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~

Drawing a Blank

September 19th:

In one week I will be on the SPU campus being the n00by freshman I am. One week! I have been dying for school to start the moment my friends on the semester system began trickling away from me.

Today I had the joy of receiving two letters in the mail from friends at college! Nothing is more heart-warming than getting hand-written letter in the mail <3 I immediately responded, and as I type, the two envelopes are stamped and ready to go! I adore snail mail. So much better than emails, messaging, or texting. I hope to have lots of time in college to write letters to my friends and family!!

Ah, today I updated my iPhone to the iOS 7. And cried. Okay, not literally, but in my heart. I don't like it :( They took away all the classic "iPod" features and replaced them with cartoonish, 2-D graphics. I just don't get it. Why would they change it so much? First world problems.

Let's see, what to talk about... I'm drawing a blank here. OH! I've decided that I AM going to start a during-the-school-year blog and will post the link to it in my last post on my beloved "One Hundred and Eighteen Days of Summer". I only plan on posting on that two or three times a week - if you're lucky. I might be so bogged down that I don't get a chance to blog often~

As for my summer hit list - I have in no way completed all of it. I didn't really expect to, so that's okay. I did some of the more important things and those are what mattered the most to me. Maybe I'll go back and edit that post to show which ones I did... Yeah, I'll do that. Here's the new and improved link:

http://onehundredandeighteendaysofsummer.blogspot.com/2013/06/2013-summer-hit-list.html

:)

Well... I guess keep it classy... ;)

This and That

September 18th:

It's September, it's been September for 18 days, but every time I start a blog post my fingers go to type "August" on the keyboard -_-

Today I was going to go to the place I got my nose pierced to have a follow up appointment to make sure it was healing properly and to be moral support for a friend who is getting her ears pierced, but the piercer had to cancel all his appointments for the day because he injured his eye! :( I hope he's okay! We rescheduled for Saturday, so hopefully he'll be able to see well enough to stab some ears in the right place by then! I also want to get one or more new studs for my nose and I don't trust cheap brands, so I'm waiting until I can buy them from the sketch yet legit place I got my nose pierced: Fatty Zone in Mountain View.

I ran some errands today with my mom and so I'll just lay out my day for you!

First I mailed some letters (sorry, you won't be getting anything in the mail from me), returned the borrowed Grease DVD to our neighbor, picked up two dresses I had forgotten about at the dry-cleaners, and deposited a check at the bank. All of that took less than 15 minutes - WIN.

After the bank we headed over to TAP Plastic to get a sheet of plastic to go over a mod-podged table I decorated a few months ago. Even dry, mod-podge can be a little tacky when pressed against anything else for very long, so everything I put on my table stuck to it and messed it up a little. Like, I had a tissue box on it for a month or so, and when I took it off some of the paper stuck to my beautiful table :( So I devised the idea of covering my creation in such a way that I could still enjoy the photos without them being destroyed:

Then me and my mom went to get pedicures because our toes looked HORRID and she wanted to have my toe nails all prettified for college. I will never again allow a nail stylist to massage my neck/shoulders. I felt like I was being tortured and was too embarrassed to tell her to FREAKING STOP KILLING ME. Next time I will have the balls to speak up.

On to OSH to get plants. My mother wanted a new hanging plant for our yard and I wanted a little English Ivy to take to college. English Ivys are indoor plants that don't require too much sunlight OR care AND they're super pretty, so I knew I wanted one. Here he is:

He still needs a name. I want something English sounding. Pompous. Butlery perhaps. Any ideas? Some that came to mind or were suggested by my parents were: Fitzpatrick, Fitzwilliam, Gerald, Darcy, Knightley, Jarvis, Alfred, Bernard, Carson, Giles, Sebastian, Hodge... Any other ideas?

In the past all of my plants have been named Tono (after the starfish that I inadvertently murdered), except my current potted Kentucky Blue Grass whose name is Kusa. I had a caterpillar named Frederick once. But that isn't relevant. The names I come up with are strange, but I think they speak to my inner weirdo creative person :)

I'm currently reading a book by my current obsession: Chris Colfer. He has published two childrens books in a series called "The Land of Stories" and I think it is positively adorable that a young 20-something actor is writing kids chapter books. I'm such a fan of his (and a big reader of anything that catches my interest), that when I realized I had a Barnes and Nobles giftcard I knew instantly what I wanted to spend it on. So far "The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell" has been quite charming. I love hearing Chris's voice in the narration. It cracks me up. Obviously it's a pre-teen level read, but it's still full of good messages, so I'm not embarrassed to be reading it :D

Hmm. That's all I have to say I guess. Thanks for reading all of my ramblings!!

