Art: Scratchboard

I did this art piece in my first legitimate art class. Even though this piece is old and I have painted more impressive things, I loved doing this piece and seeing it evolve. Time providing, I would like to do another animal scratch-piece in even great detail. Enjoy.

Europe: Rome pt. 1

Roma in a day = definitely not enough time. Unlike real life however, I will be covering Rome in 2 days. Lucky you.

What is this beauty?! I think I was literally in shock the whole time I was in St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican in general.

Apparently I composed myself to take one picture though. But don't let this fool you, I really did just stand in awe.

Rome was magical in a sense. I really just couldn't believe all the history that I was standing on. However, the thing that made this just an over-the-top experience for me was the fact that I read Angels and Demons a few weeks later. For those who don't know, it is set in Rome. It was just a really unique experience to read a fictional book but KNOW where all the events were 'taking' place and KNOW that I had been standing there just a few weeks ago.

Guess I'm In College

I actually try in school? Since when? Regardless... I would like this documented that I, Krystal Vander Ark, actually did spend THIS much time on an assignment (and that I actually frequently do).

It should also be noted that this is just the rough draft people. Also, when some of my friends saw this they told me they've never seen anyone do this to their own essay before. Great.

THE NORTH FACE OF AWESOME

Got my first real winter coat. I mean, I have winter coats... but I stole those from the closet at home. So this is MY first legit jacket. Let me tell you - it IS the north face of awesome. So comfy! I highly recommend one to all of yall in cooler climates. PS: ebay = the way to go people.

Upon taking this picture my friend remarks, "Wow. You are so Asian."

Yes. Thank you Gordon College for my reputation.

Europe: Welcome to Pompeii!

So I realize that I never actually finished my Europe Series on the blog world. Fail Krystal. However, lucky for you all, I've remembered and I'm determined to finish. 

So this is Pompeii. 

I really can't get over how amazing these people were - modern day geniuses, by our standards. I mean, would you think to put marble pieces in the ground to reflect light at night? It's simply ingenious, the city in its prime must have been jaw-dropping.

Like seriously? They had multiple building stories? Santa Barbara doesn't even allow multiple stories in a building. Lame.

This is obviously not Pompeii. But Pompeii was our last day on the Amalfi Coast before we ventured to Rome. So really, I just wanted to share the beautiful coastline with you. Because it was just magnificent after a hot, dusty day in Pompeii.

Family Love

Guess whose grandma loves them a lot?

That's right. Not going to lie, I was pretty excited when I opened this. I think I can say with clean conscious that my hallmates were too.

^ apparently 'booger cookies' ^

thank you grandmother.

The Settling Crew

I guess I should introduce you to the crew. I mean, my life basically revolves around this now. But it should be noted that it can be played with anyone and everyone. So just because you don't have one of us playing with you doesn't mean you can't play. There are no excuses people.

The successfully settled Island of Catan.

We're so serious that we play with a plethora of food.

And sometimes... we get a little bit too into the food.

When In College...

... you have to take advantage of every Target run. Like this weekend. But really, how else am I going to be able to avoid Lane food? Not that it's really bad or anything, I just prefer... well, a wider variety of food than the standard - ohmygosheverydayisthesame - food.

And really, most of it is healthy right? Oatmeal people?! I get major college student points here.

Hair.

Our floor seems to have a weird obsession with hair.

Meet Steph and Will. Steph has a straightener in her hand. (If you don't know what a straightener is don't worry! You're probably Asian and have never need one before like me. Okay, that was just a bad joke. But seriously, I'm pretty sure I can't use a straightener to save my life.) So Will has curly hair. But we kind of wanted to straighten it. So we did.

 Meet goth Will.

Okay, that was kind of a joke. But our floor does seem to do a lot of things with hair. And really by our floor I mean me. Why am I not in beauty school again?

Because, if you ask my professional opinion, this is pretty legit. I could make bank.

Late Nights

So there's this place around here called Marty's Doughnuts. And they're kind of amazing. Marty's - as it is ever so affectionately known as - opens at 12am. For $1 you can go in and get yourself one bonafide, yummy, piping hot, doughnut. It's a big deal.

It even has magical rejuvenation properties! Notice how awake I look! And then consider that the time was 2am... ahh college.

Re-Bloggin' It.

In the blog world this is this thing called 're-blogging'. But really, it's just a fancy way of saying that I stole this from someone else who stole it from someone else. So thank you Ahnika for finding this work of awesome that is now my favorite video. 

How is this not awesome?! You should re-blog it. Also, you should click that awesome link to the right that says 'follow' if you have not already. Mostly because then I can shoot up in the world of blogger stardom. It's a real thing. 

Missing Things

Today is cold and wet and a day for being inside and doing cozy things. Sadly, college doesn't really seem to permit that much. But it's times like this that remind me how much I miss painting. I miss watching a painting develop under my hand, seeing how each brush stroke can change the work entirely. I miss the time of just being able to relax and sit and do what I want. I miss the creativity involved and the producing of the work.

I also realize that I haven't done an art post in a while, so here it is. I'm not sure if I've already shared this painting, but it is one of my favorites even though it's the first real painting I did. 

Addiction.

