it was a pretty fun class, mr. lineberger.

in hindsight, maybe i shouldn't have taken the chemistry class that went to bojangle's to learn about molarity or grilled steaks to understand the concept of kilocalories. it's true - i had absolutely no interest in science at the age of 16 so figured it would be pointless to take the honors chemistry class. and ap chemistry? psh.

similarly, my science classes at unc-ch consisted of geology (rocks for jocks, natch) and psychology. whichever classes i heard were the least painful, i was there.

now i find myself in chemistry 101 summer school, wishing that i had pushed myself harder back in high school. but, all there's to do is move forward.

our first quiz is tomorrow and it covers stoichiometry and balancing equations. sadly, that bojangle's sweet tea experiment won't help me much now. i know that it's basic stuff, but it's just challenging enough for someone who took the goof-off chem class back in 2000.

wish me luck. in other news, i have to run a timed 3-mile fun for my pe 101 class. i'm working closely with my personal trainer mr. smith to get up to speed. no pun intended!

sometimes homework is cool.

on the first day of class, dr. dennis werner informed the students in his "gardening with herbaceous perennials" class that we'd have a semester long project that would be due during the last week of classes.

we had to take pictures of flowers every week for eleven weeks. seriously.

i was looking forward to this; i love taking pictures and i love plants. but let me tell you - it is a challenge to find things in bloom in early february. i managed to find a few, and it was worth it to watch new things pop up over the weeks. in fact, i ended up with so many pictures that it was kind of a pain in the butt to organize everything to turn in.

here, i've selected some favorites from the final project to share. most are from the j. c. raulston arboretum, but i did get the chance to visit the sarah p. duke gardens in durham and the north carolina botanical garden in chapel hill. they are both great local gardens that i'd recommend anyone to visit - multiple times!

ida cason callaway memorial chapel, callaway gardens.

 
i'm a fan of colored glass. when we came across the chapel at callaway gardens, i was pretty blown away with the beautiful stained glass. each window design represents a southern forest during each of the four seasons. the glass, designs, and colors were so captivating. i'll let the images speak for themselves...

callaway gardens. pine mountain, ga.

right around the end of the fall semester and final exams, i was scrambling to complete and submit two scholarship applications. one was for the garden writers association foundation. for this, i had to complete an application and submit my transcript, reference letters, two writing samples, and some photography samples. the other application was for the callaway gardens spring gardening symposium. the prize that the applicant could win was a trip to georgia to visit callaway gardens and attend their spring gardening symposium. i thought both of these looked like great opportunities, so i got my junk together and put everything in the mail.

the week before christmas, i found out that i had won both of the scholarships. it felt AWESOME.

the callaway gardens spring gardening symposium took place during the last weekend of january. included in the scholarship was the cost of a room and registration for the symposium for myself, and also for a teacher/mentor. i was lucky to have as my guest diane mays, a research technician in the fox greenhouses at nc state, and we had a super good weekend. we flew into atlanta on friday, rented a car, and drove about an hour to pine mountain. pine mountain looked like a completely adorable town. my only regret of the trip was not being able to explore it more.

the speakers at the symposium were fantastic, including dr. michael dirr, erin weston (of weston farms), and joe lamp'l (growing a greener world). there was also a marketplace of local vendors with tons of plants, books, tools, and garden art. if it weren't for the fact that we flew down, it could have potentially been a dangerous area. diane thoughtfully bought me a fuzzy succulent that i was stalking throughout the weekend, (Echeveria setosa) and i gently carried it home on the airplane in a paper starbucks bag.

in addition to lots of inspiration and a plant, i brought away from the experience some great photos of perhaps some of the lesser known parts of the gardens. as it was in the middle of winter, callaway gardens' famous azaleas were not yet in bloom. this allowed guests to visit some equally amazing plants in the conservatories. the mediterranean house was my favorite: the succulent collection was SO COOL. i took lots of pictures, but i've tried to narrow it down a little. needless to say, i've acquired a small addiction to cactus and succulents since the trip. i'll share some photos of my personal collection soon.

the mediterranean house, callaway gardens.

Sedum morganianum. "donkey's tail."

i want a succulent wall in my house.

a waterfall in my house might be cool too?

inside the tropical conservatory.

the butterfly house.

exhale.

hey.

I FINISHED. i wish i'd been able to continue writing consistently during the school year, but the truth is that i was completely overwhelmed. i have a new respect for everyone who has ever gone back to school after being out for a while. young, old, single, married, kids, pets, rich, poor, whatever. it's a lot of work.

a lot happened during the year too. we were down an income briefly, we lost power for several days during the tornadoes, we ate frozen pizza about four days a week every week, and our house has a humidity level of a tropical conservatory on a regular basis (only partly due to the plethora of plants, thank you very much.) we also learned, and are continuing to learn, how to work together as a team to lead a happy and healthy life together while often feeling completely weighed down by stress and worry. the important thing i've taken out of it is that even though it's been an extremely difficult year, i can still confidently say that i'm making the right decisions. i'm so happy to be in school learning about something that i love, and i'm so happy to have andrew as my partner.

there's been a lot of cool things going on, which i will elaborate on in some upcoming posts. in a journey with lots of obstacles, there have been some notable high points.  the best being that i have completed my "freshman" year, finishing with all A's both semesters. i told my mom that i don't think i even made that many A's in my entire four years at carolina! it feels good.

i've got the rest of this week off from school until the summer session starts next monday, may 23rd. that means baking, cooking, playing with plants in the backyard, cheesy novels, and gossip girl. excellent.