Last Post For My Blogosphere Identity Class

My goal for the year was to learn to stand up on a surf board and to ride a wave.  Unfortunately I did not complete that goal.  HOWEVER, I have completed many other things that I never would have completed with out having that goal.  Because of my goal:

I made friends with a wonderful, positive girl named Lizzie

Making friends with Lizzie also tied in with me meeting another girl named Lindsay

I learned how to longboard fast and even make turns without falling

I actually got on a surf board and body surfed many waves

I exercised more to get in better shape in order to improve on my surfing

I went out with some other good friends to go surfing which resulted in some good bonding time

And, most importantly, I had an enjoyable and positive experience.

Even though this class is ending, I am not giving up on my goal.  I WILL stand up on a surf board and ride a wave.  

I had a wonderful time with all of you in Blogosphere Identity class.  I feel like I got to know each and every one of you so much better and I really enjoyed going to all of the drama productions.  I hope all of you had a successful year and I am sure we will all keep in touch and remember each other!  Thank you all for a wonderful year!  

Work

Wow, I am sure everyone can understand how much work I have been getting. 

 Especially since it is so close to finals. 

 I have so many tests and papers due it is not even funny. 

 I have not been able to get out surfing (or even to the beach) in so long! 

 I am going to focus on my finals right now... 

I truly dislike all the work I have been getting but I honestly do believe that I have had a very successful year.

-Catie

HAPPY EASTER

I just wanted to wish every body from my blogosphere Identity class a great big

 HAPPY EASTER

Jet Ski

phocks.org

Girls are like
apples on trees. The best
ones are at the top of the tree.
The boys don't want to reach for
the good ones because they are afraid
of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they
just get the rotten apples from the ground
that aren't as good, but easy. So the apples
at the top think something is wrong with
them, when in reality, they're amazing.
They just have to wait for the right
boy to come along, the one
who's brave enough
to climb
all the way
to the top
of the tree.

Sorry, I saw this on stumbleupon.com and thought it was cute and cool because it was in the shape of a tree... and Im pretty much addicted to that site.   Anyway, I REALLY need to get out and go surfing or go out and paddle because I have really been putting it off!!  On another note . . . You know what another fun water sprot besides surfing is?  

Jet skiing!!

I went jet skiing with my best friend Andrew over Spring Break and i COMPLETELY forgot to blog about it!   It was so enjoyable!  We went to a hotel that rented jet skis and decided to rent one together.  We had to take a test in order to ride one (something new they just started because I never had to take a test to ride a jet ski before).  So now, Andrew and I are proud owners of a one year boating license!  We went out into the ocean and jet skied for a good 2 hours!  We made friends with so many people who were on other boats and jet skis.  It was so much fun and I cannot wait to do it again!  We plan on going again before the end of the year, so I will be sure to blog about it!  

-Catie

P.S.  Tomorrow is a Cook out / Poop Party for best buddies by the Lynn University pool from 1pm till 4pm...  YOU SHOULD ALL COME AND SUPPORT BEST BUDDY 

Sick :(

So I have been sick all week and I just got better on thursday so I have no had much to write about this week.  It really is a horrible thing to get sick in college, especially when you have many papers do and a big presentation do in Blogosphere Identity Class!  I was well enough on Friday to participate in Relay For Life, though... it was SO much fun.  I was with the Education Team that had a theme for Dr. Seuss.  It was very enjoyable walking around to all of the tents and buying things that I knew all the money would be donated to charity.  I played Relay golf and I danced and walked the track with Dan.  I even sang Oops I Did It Again during Karaoke with my friend Stephen.  I danced all night long and I was SO happy that I was not sick anymore because I had a blast from 6pm till 4:30am! 

Beach&Friends

Yesterday, I went to the beach with John and Russell for some good quality blog class bonding!  It was so enjoyable.  We all frolicked in the sun and talked about our blogs.  We went swimming and made some friends who go to FAU.  There were no waves what so ever so I was unable to surf. However,  John and I both attempted to skim board.  John actually did pretty well!  I, however, did not...  Russell has footage that he might post on his blog or show to our blog class on monday.  It was an awesome day!

-Catie

Beach Run

Yesterday I went to the beach and, unfortunately, I did not have a surf board with me.  

I decided that I would go for a run on the beach.