I don't think you understand what an addiction this has become. The last game I played lasted for 3 hours and it was intense. If you haven't played it before.... DO IT. But caution: people have been known to become sleep deprived because of how insanely addicting this game is. No, really. We played 3 games in a row on Saturday and I went to bed at 3am. 

Ummm.... I can't explain.... no further comment.

Letters

Letters are so fun to get in the mail, why doesn't anyone snail mail any more? It's kind of disappointing if you ask me. But since my friends and I are so cool we're writing letters back and forth to each other. And it's really fun.

And I mean, I even make my own envelopes... come on people. Wouldn't you be excited to receive this in the mail?

Sometimes....

... when the stress of college and midterms is just too much, there are spontaneous hair cutting parties in your dorm room.

Fall Reaches Gordon

Which is exciting, because when I was in New Hampshire for the weekend they were already in full fall color. Come on Gordon, get with it.

Apple picking is big here apparently. Not that these were picked, but we can pretend right? I mean, we had to pick them up off of the ground. So that counts. 

Look! Fall colors. And it's actually a little cold outside. Whatever SB with your 80 degree weather every day. This is nice.

Another view of the campus. Also - do you see how foggy it is? Weather has been rainy and temperamental lately. Especially since it was in the 80's last weekend.

Evans. Home. Kind of. But it's a decent dorm and the people are fun.

Right outside our dorm. Yeah, didn't really have that in CA do we?

Sorry, I'm just kind of obsessed. This is by our lake which, by the way, is getting grosser every day. But the colors make up for it. Now, if it would only stop raining I could take a walk...

Chapel.

Another view of the lake, notice the walking path?

The other side of campus. Don't really get over here much but it is the area of the 'hill' dorms. 

In other news I am on quad break and procrastinating some more. Not really, I've actually been working on homework all day. Sad, I feel like school breaks are not supposed to be like this.

My Mega Weekend

Well Friday started out with my Old Testament Exam #2. Definitely think I did better than the 1st one, but that is still to be determined... one can only hope. Regardless, I came out of class feeling exuberant and just really happy. Happy that it was the weekend, happy that I finally got to take a break before homework 24/7, and happy because it was a Friday. So I was on my way to lunch when I saw some dorm mates who asked if I wanted to go to the mall in 15 minutes. Why not? It was after all the weekend! 

So, in our infinite wisdom, and because none of us have a car, we waited for the shuttle to come pick us up. And waited. And waited. The shuttle finally arrived and the driver yelled at us to "Hurry up! I'm 15 minutes late!" He then proceeded to close the door on us and start the bus while we were still on the front steps. Nice move Gordon?

Anyways, after a really long journey and some rather unusual stops and doublebacks our crazy driver, and I do mean rather out of it driver, dropped us off at the North Shore Mall. This is quickly becoming my favorite mall - and it's not even in Boston! Long story short we spent 6 hours at the mall, enjoyed a lovely non-lame (I mean Lane) food dinner, and had a lovely time.

When all was said and done we got back to Gordon about 8:30pm only to come back and do this!

Blacklight party! No, not what you are thinking grandparents, despite how I'm dressed. Our school has been in full Homecoming swing this whole week and has fun events every day - this was Friday's event. Totally sponsored by the school and actually a really lame dance. But I did get told I was a really good dancer so on the flip side... I was okay with that. And besides, my outfit was awesome and I got to hang out with my friends. AND I wasn't doing any homework :)

Elaine and I. Spent a lot of time with this girl this weekend :)

So we basically stayed up really late and then woke up the next morning to find Homecoming still in full swing! Actually, I woke up at 6am to wild chanting outside my window since I am facing the quad. Great times. Anyways, after a late start we ventured outside. Sadly, we only got to enjoy the activities for a little bit because we both agreed that we had a ton of homework to do. (3 papers by Monday people! That's at least 8 pages!) However, as the day was a beautiful 80 degrees we took at study break at 4pm and went to the bookstore because we heard that they were having a sale. Well, as much as bookstores can.

Guess who finally got their first Gordon themed apparel? They are amazingly comfortable and I think I pretty much haven't taken them off since I've gotten them. Good buy Krystal.

What else? I apologize for how long this post is - I've just been doing so many small things! I love having friends who 1) work in the cafe 2) steal free food and 3) give it to me because they've already gorged themselves on french fries. Yummy!

It's mashed potatoes if you can't tell = very, very happy night.

Also making for a very, very happy night is finding time to knit. As I have finished most of my homework I allowed myself some relaxation time tonight. 

And look! I've progressed!

A little misshapen and uneven but I'm getting back in the swing of knitting. I've also never changed colors before so this is kind of a big deal people. Actually, this is really impressive because I haven't knit for a great number of years and I just started this on Friday. Yeah. I'm that good.

In conclusion: a very fulfilling weekend. A few practical jokes, a great trip to the mall, a little bit of stressing, finishing a lot of work while taking a lot of breaks, and a lot of laughs. Oh, and I pretty much ate really badly this weekend. Fun stuff college.

Good Study Buddies

Yes I know the pictures are backwards. And yes, I am procrastinating once again. But I am going back to studying momentarily. Have y'all tried this? It's amazing! Pumpkin Spice latte that actually crackles when you pour water in. Like there is legit foam on top and it is delicious! I'm just looking forward to the white peppermint mocha's at starbucks though...

It's so good! Do you like my new mug? I love it. It's green. It's pretty. It's perfect small portion size.