Lily's Senior Project

 Date: 5/24. Time: 19:56.  Last day of senior project! Hallelujah! I spent my morning in the library working on my self-evaluation, and with only a little left to do, Sasha and I met after lunch and grinded out the last of the work on our book! We started by doing the complete finishing touches on our art, tweaking a few details, and outlining some components in sharpie. Then we copied our script onto our finished art pages and also finalized that in sharpie. Afterward, we went to the library, and Heide so graciously allowed us to use the laminator to make our pages look professional, followed by us hole-punching the edges, and tying the book together with string. And with that, we were done! We printed a few things for our table tomorrow and got in touch with Corby about a couple things too but mainly our day was spent completing that book! Such a relieving feeling to have everything completed and I’m excited to show everyone our work at Express Fest tomorrow! Today's Hours: ...

 Date: 5/23. Time: 21:24.  Sasha and I were very productive today! It was a bit of an office day so we stayed on campus and grinded out some substantial progress on the book. We started off by making a list of what we needed to complete today and tomorrow in order to get everything done in time and stay focused on what needed to be done. Then, we got to work on finishing the art for the book! Luckily we only had a couple of pages to do each so it wasn’t an exhausting process and I’m excited about how each page turned out! We also edited and completely finalized the script to our liking and made an “about the authors” page to put at the end of our story. We emailed Corby and updated him on all our progress and also decided on how we want to have our express fest table set up! With only one more day left of senior project, I’m excited about what Sasha and I have been working on and the fun we’ve been having! Sasha and I also forgot to take pictures today so here's one from our d...

 Date: 5/22. Time: 22:45.  Another great week of senior project! I think I almost enjoyed this week more than I did the last one when Sasha and I went to Maine. This week felt both productive and fun, we’ve made really good progress on our book that I’m very excited about and I feel like Sasha and I had fun on our little excursions throughout the week. We hiked, fished, wrote our script, and completed most of the art for our book. We figured out what we liked and debated ideas for our script and illustrations before coming up with our final idea that I think we’re both definitely excited about. I also think this week was a nice change of pace because we were on campus basically every day and the days that we hiked and fished were ones filled with fun and memorable experiences. I’m not going to lie, I was a little stressed out at the beginning of this project about how we were going to make it all work, but I think, especially since we pivoted away from the blueberry idea, that...

 Date: 5/22. Time: 22:21.  Lake day! Sasha and I decided to soak up the lovely warm rays of the sun on the lake today! Cam so graciously brought us out on her boat and I tried to surf for the first time…can’t say I was great at it, but I’ll get there. Taking full advantage of this hot day, we swam in the chilly lake more than once and spent the day in the presence of great friends. Our book is about adventure and taking advantage of our environment and I definitely feel like we accomplished that today! In the afternoon we enjoyed a true-crime movie and watched as the rainstorm washed across the lake :) Today's Hours: 7  Total Hours: 71

 Date: 5/20. Time: 19:10.  Fishing! While Sasha went out to breakfast and had her exit review for her concentration, I enjoyed a sleep-in and a lazy morning about the house. When Sasha’s meeting was over she picked Allie and me up and we headed over to the local Highland Lake, though first stopping at Jake’s to pick up some meaty worms for bait! Only having two rods, Sasha and Allie fished for some time while I acted as the cameraman, taking pictures and videos of our endeavor. Eventually, Sasha and I switched off so I could fish for a bit and Nat also joined us at the lake, taking a brave dip in the chilly water. Unfortunately for Allie and me, Sasha was the only one with luck in catching fish today but I still enjoyed my time away from campus :) After fishing, Sasha and I got to work on doing more art and working on our script for the book. A very full day of senior project indeed! Today's Hours: 7 Total Hours: 64

 Date: 5/19. Time: 23:04.  Sasha and I made good progress today! It was a bit of a slow/rainy type of day so we started our morning in the gym because it’s #gainsseason. We also decided to ditch our plans to go fishing with Allie and save them for a later date because it was raining so heavily. Yet still wanting to get outside and be active, we decided to go for a walk by the Proctor Ski area with my puppy, Maisy! Although she was a bit of a jerk from constantly pulling on the leash I think she enjoyed the exercise and she also loves the rain so she was blessedly tired this afternoon. After our walk, Sasha and I met up again to continue working on the illustrations for our book! We completed a few more pages and are making great progress towards finishing our book for Express Fest. Speaking of which, we also discussed what our table presentation would look like and how we might design a tri-fold to highlight our past couple of weeks of work! Today's Hours: 5.5 Total Hours: 57...

