It kind of nerdonizes... :P

Lately, Chemistry has been super time consuming. (shhhh) I find some of it rather fascinating. Especially learning about the normal things, and the elements that comprise them. I had absolutely no idea the periodic table of elements was so rich in information! Even the way in which it's positioned has so many advantages to it. You can tell the atom's weight, how many valence (most hyper) electrons it has, how big the atomic radius of each element is, etc. It's very extensive; but, (to me) confusing.

I was curious about what the elements actually look like. But it wasn't anything that was incredibly nagging my mind... Until, I stumbled upon a beauty of a book -ON SALE, marked 50% off- at Barnes and Noble. And then, for a bout a week and a half, I kept thinking about it.... My silly curiosity. I finally made it back to Barnes and Noble, and there were still copies left on the table! How could people stand to overlook that captivating book? Anyways.... I bought it. :) And I have already used it to help me on homework. :)

If only it could remember all of those facts for my tests, for me! But since it can't; just tonight I found myself searching for: ways to remember polyatomic ions. Youtube yielded something that may be helpful (see video)... But quite a few sources said to just memorize by flashcards. ew.

Chemistry seems so vital for... smarter people than me. I'm glad people are still inventing an exploring new ways to make life better through science using chemistry. But, for me, it gives me plenty of homework, and tests to panic over! But the more I know about science and micro details; the more I can't believe that people think it all just randomly decided to be with a- "big bang." It just doesn't make sense! The organization of the atoms, point to a designer; NOT to an unstable speck of dust that "decided" to explode or some such.

No, chemistry does not come easily for this math challenged girl. And sometimes, she wishes she could just up and leave her chemistry classroom, or take a nap during class. Yeah, I wish I could learn about it, but not have so much school involved (homework and tests). Ah well. I suppose I wouldn't be compelled to learn all that much, if it was really like that. I need to be thankful for my diligent teacher who is insisting on my (and my classmates) get a good grasp on the fundamentals of chemistry.

*This has been a post of quote a lot of rambling, rather to myself if not anyone else. My apologies if I bored my readers! I will post something of more interest grasping value sometime...maybe soon? :) Something that made me happy today was that I got my hair trimmed and layered and styled! Maybe taking away some of that nerd-ness? Not that nerds are bad! I actually know some AMAZINGLY cool nerds. :D

Florida Time!

Today was my first full day in Florida.  I saw the ocean, went wading a bit on the beach (a REAL one), and saw the sun a bit. It was raining quite hard in the morning but improved in the afternoon.

We went to an authentic Greek community restaurant for lunch-that was a big highlight. http://www.hellas-restaurant.com/  It was so amazing because the waiter was entertaining and friendly-he quized our table on the story of Noah (did you know Noah was 800 when he was commissioned to build the ark?!), he lit our imported cheese on fire (Saganaki, OPA!), and we all tried broiled octopus. It didn't taste terrible, but it wasn't my favorite thing we ate there. Anna's reaction was pretty funny.  I was so happy she tried it at all!

Around the little town there was live music playing and John and Dar, and mom and dad danced to it. It was pretty cute. I think if I lived in the town, I would get so sick of seeing sponges everywhere!

On the way home, we hit up four different state parks- beaches, and trails.  The trees are interesting down here, covered in Spanish moss mostly.  The natural forest, looks really tropical, jungle-esque.

Tonight Anna wanted to go swimming outside, even though it was 64 degrees Fahrenheit... We did for a short while, but my oh my, it almost took my breath away. The water was rather chilly for the weather outside. 

Last night I tried kumquats for the first time. If you've ever wondered what...say, piny needles taste like (Christmas-y smelling), kumquats must be their fruit equivalent. Ate the skin and all.  I like trying new foods at least once. So far I think it's been a very limit-spreading vacation for my taste buds!  I can't wait to eat a fresh orange off of the tree in the yard. Mmm.  We've been eating a bunch of fruit already, strawberries, blueberrys, mango, cherries, cantalope... Getting spoiled for sure!

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's adventures... traversing by car in Florida to mom's cousin's house to stay the night. God willing!