Hello all,

Alright, thank yous for all the favorites and comments are long overdue. I'm sorry I can't thank everyone personally for the favs. I respond to any comments though. I'm very grateful for the feedback in any either form. It lets me know if my work is decent or not. Any constructive criticism is welcome as well. I have a ton to learn.



REQUEST:

Ok, before I give an update to those who care to read it, I'd like to make a request, specifically an information-gathering opinion-desiring request. I am wondering what kind of entry level SLR you would recommend. I've been looking at the Nikon D40--any opinions on that? I can't afford anything too good, but I need a camera I can change out lenses on, can adjust everything manually on, and takes high quality pictures preferably faster than a point-and-shoot does. Any advice would be very much appreciated.



Moving on... So, summer. Wow, it has flow by. Time really does move faster the older you get. Sure, I know the scientific reason for it, but it's still surprising. Kind of depressing really. When you are young you spend so much time wishing you were older and then as you get older you spend time wishing you were younger. The great irony of our lives. Argh, I just want to live in the now and not let it move past me so quickly. I want to make every day count, because it will never come again. I finally got around to reading CS Lewis's Mere Christianity this summer. A couple of his beliefs bothered me but far more of them challenged me. His chapter on pride really got me thinking and then he spoke about what Christianity really is--how what it really is all about is us letting God work on our hearts, creating true sons of God. We may have a certain attitude or personality that has a lot of problems but if we chose it, God can mold us into who we were designed to be. All the money and travelling and stuff on this planet will never truly make us happy--we find happiness when we do what we were designed for--what God created us for. Purpose. We need purpose. We need God. You can deny it all you want, but it's true. Man, I stink at trying to say what Lewis said. I recommend reading the book; it's really designed for non-Christians to read. He has a unique take on difficult things and use illustrations effectively.

This summer has been busy. I've been working in production as I did last year, coiling agendas. I haven't gotten the back aches that I did last year, so it hasn't been too bad. I've become adept at coiling so I can do it quite fast and compete with myself and others--without them knowing of course--to pass the time. My coworkers are nice people, so that's helpful too. I don't hate it as I did last year. I likely will be doing research next summer, so this will probably be my last summer in agenda production. It was a good job. I'm grateful for it. Besides going full time at this production place, I have also drop-in tutored at the Tutorial Center at my university, private tutored a girl from the local community college, and house-sitted this summer for money. God has provided for me. And it's a good thing too, with the rising cost of tuition at my university, insurance on my car, food, and necessities. It's crazy how much things cost these days. A lot of people can no longer afford the lifestyle they once had.

As far as fun stuff this summer, that's what my weekends are for. I took the photography trip up the Oregon coastline earlier this summer and that was awesome. The weather was disappointing but at least it didn't pour. I've met up with a few friends. We had our local fair recently and I entered one of my photos, a version of "From Within" [link] and it won Best of Class (age 16-24 color photos), and I was quite shocked. Very cool. Perhaps there's hope for me yet.

Let's see. My last hurrah this summer is next weekend. My best friend and I are going camping in Eastern Washington. I am so excited to spend time with her and catch up on life and hike to beautiful locations. I haven't been this excited about something in a long time. I can't wait. After that, I'll have three weeks before school starts. I'm still working now, but that will likely end this week or next. So, I'll have a couple weeks to catch up on all the reviewing and studying I was supposed to be doing this summer. Yeah, I have a lot to do. P-chem is going to stink. I have to review calculus, multi-variable calculus, polar coordinates, physics, and my chemistry stuff. Oh the joy. I probably won't do the physics review. I definitely need to review the calculus, and I have research articles on Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) to read as I will be starting research with a professor this fall. I haven't gotten too far in them...

My classes this fall are Physical Chemsitry 461, Linguistics 201, Organic Chemistry Lab 355, and a Research Group under a professor.

I hope all is well. Drop me a line and give me an update. I'll be around. School starts the 22nd of September. And FYI, this will be my busiest year yet, so I won't be on DA very often. I'll try to check at the end of each week. I plan on keeping Friday afternoons and evenings free as a break from studying. Have a good one.


Hannah




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