A hui hou kakou Ikapela

Well I thought I would try this out just because it seemed kinda cool.

[izzypea]

#tbt to traveling to another planet; no picture is capable of truly capturing the beauty and mana of the islands. 1-3 are from a jungle adventure in the #KonaCloudForest and the #PaintedTreesHawaii with my mom. 4 & 5 are from the Lapakahi State Historical Park with my dad while exploring ancient ruins, because anthropology/archaeology duh. If you look at the horizon you can see the island of Maui... 6 was taken on the way to Volcanoes National Park. 7 is of the Halema'uma'u Crater from the observation deck at the Jaggar Museum; not shown my super cool volcano socks. The last two are the depressing view I had from the plane heading back to the mainland 😂 (at Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary)

[izzypea]

How to entertain/torture a kitten...bubbles for everyone! #butwheredidtheygo #morebubbles

[izzypea]

College football pride

I sit here today going through all of my old posts and I just came across one with the above title. It pertains to Alabama's bowl game in 2011. We had the privilege of going to the Capital One Bowl in Miami. It wasn't the national championship game that we wanted to be in, but our team was damn sure going to play like it was. Let's just say, we beat the crap out of Michigan State. Here are some of the quotes that Michigan State fans were saying about our team:

"Julio takin' us to schoolio"

"Why are they allowing Alabama to play with 35 players on defense?"

"I think their punter is currently drinking around the world in Epcot."

"If we played 10 times, they would win 15."

"We need much more to compete against a true BCS team. We need a couple of CB's, safeties that can tackle and a pass rush. That's just defense."

"If Cam Newton costs $200,000 for a season, how much is a 2nd half rental?"

"And now Cousins is dead."

"If I was our QB I would hire an attorney and sue them for negligence or intentional infliction of physical and emotional distress."

"I'm ready to accept MSU boosters paying for an offensive line. If we get caught I can deal with it."

"This is getting out of hand...an Alabama D-lineman just popped out of my TV and threw me 10 yards behind my couch."

"Do you think this is how Custer felt?"

"We're going to have a wing named after us at Orlando Regional Medical Center by the time this game finishes."

"Well we kept it under 50."

"We brought our band down to Orlando? I had no idea!"

"SO THIS IS WHAT THEY MEAN BY TEAM SPEED!"

"If I'm Maxwell, I fake an injury on the way to the huddle."

"I can't believe Saban let the 4th stringers play for a quarter and a half and didn't put in the 5th string. POS."

All I can say about these is that Michigan State lost graciously and provided much entertainment for Crimson Tide fans. Never did Michigan State give up and that's just the opponent we love to face. 

[izzypea]

Know Pleiotropy: One gene, multiple effects….. Antagonistic qualities: Take testosterone for instance, it has been proven that men live fewer years than women because of the destructive nature of the hormone testosterone. Heritability: How much variance in some phenotype is due to genetic variation…. These will be helpful in this class.

Dr. DeCaro

[izzypea]

Throughts

So over the weekend I was talking to my cousin and we came up with the perfect plan. We were discussing how awesome we both are for watching the History Channel, National Geographic Channel, the Military Channel and the Travel Channel for fun. Most everyone else in the conversation thought we were crazy because all of the programs on those channels are boring and more informational than entertaining. Obviously these people haven't had the joy of just learning endlessly. That or they are absolutely correct about my cousin and I.  Anyways, I have found my perfect job. Now my employer is unaware of the fact that they will be hiring me, but that is a problem I will tackle later on. I will be the new travel host on the travel channel. I can travel the world and show people the amazing sites and celebrations that happen in remote areas and even very popular places to visit. Normally the Travel Channel only has one person travel, but really that isn't practical, so for my show each trip would involve me bringing a different family member along for the ride. This of course would cause complete mayhem to ensue, but would allow for some great television. Let me explain why mayhem would happen. My family is crazy. End of story. What most others find weird my family will participate in. We are loud and most of the time can't quiet down once the fun has begun. When together the fun is always happening, so beware. That phrase or word everybody avoids in public...yeah my family says it out loud and proud.  Think this is normal? Let me give you the very recent event in where this took place; my grandmother's funeral this past December. My grandmother passed before Christmas so it was a sad time of year for us, but we knew that we would all be getting together again (most of my extended family lives in California, my close family in Colorado, and some in Miami and me in Alabama for school). We all get to the small town of Zamora the night before the funeral for the wonderful rosary service. Now my extended family is huge. I haven't seen most of them since I was 4, I don't remember any of them, but they all remember me. But my family that I see all the time involves my Uncle Doug, my Aunt Gail, cousin Alanna, Great Aunt Vivi, cousin Leilani and of course my little brother.  It was awkward to be at the rosary service (my brother and I were not raised Catholic) since I had no idea what was going on or what I was supposed to actually say. I gradually headed to the back to sit with some family. My Aunt Gail of course was raised Catholic and knew all the words, but she wasn't down for participating because she was still in shock so she sat in the back with me and my brother. So what did she have in her purse? Three Nintendo DS, one for me, one for my brother and one for her. Yes we played video games at my grandmother's rosary service.  The next day was the funeral. Now be warned, none of us slept the night before because we all went out and partied at the Cheesecake factory the night before and didn't get back to the house until two in the morning. This day we actually paid attention. I had my speech ready (which of course I had written that morning) and everyone had eaten and was ready. We sat in the front to have a unified front for the day. I mean I couldn't not sit next to my father at his mother's funeral. But of course the close family is let in earlier than the rest of the guests so we had time to kill (bad choice of words?). This is when the fun begins. We are making fun of people walking in, of each other and of the terrible keyboard present for my brother to play later on. Gail realizes that the last time she had seen my grandmother was at my high school graduation and the thing she said was, "Look at us, all together and the best part is that no one died." Yeah she's feeling terrible about that one. So she's repeating that one, while calling my cousin Leilani Fred. She's named Fred because at the age of three her name was changed. Messed with everybody's heads.

[izzypea]

Rivalry

So for all of those college football fans out there the latest news out there is about the crazy that poisoned Auburn University's old oak trees at Toomer's Corner. Now being a student at The University of Alabama I feel it is necessary to say that the man that did this is in no way related/connected to this institution. Also while I find what the organization "Tide for Toomers" is doing for Auburn admirable, (it is a group of Alumi, students and fans gathering donations to help replace the tree) I see it as a waste of resources. Why our University feels the need to pay for this is beyond me. This man acted alone and stupidly, and even though he yelled "Roll Damn Tide" at the end of the phone call admitting to the poisoning, he shouldn't be seen as a true fan of this great University and the teams it has. I get having an intense rivalry with Auburn, they are our neighbors and we share history. But ruining or disgracing one another's traditions is taking it way too far. We are a great rivalry that will continue for generations to come. I will always be yelling "Roll Tide Roll" but I will always respect my Auburn neighbors yelling "War Eagle."

[sunsurfer-deactivated20110911]

[izzypea]

This just makes me want to go back to Hawaii, hop on my board and never leave again...

sunsurfer:

Rainbow Wave, Kauai, Hawaii  

photo via underthetable

[izzypea]

This is my friend Diego the Raccoon. He apparently found my sandwich to be very appetizing. I met him while on a hike in the Rocky Mountains with some friends. 

[izzypea]

Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit however it lasts forever.

Lance Armstrong