Keep it classy, mes amis.

One More Thing Checked Off The List

September 17th:

Today I got to check one more thing off my summer bucket list: finishing my high school scrapbooks. From the summer before 9th grade to graduation, I have ever major event in my life recorded. I began this endeavor in 10th grade I BELIEVE, although it MAY have been during the summer before 11th grade. Literally hundreds of dollars and many, many hours later, I have eight scrapbooks to catalogue those four years of my life.

Not all of it was fun. There are lots of pages I'm not proud of (I threw them together thoughtlessly, didn't take care with spelling/handwriting, or just messed up in some way), but more than I can PROUDLY show to my friends and family :) I don't have any immediate plans of scrapbooking any of my life in the next few years, but I do definitely want to continue taking lots of pictures and making tons of memories that maybe in the future when I'm settled down and have the time/money I can relive those college years~ In the meantime I have a lot of scrapbooking supplies that will lay in wait. No, I'm not giving them away - my mom scrapbooks every once in a while so she can use some, but a lot of it I'll want to save for other crafts.

I had dinner tonight with a very old friend (my best friend in 6th grade) who I haven't talked to in years. She's going to the same college as me - seems like a full circle in some ways! So, that's cool.

Keep it classy, followers.

Tea in the City

September 16th:

Today I went to tea with my mom and two lovely ladies of the S family~ We went to Tal-Y-Tara in San Francisco, which is a Polo Shoppe and Tea Room all in one. Here's their website: http://talytara.com/tea-room/

Well, we parked and walked to the shop (which is located in a residential area of SF, strangely), and soon afterward made our orders with the old man who was apparently the only one there working. He seemed very ill-prepared and frazzled as he bumbled around the little kitchen which is visible from the tea room. I got impatient after about fifteen minutes of us waiting for our tea (I mean, how hard is it to boil water and add tea leaves? - apparently really hard), but tried to keep my cool because he was just an old man :(

When, about thirty minutes later we had not yet received our food I began to get very frustrated, as well as hungry, and worried for my friend who seemed just about to faint out of hunger. Two other adults eventually showed up with groceries (E informed me that they were usually the ones there preparing the tea and food and that they were the man's children) and helped him get our tea biscuits and sandwiches on the table. The tea itself was great and the food was phenomenal, I just wish it hadn't taken SO DANG LONG!!! Despite my semi-bad experience there, I do think I recommend it if you're looking for a tea shop that isn't the classic frilly English tea house.

I got peppermint tea (I only drink mint tea :3):

On another topic: I was thinking today about all the TV shows I would watch if I had the time and I came up with this list:

Veronica Mars
Perception
Alias
Sleepy Hollow
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Vampire Diaries
Angel
Leverage
NCIS
How I Met Your Mother
....

I'm sure that there are more, but I can't think of them off the top of my head. Any suggestions/comments on my list?

:)

Keep it classy!!

Kendall Payne

September 15th:

Today I visited K's church with her and, lo and behold, the worship leader was Kendall Payne! Well, Kendall Krohn, because she's now married and how two babies. I actually didn't even recognize her until I heard her sing this one song... that I can't remember the name of... I bet my mom can tell me and I'll update this. Well, I've loved Kendall's music since I was little and having her lead worship was amazing for me. I loved the song choices (all songs I had also grown up with), and both my mom and I were touched by the worship. The message was on the armor of God, so that was also nice.

After church my mom and I said our goodbyes to K and began the long trek home. We met my grandma at Harris Ranch at 3 for a late lunch/early dinner - my pot roast was PHENOMENAL.

I also liked this poster-thingy in the Harris Ranch shop:

I was gonna drive the last leg of the trip, but I kept zoning out and was really tired, so after an hour my mom took the wheel again and I napped. :)

I'm glad to be home, but I also really miss K and my other friends :'( Luckily I leave for SPU on the 24th, so I don't have to suffer for too much longer!!!

Keep it classy!!

Buca Di Beppo

September 14th:

My mom, K, and I went shopping this afternoon in Santa Monica and I spent way too much on a really nice, fuzzy sweater. I needed one, so it wasn't like I was buying it just cause I liked it, but I definitely could have tried harder to find a cheeper one. Luckily my mom pitched in half, so I'm not broke.

