Portulaca grandiflora

Yeah I want to hear you say that three times fast. I won't be saying it so fast but rather slow and more like fifty times. There are three identification classes I have to take for my major, flower ID, evergreen ID and deciduous trees ID. I have officially started my first Horticulture Identification class and therefore have crossed over to hell. So for those of you who don't know Portulaca grandiflora is a flower, I mean who wouldn't know that. Over the next six weeks I will be memorizing this bad boy along with his 200 most popular friends. I will be learning their scientic name as well as their common name. I will also be learning about seven other characteristics of each flower that will help assist me in identifying what kind of flower he-she is, and no, saying it is a pretty flower doesn't count.

I figured since this is a monday, wednesday, AND friday class and each class period I will be introduced to 10-15 new flowers and be tested on the flowers from the previous class period, I thought I could teach you in order to help me memorize them. Dont worry you won't get all fifteen, I wouldn't want to drag you down to hell with me.

So to Start we are going to learn about our dear friend Portulaca.

Scientific Name: Portulaca grandiflora
Common Name: Moss Rose
This flower is an Annual flower (only lives for one growing season)
Height: 6-8"
Blooms in the summer
The flowers come in a variety of colors and are aboout 1" wide
The leaf structure: succulant evergreen-like
Culture: full sun, hot and dry
Use: rock gardens and bedding


If you are sitting there thinking "its all Greek to me", I know what your problem is and why you are so confused, its Latin. ☺

What I Have Learned So Far

Oh you know this is going to be interesting. An entire blog entry about what a soon to be twenty-one year old girl/woman, has learned so far at school. Brace yourself. Don't say I didn't warn you.

So the idea that school is to learn math, English, science and all that confusing stuff, is crap. There is a lot more to be learned at school. Some of the things you learn are good, some not so good.Some make sense and certain things don't. There are some things you learn about that you seek out and want to know more about and there is a lot of things I have learned that I could have gone a life time, scratch that, an eternity without knowing.So here is the list of some of the things I have learned:

*Just because an electric stove top isn't red doesn't mean it is not hot.

*Just because it is the middle of May does not mean that it can't snow. I learned this one on my way back from albertsons which is about a little under a mile away from my apartment, I was wearing capris and flip flops.

*Giving the sex talk to a roommate is never easy.

*you can never fully understand the importance of patience until you live with certain kinds of people.

*Giving each of your roommates nicknames they don't know about, is a good idea and helps with communicating with family.

*Captain Crunch and Pasta Salad don't taste so bad together in the same meal.

*There is a big difference between having your opinions and being judgemental.

*Sometimes when someone says something is orange you have to say it is purple.

*Five hundred degrees is very hot.

*Falling down concrete stairs...yeah it hurts.

*Repetition is not allows a good thing.

*Repetition is not allows a good thing.

*Somethings are meant to be thrown away...want more details ask me in person.

*It is possible to squeak your head (yeah this is one of my teachers)

*Never buy more then you can carry.

*There is nothing sexy about knees. Cue: Awkward silence.

*You should help others not because it is on you checklist of things to do, but because you want to help them.

*There is no way in hell I could ever have been a pioneer.

*A lot of decorating can be done with a glue stick.

*Talking to my door instead of to my face probably wont get the same results.

*What doesn't kill you makes you stronger...so I have been told.

*Facebook doesn't help you study.

*Maker of Tide pens should be sainted.

*When you inhale and you feel you nose seal shut, you know it is cold.

*Hawaii has chickens, Rexburg has squirrels.

*Being a poor college student after a long day, you learn to swing both ways. Pepsi or Coke Cola I mean. Get your mind out of the gutter.

*Laughter is the best medicine.

As you can see there is a lot more to be learned beside calculus and photosynthesis. And the list could go on and on. I had to leave the really good stuff out, just in case. Some say you can never learn too much, I strongly disagree.

Good for a Laugh

So I saw this a couple of weeks ago and have been meaning to post it. Given how much my sister has always wanted to be the teenage mutant ninja turtles for halloween with her husband and children, I thought she would appreciate it. I saw it on campus when I was on my way to class. It goes to show that someone somewhere is very clever or has way too much time on their hands.

Is That Wrong?

Have you ever had an urge to do something that wasn't maybe very nice but made you giggle none the less at the very thought of it?(I know my sister Jessi has) I have. This morning I was so thoughtfully woken up by my roommate, long before I ever thought I wanted to get up, so she could wish me a Happy Memorial Day. I couldn't go back to bed so I thought I should probably call my family and wish them too a Happy Memorial Day. I did this all too knowingly that their time zone is behind mine, and that it was even earlier for them then it was for me. This very thought made me giggle. I know I am a sick and evil person, I blame the lack of sleep and this darn cold that won't leave me alone.

Don't worry you can rest at ease knowing I didn't do it...you can thank me later family:) Is it wrong to get a giggle out of doing something like this?

The Last Thing I Need

If you know my family even in the slightest bit, you know that we love our hobbies. When it comes to hobbies and me, I definitely have more then my fair share and the last thing I need is a new one. Well, when you say you are not going to do something, you usually go out and do it. For me I wasn't going to get another hobby while in school. And well, as nature would have it, I went out and found a new one. What is this new hobby you ask? Cake Decorating. There is something relaxing about decorating a cake, it distracts me from my thoughts, my surroundings, and just life its self. Best part about this hobby, I can eat it. I normally don't eat my hobbies, I don't eat pottery or a quilt or a drawing, but cake? I will eat a cake. GREAT, not only did I get a hobby I didn't need, but I got a hobby that comes with calories I don't need on the hips.

I have always felt awkward when it comes to sharing the things I create with others, except for with my parents. My mom has been on my case lately about the lack of pictures telling me that the whole point of a blog is to post pictures[Did you get that Mayor? Blogs= more pictures:)]. Since this is a blog and it is my blog I guess I have no choice; I have to post some pictures of my work. Enjoy! Well... enjoy the best you can, I think you can imagine what two layers of chocolate cake with a layer of vanilla cake in between can taste like.





I still have a lot of practice a head of me. But that is the whole point of hobbies, right?
P.s. Don't feel bad, I didn't get to eat this one either.

This next picture is one we did quickly in class and had only a little bit of time to do it. The whole point of the exercise was to learn how to use edible paper.


I love Cookie Monster!!! He has always made me smile, I guess that is why I choose to use him, I was in need of a smile.

Oh dear, if my mom has it her way, I guess I have two new hobbies I don't need: cake decorating and blogging. More hobbies... that is the last thing I need.

Alive and well

And here are pictures to prove it.



When I get bored I play with my webcam. I am smiling because I just replenished my Pepsi/diet Pepsi stash...as you can see behind me:)

What I have been spending a lot of my time working on:


The pictures of my model are more for my parents, however I do need people's opinion: should I add flowers in with the groundcover?

Let the Count Down Begin

What are we counting down to? Didn't you know? I have exactly five weeks from today before I am to be flashed frozen in Idaho. It is a process that is normally done to fruits, meats, and vegetables when they are subject to really cold temperatures to help preserve them. Several months ago I thought it would be a good idea to perform an experiment to see if it was possible that this same process could be done to humans. It sounds a lot better to say that I am going away to a school in a town forty to fifty degrees colder then my home town in the name of science, then saying that I have simply lost my mind.

Here is to science, my sister would be so proud.