I went later on in the day which was nice because the sand wasn't hot and there weren't too many people on the beach.

I ran all the way down spanish rive beach right along the water.  I ran at a nice pace so I didn't get too tired too fast.  

It was very relaxing just going for a slog jog down the beach.  

I felt at peace with the world.  

The water kept creeping up over my feet and I loved it.

It felt refreshing and soothing at the same time.

I did not have my cell phone on me so I did not have to worry about anything going on.

I was only thinking about the ocean and my inner self.

I felt as if I belonged there.

By the end of my run, I felt revived and refreshed.

I am hoping to go surfing this weekend with Lizzie, hopefully sunday.

I need to get back in my surfing groove.  

I love the water and I love FL.

I have a feeling I will love it even more if I enjoy it to its fullest by going surfing.

Scuba Diving

I seem to have gone a bit off track from my surfing goal.  I still have that goal, and I really need to figure out when FL is calling for waves so I can get out and attempt to surf again.  However, this has not stopped me from going in the ocean...

My parents came to visit me this weekend and I spent thursday, friday, saturday, and sunday with them.  It was a very enjoyable weekend.  I took a well desired break from the Lynn cafiteria and went out with my parents to eat at some very nice resturants! My favorite is Seasons 52 which is a very healthy and very delicious resturant!  

I went to stay with my parents in deerfield for the weekend.  My parents came to visit me from MD, so they were rather happy to be spending the weekend on the sunny beach with their daughter!  On saturday, my dad and I went to go on a two tank scuba diving trip.  We are both certified scuba divers and wanted to take advanage of the beautiful FL ocean.  

We took a boat out into the ocean and we scuba dived down 75 feet.  We explored a ship wreck and swam through all of the nooks and crannies.  Our second dive, we went down 75 feel and explored a beautiful coral reef.  We saw beautiful and colorful fish.  Angel fish!  Parret fish!  Sea Urchents!  3 massive sea turtles!  Lobsters!  It was all so beautiful and amazing!  

Scuba diving is a world all its own.  It is very differnt under the water than it is above the surface.  Everything is so calm and enchanting under the water.  I love it.  Every time I go scuba Diving it is a whole new and wonderful expierence!

I love to expierence new and exciting things!  I want surfing to be one of those expierences that I accomplish and enjoy.  I know it will be!

Elementary School

I heard that surfing in the rain means that the waves are sometimes bigger.  However, I decided not to go yesterday because there was so much lightning and thunder.  This did not stop Andrew from going, though... I have yet to hear how it went.  


Anyway . . . I am not able to go surfing at ALL this week because I need to get my observation hours in soon and also my parents are coming to visit me this weekend!  I am an elementary education major specializing in Pre-K.  I will not be able to observe in the school next week because the students have to take the FCAT test.  So this week I will be observing 18 hours at Calusa Elementary School.  Today, I went to the elementary school at 8am with Brian Guzman.  It was very enjoyable and the children seemed to really enjoy us being in the classroom.  We were new and exciting people, so whats not to enjoy?  Even though I cannot go surfing at an elementary school, Brian still found a way to do weight lifting there!  We were playing Girls vs. Boys at recess, which means the boys chase the girls around the parking lot.  It was very fun, but then Brian acquired a group of boys that wanted to be lifted up for fun.  Brian lifted the boys just like he would a weight at the gym!  I recorded the process with my amazing camera recording abilities and you can see the video as soon as Brian posts it up on his blog.  Go check it out!  The children loved it, and Brian and I are planning on going back to the school on Thursday for round two!
OVER AND OUT . . . Catie Wolf

Never Give Up

Dear Blog,

I have gone outside and exercised almost every single day this week, but I have not surfed at all this week!

 My goal is to learn how to surf by the end of this class and I am sticking to this plan! 

 I really do what to learn how to surf.  

This blog is getting me out more and doing things like swimming, tennis, bongo ball, skim-boarding, and other things like that. 

 I have really been going out and trying to learn how to surf but I have not yet stood up on the board. 

 By the end of this class I want to ride a wave standing up!

Love,

Catie

BongoBall

So0o0o0o...

Despite the fact that I did not go surfing today, I WAS able to get some exercise in!  Today on campus they were playing this game called BongoBall.  I love paintball!  I love air soft!  And NOW I love BongoBall! I played for a good 4 hours straight with my best friends Andrew, Noah, Shaw, and Stephen. 

