Farewell

September 26th:

Today I move into my dorm at SPU and start my new life. Today I also post my very last blog post to this lovely blog that I have nurtured all summer long. One Hundred and Eighteen Days of Summer is over. But do not despair! I'm starting a new blog for my school year called "Emerald City" in which I will be posting bi-weekly (probably) about my new college adventures!!! Get ready for some fun! 

It has been so great, having this challenge of blogging every day. I learned a lot about the size of commitments and never giving up. I hope you enjoyed at least one of my posts, if not more ;)

Please be praying for me as I move in and get adjusted today. I'm a bit anxious for it all >.<

I hope you guys have a wonderful fall and always remember to...

Keep it classy. 

Dying My Hair

September 25th:

So, in mid-July I dyed my hair orange. I didn't bleach it first, so the color was much more natural than I had originally wanted, but it was still awesomely bright and fun. It cost me 100$ to have it professionally dyed (also with low-lights of red), but I think it was worth the extra money because if I had done it at home I probably would have panicked at the smell or about getting it on my skin or something. Now I'm at the point where I want my natural brown back. I liked having the orange for a season, but now that my brown is growing back I'm wishing the orange would just... pop off or something. Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that. But I also don't want to pay to have it dyed back to brown, so I'm just gonna live with the ombre... Haha.

*first dyed

Looking back... I'm not sure if I would have done it if I knew how much trouble it would be. The dying process took like, 2 or 3 hours, and then I had to buy special dyed hair shampoo that costed a lot... Luckily I didn't buy into taking cold showers to preserve the color, because otherwise it would DEFINITELY not have been worth it.

*today (it doesn't look like there is much of a difference except for length... but there is!) (ignore Giles, my ivy)

I actually like how it looked when I just had the "dye test" patch in the front only...

Which hair length do you like best? You have nice examples here of "first cut", "after a month and a half", and "after three months". I like first cut best. But actually, once the orange grows out I'll probably cut it off and then grow my hair back out to past-shoulder length. Not the same as pre-short hair Annie (who had really really long, boring hair), but still nice and long. Probably layered a bunch.

*scary amount of hair

Haha, too many pictures of me here. Hahaa~

So, have you ever dyed you hair? Did you dye it back when it started growing out, or did you color the roots? Would you do it again? Did you use special shampoo?

:)

I go to college tomorrow *what*

Keep it classy!!!

Things I'll Miss

September 24th:

Today I embarked on the long drive to my new home. Tonight my dad and I are staying in Eugene and then traveling to Seattle tomorrow where we'll meet my mom. While in the car I mused about some things about home and the people there that I will miss. So, there are some:

1. My father's random "rants". Out of the blue my dad will say, "Hey, have you ever thought about how "Born This Way" by Lady Gaga could be used by drug companies to make more people take antidepressants?" This is an actual beginnings of a rant that my father went on today. I love him so much.

2. My mother's seemingly-continuous baking/cooking. My mother's food is the best I have ever eaten, ever and I will sorely miss it in college... I will also really miss the way our entire house smells like cake or chocolate when she is working. <3

3. The fact that my parents are completely unfazed by me meowing out of the blue when the house is quiet. I meow when I walk around the blind corner in our hallway, when I want my mother's attention, or just to amuse myself. I feel like people will think I'm weird at college if I do that...

4. My personal space. I haven't shared a room since I was ITTY BITTY (with my brother) and I've gotten VERY used to having my own room and my own bathroom (since my brother moved out two and a half years ago). Sharing that space is going to be a big adjustment. Luckily, my roommate and I have a private bathroom, so we only have to deal with each other's style of bathroom life - is that even a thing? I think I made that up.

5. My cats. I love Michael and Moon to death and I will even miss their really creepy meowing outside my window at 1am. Oh yeah, that's another thing: I'm gonna miss the sounds of my house/garden. I liked to sleep with my window cracked open all year and I'm so used to the crickets and midnight birds and weird cat noises... I hope I can sleep with the new sounds of college dorms!

I will miss so many other things, but those are just a few that came to mind. Of course I will miss my actual parents, my house, Mountain View, and everyone I know - I didn't think I had to clarify ;)

Keep it classy and be happy you didn't leave your home of 18 years today.

Last Supper

September 23rd:

Today was my very last full day at home before leaving for college.

Let's see, what did I do today?

My mom and I went to IKEA to get me a full-length mirror and a small bookshelf for college... Also a tool kit so that I can put together my shelf when I get to my new home. Then we had lunch with my friend K's mom, my dearest Asian momma at "Pasta?" as a little send-off. The food was wonderful, the company even better. :) After that I returned my last checked-out book from the Mountain View Public Library so that I wouldn't rack up two months worth of overdue charges! I have GOT to find a good library in Seattle. I love libraries and will really miss the Mountain View one... So.. then my mom and I went to Cost Plus World Market and I looked fruitlessly for a teal/turquoise throw pillow for my college bed. After that we crossed the street and purchased a tarantula. Yes, you read that correctly, a tarantula. (Temporarily) I named her Shelob. Here are a few nice pictures of her:

The tarantula was a gift for my mom's friend A for her preschoolers - I REALLY hope those kids enjoy the arachnid and aren't scared of it. Hahaa. We went home after Petco and wrapped up our "gift" and presented A with her new pet when she dropped by. I would describe her reaction as... dumbfounded.

Oh, we also went to Walmart and a costume shop (futile shopping for a halloween costume). I think I have everything I need for college now. Just watch, I'll forget something important.. Hmmm...

I have everything packed and loaded into Murphy except for last minute-things... Feels so weird to see my room so barren...

