Big Picture Upate!

Life is great!! Here's why:

Our gecko friend!

He comes in through the kitchen window and eats up our crumbs :) 

Saturday night Lucie, Sydney, and I volunteered on Mauna Kea for stargazing. We helped set up telescopes in the freezing cold. I know no one has sympathy for me since it is actually cold back home... but please believe me when I say it was sooo freezing! I'd say less than fifty degrees for sure, with a windchill. Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world from the sea floor to summit. The reason most mountains aren't measured from the sea floor is because most mountains don't start down that far! Mauna Kea literally holds this island in place. It also offers some of the best stargazing in the world, for many reasons. Hawaii is isolated, there is limited light interference, and being located near the equator gives a view of both the northern and southern constellations. 

I took this picture down the eyepiece of a telescope. Amazing, right??

Sunday was BEACH DAY!! Matt's room mate Nick took us to to Kona side to spend the day at Hapuna Beach. It was hot hot hot and not a cloud in the sky- wonderful! It felt like summer time :D

My favorite picture :)

And for the best news of all......

 Matthew's parents gave him the money to buy a Jeep!!! It's the best, that's the only way to describe it. He bought it yesterday and I'm already LOVING IT! I just can't contain my excitement. No more taxis! And now we can really enjoy the island. We're predicting a LOT more beach trips :D I couldn't be any happier. But that's it for now because we have a field trip for ethnobotany class today. We leave soon to head to a farm place in Puna to plant taro. Fun? If it doesn't rain, that is :) 

November!!

I can't believe it's already November... and I'm still wearing a tank top and shorts every day! :P hehe. This won't be a long post because I'm taking a break from finishing up my Anatomy lab that's due tomorrow. I'm eating lunch and posting at the same time. Here's lunch:

Garden burger with carmelized onions, red bell pepper, and my favorite salad dressing that mom sent- Asian Sesame with Ginger :) 

I don't want to leave you all hanging about Halloween so here's a quick summary: costumes didn't make it in the mail, so I turned sheets into impromptu togas. Everyone was over at our house making their costumes and Halloween ended up being craft time and board game night because we couldn't find the house out in the farmland that we were invited to. Oh well! It was a bit disappointing but still a fun, different than usual night. 

I promised for updates on grades- so far I've only gotten back two. Someone blew the curve on the Anatomy test so I ended up with a B, just what I thought. I was hoping the curve would make it an A, but what can I do :P And I got an A on my Anthropology test. I should find out two more this afternoon. 

I was going to take a picture of how sunny and beautiful it is today, but a flash flood has just started. I hope it passes within the hour so I can make it to school without melting :D

Christmas is on my mind all the time now. I have a lot of shopping to do!! If anyone is wondering what I'd appreciate, the answer is active wear! I live in work out clothes because they're the most practical for my sweating all the time lifestyle. I'm a size four, small. 

This is what I REALLY want for Christmas!:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Jackson's_Chameleon_2_edit1.jpg

A Jackson's Chameleon!! They're indigenous here so they're common as pets. I haven't held one yet but I would love to have one...

http://bop.nppa.org/2003/still_photography/winners/pictures/NAE-HM-Lizard.jpg

That's a baby! They don't turn green until they get older. I looked into caring for one and apparently they have pretty extensive needs.. such as an indoor & outdoor enclosure with live flowering plants to attract bugs. Practical or not I still want one :P 

Update! I made a 115 on my Anthropology Midterm and an A on my Psychology midterm- wahoo! :D