I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING. I was talking to Mom on the phone about how everyone in Texas is stopping her while she is walking Tag and Rocco to tell her how CUTE Rocco is. They don't say anything about Tag, but think Rock is adorable. So I had to look up some pictures of Buggs, Rocco's breed. I wanted to see if they are usually more similar looking to Boston Terriers or Pugs... because I don't think Rocco looks like either breed. The answer is that they are all just hilariously ugly.

I guess this one resembles a Boston Terrier more than a Pug:

   I've been watching the Decorah Eagle Live Camera online at school. I started watching when they were still in their eggs. Now they look like they could fly any day now. Oh how exciting my life is.

   Kelly video chatted me last week to show me some home videos that her an I made about 10-15 years ago. I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe. I am so embarrassed with how cool I thought I was in those videos. Kelly, please put those on DVDs and send them to me. Here is a screenshot:

   Mom, I thought you'd like this picture. Chelsea Handler tweeted it the other day:

   And this is just some witchcraft that happened at my friend's house on Saturday night. We were playing a game that involved spinning a quarter on the table until it fell over... and the quarter came to a stop straight up like this and didn't fall over. There is no point to this story other than I took a picture of it and I feel obligated to share the photo.... and now I can delete the picture off of my phone. 

   I'm slowly starting to clean and organize things for when I get to move to Florida. Today I worked on my car. I laughed at how many maps I collected on my trip to Maine from Iowa. But let's be honest, I didn't buy a single one of these.... DAD helped me out.... And they are all in the trash now. 

   Okay, I'll end with showing some updates on my project. The first image is an outboard profile and deck plan. The deck has a table and sitting area, a double wide lounge chair towards the back, a sink, electric grill, and drawer refrigerator/ice maker. 

   The second image is the general arrangement below deck. It includes a refrigerator/freezer, stove/oven, microwave, island/bar, seating area that can be transformed into a bed if needed, and a bathroom with a shower. 

   And the third image is the start of the 3D model that I am working on. 

   I've worked on a lot more than this (machinery arrangements, construction plans, structural calculations, engine installs, electric schematics, etc.) but none of that work is interesting enough to most of the people looking at this blog to be worth posting. I just wanted to make a point that I have been working on a LOT more than what I am showing. I've been very busy, but I try to only post the stuff that I think is interesting enough to you guys. 

Alright cool... I guess that's it for now. 

   I'm going to be a yacht designer!

   Welp, I forgot to send myself images of my design project. So I don't have new pictures of that to post. I am so happy with how it is turning out, though. Hopefully I can remember to post some images of my progress next week.
   So now you just get to listen to me babble about any other random thing I can think of:

   Grandma, look what I saw at the post office the other day. A lady about your age is always walking this dog around Kennebunkport. This was the first time I saw the dog in the wagon, but it looked like he was enjoying it! He was patiently waiting for his owner to come out of the post office. I'm always impressed when I see well-behaved dogs. I've never had one of those.... I guess Jake wasn't an out-of-control idiot... but he had an unfair advantage of being blind and having no choice but to slow down.

   

   Our school hosted a barbecue last week. A local BBQ restaurant catered burgers, ribs, and hot dogs. I've said it before, but I really like the advantage of a small school. We are always getting free lunches.

   Every single day I get more excited to move to Florida. This weather forecast is something I could get used to:

   I really don't know what else to talk about without having stuff to show for my final project. I guess I could talk about what I did this weekend. But all I have to say is, "school." I went to school most of yesterday and today. I wanted to work ahead and do some extra work outside of our assignment. So you just wait to see what I have in store.... And at night I just watched TV or movies on my laptop. One of the movies I watched was called, "Her." SO GOOD. IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YOU HAVE TO WATCH IT RIGHT NOW.

   Oh, and I had a really good cheeseburger from HB Provisions yesterday.


   I don't do much anymore. I'm pretty dedicated to making my final project absolutely awesome (well, what I consider awesome. Everyone has their own opinion on how a boat should look). And it is really fun to work on. So when I have free time I choose to go to school and work on my design. Which means I don't have much to talk about.


This is just a picture that I think is pretty cool. A seahorse looking at his reflection in a diver's watch. It makes me want to go diving again. Maybe I'll finally get certified when I get down to Florida. I'm going to add that to my list! I forgot to mention that. I've started a list of things I want to accomplish in the next year.... by summer 2015. I have a list of about 30 things. Some of them are silly and don't need to be listed on my blog... Actually, they might ALL sounds silly, but they are important to me, so I'll post a few of them.

- Become a yacht designer

- Make a new friend

- Make a few new friends

- See an opera

- Find a new favorite park

- Read three books

- Fill up a sketchbook

- Run a half marathon

- Do a pull-up without assistance

- Volunteer

- Draw a picture for YOURSELF

- Take the same photo of the same place in different weather conditions/different times of day

- Stitch those photos together and canvas wrap it

- Photograph the Milky Way

- Discover new local bands

- Try sailing

- Watch the Star Wars movies

- Stop watching TV while I eat

- Get SCUBA certified

   I have been trying to adjust the layout and appearance of my blog because, on some people's computers, the old layout wouldn't let them scroll all the way through the blog posts. This setup isn't as cool as my old layout, but I'll survive.