 Date: 5/18. Time: 21:17.  Sasha and I had a much-needed change of pace today and we wrote out the basic script for our book! We met early this morning and got to work on thinking of ideas and getting inspiration from some other books. We thought about making it rhyme but it was hard to make our idea work with that and we came up with lots of other little ideas before deciding on the one that we wrote. This process honestly took longer than I think both of us expected but I’m glad we used the time to come up with an idea that we’re both excited about and one that was fun to write. While it isn’t completely finalized, I think Sasha and I came up with a solid rough draft that should set us up well for when we put the whole thing together! I also realize I didn’t take any pictures of us working today, so here’s a picture of Proctor from our hike yesterday at the top of Mount Kearsarge :) Today's Hours: 3 Total Hours: 51.5

Date: 5/17. Time: 20:06.  Today was quite the day for Sasha and me. This morning we decided to hike Mount Kearsarge… with Atlas. Luckily for us, the trail is pretty easy, not very steep, and simple to follow because the rest of the events taking place on our hike were taxing enough. Our first ordeal occurred on the way to the summit when we encountered another group of hikers with a dog. And, Atlas still being a puppy, gets very excited around other dogs. Yet unfortunately for us, and especially for Sasha, Atlas probably has the considerable strength of both of us combined and a bark so deep and authoritative that it could knock the socks off any man. So there we are, at a crossroads with this group of innocent hikers and their tiny dog, Sasha’s white-knuckling Atlas’s leash in a stance that keeps all her weight back, trying to prevent him from lunging towards this quivering dog being carried off the ground by its harness. Then, all of a sudden Atlas gives a good lunge and Sasha go...

 Date: 5/16. Time: 18:20.  Today was a very productive day for our senior project! While Sasha worked out in the morning I used that time to get my much-needed beauty sleep and then we met shortly afterward to officially start the illustrations on our book! Taking advantage of the sunny weather before the rain this afternoon we sat on Sally B porch with our watercolors and ideas ready to be put on paper. As I am no artist, this process was a little more frustrating for me than Sasha and I think we both underestimated how much time it would actually take us to do these paintings. First, we sketched everything on a piece of paper, and then, when we were satisfied with what we drew, we then sketched that onto the watercolor paper and painted over that. And although it’s definitely obvious the differences in our painting and drawing styles, Sasha and I were satisfied with what we accomplished today. I’m starting to realize that this part of the project is going to take a lot of pa...

 Date: 5/15. Time: 16:45.   This past week has certainly been an experience, with Sasha and I going to Maine and then deciding to change the theme of our book. Overall it was a good week and I’m happy with what Sasha and I have accomplished. The main thing we did was go camping in Maine, which was certainly a fun and enjoyable experience, even though we basically lived like we were homeless for three days. Yet that trip also taught us that blueberries are just not a realistic thing to be looking into right now since they are very much out of season. Looking back to when Sasha and I came up with the idea for this project, I realize that blueberries were in season then, and us not thinking ahead, just assumed that they would somehow survive the cold killing season of winter to stay in season this May. Nevertheless, I believe everything happens for a reason, and I can safely say that I’m even more excited about our new idea than I was with the one before. I really enjoyed the hik...

Date: 5/14. Time: 19:10.  Another chill day for Sasha and me! This morning we really focused on the main idea of our book and its characters. We discussed different titles and story arcs and we came up with a pretty solid idea that we’re both excited about. Unfortunately, I won’t be spilling any information in the blogs because we want it to be a surprise. Although I will say that it’s mainly inspired by our adventures, which we also spent time planning today. Looking ahead at the nice weather for next week, we finalized some plans to go to the ocean and do some more hikes, hopefully involving some swimming and waterfalls! We also spent some time researching the best ways to make our book and watched some DIY videos of the different styles. Sasha and I also acknowledged that we need some solid days dedicated to crafting our book so we scheduled some art days for ourselves in between our adventures! Seeing everything starting to come together is very exciting! :) Today's Hours: 5 T...

