Birthday

Today I turned 28. I feel old. Well, not particularly old, but I guess I was hoping I would have done more with my life by now. Ever get that feeling? I pictured myself having done great things by the time I was 25 and now here I am...3 years past my deadline...wondering what the crap happened! So I have decided I will list the things that I HAVE done so far in hopes it will make me feel a little better about turning another year older.

I have climbed the Eiffel Tower in Paris and swam with sea turtles in Tahiti. I have been on an African Safari and been to a bull fight in Spain. I've been on a cruise and sky dived from a plane. I bungee jumped from the tallest bungee in the world. I have bought a house and para-sailed in Mexico. I got a degree (worthless I tell ya!) and jumped against a Velcro wall with a Velcro suit. I've been a tutor, Santa's helper, and helped build a house. I've taken a mug shot (wouldn't you like to know!) and swam with dolphins. I've celebrated New Years in Las Vegas and saw a Broadway show in New York. I've watched whales in Canada and walked through a tree. I've been psychologically analyzed (no meds=success, right?!?) and been introduced to a whole new way of thinking. I've caught a firefly, eaten escargot, and bought a car.

So here are some things that I plan to do (hopefully within the next 5 years). I want to bobsled in Switzerland and visit a concentration camp in Germany. I hope to climb through Angkor Wat and see Machu Picchu. I hope to move to another state (anywhere at this point) and try some exotic foods that I can't even describe because I don't know about them yet. I hope to get another degree and maybe my masters by then. I want to finally find a volunteer program that I love and am proud to be a part of. I think that's it. That's a lot for 5 years, so even if I do only a fraction of the things listed above, I'll feel accomplished. That's it...it's time to start livin'.

High School Tag

High School Tag

1. Did you date someone from your school?
Yes. But I wish I would have dated more.

2. What kind of car did you drive?
A blue Bronco II. I loved my car!

3. Did you pass your driver's license test on the first try?
Yep. But it was the day after Christmas and I think they were feeling generous.

4. Were you a party animal?
No

5. Were you considered a flirt?
I don't think so. Maybe a little in Spanish class.

6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir?
Negative Ghostrider

7. Were you a nerd?
No. I don't think there were a whole lot of nerds in our school.

8. Were you on any varsity teams?
Volleyball & track. But I wasn't really good at either, unfortunately.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled?
Never

10. Can you still sing the fight song?
I never could! I only knew the chorus...there's a part in there that everyone always messes up and all the words blend together. It's a dumb song.

11. Who were your favorite teachers?
Mr. Mattson, Mrs. Olson and I liked Chiddy okay

12. Where did you sit during lunch?
We usually left for lunch. My senior year my day was over at lunch!

13. What is your schools full name?
Moapa Valley High School

14. School mascot and colors?
Pirates - Blue & Gold

15. Did you go to Homecoming and who with?
Yeah, It wasn't formal so everyone went stag.

16. Did you go to Prom and who with?
Joe Rawson (junior & senior years)

17. If you could go back and do it again, would you?
If I could bring my current knowledge with me-absolutely!

18. What do you remember most about graduation?
I walked with Kenneth Shunn. The speeches were boring. Annetta gave me a lei. My dress was uncomfortable.

19. Where did you go senior skip day?
I think it's tradition to go to Warm Springs.

20. Were you in any clubs?
Ski Club, Spanish Club, Bleacher Bums, NHS.

21. Have you gained some weight since then?
Oh yeah.

22. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion?
I went-it was fun!

23. Did you have a job while in high school?
Yeah, my junior year. I was an ice cream scooper. Inside Scoop baby!

I Tag anyone who went to MVHS and wants to remember the good old days!!

Tag!

OK here's the rules: Go into your picture files and post the 4th picture from the 4th folder onto your blog! Then tag 4 friends!!

Cadbury Tryouts

This picture isn't so great but it cracks me up anyway. This is Brittney's daughter (my niece) Lauren (AKA Lulu) in 2000. She's such a goof and we love her.

I got yelled at for tagging someone earlier, so I tag whoever wants to do it!

10 Year High School Reunion

I can't believe I've been out of high school for 10 years! I'm so old! I was glad I went, I saw a lot of people I hadn't seen in a really long time. It was great to see everyone.

