Free avocado for everyone! :D

Oh my glob.

I've been working on a geologic timeline of Earth for a total of about 7 hours so far... I think I have another hour or two before I'm done.

Lunch break

Walked over to subway. Got the us[ual]. Footlong BLT on honey oat bread with lots-o-veggies. Avocado being one of my things I like on my sammies... They totes didn't charge me for the avocado! I love it when that happens!

... Back to studying for finals.

Oh, Renee, where art thou?

Guess what today is?!?!?!

This afternoon I am driving to Vancouver to pick up my bestie :D

Renee and I go way back:

We met in the fourth grade. She was that weird horse girl though, so I didn't really want to be her friend. Then two years down the road we enter middle school. I decide that it is okay to be friends. A lot happened in middle school. A lot more happened in high school.

Long story short: during high school we practically became one until we left for college.

When it was time for everyone to go to college, Renee went to Nova Scotia. As much as I am sad that she left and miss her oh so much, I am glad that she went out and did something different. She is going to take a lot away from the experience of being so far away from everything that she once knew. She's made lots of new friends over there. I have met some of them through this invention called Skype. It's like being together. Only, you're not.

Anywho, she only ever came home to visit during winter holiday, and summer break.

BUT LAST SUMMER SHE DIDN'T COME HOME!
DUN DUN DUN...

So it's been a whole year since I've seen her last.

And I can't wait until I get to see her face when I pick her up from the airport!!!!!

WAAAAAaaaaaaaHHHHHHhhhhh!!!!!!!! (With arms flailing up in the air)

^That is me not being able to control my excitement.

Autumn, you make me smile :)

Boy oh boy was this a good weekend.

Friday right after school, Autumn and I went to 

Jalapanos for some Big Mamas.

           

On the walk to Jalapanos, we saw this on the side of a building:

        

THEN! We went to Rumors. Got some long islands.

While we were at Rumors, we took pictures in a photo booth! 

I forgot that we had taken pictures in a photo booth until the next day coming off the mountain. It was in my jacket pocket still!

You make me smile, Autumn :)

Then Saturday on the mountain was mostly a gray. It snowed lots.

Sunday on the mountain: Great!

There was a good amount of fresh snow. Sunny and blue skies for a good part of the day. Rode pretty hard. By the time I got back to town, I just kinda passed out. I was exhausted from the awesome day.


So, I'm usually at school when I write my blogs. And most likely in the mac lab in the Com building.

In the twenty minutes that I've been at this computer, 3 people have tried using the one next to me. They move the mouse around. Nothing happens. They look around the edges of the screen. Nothing. They look confused, then walk away.

A fourth person just walked up These things started happening again. So, I told him where the monitor power button was. haha.

There's an app for that!

So, I have a dictionary.com app on my iPhone.

Everyday it comes up with a word of the day. I like to try and guess what the word of the day means before I read the definition, by using my root word knowledge that I learned in high school (Sultan, you know what I mean (I wonder if other schools taught root words like Sultan?)).

Anywho. Today's word of the day was "biblioklept."

I totes broke it down: Book. Thievery.

Definition: A person who steals books.

BOOM. Who's good? Me. lol...

It wasn't that hard...

The sun is "mass" awesome.

Haha. Get it? The sun has an awesome mass.

I know. I'm hilarious.

I just walked out of the com building to find my physics professor standing at a table with two different telescopes. I asked him what they were for. One was to be able to see hotspots on the Sun more clearly, and safely with your eyeballs. The other one was to get a look at the atmosphere of the Sun.

Thats right folks. I looked at the Sun's atmosphere today.

In case you were wondering, there are a lot of hotspots on the sun.

Then as I was walking away, I started thinking about how crazy everything is.

Like everything.

Like,

The WHOLE UNIVERSE.

How we currently are on a planet, that is rotating around a giant ball of gas. We use energy from this giant ball of gas that we are currently rotating around. It makes day and night possible.

OUR ENTIRE EXISTENCE IS DEPENDENT UPON THIS GIANT BALL OF GAS THAT WE ARE CURRENTLY ROTATING AROUND AND IS SUPER FAR AWAY FROM US!!

Crazy concept. I know.

And the distance between us and this giant ball of gas is huge to us.... But minuscule to the rest of the universe. Like we think it's so far away. But there is so much more that is even farther away.

Think about how many other possible planet types there are out there?

