Sasha's Senior Project!

  Day: 5/24 Time: 5:14 Well, that’s it. It’s a weird feeling. That is, finishing our project. I woke up on the earlier side of today and hit the gym and eventually made my way to the rail trail to finish with a run. In the afternoon Lily and I met up. We realized we had forgotten minor details in regards to the art so we finished up that. Then, we put our words on the pages. After lots of rewriting we finalized everything with a little bit of sharpie to spice things up a bit. Later, we made our way to the library to laminate, cut, hole punch, and tie our books together. I have to say it was incredibly stressful. Everyone decided to bless us with their presence so Lily and I had to move around the library to find the quiet spots. But, we finished everything! All in all, another wonderful and productive day.  4 Hours 80/75

  Day: 5/23 Time: 8:15 Today was quite a busy day for Lily and me. Waking up on the earlier side, I decided to get a pump in the gym and enjoy the fresh air with a run outside. These last two days are going to be more “office days.” Today we finished our art. Hallelujah. We saved the hardest art pages for today, so that took us a long while to finish. We also finalized the script which is really exciting. Along with that we planned out our Express Fest ideas and created an “About Us” page for our book. All in all, it was a really busy day filled with lots of hard work.  5 Hours 76/75

  Weekly Reflection  Our second week of senior project has officially ended, and I can say that it’s been a blast. In the beginning, Lily and I had to refine our project a bit, and now that we have a concrete idea our project is flowing perfectly. Coming out of this week I can say that I learned that it will take a bit more effort to make a book. In my opinion, oil painting is relatively easy, however, when it comes to watercoloring it’s a totally different story. So, I’m learning a lot about patience and different art mediums. However, I have been blessed with a good partner and we always get our work done. I'm incredibly thankful for that. I have really enjoyed the excursions that Lily and I have been planning. Every day has been worthwhile, whether it’s going on hikes, walking the dogs, enjoying the rainy weather, surfing it up, fishing, or our art days. Most of the days have been really spontaneous as well. Sometimes we'll have something planned out, but by word of mouth w...

  Day: 5/22 Time: 10:22 Busy day in paradise for Lily and me. Although we didn’t end up working yesterday we decided to plan a full excursion day today. We’re basing our book on adventures, so we decided to enjoy the nice weather and soak up some rays on Sunapee. We spent some time surfing up the waves and catching up with friends as well. It’s going to be a wonderful adventure to add to our little series. We ended the day by watching a movie and listening to the rainstorm. All in all, a wonderful Sunday to get ahead with our senior project.  7 Hours 71/75

  Day: 5/20 Time: 8:10 I went fishing today! We were finally able to enjoy the nice weather and get away from campus. In the morning, I hit up some Tucker’s at the crack of dawn with Cassidy. Eventually, we had to head back so I could have my exit review for my concentration. Thank the heavens it’s finished. Good time though. Right after, I picked up Allie and Lily and we hit up the local Highland lake. Fishing is fun! Allie and I waded into the water and patiently waited for the nibblers. After a long while, I had caught four fish! I know, my ego has soared. As I look at the pictures I realize they’re a lot tinier than I thought they were, but my pride hasn’t been breached. Nat drove over and joined us as well. She decided to brave the cold weather and go for a dip. When we arrived back on campus Lily and I banged out some of the script and worked on some art.  7 Hours 64/75

  Day: 5/19 Time: 11:00 Today was an exhausting day, to say the least. I’d like to blame it on the rain. We had originally planned to have a little excursion today and join another senior project, however, the rain decided to cancel our plans. Instead, Lily and I had a quick pump in the gym followed by a very long walk in which we brought Maisy , Lily’s dog along. The walk took longer than expected, but it was very much needed. Then we went our separate ways. Lily gave her dog a bath and I officially finished writing everything for my concentration. We met back up and banged out some more art for our book.  5 ½ Hours 57/75

  Day: 5/18 Time: 7:36 Lily and I had an office day today! We met on the early side and grinded out our script for our book. This actually took a lot longer than expected. We started out thinking we wanted to rhyme but as we started writing we realized that it didn’t really fit the vibe of the book. Eventually, we sat down and started reading some bomb children's books. However, we weren’t inspired. Luckily, my dearest mother inspired us a bit and we wrote our script! It’s still in the works, but I’m very happy with the progress that we made.  3 Hours 51 ½ /75

  Day: 5/17 Time: 8:45 This will be a bit of a different blog post today. I am exhausted. I think what I did today mentally took 20 years off my life. I would like to blame it on the coffee that I didn’t have this morning, but truthfully it was my dog. I started out today with a little workout. That didn’t go well. I was probably in there for 30 minutes. Once I told my mom Lily and I were hiking Kearsarge today she practically begged me to take the dog. I decided it would be the perfect bonding moment for my dog and me. We’ve always had this unspoken understanding that we don’t really get along. I think he knows I like cats. Anyway, I decided it would be fine. My mother promised me no hikers would be around, and that we would be totally fine. So, we venture up Kearsarge. It starts out fine. Beautiful day, with a little breeze, no bugs, and a dog that is behaving. Well, that doesn’t last long. We come up to a mini white hotdog dog in a harness. I’m holding Atlas down with brute forc...

