Brought to You by Insomnia

I can't sleep. It's annoying, frustrating, and inexplicable. But while I'm up, I wanted to post the pictures from the Zoo. I went to the Jacksonville Zoo on Friday with Kristen and Lara. Yet another fun filled, road trip adventure. I explained my love for those earlier. Do try and keep up. The zoo was SUPER cool. I will show you my favorite parts.

Obviously white with black stripes. No, I will never let that go. Just concede already.

I like rhinos a LOT more after noticing their eye placement. It's just cute.

Get a room.

We're pretty talented.

Fancy pants elephant.

This was "We just found out we're going to be eaten by a Komodo Dragon." I don't think Andrew picked up on that. But perhaps he's just really excited to die in such an exotic way.

Tripping Over Myself

I've recently discovered that I love to take trips.
I love packing. I am both an over and an under packer. Quite the paradox, I know. I will always have q-tips, band aids, batteries, and a sewing kit, but never my toothbrush. It's actually kind of a problem.
I love sitting in the car/plane/train/creepy bus and having long, silly conversations.
I love sitting in companionable silence while taking in the scenery.
I love singing along with old school country and whiney punk rock songs.
I even like stopping for gas, using the creepy gas station bathrooms, and never really feeling whole again until I shower.
Luckily, I was able to have a lot of trips this spring break. First I went to Atlanta with Natalie. The five hour drive was surprisingly fun--we even threw in a couple of tricky detours to keep things interesting. I got to meet Natalie's sister, brother in law and niece. AND on top of that I did a million things I've never done before.
As a million is quite a lot, I will just tell you the highlights:
1) Dancing with no abandon in a room full of strangers. It was actually very liberating
2) Bath and Body Works Outlet! So many deals, so little time (and money, unfortunately).
3) A singles ward behind a temple. Now that was cool.
4) The largest aquarium in the world!
5) Trying 55ish coke products from around the world. Most were disgusting.
6) Eating some cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. Where have you been all my life?
7) Attempting to haggle with a street vendor over a fake Prada bag. It didn't work.

I got some sweet pics at the aquarium. See?

We pretty much hung out with the cast of Finding Neemo. I felt like I already had a relationship with these fish.

Not actually as threatening as one might think.

My most favoritist, most depressing fishies.

Beluga Whales!

Well are you?

This guy is HUGE. Spread your arms out. Now imagine something bigger than that. He has a 9 foot wingspan, or something.

Takin' on the Jellies.

And the we went to the Coca Cola Factory. This "museum" is more of an Indoctrination camp. I'm not a big fan of coke, but now I'm strangely fond of it. I still don't like the taste, but I just feel better knowing that its there.
Yea, those are Coke 3-D glasses. We watched a 4D movie about Coke.

Lindy and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

Oh dear. Last week was simply dreadful. I had papers due, exams that I forgot about until the second I sat down in class and had to take them, exams that tested my oral competency and composition writing ability in an unknown language, and I topped it off with a nice helping of car trouble. But overall, it was a good week.
Don't get me wrong, parts of the week sucked. My Pompeii test was going to be intense. I had to know dates, important facts, historical significance, and be able to write a comprehensive paragraph about all the inscriptions and slides we've been shown in class. Then I had to label maps. Then I had to write an essay. I had this exam on Thursday. My Spanish in class composition was on Wednesday. Another paper was due on Tuesday. So, I had my studying schedule carefully planned. It all broke down when I arrived to my Pompeii class on Tuesday, and found out the exam was that very same day! I grabbed my notes and read over them as much as I could, but there was nothing to be done. It was that horrible dream showing up to class naked and having a surprise test. At least I was fully clothed.
Wednesday I took the missionaries across town to do a visit. The girl wasn't there, so we got back into the car to leave and then....the car wouldn't turn on. We tried a few things but, unfortunately we had no idea what to do. We tried to jump it off, and cool it down, and oil it up...but nothing worked. We thought it might be the battery, so we got a new one. Turns out my car is one of those cars that changing the battery involves a jack, and wrenches, and removing the tire and spinning in 7 circles, and then shooting yourself in the head. After we replaced the battery, it still didn't work and we'd lost 4 hours of our life we could never get back. So, I gave up, left my car at a gas station, and went home.
But although it wasn't very fun, it all worked out in the end:
1) I made an 82 on the Pompeii exam! I would have liked to do better, but hey--I'll take it.
2) I learned how to change a tire.
3) I have a set of ratchets!
4) I have awesome friends who let me bum rides off them.
5) My Dad was in town, so he fixed the starter for me! And my Mom came with him, so I got to hang out with them.
6)It's over! Now its Spring Break!

I just wanted to get all of that out. Next I'll have awesome pictures from the Atlanta Aquarium (largest in the World!), the Jacksonville zoo, and Wakulla Springs. I looove Spring Break!

Limited Release from the Vault

Last year a little unknown group performed at The Talent Show in our ward. I was cleaning out some files in my computer I found this recording of it. Quite the talented pair. They performed a cover of the Moldy Peaches' "Anyone Else But You". Enjoy :)

Tour dates: TBA

Life's a Beach

I went to Naples last weekend! (Naples,Florida. Not Naples, Italy. It seems the original American Colonist were quite an unimaginative bunch. Is coming up with your own name for a city really that difficult?Is there a certain limit on the names for places that are allowed to be in exisitance? Speaking of naming cities, I don't really think adding "New" to another place's name really changes it. I digress.) But, back to name-stealing Naples. While it was snowing in some places, we went to the beach! We climbed on an environmentally protected species of tree--"mangroves"--and found the mother load of sea shells! Also we witnessed an awesome sunset. See for yourself:

This is a "mangrove"--a deceptively strong endangered tree that only grows where fresh water meets the sea:

The mother lode! Seriously, there were tons and tons!:

Andrew is pondering life's great mysteries:

The pier at sunset:

The sunsets at exactly 5:58:

I have some great pictures from Christmas to post! So, stay tuned for those :)

Party Central

Wow. It's been two months. I never promised regular updates though. Let's just keep that in mind, shall we?