I kinda got lost in all of the crazy thoughts that were going on in my head about how small we are and nothing really matters in the spec of things...

When really, everything does matter.

To us.

To the universe, nothing matters. Because it will just start over eventually and disappear as soon as it appeared (right? that's how it works?).

But to the people; living here and now; the smallest little choice can effect someones entire life.

Just think about that.

Oh my gosh. Just stop talking.

K guys, this is gonna be a long one.

Last week:

Class was canceled on Tuesday. Good thing too. Cuz I wasn't gonna go anyway.

Didn't go to class on Wednesday either. Hitched up to the mountain to go snowboarding on the first day of the season instead.

Very worth it.

In order to earn my pass for the day, I had to shadow a lesson. I'm glad that I did because I learned a lot about instruction.

It was definitely a good day on the mountain.

So much powder.

In the words of Great Scott: "Gnar gnar, pow pow."

Upon returning home, some friends wanted to go down to Duvall for a little "get together." Went to that. Had a ball. Mixed white wine with peach four loco. Hahaha. It was actually delicious.

Thursday: Thanksgiving!

Made a turkey. Had a very small group of friends (and by small, I mean three).

We said things we were thankful for. Most of which was friends and family.

I am also thankful for glasses. Contacts are a luxury. But glasses? Those are a necessity. I would have for sure been knocked down by the survival of the fittest rule by now had it not been for glasses.


Saturday and Sunday:

Spent the weekend on the mountain learning how to be an instructor.

Learned lots. I really think this will be fun.

Took a picture:

Pretty sweet, huh?

Sissy cooked us dinner on Saturday night.

Turkey pot pie.

So good.

Good job Sissy. And thank you.

Sunday on the mountain, I learned how to ski.

In the morning, the new ski instructors taught the new snowboard instructors and in the afternoon, we taught the skiers. Just to get a feel for what a real lesson will be like.

Skiing was actually pretty fun. At first, I felt like a giant bird that had big bulky feet that I didn't know how to control. By the end of the lesson, I was mobbin down the slopes. Still felt awkward. But more confident and in control.

K.

So not as long as I thought it was going to be. Just a long span of time.

Snow covered tales

When we spoke last, I had mentioned epic weekend plans? Well it was indeed quite fun.

On Friday after school, My sister and I drove down to Seattle to go to the King Tut exhibit. We went with our dad because he was in Washington [from Pennsylvania] for work so we visited while we had the chance. The exhibit was really cool. I learned a lot about the ancient Egyptians and their lives and the pharaohs and such. After the exhibit, we went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. The pico de gallo was delicious in case you were wondering.

On Saturday Scott, Kyle, Troy, and I went up to Mt. Baker. We camped in a tent in the parking lot up at Heather Meadows. Then on Sunday when we woke up, we hiked a bit and did some snowboarding.

Over the night, it snowed so much! Something around a foot or so? It covered our tent:

Mumford and Friends

I've taken a liking to the band Mumford and Sons. But for some reason, I keep wanting to call them Mumford and Friends.

Currently, I'm sitting in the mac lab in the com building. I'm between classes. I'm eating an avocado. I'm drinking an orange carrot SoBe. There are three other people in this lab with me. I don't know them.

Today is Friday.

I spent almost every day this week thinking that it was Thursday when I woke up. Not sure why.

I just got out of my physics lecture. My prof really likes to have demonstrations. Today, he had a ball going through a loop-the-loop and a recking ball hanging from the ceiling.

Recently I watched this... documentary... I guess you could call it... About how evolution wasn't real and there is a divine designer making everything and here are all these reasons why... I was to say the least... upset... almost the whole time. I watched it because I was like, "well maybe it would do me good to hear something about what other people think." No. No. I was sorely mistaken.

He (a man with a PhD in biology, mainly studying evolution, who turned creationist) just talked about how there are animals who could not have possibly gone through evolution because it just simply would not have worked. They asked questions like: "Well how do you explain the giraffe and how the sponge under its brain controls the amount of blood that flows so that when it bends down for water it doesn't get too much blood to the brain?"

He was saying that in order for that animal to work, it had to be in that exact form when it was created. But what he was failing to talk anything about was (Jean-Babtiste Lamar's theory) that everything started out simple, then grew more complex. So the population of giraffes and the other animals he was talking about, that work really well now, used to be more simple, then changed in a way to better suit the environment and lifestyle that they live in.