After shopping, we re-parked (or risk a ticket), and headed to Buca Di Beppo for dinner. We got the mini tour of the kitchens and then were seated in the back of the restaurant, which was pretty quiet. I went to the bathroom, and when I came back a HUGE French tourist group had taken over the room and were loudly conversing in their native tongue. I kinda interpreted some of the directions the tour guide was giving the group, which I was proud of. :3 We ordered and got our food without a hitch. Our waiter was really cool and charismatic and talked a bunch with us every time he came to the table. When it came time to order dessert, K and I got the "Colossal Brownie Sundae" which was advertised as this: "Twelve decadent chunks of freshly-baked brownies layered with six scoops of vanilla bean and chocolate ice cream, topped with caramel and chocolate sauces then buried in mounds of whipped cream - and we won’t forget the cherry!" along with this picture (which we thought was a SLIGHTLY larger than normal sized martini glass):

This is what we got (GINORMOUS!!!)(yes, we ordered the whipped cream on the side):

K said, and I quote: "I almost cried when I saw it" because it was so overwhelmingly large. I literally felt like adrenaline had been shot through my veins because I got hyper just looking at it. Hahaaaa!

The French people were STARING at our table when it arrived - one guy even came over and took a picture of us with it. It cracked me up. I think French people have really small portions so the Buca plates are huge to them. Well, they're huge to me too, but for them they must have been freaking amazed. We ate a good amount of it before giving up:

We started getting crafty with our placemats and I made a crane, K made a jumping frog, and my mom made a cootie catcher with deep questions instead of fortunes. Our waiter was SUPER impressed with the cootie catcher, and asked for it, but my mom didn't want to give him hers, so we made him one to take home with the same questions. He was ECSTATIC.

Then K and I tried to eat more:

I took the frog, the crane, a little note that said "Buca is awesome! I hope you enjoyed your meal! - a random customer", and another copy of the deep questions and pinned them on the wall next to our table by fitting them behind the edges of the picture frames. The next person who got that booth better appreciate all our hard work!!! :D

We got back to our hotel and while I was writing all of this, K was kinda talking to herself, and I caught this bit: "I've decided to change my future profession. I want to be an interpretive dancer who sings from her ears." (then she went on to describe that there isn't much of a market for it, so it was a good decision).

I love and will miss my dear friend. <3

Oh, I also visited the Getty Villa in Maibu and had lunch at Duke's right off the Pacific Coast Highway.

Keep it classy!

Solvang

September 13th:

Who has been to Solvang? I have! Twice! At least... Not sure if I went there as a pre-person... (before highschool). I love Solvang. It's so kitschy and small-town. Every shop is geared towards tourists and I ran into a large amount of (mostly Asian) tourists taking pictures next to shops or with Dutch architecture in the background.

Today my mother and I made the long drive down to Malibu to visit one of my friends in college :) I stayed the night in K's dorm room that night and met all of her suite mates. We watched The Notebook with her suite mates and a couple friends (one of the guys actually cried, I was so proud).

It was really hot in the room that we slept in. Malibu's September weather sucks. SO HOT.

I wish I had more to say about the 13th, but I didn't have internet access for write that night, so this is a day old... I have failed you. :'(

Keep it classy!!

Ice Skating

September 12th:

I LOVE ice skating. Unfortunately, I really really dislike indoor ice skating rinks, so my only window of opportunity for the pass-time is the winter when the outdoor rinks are open. When I was little I took lessons at Winter Lodge in Palo Alto, but never got much further than learning how to not fall down. I still can't slow down without running into something (usually the wall, but I have been known to grab on to friends if a wall is not nearby). Winter Lodge is still my favorite place to go (it's actually the only place I like to ice skate), but sadly it hasn't opened up this year yet. Actually, I may miss it entirely because of college - wait, no, Christmas break. SWEET. I'll have to put that on my to-do list for when I come home.

There's just something about ice skating that is so romantic to me. I don't just mean cutesy-coupley romantic, but just... charming. It's a classic winter pass-time!

Maybe I'll be able to find a place for it in Seattle... Anyone know of any? I wonder if all the rain causes all the rinks to be indoors... That would suck.

Not much else to say today, so there you have it: I like ice skating. Thanks for listening!