Me & MonicaNick, Steve, Blake & JaredAnnetta, Jean, Kassi & Nathan

I stole all these pics from Monica and Brooke. I was a big loser and didn't take any pictures....ahh the power of the internet. Our reunion was in Moapa on Saturday. That night, a bunch of us went to Eye Candy at Mandalay Bay. It was a great night!Ronnie, Omar, Jeff, Nick & Brooke

Me & Nick

Knysna Oyster Co.

So like I mentioned earlier, I decided very early on that the Knysna Oyster Co. was a must-see. Knysna actually has an Oyster Festival each year where people from all over the world come to eat their cultivated oysters. I'm not keen on raw oysters, so we opted for deep fried...maybe that would taste better. No, not really.

Knysna Heads

One day we went to the Knysna Heads (remember that book report?). The Knysna Heads are two huge cliffs at the entrance to the lagoon. It's funny, the Indian Ocean didn't smell like the ocean we're used to. You can't smell the salt and all that. I noticed it right away. Anway, the ocean was an incredible blue.

The Knysna Heads is where the ridiculously wealthy live. It's like the Beverly Hills of Knysna. They were cool, so I had to take a pic.

The Old Coach House

After checking out the forest, we went to the Coach House. The Coach House acted as a hotel back in the olden days as it is situated right between Knysna and Plettenberg Bay and was built right next to the main road (back then-it's out in the sticks now). Travelers would stop here on their way to Knysna or Plett. Anyway, these two women that own the house use it as a place to run Eco-Ed, an educational platform for kids to learn about the environment and the natural history of the area. We went to observe some kids being taught-high school girls from Johannesburg on a 10 day science field trip (we never had those!). There are tons of trails and gullies and things that the kids have to go around to find different plants and stuff. Afterwards, they learn about different animals that are native to the area in the natural history museum.
That's Hattie teaching the kids about the fauna in the area. Afterwards, they can walk the labyrinth and take a night walk.Then they have dinner and marshmallows and hot chocolate. It was really fun (and educational-who'da thought?).

Knysna Forest

My Aunt Betti knows a really cool chick named Dominique that is a forest ranger in the Knysna forest. She took us through a tour of the forest-she knew a lot! She knew all the spots to take us. We went on top of this mountain to a place called Spitskopf (sp?). You could see forever-all the way to the ocean. It was awesome!

We also saw "The Big Tree". You're really not supposed to touch it but she gave me special permission to "hug" it.

Birds of Eden

Right next to Monkeyland is Birds of Eden-this hubungous aviary. They had some crazy pretty birds and some funky ones. There were lots of parrots, flamingos, pheasants and all other kinds. You just walk around the forest and see what you can see (and hope you don't get pooped on). The birds are very used to humans so they have no problem landing on you and stealing your jewelry if you don't hide it. They also didn't have a problem thinking my rat's nest for hair was good nest-making material. I was excited that we saw a Knysna Lourie, a native specifically to Knysna!

Monkey Business

On our way home from Addo, we also stopped at Monkeyland. It was great! The monkeys just run around all over the place. They're used to humans so they don't have any problem getting right up in your grill. It's funny, locals think that monkeys are a big nuisance. They will sneak in your house and steal all of your fruit and make a mess. I think they're hilarious!
Basically how it works is there's a guide that will walk you all around the forest and show you the monkeys. The forest was cool-there were big bridges and trails and things.

Anyway, we saw lots of monkeys-I even got to see a ring tailed lemur.
All the monkeys there were rescued monkeys. There were big huge ones and little tiny ones (in a cage so the other monkeys don't get them). It was a lot of fun.

Addo Croc & Lion Ranch

Just outside Addo, there was a small establishment that just said Addo Croc & Lion Ranch. It wasn't very big or noticeable on the side of the street, but I begged my aunt to let us check it out.

It was so neat! I finally got to see my lions! Basically, they use this ranch to raise lions and then they let them go in the wild (at one of the parks). The crocs....I don't know what they do with them.
They even had a tiger (although, they aren't native to Africa so I don't know why they had one). His name was Tigger.
But the best part was a little lion cub named Princess-"Sissy" for short. How can you resist?!?