Date: 5/13. Time: 22:34.  Today was certainly more of a lowkey day for Sasha and me. We both enjoyed a much-needed sleep-in in the comfort of our own beds and then we met up to start planning our week ahead. We found a nice website that offered inspiration for some future hikes, some including waterfalls that I’m excited about if this hot weather keeps up. And if Maine taught us anything, it’s that blueberries are not in season… so we officially changed the theme of our children’s book to be about nature! I feel like this will certainly serve us better with the beautiful hikes we already have under our belt and for the day trips we have planned for the future as well. Later in the evening, we met again to also talk with other project groups about joining them on excursions and exploring more of the outdoors. And we also spent some time planning out the book with our new plan in mind. All around a simple but productive day! Today's Hours: 5 Total Hours: 30

Date: 5/12. Time: 21:08.  Waking up to the soothing sounds of engines revving and shopping cart wheels squeaking, Sasha and I started our day in good spirits. Per tradition, we hit the local coffee shop, in this case, Starbucks, and got our morning fix of caffeine in our systems. Fueled with espresso, we drove to the Bri-Mar Trailhead on Rattlesnake Mountain and began another hike. Calves sore and burning, Sasha and I trekked up yet another steep trail to reach some gorgeous views of the local lakes and forests. Although shorter than yesterday’s hike, at some point along the way Sasha and I ended up taking a wrong turn on the trail, taking us a good ways off the trail until we reached a road that convinced us that we had indeed been going the wrong way for a while. Nevertheless, we persisted, and thanks to AllTrails, found our rightful path to end up back at the car. Sweaty, and smelling like a pair of wild animals we began our journey back home, and thankfully arrived in one piece...

Date: 5/11. Time: 20:05.  After falling asleep to the sounds of loons and owls communicating last night, Sasha and I awoke to find the sun streaming down on our humble campsite. Our lovely neighbor, a travel nurse who was smoking what I’d like to assume was medical marijuana at 9 am, bid us farewell and wished us well on our adventures. From there, we packed up our area and hit the local Dunkin Donuts for our daily coffee fix. After a fairly chilly night, the sun was welcomed as we drove to the trailhead of our hike for today. We arrived at the Pleasant Mountain - Bald Peak Trailhead eager to begin our adventure for the day. Our spirits were soon beaten down by the steep incline we faced for the first 1.5 miles of the trail on the way to the summit. Nevertheless, some good music and beautiful scenery got us through and we were welcomed at the top by some breathtaking views stretching all the way to New Hampshire’s mountain ranges. We descended the mountain with more ease than we ha...

Date: 5/10. Time: 20:35. Today Sasha and I left for Maine! We traveled for a couple hours before visiting our first stop, Pleasant View Blueberry Farm, where we saw rows of out-of-season blueberry bushes! Nevertheless, we had a brief conversation with the farmer who was out in the field and discussed what he does during the off-season. We also stopped at Crabtree’s Blueberry Farm and had a similar experience except for the fact that the farmer was far off on his tractor so we couldn’t reach him. After spending a large part of our day doing that, we reached the KOA in Naples, Maine, where we’re staying for the night, and checked in. Like the experts we are, we efficiently set up our tent and had a celebratory snack of cheese and crackers afterward. With some of the afternoon left, we ventured over to the local state park and frolicked around in search of blueberries for some time. Our day ended with eating dinner at our campsite and taking a ride over to the Naples Causeway to watch a p...

Date: 5/9. Time: 21:40. First day of senior project! Sasha and I started the morning by meeting and ironing out our final itinerary for our senior project. For the next three days, we’re planning on being in Maine so we made a packing list that includes what we need in terms of food, clothing, and equipment for camping and hiking. Along with planning our upcoming adventure, we set the schedule for the rest of senior project by including more days of hiking, research, and making art to complete our book! We researched farms and made sure we have places to visit and stay for the two nights that we’re there. We also went to our local Hannafords to stock up on everything we need for our meals/snacks and prepped out what we’ll be eating for the next few days. After doing that for most of the morning, Sasha and I ventured out into the sun and took a walk on the rail trail, always on the hunt for wild blueberries! The day ended with spending time packing and ensuring that we have everything w...