Keep it classy~

Too Young To Remember

September 11th:

Today I watched a single video about 9/11, and despite its uplifting message and depiction of heroic acts of servicemen and citizens that day, I cried throughout the entire thing. It was about the huge boat evacuation of Manhattan after the towers were hit - the largest boat evac the world has EVER seen! "BOATLIFT, An Untold Tale of 9/11 Resilience" is on YouTube if you wanna see it. I was very inspired by all of the random ship captains who saw the need and answered the call for help.

I was only 6 when the twin towers were attacked and I can't remember where I was or what I was doing. Other people my age can, and I wish I could, but I can't. The only thing I know is that my mom heard about it very soon after it happened (via phone call from a friend) and kept me and my brother home from elementary school until about mid-day. I'm sure I didn't understand the importance of what had just happened.

I don't remember it happening, but I've relived the hours many times through videos shared my family, friends, and teachers and every time I get choked up. I actually can't even pinpoint why I'm crying usually - sadness? anger? frustration? fear even? I think it's just a huge mix of emotions that can only really be expressed in cathartic tears.

A single thing frustrates me: hundreds lose their lives every year by bombers/terrorists/murderers residing in the United States as citizens, and yet the populace only comes together as one when we're attacked from the outside? Isn't the threat more from the inside in this day and age? I'm not at all criticizing the amazing outpouring of strength and love that came after the 9/11 tragedy, only wishing it happened more often for the other overlooked tragedies and unsung heroes.

On a different topic: I said goodbye to another dear friend today who is heading off to college soon. Being on the quarter system (and being one of the VERY LAST people to go), really sucks. :/

Keep it classy, fellow Americans.

Grease

September 10th:

Tonight I watched Grease for the very first time! I loved the movie, but I disliked the actors' singing voices. Haha! I think I actually enjoyed the Glee version of the movie more... *prepares to be murdered by all the Grease lovers*

I enjoyed today. Unlike most of the past week, I didn't feel like I wasted the day; although... I really didn't do anything worth writing home about. Haha~ I went to lunch with my mom, mailed some packages, and picked up some delicious pumpkin treats from my friend A :) I love free baked goods.

On another note: Are you at all acquainted with your neighbors? My family knows pretty much all of our street's residents, and that's just something I'm used to. I've talked to a few friends about their neighbors and most can't even name their next door neighbors! The idea of not knowing my neighbors is so foreign to me! Our entire neighborhood has an email network where people send emails to the whole neighborhood with requests, questions, notices, ect. It's not an uncommon thing in my house to hear me say "Hey mom, can you ask the neighborhood if anyone has Grease/a hoop skirt/50's style clothes for spirit week?" Usually, the neighborhood provides! Just as we do for them when they have their requests~

Keep it classy readers <3

Bugs

September 9th:

Sorry to disappoint any of you geeks who thought that I was going to talk about bugs in software - that is not the case. I'm talking about hairy, hoppy, leggy, flyin', nasty bugs.

See, usually I'm pretty tough when it comes to bugs. I don't like squishing them, but I am more than happy to touch and catch them to put them outside (sometimes with a tissue cause of eww). I don't save them from death because I think they deserve life, but because I don't like killing them. Simple as that.

One thing I ABSOLUTELY hate is when there are bugs flying around my room when I am trying to sleep - hitting walls or buzzing by my ear. I can't go to sleep if I think there's a bug that will potentially land on my face. I ALWAYS get out of bed and hunt it down. Usually I'm too tired at this point to care about squishing them, so they die.

Another thing I dislike is when there are bugs on me. Now, caterpillars, pill bugs, moths, ect. are okay. I like holding those little monsters. But ants, bees, spiders, june bugs, most beetles... gaaahhhhh. Now, I don't have anything against spiders in particular, but my experience tonight was nightmarish.

THIS MONSTER was in my bathroom while I was taking a shower tonight. It was on the ceiling, then dropped onto this roll of toilet paper. Now, bugs don't SCARE me, they just kinda gross me out if they're touching me or my food. This thing SCARED me. O.o

That is a gargantuan spider. Not big, not large, but Brobdingnagian (Brobdingnagian |ˌbräbdiNGˈnagēən|adjective; gigantic). Not big like a tarantula, but still, enough to give even me the heebie-jeebies. I made my dad kill it. Not on the toilet paper - I was very specific in my directions about that. No way in heck was I gonna wipe with bug guts.

So, that's all. Do you have strong feelings about bugs?

Keep it classy, fellow humans!

