Sundays are tough. Sundays are the days when you know you have work to do because you've been putting it off all weekend, yet you don't want to do it because you just want to relax before the hectic week ahead. Maybe the sun is shining and beckoning you outside. Maybe it's rainy and you just want to crawl in bed with a big cup of coffee and watch Netflix. Maybe it's a beautiful spring day and you're too distracted and inspired by the beauty surrounding you to write a paper for Humanities or crunch numbers for Statistics.

Today was like that last one. At least I was inspired enough to blog. Productivity is productivity, right?

I spent some time in the Botanical Gardens again. Spring is in full bloom here and I love it. I tried to get some homework done while I was there, but I couldn't help but go off on a miniature photo walk.

I know macro flower pictures are so cliche, especially for me. But I will stop taking them when I stop finding them so pretty. Which will most likely be never.

Giving myself a break today was actually the best thing I could've done. This week is going to be the craziest of them all, and I could really use the relaxation in preparation for it. This week is the week before exams, and I have a billion things due. My desktop looks currently like this:

A giant list of things to get done (organized and broken down by day of the week, one thing at a time works best for me) and some serious motivation.

the end is near.

Every class that I've attended, every phone call from my parents, every time I throw on a pair of shorts and everytime I can't believe how hot some days can be, I am reminded that summer is going to be here before I know it. I will be done with my first year of college before I know it.

I keep flipping my calendar forward weeks at a time. I'm pretty sure everything is planned out from here on to the end of exams. Crazy.

Time is flying and I have so many deadlines that it's not even funny. Yet at the same time, I am starting to think that I might actually survive this semester. The light at the end of the tunnel is now visible, so to speak.

Taking a break from my crazy, stressful, end of the year marathon that I'm currently running, I look back at these snapshots from a quick trip my hallmates and I took to the Botanical Gardens on an April day that could've been mistaken for July. I am reminded to slow down, even at the busiest of times, in order to relax and take in this most beautiful time of the year.

A year later, and I am more in love with this beautiful place and my school than ever before.

a long winter.

I took a trip to the Botanical Gardens with Brandon in order to get some pictures for Photo. It was snowing and there weren't many flowers, but there were a lot of other gorgeous, lush plants. I've never been to the Botanical Gardens before, so going my first time in the middle of winter wasn't the best idea I've ever had. But on the other hand, it was perfect because even in the dead of winter, it was beautiful. It made me so excited to go again when all sorts of different flowers and plants are in bloom later in the spring.

This winter has been a long one, but things are finally starting to warm up here. Finally.
Spring will hopefully be here to stay after next week.