  Day: 5/16 Time: 9:48 The rain blessed Lily and me as we hadn’t planned an excursion today. Instead, I got a little pump in the gym this morning after the daily coffee of course. Eventually, Lily and Cam dropped by Sally to enjoy the nice sunshine on the porch. And…. Lily and I started our book! Yay! We absolutely grinded today. Lots of people came by but we were not willing to be distracted. Our book had our full attention. I think I might have underestimated how long each page will take though. We sketched out everything first, and then we sketched it on watercolor paper, and then we started painting away. Let me tell you the process is exhausting but totally worth it. After an absolutely draining day, Lily and I are excited to see what the future will bless us with.  7 Hours 42/75

Weekly Reflection  Our first week of senior project has officially come to an end, and I can truthfully say that I have loved it so far. Originally, Lily and I had plans to create a children’s book based on the blueberries in Maine. However, as we set out on our three-day camping excursion we realized that our goal to write a book based on blueberries wouldn’t be plausible. Although we went to farms and talked to people about blueberries it was challenging to capture the “essence of blueberries” because they’re not in season. Instead, Lily and I decided to make the most out of it and enjoy nature. So, we gathered from our trip that we should have done more in-depth research into growing seasons. Overall, I can say that I learned being flexible really helps. Lily and I changed the course of our project, decided to camp at a Walmart, talked to farmers, and got lost, all in one week and if I hadn’t taken everything in stride I think Lily and I would be in a different place with our pr...

  Day: 5/14 Time: 6:29 Once again, Lily and I were blessed to have another office day. Although today we really talked about what we wanted in our book and who the characters would be. That was fun! Honestly, we spent a good long while just to find the names of our characters. Then we had to come up with our story arch. We wanted to include different adventures in our book. Although I can't reveal too much info because we want it to be a surprise! We also watched some DIY videos on how to make a book. We’re still deciding on the best approach. Throughout the day we also did some more planning. Due to the nice weather, we wanted to also put our time into finding the best swimming spots and exploring New Hampshire some more. Lily and I have to remember to manage our time wisely and give ourselves time to focus on the art of the book, so we blocked off some days for that as well. Not an adventurous day, but a day that was much needed for our senior project to be successful.  5 Ho...

  Day: 5/13 Time: 9:42 It was more of an office day today. Lily and I had a nice sleep-in. I have to say waking up in my own bed is an absolute game-changer. Then we decided to meet up and plan out some day trips. We found an awesome website that had lots of cool hikes that we looked into. Our first half of the day was spent looking into more hikes. Later on, we met up and talked to some other senior project groups about possibly joining them for hikes and how to take full advantage of nature. Although we spent lots of time discussing with other senior project groups we also had some time to plan out our book. All in all another wonderful day!  5 Hours  30/75

  Day: 5/12 Time: 9:21  This morning Lily and I were blessed with the sounds of the highway, the early morning Walmart shoppers, and the sweet aroma of the garden center wafting in our direction. With an early 7:00 wake up we decided to drop by our Walmart one last time, we visited it just before closing hours last night, and then head to Starbucks! With our daily caffeine pumping inside of us, we decided to scout out our next hike. With mixed reviews saying “the trails are well marked” to “the trail isn’t marked at all!” we decided to take on the Bri-Mar trail. Although still quite early and so bloody buggy Lily and I stepped out of the Jeep with good mindsets. With two outlooks the Bri Mar trail, if not a little easier but similarly quite beautiful to the hike yesterday, was totally worth it. And if the question still haunts you whether it was well marked or not…it wasn’t. We got lost. But that’s okay! In the end, it was well worth it because once I saw that blazin red jeep ...

  Day: 5/11 Time: 8:08 On our first morning in Maine, Lily and I were blessed with a sauna inside our tent. With the sounds of our neighbor's dogs waking us up we decided to haul ass to Dunkins for our daily coffee. With an unsafe amount of caffeine inside of us, we trekked up Bald Peak, a five-mile “moderately challenging” hike. Let me tell you, this hike was straight up. But, with the gorgeous views, it was totally worth it. Meeting friendly people along the way, searching for out-of-season blueberries, and having good conversation got us through the treacherous terrain. After nearly five hours of a “leisurely hike” we decided to find the nearest public beach and take a quick swim. Moose Pond Beach came in clutch. Reflecting on our time in Maine I’ve come to the realization that although there may not be blueberries in season Lily and I have made a lot of memories and we’re still looking forward to our night camping at Walmart…and our search for more blueberries.  7 Hours 20...

Day: 5/10 Time: 8:53 Today was filled with more adventurous escapades than the day past. Lily and I filled ourselves with some coffee and hopped on the road this morning. A few hours in we stopped in Ossipee, New Hampshire on a boat launch for some lunch. Then we got on the road again and traveled our way to Pleasant View Blueberry Farm where we ran into a kind farmer who was willing to talk to us about what happens when he’s in the off-season. After another 20-minute drive, we reached Crabtree Farm, another beautiful blueberry farm overlooking some mountains. Later, we made it to our KOA campsite where we met our nice neighbors and set up our sick tent. With the Sebago State Park not far off, Lily and I ventured over to soak up a few rays of sun before heading back to our campsite for dinner.  6 Hours 13/75

  Day: 5/9 Time: 9:44 Lily and I started our escapade with a meeting. Initially, we realized that some of our plans were not totally plausible so our goal was to refine our schedule. After a few hours of work, we had booked KOA campsites and planned our 3-day adventure in Maine. Looking at the week ahead, we realized we wanted to add more hikes and interviews so that’s exactly what we did. Although making shopping lists and packing lists took longer than expected we also wanted to get outside and enjoy the warm weather. Lily and I took a long walk on the rail trail and always kept our eyes open for blueberries. Although, as the day wore on we headed to Hannafords to buy food for Maine. With that finished, we headed back, prepared our food, and got to work packing. All in all, it was a successful day! 7 Hours 7/75