BongoBall is a game with many blow up shields to hide behind so it is much more difficult to shoot people.  In BongoBall, each person receives a VERY large and heavy gun that shoots nerf footballs at people.  Andrew, Noah, Shaw, Stephen and I were an undefeatable team and we were playing for 4 straight hours.  We were the only players that did not switch out.  As a team, we worked together on strategies.  Andrew and I were the offence and we would charge the other team and shoot our opposing players.  

SHOOT

SHOOT

SHOOT

We NEVER missed!

After we finished playing we would just shoot around and toss the balls to each other.

I was interviewed twice during the short breaks I took.  I have to admit that this was quite the work out session.  It was my favorite campus activity they have planned this year and I hope they have it more than once next year. 

Exercise is very important and if I am unable to get out and surf one day, then I am going to get out and exercise to stay fit and prepare myself for surfing another day!

Positive Attitude

MAHALOS BRA

Today was absolutely crazy!!  Andrew, Robert, Brian, Dan, and I all went to Spanish river to practice surfing.  Dan is the only one out of all of us that is an avid surfer.  We arrived at the beach, we waxed our surf boards, and we all darted to the water.

As soon as we splashed into the water we immediately got hit by huge, thrashing waves.  The waves were about 5 feet high and coming one right after the other.  I pushed my board under the big waves and paddled out deeper into the ocean.  Surprisingly, the first wave I tried to paddle in I actually caught and surfed ALL the way into shore!  It was the most exhilarating experience of my life!  I never felt so at one with nature before.  I paddled hard for a bit, but after a few seconds I did not even need to paddle anymore.  The wave just took me.  It is crazy that something so vicious took me so smoothly to shore.  

I traded boards with Dan so that I could experience surfing on a long board.  I was starting to get comfortable with surfing on my belly on the surf board, but this is not my goal.  My goal is to stand up on a surf board and actually surf a wave.  

Dan got me in place and held my board for me as I got on it.  He told me to paddle hard on the next wave and as soon as the wave takes me to where I do not need to paddle anymore, try to pop up on my feet.  I did as he said.  I caught a wave.  I paddled until the wave took me and I did not need to paddle.  I popped up on my knees first and . . . BAM!   I went too far forward on the board and I made it dive down into the ocean, taking it with me.  The surf board flipped over me and dragged me to shore.  Andrew was shocked that I wasn't hurt!  He said he saw the surf board fall right on top of where I flew into the water. It must have just missed me.  

(Thats me...)

This did not stop me from running back into the water to try again... and again... AND AGAIN!  At one point, I got on my knees for a second, but then I lost my balance and plummeted into the ocean again. 

I think today was a great learning experience and I really feel like I can succeed with my goal!  I almost got up on my knees.  Once I master that, I can work on popping up on my feet.  All I need is practice and experience.  Ill be going out again tomorrow.  I CANT WAIT!  Sometimes when I try something new ill get frustrated, but surfing is different.  No matter how many times I fall into the ocean and fail on a surf attempt, it does not bring me down.  In fact, it makes me more determined.  Waves are continuous.  As long as the ocean continues to produce waves then I will be there trying to surf until I catch that one perfect wave that ill stand up on and complete my goal. 

P.S. I also tried skim boarding! Andrew tried to teach me how to skim board, he is really good at it! My goal to learn how to surf has introduced me to other things such as long boarding and skim boarding.  

sunburn isn't pretty

Today I decided to go to the lynn university pool and catch some sun and swim some laps.  Swimming laps helps me keep in shape AND it helps with my paddling skills for surfing.  I swam a super 500 freestyle and a few 100s in backstroke and butterfly.  I ended up getting very sunburnt from being in the sun all day swimming laps.  My recommendation would be to wear sunscreen anytime you are outside in FL because otherwise you are going to BURNNNNNNN.   I love swimming, I find it extremely relaxing and peaceful.  It is a great way to keep my body in shape, which is why I participated in swim team all through out high school.   Oh those were the days...