I'm so glad we stopped. They had other animals, too-tiny monkeys, Lynx, big lions, etc. You never what you'll find at these questionable side-of-the-road establishments.

Blog Delay

Hi everyone,

There may be a blog delay as Betti's computer is out getting fixed and this one is questionable about loading photos. I leave for home tomorrow night. It's gonna be a long trip home-George to Johannesburg, then to Paris, then Minneapolis and then finally home. I'm not looking forward to those long flights but it will be nice to be home again.

The last couple of days we have been living the life of a Knysnan. We took a trip through the Knysna Forest, watched an eco-education production for kids out in the forest, went to an art class, visited the Knysna Heads, and I finally got to go to the Knysna Oyster Co. where we tried some oysters...they're not my favorite. But Knysna is famous for their oysters so it was on my list of things to do. We rode bikes to the waterfront and shopped a bit.

Give me a few days and when I get home I'll post some more pics. Thanks for checkin' it all out!

Port Elizabeth

On our way to Addo, we gave Betti's friend, Fiona, a ride from Knysna to Port Elizabeth. This worked out perfectly because, one-we had to drop her off in P.E. which meant I would get to see it and not just drive by and two-Fiona is a tour guide all over South Africa. The whole drive, she told me about different social issues of SA, the history of the places we were driving through, etc. She really made the ride interesting and she was such an intelligent person. I feel lucky to have met her. Here are a few highlights of Port Elizabeth:
The landmark for PE is the pyramid. Constructed by the governor of the town in the 1800's, PE was named after his beloved wife died before he got there. He built this pyramid in her honor but a few years later he committed suicide because of his grief.

This is some church I thought was cool.

This is the Prince Edward Hotel. It was built in the 1800's and the bottom half was where passers-by would stable their horses. It was really neat.

This is a courtyard inside the Prince Edward Hotel.
This is a typical mural painted across the street from the Prince Edward Hotel. Very South African...

Apartheid

Remember how I was telling you all about apartheid-the segregation that took place here? The blacks lived in these townships that they made out of cardboard, tin, etc. After Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, the South African government did away with apartheid. Even though they tried to do away with it, apartheid is still a really big part of the social issues here because they still live in these houses. Wages are so small, they cannot afford to go anywhere else. It's crazy because you'll see huge homes and then there will be "squatters" that just build their shacks right next to them. The South African president was just booted out of office this week because the folks that live in these townships want government housing built for them and they think a new president (Zuma) will do it for them. It's all very scandalous.

These aren't the best pictures-I took them from the car. They say it would be very dangerous for a white person to walk through there alone.

Knysna

So Knysna is a very cute town and all that, but they have the BEST farmer's market I've ever seen. The food there was amazing! Nothing like I've seen in the states. Everything is organic, homemade, and all the meat is free range. It's only open from 7am-11:30am on Saturdays. My aunt is friends with the owners there. We went to each stall and tasted their foods (cheesecakes, cheese, freshly squeezed OJ, meat, etc) It was really fun. They also have a craft market right next to it that sells all things Africanish so I got all my souvies there. It's a bit like Tijuana here-you have to bargain with them. Things here are about as expensive as the states (except for this huge-ass brownie at the market I got for like $.90!) but labor is dirt cheap.

The owners of the farmer's market have the cutest farm. They built their house on their own and it looks like Alice in Wonderland's white rabbit house with the thatched roof. I thought it was so neat that they did the whole thing on their own (two women).

The other day Betti and I went to the Knysna Elephant Park. It's a small park that only specializes in the Knysna elephant because they were endangered at one point. It was neat because we got to feed and pet them. Don't you just love the baby? He was hysterical. Very curious..

There are so many animals here! We were driving along and a bunch of baboons were kickin' it in the road! I was dying to see some monkeys (well, really anything) and thought...this will work! So I started snapping some photos and wouldn't you know some started getting freakay?

I love the male's face-it cracks me up! Anyway, I also thought I'd share this sign I kept seeing to beware of snakes. I don't know about you, but that picture looks like a cobra to me. COBRAS?!? Luckily, we didn't see any. (this was after bungy jumping).