I learned that I love to take pictures...

Here are some of the highlights of my last trip to China and Vietnam...Taking pictures of Hong Kong.
Yangshuo, China. Beautiful rice paddys and crazy mountains.
Right outside our hotel in Yangshuo, China.

Hanoi, Vietnam.

Our hotel in Sapa, Vietnam. Northern Vietnam and a place that is so beautiful you would sware it was heaven.
Picture I loved in Sapa, Vietnam.

Pink skies, purple roads - I love Hanoi! Such an amazing city....

my "high" of the day...

I thought I would be fun and mention the "high" of my day today. Well, there were a lot of lows - I have been sick for a few days, I have been bombarded with tons of grading and I my house has been a mess (and will stay a mess) for the longest time. However, I have to say that I have the most wonderful guy in my life... My "high" of the day involves a trip to the emergency room at 1 am. I woke up feeling HORRIBLE; my throat hurt, I couldn't breathe, I had a horrible headache and I wanted to die... I knew I couldn't make it, and I knew that hospital was the only option. SO, I woke up Bill, cried, and then he drove me to the ER. Now, I live near downtown, so this had to be the most interesting ER EVER! While waiting, a man with only a few teeth told me he was as old as the bible (I think that is what he said, I couldn't really understand him), some very masculine women were drunk and one looked as though someone scratched her really bad across the face, tons of bums (and regulars that I have seen in the neighborhood) were sleeping, other crazy people were coming in and out.... Oh, it was a SIGHT! I was a little nervous, but I felt bad for Bill - he was sick too and had to get up early for work. I told him to go home (since it was only three blocks away), and he said he will... "in 15 minutes..." But, 15 minutes turned into 2 hours of waiting. I loved him for that, since he knew and I knew that I would have been fine in the waiting room of the crazies. However, he knew he didn't want to think of me being in such a place without him. I totally love that guy, and was so glad that he stayed and kept me company. So, that was my high of the day, the feeling that my significant other does love me and is willing to sacrifice a little for me...

Christmas time!!!

Bill and I got our Christmas tree yesterday.  It was awesome! We went to Apple Hill, about 45 minutes from here in the foothills of the Sierras.  I was able to get some apple cider and we chowed down on an apple fritter... so good.  

We then went to the Christmas Tree farm to get our tree and, as soon as we got there, it started snowing.  Just a few snow flakes at first, and then, by time we found the perfect tree, it was crashing down!  

It was awesome, though cold.  Stupid me, I wasn't even thinking of how cold it would be in the hills - usually I am super prepared but I didn't even bring a glove yesterday!  Good thing we didn't stay too long!  

The tree is awesome, even though it cost us $60!  However, it was worth the trip and the fact that we didn't "kill" a tree, they cut the tree high so another tree grows on the same stump.  Essentially we cut off a branch of the tree.  We were a little more ecological!  

Last year we bought a live tree (tree was still in the planter so it was alive) - I wanted to do this to save a tree.  However, since I do not really have a green thumb, the tree died in our house anyway.  So, we'll just cut down our trees from now on.

My day today...

Can I post all the cool things I learned today?  Why am I asking?  Here are all of the "ah-has" and just cool stuff I stumbled upon today as I was finishing my last assignments for my masters program (that sound like I am finishing the program, which I am not even close to!  I am just finishing 2 of the 1,000 classes I have to take... it's going to take awhile!).

Websites:

Mahalo.com

• This site rocks!  It condenses all the information you would search for into a page of tons of information!  I just looked up "Sacramento" and the page I got back had fast facts, history, suggestions on where else to look and so on.  Rad!

Wordle.net

• I don't want to say much because it is just awesome on it's own.  It's fun, you'll like it!

Words of wisdom:

I love these quotes that I found...

• Man:  The glory, the jest, and riddle of the world. 
  
• To err is human; to forgive divine. 

Both are by Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

oh, io...

Tons of fun was had in Ohio-land.  We hung out a lot with his family; I ate more than I have ever eaten, ever; and it was nice to get away...  I did get sick, though, and threw-up on Bill's mom's carpet in the hallway.  Oh well, Bill said it was good and that I am more "in" with his family since now there is a story - "hey, do you remember when Tracy threw-up in the hallway?"  

oh ohio...

ohio haiku:

tracy's version:

ohio is cool

white snow, fall leaves, big gray skies

will i stay warm? no.

bill's version:

ohio, my home.

leaves change color and it snows

go bucks, tribe, and the browns!

Super duper ohio time.  We leave in a few hours and it will take us a few hours to pack.  Can't we just throw clothes in a suitcase and not sort it out?  Wouldn't that be nice?  Throwing stuff in a bag and everything is what you need????

Ugh, I hate packing.  But I look forward to seeing bill's family.  I LOVE HIS FAMILY!  :)  His sisters are like bill, but they are girls - even better!

Here's a picture from when we were in ohio-land last time:

blogging wasn't on my list of things to do today...

I wasn't supposed to set up a blog today.  I have a stack of grading, I need to run, I need to clean, I have to go to Trader Joes (oh, I love that place) and I want to relax.  And I need to do all of that before I go to my dad's.  When am I supposed to do all of this in just a few hours???  

Ugh.  

Happy note (I need to force it out before I get too negative):  Umm...  I get to go to Ohio on Tuesday?  Oh, and I am going to develop three of about a million rolls of film today.  I love developing pictures, so much excitement in what the pictures are and how they will turn out!