(NOW THIS IS A BLAST FROM THE PAST)

I am looking forward to tomorrow because I am planning on going out tomorrow to go surfing with Andrew again.  We are going to work on paddling some more and HOPEFULLY try to stand up.  I doubt I will be able to stand up because I tried yesterday with no success.  However, Im going to think positively and try my hardest to stand up!  Plus, I might be using a long board tomorrow which will make it easier to keep my balance.

-Catie Wolf

Friends Till The End

LETS CATCH SOME WAVES DUDE

Well . . . I have to say that today was filled with tons of surfing attempts along with a bit of sunburn. I went to the beach with my two best friends: Andrew and Heather.  Heather stayed on the beach to tan and take photographs while Andrew and I ran to the Ocean with our surf boards in hand.  

Thank GOD for Lizzie teaching me the basics to surfing because I think I might have died if I did not know how to paddle or handle big waves.  Lizzie taught me the proper technique to paddling and she also taught me  to push the tip of my board down when a big wave is about to come so that I could go UNDER the wave and stay safe rather than OVER the wave and face the possibility of getting hurt or loosing my board.

The waves were massive today, and Andrew and I paddled our little hearts out into the roaring ocean!  We were both so concentrated with paddling that neither of us realized that the current was taking us further and further down the beach.  At one point I got ahead of Andrew and, after a big wave passed, I looked back to see Andrew all disheveled and half off his board with his sun glasses hanging from one ear.  It was a pretty comical sight!  Those sunglasses did not survived the surfing encounter.  

Andrew and I paddled as far out as possible and then we turned around to catch some waves to surf into shore.  I tried to stand up once and I could tell that it was not going to happen.  Not today, at least.  Andrew and I surfed on our bellies all the way into shore.  I did what Lizzie taught me.  I made an educated guess on what wave to surf in to shore and I paddled with all my might!!  I think I did a pretty good job and I think I definitely learned a bit more about surfing.  Lizzie taught me so much, but I also think it is important to get out on my own so I can learn from trial and error and, most of all, experience!

P E A C E & L O V E

long boarding

Dear Blog,

Today after class I practiced long boarding with Dan, Shaw, and Charlie.  

I was able to use Charlie’s long board to practice. 

It was very different from Lizzie’s board, though. . . 

It was much bigger and it was very wobbly. 

It turned at the slightest touch of my foot movements. 

I think I like Lizzie’s long board better but Carlie's board was very good practice.

  Ill be long boarding later on tonight after I go to my best friend's birthday dinner. 

I’m looking forward to going out and actually surfing in the water.

  I wonder if the long boarding really helped me improve. 

It definitely improved my confidence. 

I hope it has helped me to balance better, I think it has. 

I guess we will just have to wait and see!

Love,

Catie

workout

 

Oh boy...  What a NIGHT!  Well, first things first... Lizzy has acquired ANOTHER surf student named Lindsey! Lindsey and I went over to Lizzie's house to learn how to long board some more in order to gain more balancing skills.  Lindsey started off very wobbly, but by the end of the night she was riding like Tony Hawk!  She was balancing and kicking to go even faster on the long board.  I was able to get the balancing skill down rather fast.  All you really have to do if find your center and bounce on the board a little bit to get comfortable.  After I worked on balancing on the board, Lizzie had me practice turning left and right.  She said if I learned how to do this on the long board NOW, then it would make it easier for me to learn how to turn on my surf board LATER.  I was able to pick up on that pretty fast too, so now I can say I learned how to longboard!

After a good session of long boarding, Lizzie, Lindsey, and I went inside Lizzie's house and met Lizzie's cat named Murphy.  After being introduced to Murphy, Lizzie decided to teach me and Lindsey some exercises that would help us with paddling (The video above).  We had a good workout session and really got the hang of things!  Before Lizzie took me back to campus, she told me I was to practice the exercises I had just learned and watch a surfing video as homework.  I'm looking forward to getting to the beach and trying my luck on the surf board again!

CATIE

Surfin USA

Unfortunately I was unable to go surfing yesterday, so instead I decided to work out to get myself in shape.  I consider surfing somewhat of a sport and when it comes to sports I like to be in shape so I can perform to the best of my ability.  I went to the pool yesterday and swam a super 500 freestyle and another 500 with 30 seconds rest in between every 100.  I thought this would help me with my paddling skills in the ocean along with getting in shape.  I am really looking forward to go surfing with Lizzie this weekend.  Its going to be B-E-A-utiful weather this weekend in Boca, so I might as well take advantage of it and go to the beach and catch some waves!!! 