   I've been working on a lot of preliminary design work on my 13.2m express cruiser. I'll only share some of the more fun stuff. I did a style study this week... and am still in the process of it. My style study is basically just a bunch of sketches of the exterior profile. I have done many sketches, but here are a few of the more refined ones:

   I chose the profile I wanted and the following are just a few experiments with changing the small windows on the hull and some color studies. I decided to stick with a white or gray house and dark gray hull. As I add more detail and get deeper into the design I'll make sure to post updated sketches. So far I am pretty excited about the directions I'm taking. 

   The weather was rainy the past two days and today it was sunny and almost 80 degrees. It was the perfect weather to help jump start the spring blooming. The outside of my condo looks MUCH more welcoming than it did in February. 

 Just a reminder of what February looked like:

   I went to the park for a short time today with some friends. I watched them play games. I enjoyed sitting in the grass and keeping my distance from the blow dart. What's a blow dart, you ask? It is a long tube that you put a 5-inch long needle in. Then you blow in the tube to shoot people with the needle. It reminds me of a tranquilizer dart gun for fucking tigers. Lucky for the guys, they did not shoot me.. or even pretend they were going to shoot me. 

   I think that's about all I have to say for the week. Happy Mother's Day. 

   30 school days left. I can do it. 

Spring break in Florida

   I think everyone is pretty much caught up on my trip to Florida, but I can at least make a blog post for the pictures I took.... even if everything I say is repetitive.

   Dad and I spent Wednesday afternoon looking at lots of apartments. I chose a two-bedroom apartment at Timerlake Apartments. It is in a great location on University Pkwy, which is an up and coming part of town. Lots of new restaurants and shopping, including a brand new HUGE mall that is supposed to open this fall. The apartment is seven miles from my work and there the drive isn't bad at all. Here are some pictures I took of the place that aren't on it's website.

   I didn't get a chance to take photos of the model unit that I was shown, but I'll post pictures of my new place when I move in. I have furniture ordered and it will be delivered and set in my apartment the day before I'm moving in. Convenient! The complex has two pools, a hot tub, a sand volleyball court, a small exercise room, a clubhouse, and a "lake." My apartment is on the second story with a view of the lake and pool. Great location.
   While driving around, Dad and I drove past this restaurant. Two of my favorite foods! I will be trying this place out shortly after I move down, I'm sure.

   I saw online that there is a restaurant called "The Dry Dock." So I requested that Dad and I try it. But we didn't realize it is a fancier place than the website suggests, and without a reservation, it was an hour long wait for a table. We just went somewhere else to eat. But here is a picture of it. Maybe I'll go back a different time. There was actually a dry dock with a bunch of boats in storage right next to the restaurant.

   After Devin arrived and Dad left on Friday, Devin and I spent some time walking around St. Armand's Circle near our hotel. It is the same area I stayed when I had my interview in February.
   The next day, Devin and I went to breakfast at the hotel and then walked on the beach. Then we went to finish signing some papers at my apartment and eventually made it to a boat show at Marina Jacks.

   After the boat show we went to the beach. Devin and I are still NOT good at taking "selfies." And Devin is probably not excited about me putting these glamorous photos of him on here, but too bad. I don't look any better! But we eventually got a couple good photos.

   On Sunday morning, Devin and I had reservations to go paddleboarding at sunrise. Neither of us had ever tried it before, so we expected to have a lot of laughs. And we didn't expect to stay dry. We did very well, though! Neither of us fell in. We laughed because we figured "expert paddleboarders" who might be watching us probably saw our boards and knew that they were "beginner boards," and were maybe wondering if it is even POSSIBLE to tip one of them over if we tried. But we felt pretty cool! After getting the hang of it for the first few minutes, it was pretty easy to maneuver. I'm anxious to try it again!

    After paddleboarding, we walked to the Lido Beach main entrance. Our hotel was on Lido Beach, but we weren't at the main entrance, so we walked a couple blocks to find it. I'm glad we checked it out for our future reference. It has a bar and food, pool, showers, locker room, etc. We sat at a shaded picnic table and enjoyed some water and popsicles. This guy was hoping for some french fries, but we didn't have any. He got pretty close to make sure, though.

   I'm sure everyone heard I didn't have the best of luck on my flights home. I missed my second flight from Atlanta to Portland. But I'm not upset. I got to hang out with Devin for an extra hour. I got fixed up in a hotel suite with a jacuzzi, kitchen, and small dining room, and I got to watch all the TLC I wanted! And I didn't have to go to school on Monday! The airline gave me an "amenity bag" with all kinds of toiletries in it, including an XL t-shirt. It is the thinnest t-shirt ever. It looks like it would be a cotton shirt that my mom wore back in high school that has been washed a thousand times before handed down to me. So soft and light. Probably my new favorite pajamas. So I really don't mind at all that I missed my second flight in Atlanta. I'm sure I would feel differently if I was sitting in the airport for 24 hours, but the hotel made it all okay. 

   It's time to get ready for bed. I'll try to post again on Sunday and get back on track with my posts. But I'm not sure if I'll have much to talk about. This week doesn't look like it will be as eventful as my trip to Florida. Now that I have a place to live, I am so excited to move down. I know school and my final project is going to go by very quickly. I'll end this post with a quote that I feel I can relate to:

"Everything has been the same for so long I don't know anything else, and I don't know if that should scare me or excite me, because change is coming and it's gonna be a big one. I'm moving on to the next chapter of my life, but that means leaving behind the chapters I've already found and loved. The scary thing about flipping the page is that you don't know what you're going to find on the other side. I just hope it's all worth it, because the people I'm leaving behind are some damn fine ones. I hope growing up turns out to be as amazing as I always imagined it to be."