Day 366: ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Monday: February 23, 2015

Wow. It's been a whole year. I almost can't believe it. It's been a hell of a year (in a good way.) When I first started, I didn't think much of it. It was an extra credit photography project. But it's been really amazing going back throughout the year, and I'm so glad I have so many memories preserved here. Naturally, I'm celebrating this milestone with a photo of the puppy. He's been great, just like this past year. 

Day 365: Micro Homework

Sunday: February 22, 2015

It isn't fun or pretty, but it's what I'm working on at the moment. So far, Microecnomics hasn't been too bad. I like it because I did well in Introduction to Marketing, and that was fun. Living in a busy and booming city like Dubai, I figure it's a good idea to get to know it from the business perspective. 

Day 364: Styling Stationery

Saturday: February 21, 2015 

So just an update on the whole sandstorm debacle, it's still sandy and still stormy. My sinuses are still killing me. It's fine, though. I recently got some new stationery from my favorite place ever, Muji, as a late Valentine's Day present from the fam. It's all incredibly awesome and for the sake of maintaining a clean and orderly photo, I couldn't feature it all. But here are some of my faves. 

Day 363: Dust in the Wind

Friday: February 20, 2015

Have I made this pun yet? In any case, it still fits. We've been experiencing a large sandstorm that started yesterday. It's blown in hot, arid, sandy air from who knows where and it's annoying. I went on a run, and woo was that a mistake. The air was so hot, it felt like the earth was personally burping on me. Add in the sand, and my contacts were acting up and I started collecting sand particles in my sinuses, just for funsies. I also got a headache, because why not? I've heard that the US east coast has been piled up with snow and cold weather; I will trade for a day, on the condition they keep all this dreaded sand forever.

Day 362: Ghost Puppy

Thursday: February 19, 2015

I was watching the puppy downstairs, and he wasn't too happy when I started playing my music. For a while now, we've all thought that he'd grown too big to fit under the couches. When we first got him, we lost him a couple of times because he'd just chill under the couch, behind curtains, and in small corners. Apparently, he still fits. And he patiently waited for me to stop my horrid music. I had to coax him out with a treat.

Day 361: Hauls and Things

Wednesday: February 18, 2015

Today has been pretty uneventful other than the fact that I filmed a haul video. It's the first one I've ever done for SparkLife, and in general, and it was pretty fun. I find myself hilarious, and I hope other people do, too. These sunnies were definitely a favorite, because they're rose tinted and spunky. I've also been digging the floral pjs you see in the back. They're so silk and soft, kind of like hugging a dolphin made out of fabric.

Day 360: Game Winning

Tuesday: February 17, 2015

I've had a long, but good day. I went to a meeting in the afternoon [which is so weird, like I've also dealt with tax papers this week and I don't know whose idea it is to give me all this responsibility, like is nobody aware that I'm actually just a really sad slug-potato hybrid???] and it went well. I took notes and all that jazz. Then my brother had a football game, which has been scheduled for today, since a lot of the kids are going to be out of town with their schools. The good ol' Barracudas won, 28-0!! It was an exciting game, I'm pretty sure.

Day 359: Nails and Keratin and Stuff

Monday: February 16, 2015

Today I took off the black nail polish I've been rocking for about a week. It kept peeling and flaking, which wasn't ideal because black nail polish is really obvious. I was pretty surprised to see how much my nails had grown, though. I don't think I've ever had my nails this long. Personally, I don't like longer nails because I will scratch an eyeball out or something. But I've also never been able to grow my nails out, because both of my index finger nails tend to split and break really easily. This is kind of nice, and it makes me feel like maybe I've been doing something right in terms of health.

Day 358: Back at Practice

Sunday: February 15, 2014

It's felt a little weird this weekend, because my little brother had a football game on Saturday instead of Friday, so it seems like the weekend has been chopped a little short. So I'm back at practice today, just doing my usual tutoring thing. My youngest student has a little entourage of fellow little girls, so I've started bring along crayons and scratch paper so that they have something to do while I work on math with her. It's been going pretty well, especially since the little girls are so nice and respectful.

Day 357: Outfit Preparations

Saturday: February 14, 2014

So I don't have plans this Valentine's Day, other than staying home with the puppy and eating chocolate he can't have. BUT I did really want to put together a cute outfit, especially since I have this great heart-printed T-shirt. It was very hot though, and also kinda awkward taking pictures when everybody could see me. I also had to keep my sunnies on for most of the shoot, since the sun was so bright I could't keep them open without squinting a ton.

Day 356: Card Making

Friday: February 13, 2015

For the past couple of years, it's been my little tradition to make Valentine's Day cards for my family. Every year has a different theme. In 2013, the theme was "historical figures." Last year, the theme was "Breaking Bad." And this year, the theme was "By-Tor," because I obviously can't get enough of that little furball.

