the hatching part ii

Hi Everyone!

GUESS WHAT -- THE CHICKS ALL HATCHED ON AUGUST 25!
One was taking a little longer, so it hatched early morning August 26, but yep :D
School has started, so I'll try to continue this as much as possible :)
The five all growing so fast, and they already have adult feathers on their wings!
Their names are Sorrel, Hazel, Nocciola, Buttercup, and Daisy. The two yellow ones are Buttercup and Daisy :) Here they are for you to enjoy... and also the Circle of Life

Welcome Sorrel (thick brown stripe), Nocciola (two white stripes), Buttercup (two darker stripes), Daisy (most yellow)

fetus Hazel :)

 from the day we arrive on this planet

to the blinking steps into the sun

there is more to see than can ever be seen

more to do than can ever be done! but Sorrel is too sleepy right now...

 peek-a-boo!

"what are you doing to my children"

#modelstatus

"i do not accept paparazzis."

 she is such a wonderful mother -- all the food that she finds, she gives to her babies :)

that's why she's so skinny compared to usual :)

the hatching

okay so the next post will be really really long :) just saying. so feel free to skip that one
BUT

HOLA I'M BACK LOVELIES!!!
My pet hen is hatching little chickies :)
I'll include some pics of them when they hatch, but as they say, don't count your chicks before they hatch (or something)
Of course, such happy moments can only share the spotlight with sad ones, too. She accidentally cracked two of them, and one of them was just cracked yesterday.


**SKIP THIS PART IF YOU DON'T WANT TO FEEL REALLY SAD... OR MAYBE SOME OF YOU WILL FEEL GROSSED OUT**


When I saw that she had cracked the egg, the heart was still beating, and it felt so sad to literally throw a life away. I have raised chicks before, so I felt that this little embryo could have grown to become a beloved family member. There was no choice but to throw it in the trash can, but later on, after I finished everything else, the heart was still beating :( For me, it was more sad than creepy. So, RIP Daisy, you died too soon.


**OKAY YOU CAN READ NOW**

Anyway, there are still seven eggs, and I'm hoping that they'll all grow into wonderful chickens, although roosters can be a bit annoying :/

diving

** after days of CLOSING THE TAB ON MYSELF and COMPUTER CRASHING and OTHER CATASTROPHES and SUMMER STUFF, this is finally up!!!

Hey peeps! As probably all of you who follow me regularly have noticed, I've been MIA these past weeks (YEARS)... I don't want to give any excuses, but I'll explain :) does that make sense? So for two weeks, I've been at this ballet camp that is pretty much the whole day and then I have piano, violin, etc. etc. afterwards. And the weekends, well... there's a reason why I created this post!

Through these past two weekends, I was completing my PADI Open Water Diver course... a fancy (fancier) name for a beginner recreational scuba diver.

On the Friday of the first weekend, we had a class. Yep, a classroom class in which we reviewed the manual that we had to read. I tell you, even though it seemed pretty short, it was torture to read through :) especially since I had to cram it all in. On Saturday, we had a morning of class and then headed to the pool for our first dive! Yeah, even though it was in a pool, it was quite enjoyable just to swim around and breathe underwater... without a limit to your depth as with a snorkel. Then on Sunday, we finished the skills in the warm, filtered water. Quite mundane, if I were just to read about it like you, but in truth, it was really quite worth the HUGE weight of the gear.

The second weekend, however, was something that I could have never mentally prepared for. Sure, it may seem small compared to other activities, but I thought that it would be as easy as the previous closed water course. I had to wake up at 5 in the morning. Luckily, I didn't have to do the driving (I can't anyway :D). After eating just a hard boiled egg and drinking some milk, I prepared my gear and wriggled down to the shore, thus beginning the shore dive. There are two types of dives--boat dives and shore dives. Shore dives are harder... Instead of jumping in, one must crawl or walk painfully in until the blessed waves soften the pain of gravity :D The skills that seemed so easy in closed water were hardened by the freezing temperature and my mind seemed as if it were fogged up by the low visibility. When I ended the first dive of the day, I saw stars... kind of... The hood was choking me (a little), and I felt extremely uncomfortable in my wetsuit. Not to mention that I was also dehydrated and nauseous. By the second dive, I felt like I couldn't breathe or move. Luckily, the dive was short, as we only needed to repeat two more skills on that day. My buddy and I were called up early as a few others continued their little tour of Breakwater Pipeline, Monterey.

Sunday was much easier, with only two more skills to do. We had another little tour through the kelp, and we found little decorator crabs, sea hairs, warty sea cucumbers, and much more. After that first quick dive, we planned a dive ourselves with our buddy. We planned to go along the wall to see whatever was there. Guess what? I kinda got lost on that dive :) Anyway, I wasn't planning on seeing some of the creatures we saw down there so close to humans. We saw an ocean sunfish and a tiny octopus. We also saw sea stars (yay! they had a big die-out earlier) and nudibranchs. There was also an array of other flounders, crabs, etc. etc. At the end of the day, I was tired, but happy this time.

Try diving yourself! It's a gorgeous experience :)

chronicles of a frog's journey

the sky was beautiful.
the little wonderland was filled with little surprises.
a frog had a photoshoot.
(i was talking to it in a british accent... my neighbours probably think i'm crazy :D)
so let's all enjoy the little things.

 i found him on an aloe vera plant when i was watering plants.

he was slimy :) he jumped a lot. he could make a frog houdini

 the frogs in the creek started croaking.

so he started his journey up and over the fence, into the creek.

bon voyage!

nope. not that far off the ground yet.

 sometimes, you just need to know where to look to find the small wonders.

 hello there :)

 caught in action

he's surprisingly fast at climbing :)

taking a break

stop and look at the scenery. 

it's the process, not the destination.

not much longer...

the road may seem long, but before you know it, you're almost there...

persevere.

somebody wanted attention <3

she eats his kind, but life is life...

and life goes on...

go on a small adventure and see what it brings you!

don't overlook even the smallest, most mundane things.

sometimes that's why you aren't happy.

people say happiness is a shallow feeling.

not at all.

performance

So on Saturday I had a ballet performance.
The thrill, nervousness, and sheer anticipation buzzing around was physically palpable.
My friends and I were practically shriveled up yet at the same time exploding with excitement.
As the dance before us came to an end and the curtain came down, we were shaking and hugging as if we would fall if we let go.
The curtain lifted... Vivaldi's Summer blossomed into a vivid daydream of green, red, yellow, and orange.
Shaking with a smile permanently frozen on my face, I leaped in with my line.
Spinning, bending, kneeling, running and jumping, the performance flew by without any mistake... Until the second half.
As I came up from a kneel, I felt a sharp pain in the toe, and I realised that I was turning on tape.
The throbbing continued, and I realized that I had stubbed my toe.
Finally, it was time for my group to run off stage as three of my classmates performed their solo
 The time flew by, and I had just enough time to find out that I had a lipstick stain on my skirt... wonderful :)
As I rose into an arabesque, I realised that my foot was sickling, and I slipped off of balance.
Kneeling in a v-formation, I feel my knee grinding on the black stage, and my arms are sore from exercising too much the other day.
My cheeks are shaking from smiling too much.
Finally, the dance is over, yet despite all the small stumbles, I feel accomplished.
As the last performance of this year, the ending was bittersweet.
Walking into the lobby, I saw that not only were my parents there, but my friends were there, too.
I felt so loved :)
This let me remember to cherish every little moment in my life... because why not?