A Letter From The Past

September 8th:

Yesterday I received a self-addressed envelope containing letter that I had written to myself while at Pondy this summer. When I first saw it I was like, "Who the heck addresses me as 'Miss Cunningham'?!" Then recognized my handwriting. Smooth. The SWAK written on the back should have clued me in too. SWAK is sealed with a kiss, in the case that you did not know that.

The letter went like this:

" Dear Annie,
...Do you remember what you learned during your last week at Mount Hermon Ponderosa? We talked about vanity and humility and how a person can't have both -and since humility comes through God, you can't have both vanity AND God. Charlie (speaker and camp director) told of how he prayed that God would take away his vanity and gift him with Christ's humility. As a result, Charlie was humbled in his community and in his relationships, but he felt closer to God than ever and no longer relied on self-pride.
...On July 24, night of the DOS (discipline of silence), you realized why God didn't "show up" the way you expected and wanted Him to. The reason was that you hadn't given up your vanity yet - well, you didn't WANT to yet. You knew that there would be changes and that you would be humbled and you didn't want that yet. You knew you needed to pray for God to take away your vanity before you could feel one with Him again, but you weren't ready. Are you ready now? You KNOW this is the only way. Find a friend and ask to pray with them. But don't just go through the motions - you have to MEAN it. Please do this soon. I'll be praying for you!
Lots of Love,
Annie Cunningham "

Reading that was convicting. Because, in all honestly, I have let myself down. I have not gotten to the point where I am ready to give up my vanity forever. I feel like my pride and narcissism are a big part of who I am, my personality, and, a little bit, they're something that makes me a little more lovable. I don't know if I'd know who I was anymore without my vanity.

Now, part of me is like, "Um, Annie, you're being STUPID - vanity is a sin, obviously bad, God no like, so JUST GIVE IT UP!". The other part is the scared, insecure little girl who fears that even if she did try to give it up, she would ultimately fail and disappoint herself and her Creator. So when it comes down to it, I'm scared of failing. Gosh, that's hard to admit.

I'm also a little scared of the way(s) that God is gonna humble me. I'm vain for a lot of reasons, and I can't imagine how I would react if any of them were taken away from me.

Also, I lied with the "I'll be praying for you!" bit. I haven't been. I may have for a day or two, but not since. I've been feeling very distant from God in the past couple months, and that makes it hard for me feel like praying is worth it. I'm not in fear of losing my faith - I know God loves me always and I know I love Him, but it's just hard for me to FEEL it right now. Sometimes when I don't feel God there all the time, I get apathetic and that results in a really lame, unfulfilling spiritual life.

So, I'm thinking about resealing the envelope and having my parents send it to me in a few months at college. Maybe by then I'll be ready. I know in my hear that right now I'm not ready and would only be going through the motions if I tried now.

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns?

Keep it classy guys~

FaceTime and Google Hangouts

September 7th:

I can't imagine how people stayed in contact with their high school friends when they went off to college without such inventions as FaceTime and Google Hangouts... Just yesterday I FaceTimed with my friend in SoCal for a good 42 minutes. Today I Hung (Hanged? what is the proper way to say that?) with seven other friends! It was so great to see everyone's faces and hear their voices! It was almost like we were sitting around in the same room chatting about this and that!

I also attended a game day with some other friends and lost a THREE HOUR game of Monopoly (Pokémon edition). I was the last of three to go bankrupt, so I don't feel too bad about losing. I put up a good fight with my one monopoly vs the winners... six? If only I had 35$ more... Well, that's in the past! Haha! I like Monopoly, but sometimes I get too into it and get aggressive and antagonistic >.<

Today I woke up at noon. This will not happen again.

Keep it classy, faithful readers! I promise tomorrow's post will be more interesting, I have something up my sleeve!

TKA Memes

September 6th:

Today I was reminded of how hilarious the TKA Memes page was. If you don't know what that is you're probably not supposed to or you don't go to King's - either way, this blog post will be interesting for you. Also, if you don't know what memes are... I can't help you there. Go hang out on the interwebs for a bit.

The TKA Meme page is a private Facebook group, created by King's' students, devoted to the creation and sharing of memes about King's. Some of the memes are less than complimentary to the school or staff, but most are good-natured, hilarious memes that don't do any harm. Here are a few examples:

My favorite is the Rainbow Montessori one. Those kids scream ALL day like they're being tortured.