Day 355: Tea Time

Thursday: February 12, 2015

My grandma sent over some tea and other related goodies for my birthday, and I've been thoroughly enjoying them all. The tea is particularly great - they're all green tea blends, and my favorite so far is the Cherry Green Tea. It makes me want to try other fruit flavored teas, too. I haven't tried the Ginger Green Tea yet, because it scares me. I don't want the ginger to burn my throat.

Day 354: Yellow Blooms

Wednesday: February 11, 2015

Today I was oat-n-aboat on a run, and saw these yellow flowers. Notice how I always describe flowers by color and not by name, mostly because I am poorly versed in the speciation of flowers. Anyway. Flowers bloom kind of early here in Dubai, because of the weather and probably also because of confusion, since I don't think many flowers are native to the region.

Day 353: Winter Sunsets

Tuesday: February 10, 2015

Today I had two tutoring sessions. Just to clarify, I am the tutor, haha. I currently tutor in math, and I have two pupils. Within the next few weeks, a third will be added in. I'm not going to lie to you and say it's the most fun thing I've ever done in my life. I mean, hello. I've been to DisneyWorld. But it really is very gratifying. I love math, and it has so many uses and applications in real life. Especially at the elementary and middle school level, the skills they learn they'll carry with them throughout their entire lives. Additionally, I have a particular bone to pick with people who complain that they'll never use algebra or other higher math in their daily lives. This may be true, but the reasoning skills learned in higher math can indeed be applied to other areas. Rant over, haha.

Day 352: Bottoms Up

Monday: February 9, 2014

Today we went to the mall and I did some shopping. It was a lot of fun, and definitely brightened my Monday. I picked up some clothes on sale, as well as much needed bath supplies. As for the photo, you're looking inside the bottle of my Arizona Peach Iced Tea. Or rather, whatever was left of it.

Day 351: Manhunter

Sunday: February 8, 2015

For the first time in millennia, I've re-painted my nails. I'm going dark while the winter months still allow me to. I'm using this color called Manhunter, from H&M. It's a really great polish, because it dries quickly and only needs two coats to become opaque. I've had a few bad runs with polish before this one, where the formulas turned old and goopy. Not fun. I removed them before they even had a chance to dry. But I think I'll let this one stick around for a while!

Day 350: Tiny Mouth

Saturday: February 7, 2015

Well, would you look at that. Another puppy picture. Any time I take photos off of my phone and transfer them to my computer, I feel the compulsive need to fill my phone back up with pictures of By-Tor. I always like having pictures of him to look at, and they're pretty fun to edit. He looks dramatic and eyeball-less in this snapshot, almost like a movie poster. I love it!

Day 349: Put Your Paws Up

Friday: February 6, 2015

I wasn't kidding when I said I wanted to dedicate this entire blog to the puppy. Here's a close - up of his tiny, tiny paw. They're so soft! He's a lot like me, and doesn't like to be touched too much. He doesn't like if I sit too close to him, and if he's not drop-dead tired, he won't let me hold his paw. It's okay, because I snapped this shot while he was snoring away. :-)

Day 348: Power Tripping

Thursday: February 5, 2015

Today I went to youth group. I've been pretty bad about attending on a regular basis. There was a gap of three months this year where I just kind of disappeared. It wasn't intentional, I just got busy with school and college apps and I couldn't make time to go. Now, it's a little better so I'm going to try and go every chance I get. It's been nice seeing familiar faces.

Day 347: The Sass-Master

Wednesday: February 4, 2015

Here's the puppy after I stopped giving him belly rubs. He kind of just turned to me and looked disappointed. Surprisingly, By-Tor has moments of cooperation. He's usually a blur in photos, because he refuses to be still. But sometimes, he does alright.

Day 346: Practice Makes Perfect

Tuesday: February 3, 2015

My little brother's football practices have been running a little longer than usual. As in, 45 minutes over. Currently, the weather is very nice so the wait isn't too bad on my part. I've started math tutoring some of the players' sisters, which is why I'm finally attending his practices again.

Day 345: More Walking

Monday: February 2, 2015

Today I took By-Tor on a walk and he still isn't very cooperative. He tries to sniff the black boxes full of rat poison, eat cigarette butts, investigate other animals' fecal matter, walk me into traffic, etc etc. So, I forced persuaded, By-Tor to go to this grassy walking area, where there are lots of safe things to smell and dig through. He wasn't too happy at first, but once we got there he was alright.

Day 344: Super Bowl!

Sunday: February 1, 2015

We had a few friends over to watch the Super Bowl. I've been told the game was pretty exciting. I watched the first half as well as the half-time show, and saw the right shark killing it. I mostly stuck around for the food, though. My family made ceviche, another family made wings, and a third family brought tons of popcorn, shown here. All in all, it was a very fun night!