fall break review.

during fall break, i split my time between denver and reno. i don't have any photos or exciting updates from my time in reno because i was sick, so i did very little besides rest. but my mom had some surgeries, which she is still recovering from. she had her first post-op yesterday and there seem to be no complications. my dad said she still needs a nap most days, and it has been a slow healing process, but hopefully she will be at 100% soon.

while i was in colorado, i also did a lot of resting and relaxing, but it was a treasure to spend the time with my grandparents. it was especially sad leaving this time. my grandpa said "i suppose there is no certainty, but we hope to see you again soon." that brought tears to my eyes for sure, but i tried to hide them. he has good days and bad days. fortunately, while i was there he was doing pretty well and seemed very happy.

my sister decided that we should go to pikes peak during my visit. here are a few photos from that excursion:

we stopped when we were about halfway up at this beautiful lake. it was really an ideal time of year for this trip because some of the leaves were changing color, and it was such a pretty contrast with the pines.
we stopped to see this little fox, who a local told us is named bart. he slowly crossed in front of the car and did not seem too fearful of people. i was tempted to get out and try to approach him, but i didn't. :]
sooner or later, we got up to the timberline. it's pretty funny how drastically the scenery changes when you get up so high. it's very desolate and rocky compared to the dense forrest that you find below the timberline.
jamie told us that this road has not always been paved. it was scary enough driving on the paved road, but i cannot imagine driving on it when it was just slippery dirt. there were a few times when my heart was just racing from the sketchy road.

when we made it to the top, we stopped into the little shop they have up there. i suddenly remembered that i had seen a little feature about pikes peak donuts on the food network, so i had to have a donut... which turned out to be a $4 mediocre donut. ha.

it's very rocky and pretty scary in some areas at the top, but i tried to be brave and go out a little way to explore. i'm honestly amazed that there are not more accidents up there, although i did not inquire about how many there are... so who knows.

my sister and i both made pretty poor shoe choices for the day. i had tennis shoes in the car, but i forgot to change. so yeah. it was definitely slippery.
and then thanks to my shoe choice, i ended up embarrassing myself in front of several people waiting to take photos here. one of my shoes flew off [you can see it in the photo] which complicated my landing to the point where i stumbled around and pretty much fell. not one of the highlights, but it's funny to me now.
on the drive back down, we got to see several goats. well. i think they are goats? haha.
jamie put my jumping photos to shame here.
and finally, a sister picture.

here are a few other photo highlights from denver:

my sister and jamie went to san diego a couple weeks before i was there, and my sister discovered pinkberry. she is officially in love. haha. so we went to downtown denver one day to get a snack there and do some window shopping.
after our snack, we drove by a bunch of disappointed broncos fans leaving a game.
we ate at a thai restaurant one night, and i thought it was pretty hilarious that they had "pineapple chicken" on the menu. it turned out to be pretty much the same as standard sweet and sour chicken. not exactly traditional thai food, but it was really good. and the heart shaped rice scoop made me smile.
we also had cupcakes on the last day i was there from a place near my grandparents house.

the hat that my grandpa is wearing was passed down from my grandma's side of the family. he has a really hard time staying warm, so he wears a hat most days... i loved this hat in particular. it's hard to see in the photo, but it's like an old beaver hat. :]

my sister came to reno two days after i left denver to help my mom since i had to go back to school two days after her surgery. since i knew she was coming to reno, i wasn't planning to go to denver, but then as my break was getting closer, i just decided that i should go. and i'm really glad that i did. :]

fall?

yikes. i sure have been a bad blogger.

i'm battling a bad cold right now, but i wanted to stop by and say that i'll be posting sometime soon.

my fall break is just finishing up, and i am sooo not ready to go back to school on monday. this break felt just a little too nice. even if the weather has been a little warm on the warm side. i guess it will be cold soon enough. i went to denver to see my grandparents, and then to reno to be with my mom, who had surgery today. she is recovering at the hospital still. because i have this miserable cold, i couldn't go see her today. hopefully she will be coming home tomorrow, and hopefully i will have kicked this cold by then too.

when i woke up in my bed here in reno today, i got really sad about the thought of going back to vallejo. i guess the adjustment is one of those "one step forward, two steps back" kind of situations. i need to get back into the grind of school soon too because my next block exams will be here before i know it i am sure. while i survived the first round, it didn't go as well as it could have... not just in terms of grades, but in terms of how i handled the stress and anxiety. but i now that i know what to expect, i know how to prepare better. i wanted to have a strong start, but i pretty much knew what i was doing to myself when i put off studying until the weekend before my exams. that kind of thing just doesn't work out well anymore for me. i've never really had to pay a price for my procrastination... and it's hard to change habits when you don't pay a price. but it's definitely time to start working harder.

ok. well. i think it's time for bed now.

and by the way... october, you came way too soon!