Meh. and other random happenings.

hello to my lovely readers! i am so exhausted from pretending that i am not sick i think this post will be short and sweet.

just to catch everyone up.

im back in school and it is going well. it takes up a lot of my time, though. i miss not being in school although i enjoy the intellectual challenge of it.

david and i have been quite busy perusing town and mingling with friends. my work holiday party, his, social events, 5Ks and the like. we are definitely more active than we used to be.

baby jax is growing up fast. i bought him an XS sweater at the pet store today and it is too tight on him. i think it would last until next week. so i have to return it for a different one.   my family farm is adjusting to him well. jax is slowly growing on them.

we went to a Yelp event today and the local distillery. it was a lot of fun. spent way too much money. on a positive note, it was all to support local businesses. and we got lots of free food samples and alcoholic drinks crafted with the deliciousness of the distillery. i shall post pictures of our event another time. we got a sweet hand-made painting on canvas of emobot.

finally, i have been fighting back this sickness for almost two weeks now. i figured, mind over matter, right? wrong. i am slowly succumbing to the germs brewing within me. its only a matter of time.  thankfully, i have just one more week before i get two paid weeks off work. one of the many perks of teaching :)

twinkle, twinkle, little star

i could seriously stare at the stars all night, every night. it is the most relaxing thing i can do when i am feeling emotionally unstable. or just because. i love looking up at the stars.

for as interesting as astronomy is to me, i know so little about it. i tend to think of questions when i am looking at the stars, then come inside and do my research on that particular question. i guess that is one way to learn.

my question tonight was, "why do some stars twinkle and others do not?"  tonight this was much more apparent to me than other nights.  so i did my research and this is what i found....

(for all you smarty pants out there who already know this, play along) some stars appear to twinkle because the turbulence in the atmosphere causes some of the light from the star to bend and some to travel to us directly.  So, some light gets to us directly, some gets bent on the way, and this makes the stars appear to twinkle.  additionally, i found out that stars closer to the horizon are the ones we see twinkle because there is more atmosphere between us and the star than us and the stars up ahead.  The stars up ahead appear as a steady light.

tonight i felt very fortunate for my short time outside.  the joys of raising a puppy led me to spend a few minutes outside tonight.  i was looking up in the sky, wondering about the twinkling stars near the horizon and the steady stars above me.  I just so happened to look straight up above my house and i caught a shooting star. it was absolutely amazing. what a sight. i just felt so thankful that i was able to experience that tonight.  it immediately diminished my frustrations of jax's potty training process.

the sky is so fascinating to me.  i have been asking for a telescope since this summer. one day i will get it.  the one i want is quite expensive. :/

i also know there is an astronomy club here in las vegas i would be interested in. i am just not ready to get active yet. i want to discover more on my own first.



on a separate note, i promise i am trying to be more active on my blog. i have just been enjoying life with my hubby, our kids, and our new kid, jax! i also started school again. and i am trying to become more active on yelp so i can become an elite. :)

samsam, soph, and jax laying with me in my awesome onsie <3

If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, I'll bet they'd live a lot differently.

-Bill Watterson

mind blowing revelation of the day

This is going to be a short post as i am at work and the kids will be getting up from their nap soon.  I just wanted to post about my thought for the day. I never pieced this together before, but maybe some of you have.

In the recent weeks we (my class) have studied gardening.  We are currently growing vegetables in buckets outside.  Every day the kids watch as we water the plants.  We talk about how the plants need sunlight and water to survive.  That is not unlike us, humans.  I guess my intrapersonal mood set helped me realize today just how much plants and humans are similar.  I speak more so in the sense of our necessity for sunlight.  I recognize that the sunlight provides plants with nutrients and food so that the plants can live.  In the same respect, the sunlight changes our levels of seratonin and melatonin.  Contrary to popular belief, the sunlight can actually be good for you.  Read more about it here.  I started thinking about this today during the conversation I had with the kids.  They wanted to know why we were putting the plants in the sun rather than in the shade.  I explained to them that in the shade the plants are wilting.  They need sunlight to grow big and give us fruits and vegetables.  I told the kids that sunlight makes the plants happy just like when we water them.

Here is the kicker for me....without sunlight, people who suffer from depression also "wilt" in a sense.  Their posture changes, their mood changes, their demeanor and outlook on, life changes; they essentially wither away. We need sunlight to help us stay balanced and happy.  I have considered in the past getting a lamp for myself that I can put one of those light bulbs that are like sunlight in, but I think I would rather make the choice to get more active.

I want to make a better effort to get outside and enjoy the sunlight.  Bad timing, I know, as it is dark when I get out of work at 5:00.  But I can dedicate my weekends to doing something productive outdoors. Not only will the sunlight help my mood and seratonin levels but my activity will bring me joy and possibly a higher level of endorphins.  Who knows, maybe I could be happy AND healthy, haha.   OK I have to go, maybe I will post again tonight....if i am not crocheting. =P Much love!