Anywho; It frustrated me. But it's okay. I'm over it.

Here are some really good bands I just  listened to:

Mumford and Sons
Old Crow Medicine Show
Sia
The Avett Brothers

Off to Historical Geology.

Can't wait for these epic weekend plans.

Sleep is over rated (except when you're really tired)

This weekend was lots-o-fun. Here is why:

Friday: Kyle, Autumn, and I went down south to Troy's house. We had a bonfire in the forests of the secluded mountains. We had a few beers, had some good chats and laughs, then headed to another friends house to spend the night.

We stopped at the store on the way there to get some food. I was way too tired to stay awake when we got to the house, so I fell right to sleep on the couch.

THEN!

I was woken up by a plate of breakfast goodies! We had fried eggs, bacon, sausage, and raisin toast. It was also something around 1 in the morning? It was the best thing to wake up to.
Thanks Troy. It was deeeelish.

In the morning when we woke up for realsies, the four of us went to breakfast at a cute little cafe. We then went back to Troy's house and left again. We went to Mount Soc(sp?) to go shoot some guns. It was quite fun. Troy let me drive his jeep. That was also fun.

On Sunday evening, My neighbor had a get together of mostly geology folk to celebrate the making of hard cider. He home brewed two different kinds of hard ciders and had some peeps over to drink it. That too was fun. The only un-fun thing about it all, was that I had to wake up for work at 3:30 this morning :(

But it's alright. Sleep is over rated.

Today, my lab partner and I made a poster for geology about the formation of King's Mountain in South Carolina. It looks pretty cool. I'm proud of it. We did a swell job. High five Christie.

But now, I'm off to bed. I have to work at 2 in the morning and I'm way past my bed time (as I am every night).

Goodnight

Juanita's chips are the best chips.

The other day, I went to Catherine's house. I have a whole new appreciation for Fantasia. I've always loved it. And when my sister, my cousin, and I were young, we used to dance around my grandma's living room to the songs. We would video tape it too. So I have always loved the movie; but for a different reason. Like a kid just enjoying watching the movie and listening to the music. But yesterday was the first time I've seen the movie in a long time.

I appreciated the music in a different way than when I was a kid. The music is beautiful. But I didn't understand the language of music back then. Now I do.

And I could see, in the animation, the way that it went with the music and I could see patterns in the artwork that I never saw when I was a kid. Like in the beginning; violins play. And there are these lines in the animation that I never really knew what they were before. But know I know. They are violin bows moving in actual motions that the musicians are playing them to.

But the song that really got me was the one that has the earth's evolution. It started out with the whole start of the universe thing then moves on through the evolution of life and there were extinctions and the way that they portrayed the extinctions was that the screen went black. It was pretty cool.

I fell in love with the movie all over again.

While I was at Catherine's we painted our nails:

We also ate a whole bag of fiesta size Juanita's chips and salsa and sour cream. I ate almost all of it by myself. It was delish. 

The end of one. The beginning of another.

Today was my first clinic for becoming a snowboard instructor for Mt. Baker. Let's just say, I'm stoked.

On the flip side, yesterday was the last game of lacrosse that I will play for quite some time. It was a good game. We played Western's alumni players. We won. Then afterword, the girls team, the boys team, and alumni from both went downtown for some pizza and beer. It was a good ole time. Good. Ole. Time.

This morning when I walked into the building where the clinic was, I didn't know anybody. I just sat down at a table with some people. We introduced ourselves. One of the guys that was next to me, said that he was 17, about to turn 18 on the 18th. He was a senior in high school. He asked me if I've graduated high school yet.... I laughed.

So there's this new trend in body modification in Japan where people get saline injected into their foreheads. Then the technician sticks his finger on the center of the bubble and puts pressure on it to make it into the shape of a bagel... They're bagel heads:

Doodles

I know this is a pretty plain thing to enjoy, but I love sandwiches. All of my classes are in south campus and in order for me to get subway all last year, I would have to go all the way to north campus and by that time, the line would be way too long for it to be worth it. But this year, they put a subway in south campus. I'm glad. I can get out of class and right into line and there is almost no wait.

They aren't just any subs though. They're really good. I get all kinds of veggies with bacon.

Anywho; I picked up my car last night after practice. It looks nice. They did a swell job. They even cleaned out the inside all spic and span.