Balance

Alohaaaa dudessss!

Along with learning how to surf, I think I might be picking up on the surfing lingo that Lizzy uses when she talks!  After going to Wednesday Night Live at Lynn tonight, I met up with Lizzy and her friend.  She decided that she was going to teach me how to long-board along with surfing because it would help me with balance.  Surprisingly, I picked up on it right away!  I feel like long-boarding will be easier than surfing though.  I think this because long-boarding is on solid ground and surfing is in the water which would cause me to wobble much more.  Even though I think surfing will be much more difficult than long-boarding, I still cant repress my excitement to learn how to stand up on the surf board!!  Lucky for me, Ill be meeting Lizzy tomorrow afternoon for another surfing lesson! I'm thrilled that I am actually learning how to do something that I have always wanted to learn!  I really think that ill be able to surf by the end of this semester.  But I like that Lizzie is teaching me one baby step at a time.  Long-boarding today really got me excited for surfing tomorrow! 

Peace out homie G slice...

FIRST DAY!!!

So0o0o0o Thursday February 3, 2011 is the first day I have EVER been on a surf board before!  Well... I didn't exactly stand on it... But I'm learning slowly but surely.  Lizzie picked me up on Thursday with two surf boards sticking out of the back of her truck.  I was so excited to finally learn how to surf!  I jumped right into the truck  and we sped off to Spanish River beach.  There were not many waves on Thursday, which was fine because Lizzie wanted to teach me how to paddle on a surf board.

We arrived at the beach and immediately went into the water.  You HAVE to love FL when you can swim in February!  She taught me how to lie on the board correctly and how to paddle through waves.  It reminded me very much of a skateboard with the turning.  If I leaned left then I would go left, If I leaned right then I would go right.  Lizzie and I paddled in between the jellyfish obstacles all the way down the beach.  There were some small waves that Lizzie said I would be able to body surf on.  (I wasn't ready to stand yet).  She body surfed a few waves, showing me that I had to paddle while I was moving with the wave.  I was able to surf a bit  on some of the waves and Lizzie would even give me a little push to get me started.  Every time I would do it correctly she would give me encouragement!  She is pretty much the best surfing teacher I could have asked for!  There was one wave I was so excited to surf that I jumped on my board SO fast that it flew out from under me!

By the end of the lesson, Lizzie and I had a few jellyfish stings.  But we were still in good spirits and I am VERY excited for my next lesson to begin!  Im looking forward to learning how to stand on the board but I know that will take a while to learn.  I cant WAIT!

bLoGoSpHeRe IdEnTiTy

HELLO EVERYONE!!!  Thought Id tell you a bit about myself so you can understand why I am going to be writing all these blogs on surfing!  My name is Catie Wolf and I am a sophomore at Lynn University.  I am taking the Blogosphere Identity class with Professor Carrie Simpson.  She instructed our whole class to pick a goal we have in life and to work on accomplishing it throughout the course!  While we do this goal, we also have to blog about it week by week.  I have never blogged in my whole life so this is rather new to me.

I have ALWAYS wanted to learn how to surf.  When I was very little I used to watch Rocket Power and all of my favorite episodes were the surfing ones.  I used to think it was so neat that the characters from Rocket Power lived so close to the beach and that they were so good at surfing.  Every time id take a vacation with my family to the beach, my dad would always get my brother and me a boogie board.  Id always try to stand on it like a surf board but it would always flop out from under me.
I was in my sophomore year of high school when my brother started college at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne FL.  His college was so close to the ocean that he was able to get out and learn how to surf.  I have always looked up to my brother so the fact that he learned how to surf made me want to learn how to surf that much more.

When I first came to Lynn University last year I was so excited that I lived so close to the ocean.  Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to learn how to surf last year.  I didn't really know anyone who had a board that  I could use, and no one offered to give me lessons or to teach me.  Also, I did not own a board so I couldn't even go out by myself to try and teach myself. However, the Blogosphere Identity class has given me a great opportunity!  I met a girl named Lizzie in my class that offered to give surfing lessons to anyone who wanted it.  So... I IMMEDIATELY told her i was interested and gave her my number.  So now I am going to fulfill one of my life goals.  I am going to learn how to surf!