Where to start...?

So much has happened over the last couple of weeks. It's been a complete whirlwind.

I apologize for the huge size of today's post in advance. I'll go in chronological order:

As I mentioned, I went to Inniswood Gardens at a metropark in Columbus. It was absolutely gorgeous and utterly different than Kingwood Gardens. Inniswood had more of a free-form, fairy-tale like quality. Here are some of the highlights:

I also mentioned the Dublin Irish Festival in passing in my last post(it was fantastic--I'd recommend it to anyone). Admission was only ten dollars which was so worth it. We saw a ton of live entertainment including two bands, several dance groups, and a fiddling group. The first band we saw was The Tartan Terrors. They were quite the raucous crew; the Terrors are a Scottish band who incorporate bagpipes into their rock music. They were also quite the comedy act.

The drummer and one of the guitarists for the Tartan Terrors. Decked out in kilts and all.

The whole clan. Harhar.

A sand sculpture. Amazing.
And now for a few of the more mundane details. I moved into college this past week, and it's been rougher than I expected. Obviously, the course load for any music major isn't exactly light, but it's definitely heftier than I imagined. I'm adjusting though--slowly, but surely. The REAL point for bringing this up is to discuss my desk. Not the boring items on it, like my pens or empty water bottles, but a couple of the more interesting trinkets. For example:

A hunk of amethyst, which I recently acquired at the Bucyrus Bratwurst Festival in the one of the craft tents. Bratwurst related? No. Pretty? Absolutely. Amethyst is also thought to ease stress, provide spiritual insight, assist in visualization, and bring peace. I'll take all the help I can get. :) And then there's this little guy:

Not only is he adorable, he also acts as a handy little compartment for varied treasures (provided they're about the size of a thumb-nail).
And finally,

This is my pom, Lilo. I'd just finished practicing, and she hopped right up on the bench like she was going to launch into my Mozart sonata. What a ham. I think that's all for now...my birthday is this Friday, so hopefully I'll have even more exciting things to talk about in the future. :)Cheers, Jill