Last weekend, Mickey and I went cabining with a bunch of friends! They're more his friends than mine, but I definitely felt myself bond a little more, being stuffed in close quarters for 2 days.

On the first night down there, we unpacked the cars, hung around, explored the surrounding areas, and had a big lasagna dinner (it was pre-made by the lovely Sarah and reheated in the oven). I'd been up for 36 hours due to school work, so I went to bed while they stayed up a few more hours.

The following morning, Julie made us all breakfast (eggs, bacon, and danish.) Mickey and I did Yoga behind the cabin, and after a bit, we went out on the hike. The cabin was on the coast of Lake Ontario and Julie found it on airbnb. Once we got to the top of the trail, we saw what are called chimney bluffs. They were gorgeous and it felt like, for a moment, we were on the ocean's coast of a terraformed Mars. I'd never seen mud cliffs until that mment, so it was a treat. At one point, as we stood on one of the various cliff edges we stopped at, a water flow burst from the side of an adjacent cliff and sent a burst of rocks down with it. It wasn't a very large water flow, and because it was brown water, flowing down a brown muddy cliff, it took a moment to figure out what had happened, honestly. We mostly thought our cliff was going to collapse and that we were going to die! ha... But no such thing happened.

Mickey and I veered away from the group for a while when the cliffs edge was low enough to climb down onto the rocky beach. Naturally, I got stuck as my shoe came off in the mud while we descended, until i managed to wriggle myself out, shoe intact. I never dress appropriately for wilderness activities. I guess I'm just a city gal at heart! We reached the end of that trail and all laid together on the beach for a rest until we headed back up to the cabin, half way down a different path until it joined the original one. We wild-harvested some ramps! They were tasty with green beans.

We had grilled burgers, sausage, and venison steak (omg the second best meat experience I've ever had in my life. The marinade was so, so right.) with ramps and green beans for dinner. After that we went out for a bon fire and made s'mores out of Julies homemade(!!!) marshmallows, homemade(!!!) graham crackers, and fancy chocolate. Holy shit, so good, i ate way too many. We told stories, played games, ate tons of marshmallows and chocolate and graham crackers, drank, and laughed a lot. After, we played hide and seek in the cabin. I didn't win because I gave myself up and got tired of waiting to be found. I had a good spot! Sylvestre taught Scott and I how to play a swiss card game after everyone else went to bed until finally we turned in also.

The next day, we woke up, cleaned everything, and headed back to buffalo. I woke up feeling like a million bucks, and had a ton of energy. Normally I'd be exhausted, but I think I finally had a solid time of non-forced interaction with all of his friends; it was just sort of free-flowing and comfortable so i didn't have to expend a lot of energy doing it, but i ended up exhausting myself later. We went to one of his friend's bday party, and then to Julie and Scotts to watch game of thrones and mad men. I had no clue was was happening on mad men. I was not up for quite that much social interaction for the rest of the day, and it didn't help that i unknowingly ate a pot cookie at the party we went to.

I have to start putting my foot down about that sort of thing or just skipping out instead of over extending myself like that. I guess I just feel like I'll miss out? I don't know why I do it, I know how i feel afterwards. I guess I just expect him to be more considerate of how i operate, but maybe that's asking too much, since he's such an extrovert and needs all that social contact, whereas i definitely needed alone time after a weekend cooped up with his friends. Either way, i had a fun, eventful weekend!

Here are some pics! Most of them i didn't take.

I can actually just immediately follow up on my last post.

I finished with having to settle on a place to study.... well, I have!

In may, the application process to study abroad opens at SUNY New Paltz, and I've chosen to go to Seville. I recently had a mid semester interview with one of my Spanish professors, and he really motivated me to go to Spain. My older professor just really didn't know what to tell me and didn't really guid me very well, so it really discouraged me until i had that conversation the other day.

My plans are to go by spring 2015. I'm hoping to work a ton over the summer to put away some money (I wanna get a second job), but i'm really bad at money, so I hope I can exercise some new found restraint.

____

Things are going well, mostly. I say that, but in reality, I never know quite how to classify how i'm doing in life... but it's definitely not terrible.

School always seems overwhelming to me. I'm considering asking for a referral to a psychiatrist in order to be tested for ADD. Focus and discipline are my biggest problems I face, and I think if I could just find a way to help myself along, I could be going places and doing things (not so slowly)!