I just started reading books on Goodreads. Have you heard of it? It's this website were you can read books for free. I have the app on my iPhone. I was perusing the books that they offered and I came across this book called James Potter. I was like "no. way..."

I loved reading the Harry Potter books. My mom always got them for me for my birthdays. I've never cried during a movie before. I cried when Dumbledore died (in the book).

James Potter is the sequel series to Harry Potter. James is his son. I've only just started reading it, but it seems that it will be a good read. I read some reviews on them (there's multiple books out already) and they seem legit. It's written by a different guy, but in association with J. K. Rowling. I guess that means he just asked for her opinion sometimes.

In physics today, I felt like doodling more than listening to the lecture. Here are my doodles:

The only thing going through my mind was how excited I am to start my training to be a snowboard instructor this year at Mt. Baker. The clinics start on Sunday. I have to pay $90 for the clinic fee. That doesn't seem right. They should be paying me.

On Saturday, I have the last lacrosse game I will probably ever play for Western. This is my third year playing and I've loved every moment of it. But school has gotten harder as the years go on and I work to pay for all my crap so juggling all of that and doing sports is just too much. So after tomorrow, I'll be done with that.

I'm sad that I won't be playing something that I love. I enjoy the camaraderie of my teammates and the fun of competition. I like the physical exhaustion that overwhelms you when you run across the field trying to beat out the girl you're marking. Then when you do. It's like... awesome.

On the other hand, I'm glad that I will be able to have more time on my own schedule and not have to plan everything around practices. Lacrosse really takes up my life.

Also, when the snowboard season starts, I'll be instructing on the weekends, and we have tournaments on the weekends. So it is actually impossible to do both. Yes. I am choosing snowboarding over lacrosse.

I love snowboarding. The way you are free. One with the mountain. All that jazz. It's true. I feel one with the snow; the rocky mountain terrain underneath. I feel it; it's energy; I live it; I ride it.

I become it.

You can forget everything about your life when you're up there. Nothing matters because it's so far away (an hour and a half or so drive time). All you need to focus on is what's underneath your feet at that very moment in time.

I'm here

Okay. I have finally decided it's time for me to start a blog.

I have a very eventful and thoughtful life and I enjoy sharing the details with people.

I thought this would be a good way to share.

I also have a confession.

My name isn't really Willa Dellavit. I made it up. I looked through a bunch of name meanings and other languages to find words that I liked.

The name I came up with means: Desire for life. I feel that it accurately portrays me.

I love life.

It's fun. 

Currently, I am sitting in a computer lab at my school; Western Washington University, not doing my homework and waiting for the next thing on my schedule to begin. 

I live in a house on the north side of campus. I park on the street in front of my house. Last week I walked out to my car to find a giant hole in my trunk. It was depressing. They didn't even leave a note.

So I did what you should do when something like that happens. I notified the police and my insurance company so I could get it fixed. Now its in the shop almost done. 

It'll cost me $300 when I pick it up.

It could be worse.

My insurance is paying for the rest of the 2 grand. I'm glad I don't have to.

Because my car is not available to me right now, I've been using other peoples' cars to get to work. I borrowed my roommates car earlier this week. When I got home, I left the lights on. Next day at work, (I drove my neighbor's truck this time) I get an angry text from him saying he couldn't get to work because his battery was dead and had to have someone pick him up. My bad.

I am accident prone... Probably more than most other people. Earlier this year, I lost his credit card. 

(A girl just walked into the computer lab with the same back pack that I have. I've seen her around. Sometimes I wonder if other people notice me as much as I notice them.)

The homework that I should be doing right now is physics. My major here at WWU is environmental geology. Physics is a requirement for this. I have a midterm next week. I should be studying. I don't really like studying. I don't really like doing homework either. But who does? It's something we just have to do.

I can't wait until the day I get to actually do meaningful work in the field. Not just some made up hypothetical situations from a textbook that probably would never happen in the real world. 

Though, since I've been in physics, I've started to look at the world differently. I have started to think about things in vectors. I've started doing vector addition when thinking about everyday things.

It's interesting to think about all the science that we know. It's mind boggling. I love science. All sciences too. They're all related to a degree. There is so much out there. We know so much.

But there's still a lot we don't know...

I hope that someday, I'll be able to make discoveries of my own. I want to name something.

Now it is time for me to go. I have lacrosse practice to go to. 

We will meet again shortly.