Andrew turned 23 years old! We decided to do things "old school", and had a skate party. Once we decided on the skate party, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were practically a given. And it all snowballed from there. We projected video games onto the wall and ate cake. A popcorn buffet was attempted, but I'm still undecided on that success. The proportions were off. We had lots of regular popcorn. Perhaps too much. The other popcorns were overlooked, and the point was lost. But who cares!? We had cake! Speaking of cake, it is pictured to the right, in all of it's glory.



I also decided to try something novel and fulfill my calling. For the June activities committee meeting we were asked to come with an idea for an activity. I made a table. One column for ideas, one column for venues, total estimated costs, distance from Tallahassee (rounded to the tenths of a mile), etc. (This should make even Kourtney, a.k.a. "I have a portable filing cabinet for weddings plans that I keep on my person at all times", proud). Alas, it was not to last. Maybe the table was too much. I was suddenly released and called into the Relief Society Presidency. Now I get to help with Enrichment every month! I really think we're going places! The first Enrichment I've helped with was on Thursday--A Kebab cookout! Turns out fellowship, food, skewers and an open flame is the recipe for success.



Lara and I had our first ever bridal shower tonight. We made the punch. Actually, Lara made the punch. I'm not sure what I did. I cleaned the house? Yes. I cleaned the house. And I dreamed a game. I suppose its a sign that you're obsessing when you begin to dream about a bridal shower. The dream game is basically Madlibs. You have bags of various necessary parts of speech (noun, adverb, adjective, so on), and as a guest walks in they write a word for each category and put it in the bag. Later, we would randomly draw the needed words out as we tell the story of "How Parker and Lauren Met" or give Lauren "Good Advice". Anyways, the punch was good. It involved lime and cherries and carbonated goodness. Mmm.



Also, I was interviewed and hired for a job at FSU. I would take a pay cut, and could possibly be fired if the budget runs low. But it would mean no extra driving (I currently drive 20 miles round trip to get to work) and I would get first dibs on registering for class. I'm going to attempt to work both my current job and this new job for the fall semester. And also make the dean's list. Dream big or go home, yes?

Oh baby!

After a careful, and completely thorough investigation, I am thrilled to confirm reports that Jefferson Jason Packard is one adorable kid. I flew out to Utah for a week between my spring and summer semesters, and I can't fathom a better greeting than Jefferson's hearty wails. Seems the young boy does not enjoy car trips, even ones to retrieve the much anticipated Aunt Lindy from the clutches of airline mayhem.

The trip was stuff dreams are made of. There are mountains! Holy hannah, the mountains! I do believe the good people of Utah take those for granted--my constant remarks on the landscape were met with luke warm acceptance. The very tops of the mountains were still covered with the last of the winter snow, and Jason took us all up there one night, and I got to tromp around in the stuff. It was amazing. You could hear it melting. And the fresh mountain smell! And the natural disasters! (An avalanche, to be precise. Jason related all the gory details to me.) In honor of the occasion (the occasion being the third time in my life to see snow) I built a little snowman. Alas, Jason has the picture, and all I can offer is words. He was about 9 inches tall, with long, somewhat twiggy arms, and big brown eyes. We christened him Ralphie, and he stands for honor and glory in the mountains of Salt Lake. (Shortly after this post, Jackie e-mailed me the pictures. So, there he is!)

Jackie and I had a smashing time. Oddly, we spent a lot of time in the mall. We're not usually the mall rat type, but we had errands to run, and the mall was the best place for it. I bought some shirts, the likes of which can only be found in the Mormon heartland. The shirts are long and sport conveniently capped sleeves. Truly a revolution in casual attire.

One of our trips to the mall, involved picking out outfits for Jefferson and his two year old cousin Kaden to wear in pictures. While the mommies shopped, I was on stroller duty, hanging out with the kiddos, watching the elevator doors open. While I held a 2 month old baby in my arms, and discussed the elevator operating system at length with a 2 year old, a kindly woman changed my life. She conversationally asked, "Are they both yours?" I answered, "Nope! I'm the aunt." And although this was the sum of our short conversation, it hit me with some gravity. Someday, I will be that mommy. But my goodness, when I am that mommy, I will seriously rethink taking two small children to the mall by myself. And I would definitely invest in a tandem stroller. Using state of the art technology, I made a composite of all the possibilities. Pretty scary, yes?

Besides the snow, and errands in the mall, I was able to witness Jefferson's first experience with professional photography. The little guy truly handled it with grace. He was passed around, propped up with books, and placed trustingly into the strapping arms of a two year old, all in the name of art and documentation. It was definitely not the most enjoyable experience of Jefferson's young life, but the photographer captured his true personality beautifully. What a charming young lad!

All good things must come to an end. My trip is over, and summer session is in full swing. My Spanish class is shaping up to be one of the more challenging experiences in my life thus far. I can now tell you that "Me llamo Lindy" and "Mi nombre es Lindy" but never "Mi llamo es Lindy". That was a pretty big breakthrough. The differences are subtle, but important. :)