Well, it doesn't look barren in those pictures because that was yesterday when I hadn't yet taken things off my walls or cleaned off my dresser. To me it sees pretty empty. Maybe it's actually just... CLEAN! O.o

My mother made me a wonderful last supper of flank steak and potatoes - I thought for a minute while chewing that I was in heaven. I will be SERIOUSLY missing my mother's beast cooking. Cafeteria food, here I come!!!

After dinner we went into our home theatre and watched the season/series finale of Smallville. Ten seasons in five months. That's 218 episodes. That's a lot of episodes. That's 9810 minutes. That's 163.5 hours. That's 6.8125 days. That, my friends, is a lot of Smallville. I'm seriously gonna miss that show. But I don't know if I wanna rewatch it anytime soon. I think I'll wait a few years.

So, I'm sitting in my room, blogging my last blog from home, wondering where I my life will take me next (in the grand scheme of things because I know I'm going to Seattle...).

Three more blog posts guys. Three.

Keep it classy!!

Cake

September 22nd:

Is it a lie? I don't know. I don't play that game. See, I don't even know what that game is called.

Cake. Cake is an important part of my life. My mother is a professional baker with her own company and because of that I have been turned into a complete cake snob. No, not just cake. I'm a dessert snob. Like, I will NOT eat any cake bought at a normal store. SOMETIMES I can eat bakery-made cakes, but only if they were recommended by my mother. Any cookie bought at like... Safeway, I will not consume. Fresh-baked is all I will eat. Preferably fresh-baked by my mother.

"That Cake" is my absolute favorite cake - it is John Scharffenberger's favorite cake (using his dark chocolate of course). My mother asked him what his personal favorite was and "That Cake" was it. My mother has perfected "That Cake" to... perfection. This paragraph is awkward. Whatever.

My mother had been praised to the point where people who don't even like cake have told her that they LOVED her cake.

Yeah... So that's enough about cake. Just kidding. Here is a picture of my cake from today, celebrating my going to SPU!!!

Well... Keep it classy brothas!!

The First Rain

September 21st:

Today was the first rain of the season for Mountain View. I cannot express in words how happy I was to hear the rain on the roof of the Fatty Zone while my friend M got her ears pierced. I LOVE the rain. In particular, I love the sound rain makes when it hits my foam roof - it literally sounds like bacon popping in the pan. I also love the way it makes everything look, both during and after. My yard looks so great right now (the sun has now come out).

Earlier, while it was sprinkling, I ran some errands which included going to Trader Joe's to get some crackers. Sitting out front, in the rain, was a homeless man with a tin can for change. Now, usually these people make me really uncomfortable and I walk away and don't make eye contact (yes, I am ashamed of my actions), but for some reason this guy was different. I was about to go in the "out" door and when I realized that I kinda jerked back and looked around to make sure nobody saw my mistake (not sure why...) and I made eye contact with him and he chucked and said "Oops, wrong door!" with a smile on his face. I knew instantly that I wanted to get him something to eat when I went in Trader Joe's, so as I walked around getting my groceries I bought him a delicious-looking chicken wrap. Giving that man that simple food item gave me so much joy. He looked so blessed and stated that he loved my smile. When he saw my car keys on the lanyard around my neck he asked anxiously if I was driving home, to which I responded that I was. He told me to be extra careful because the first rain of the season always made the road extra dangerous.

As I got in my car I just thought of how full of love that man seemed to be. He had seemed so joyful despite sitting in the rain with so little. I wish I could be so full of joy...

We got new windshield wipers a week or so ago, so this rain was well timed in regards to that.

Unfortunately the Cunningham family is cursed. The nature of the curse is this: if we get the cars washed, within the next 24 hours it will either rain, or a bird will decide to lay a BIG one on our shiny car. I went to get Murphy (our van) washed yesterday... She was so pretty... :(

So, thoughts on the first rain of the season? Like, Love, Hate, Don't care?

Keep it classy with your umbrellas! ;)

Pilot Episodes

September 20th:

Now, am I the only one that thinks all TV shows should have their pilot online for free viewing? This makes so much sense, because if you have the opportunity to see the free pilot, aren't you more likely to in some way pay to view the rest of the series? I know, I know, "But people get interested in shows other ways - they see a random episode on TV, a friend requests it, or they see a trailer!" True. But if they made the pilot available they'd be able to hook people better.

I was inspired to write about pilots specifically because a couple nights ago I watched the Veronica Mars pilot (it's the only one legally available online to my knowledge). After just the pilot I was hooked. I haven't watched any other episodes because they aren't available for free on any of my usual haunts (Amazon Prime, Hulu (regs), or Netflix Streaming), but I have been thinking about it on and off for days. I just NEED to watch that show! The free online pilot was the perfect hook. I've been hooked!

Oh, so, last night I began working on my blog for the school year - yes, I will continue blogging after the summer ends! It will be separate from this one, have a new name, ect., and I will NOT be posting daily, but I hope that I'll have 2 or 3 new posts every week to share. I'll post the link to it on my very last "One Hundred and Eighteen Days of Summer" blog post on the 26th. Yay for new things!

I packed up all my clothes for college today, but sorta forgot about the fact that I need clothes to wear until I unpack on the 26th... I mean, I have a few things I'm leaving at home (summery dresses, old shirts, ect.), but only one pair of jeans (which is a problem in my world) and there is a dearth of socks and such in my room... Haha. Should I unpack a little bit, or just live off the stuff I HOPE is in the wash?

Thoughts on pilot episodes? Any ideas as to how I can LEGALLY watch it online for free? Thanks!!

Keep it classy~