look good in a swimsuit - I've lost 5 lbs so far! Luke and I made a salad the other night but I didn't like the leaves. I bought them at the Arcata Farmer's Market and think they were mostly mustard leaves. Next time, I'll stick to romaine or sprink mix - both of those I've liked in the past. Anyway, we put a lot of stuff in it so I'm not sure how healthy it really was. We added chicken, cottage cheese, eggs, corn, and then ate sourdough bread on the side. I added a little bit of ranch to my salad, Luke had thousand island (a lot, lol). Anyway, I think I would've enjoyed it much more had the lettuce been better. I only bought that lettuce because I didn't want to spend too much time in the booth; I had Mushko with me. It was the "bargain mix" or something like that, next time I'll get what I want. Also, I won't bring Mushko. Two people got on me about having a dog in a "supermarket setting." About twenty other people begged me to pet Mushko - several of them even thanked me for allowing them to do so! At one point, four little girls all grabbed onto his face at the same time. He didn't budge. I was happily impressed. I rewarded him yesterday by taking him to the beach for an hour or so (Luke and I jogged with three dogs) and then taking him to work for another six hours. When we got home, he laid on the couch with me and fell asleep with his head on my arm. It was so cute! It's sprinkling a little today so we'll probably go to Redwood Park- the trees block most of the rain. As far as school goes, I must say, I'm an achiever. I get the feeling Luke will punch me if I talk about one more achievement, lol. I'm taking four classes: sociological-technical thinking processes, advanced sustainable management applications, sustainable rural economic development (grad class), and statistical process control and quality systems. In the technology course, we're graded on attendence, homework, and two 15 minute presentations. I've only missed one class, have received 100% on all of my homework, and scored a 96% on the first speech and 100% on the second speech! :) In the management class, we're graded on attendence, homework, and responses to outside lectures - I have an A in this class for sure. In the econ class, we're graded on attendance, homework, three essay exams, and a service project. I have perfect attendance and hw scores. The essays are difficult. We read four very long, DRY chapters and then she picks only four essay questions from the four chapters. If fail to study a section she asks about, the most you'll score is a 30/40 (and getting 10 of 10 on the other three questions is unlikely) which is a 75%! I earned a B on the first exam and will receive the second exam score tomorrow. I'm 99% sure I earned an A on the second exam but we'll have to wait and see. Being a graduate course, this is, by far, the most difficult course. Last, my quality systems course is graded on homework, tests, and a 30 minute presentation. I'm the only female in this class (there are about 17 males and ME) and I definitely have the highest grade in the class. Enough said. :) In summation, I'm almost positive I'll earn an A in each of the undergraduate courses. I hope to earn an A in the grad course too but have another essay exam and large project that will greatly impact my grade. I'm really hoping to earn at least an A-; we'll see! I guess I better go eat breakfast. I miss everyone and hope to see you all soon!