Things are well with Mickey and I right now. At this exact moment, I'm contented, but there's some over-arching issues that will eventually need to be smoothed out. We had a bit of a down time, and I've been writing out things I want to talk about, what I expect, what I feel etc, and I've brought some of it up in conversation, but a lot keep to myself, because I really wonder if I'm just expecting too much, if I need to just cool it. I just feel such an urgency about everything, lately. I'm developing this mind set about where I wanna be and what I wanna do and how I want to feel about my life. I want to feel settled, to create a home, I want to be done with school and pursue my budding dreams, and I don't want to be casually seeing someone a couple times a week while that happens. I can't buy a house yet, or afford much at all, but you don't need a lot to make a place feel like your home, like you have a little burrow or hole or nest with someone that you can grow as a person with. He eventually wants these same things, but doesn't really feel any rush. My opinion is why wait, and his is why rush. His stance is really sensible, but i think sometimes he adheres to imaginary rules for reasons that maybe i don't understand. Living together is an issue for me. Everything about it is a plus to me. I would feel less needy, our expenses would be cut, I wouldn't have to travel across the city all the time between work, school, my place, and mickeys, and thus have more productive days, and I'd be able to be more attentive to my mundane duties and to my animals. How much time have I wasted waiting for busses to go to mickeys... let me actually calculate this.

so the first 5 months, I was spending almost 5 - 6 days a week at his place, going home to feed the animals or to pick up necessities 2 or 3 times during that time. so the initial trip is about a half hour (walking, waiting, riding, walking) and so are the rest, really. so, going there, 2 to 3 trips to and fro during the week, and the last one home until i came back... that's 6 half hour trips if i'm being conservative. 3 hours a week x 4 weeks (12hrs) in a month x 5 months... that's 60 hours traveling, right? that's close to 3 full days. The last 2 months, we limited the time we spent together, so he could focus on the show and I could focus on school so I spent 1 to 1 1/2 hr a week traveling... so if i count every other week and 1 and 1 1/2 hours, that's 20ish hours in 2 months... so I've lost 80 hours of my life, only traveling to mickey's and back home. 3 days and then 8 more hours.

So basically I'm being a brat, and makes me sound dissatisfied, which is ony 5% true.

My sister April, who i used to live with had a baby. her name is ivy. she supah cute.

well that entry was twice as long as i intended to make it.

Well, hello estrip. Been a while. At this moment, I'm on a bus to new york while Mickey is draped across the aisle like a trout. Or a plank. Haha... things have been a tornado-y hurricane-like whirlwind of go go go at all times.


I started ub in august, and i guess i.like it. I hate the hour commute. I've never wished i had a car before... hm.
My classes are all pretty interesting with the exception of 1 painfully boring professor. I'm excited, i guess. I'm finally taking the courses I've wanted to take. 2 Spanish courses, a korean course, and a linguistics course. So far i think I'm doing well. My attendance could be better, but what's new?

I started a new relationship, too. I couldn't be happier with it. The dynamic is different from anything else I've experienced. I foresee good things over the horizon.

I also moved! Amherst street ain't bad, but it's no elmwood village or Allentown. I'm never really home either. My room is huge though.

It's kinda tough making friends on campus. Foreign people stick together and all the Americans are all 'don't look at me' and 17 years old. I'm also the oldest person in every single class I'm in. That's what was nice about ecc ... it was so diverse. I was never the oldest person in the room. I was taking human sexuality with men and women older than my (dead) grammas.

That's not really important i guess.

I have to get serious about my study abroad. I gotta settle on a place.

weirdness: yesterday, i left the house to do laundry. 15 minutes later i return, and the strawberry plants are ripped clear out of the planter from my front porch... okay, wtf. Then Jenn and I head back out to have food at the Essex, and upon returning, there is a plunger wrapped in a liquor bag stuffed in my mailbox. What.

So the notice was given in the mail about whether we are staying here or not; No.

I'm mostly feeling okay but i smoked a little last night and had an inner-freakout about it... I think i kept it under wraps pretty well.

Yesterday i had a really good vegetarian pulled porn sandwich - it was made with spaghetti squash! An old schoolmate cooks there now. He's super hot still, kind of hotter. beardy guy with a fantastic physique. i want to gnaw on his calves, kind of?!

today is... i don't know. bleagh.

So... Earlier today, was the second run of Shalter, an LGBTQ-themed play written and directed (and starred in) by Amy Upham. I started out yesterday very nervous and unsure how things would turn out. my adrenaline was high, and my joints trembled slightly. But the lights came on, and we walked out there on that stage and faced a crowd of people who were eager to be shown something special. The play dealt with a lot of important things facing our community; some things we all know about, and some things that have only recently began to see the light of conversation, addiction and abuse being the two biggies. And, of course it was filled with warm fuzzy moments of closeness: new love, deep friendship, and funny encounters. It was a full buffet of emotions and experiences!

I acted for the first time, along with some other theatre-virgins, and the experience was truly enriching, empowering, and inspiring. We worried a bit, but in the end we all pulled through like stars!

I can definitely say that I would act again. It was an exhilarating experience!
one thing i didn't like about it was having to shave. Bearded-hairy-legged characters from now on, only. haha! I felt naked, (well, i was half naked for a scene.) and unnatural.

It was great to have my family come out and support me. Some of my friends even came! What was also great was that plent of people we all knew and didn't know at all came, so it was a nice mixed crowd out there, filled with plenty of compliments for us after both shows.

It's been a a few hours since it ended, but it was good to just go home and rest afterwards. I was thoroughly drained from the experience.