I laugh every time I look at the page because it's so obvious that King's is super unique, but in a totally lovable way!

I hope you enjoyed those memes (yeah yeah, two aren't actually memes, but they're funny, so be quiet!)! Keep it classy!

Favorite Movies

September 5th:

Today I mentioned that I was bringing some of our DVDs to college and my mom asked which I planned on taking. I took it upon myself to go into our garage and collect the eight movies I would be making off with. They are: Howl's Moving Castle, 17 Again, Pride and Prejudice (the new one), X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Star Trek (the new one), She's the Man, Hairspray, and the first season of Sherlock. I also just purchased Moulin Rouge from Amazon and will be bringing that too. What do you think of my choices? We have a bunch of movies, probably 100+, but those are my favorites - my go-to's and comfort movies.

I adore movies. I love going to the theatre and seeing them on the big screen and then buying those I like most so that I can watch them over and over. For some reason, I dislike buying digital copies of movies. I feel like I have less ownership of my copy when it's just on a computer. But that doesn't apply to music for some reason. Huh.

Tonight I watched An Education. Knowing that it was a cautionary tale and didn't have a decidedly happy ending BEFORE watching it made me enjoy it much more. I hate when you don't know it, but the movie you're watching has a terrible ending. Those just put me in a bad mood (like Blue Jasmine). I loved all of the actors in the movie, so that also helped.

Oh, yeah, today I decorated a Goodwill coffee mug with sharpie and then baked it to make the sharpie stay. Here's the final product (front and back):

The phrases are from Owl City's song Plant Life, which I REALLY adore. Adam Young is amazing in so many ways.

So yeah, that was today for me.

What are your favorite movies? If you had to choose only 9 movies to take with you on a very very long trip, which would you bring? :)

Keep it classy!!!

Beach Day

September 5th:

Today those of us second-wavers on the quarter system got together for a day at the Beach! We went to Twin Lakes which is sorta the staple beach that we always go to as a group - it's a great beach with a bathroom and within walking distance of a couple restaurants and cafes.

Anyway, I wore a cool hat as a mustache.

It was really hot when we got there (~3:30), so most of us donned our swimsuits and hit the waves. I even spotted and got within a few yards of a sea otter! :D When it cooled down a bit, card-playing began and I hid from the sun in a towel cocoon.

I started to get hungry, so I ventured to check out one of the cafes with two friends, but sadly my favorite joint was closed. It's kinda a tradition for me (and a couple other friends) to visit this coffee shop whenever we come to Twin Lakes and to buy and consumed "Choco Tacos". I don't know why, but it's become a legit tradition, so I was sad when the doors were locked.

Instead of a Choco Taco, I got some pasta salad at a little shop further down and then we headed back to the group. Around sunset, a game of frisbee started up and I watched for a bit (and took a artsy selfie).

After a bit I joined in and had a TON of fun totally failing at both catching and throwing. But for some reason, they kept passing the frisbee my way, so I had to keep failing. That was fine. I was laughing half of the time! Then it became a sort of competition of who can do the coolest dive to catch the frisbee (and have the dive photographed).

Dinner consisted of hot dogs and fruit. We had an awesome fire pit with big logs all around it, so that was fun. Closer to the road, there was a huge group around a big bonfire and we spent a good amount of time speculating why they were there. I settled on an AA meeting, and when we went to investigate (after they were done) we discovered that it was, indeed, an AA meeting. On the beach. At sunset. I think that's pretty cool.

Also, I called a friend whose 19th birthday was today and sang happy birthday to him. That was exciting. I've replaced his old best friend because HE didn't call and wish the birthday man a happy birthday, so obviously I'm the better friend. OBVIOUSLY. ;)

Last, but not least, we stopped at Marianne's ice cream on the way home. I got a double junior scoop of 10-20 and Heaven and ate it all.

Best way to end a day at the beach with friends!!!

Keep it classy people who probably don't have time to go to the beach on a Wednesday!!!

I Love Myself

September 3rd:

Yep. I said it. I love myself! I mean, what's not to love?! Don't answer that question.

I guess what I'm trying to say in this post is that I do NOT, in any way, hate, or even dislike, myself.

I know a lot of people who hate something or other about themselves: their body type, their grade point average, their inability to get the girl/guy they like, their voice/laugh/smile, ect. ect. I think it's fine to dislike a couple things about yourself - but when it gets to the point where you define yourself by the things you dislike about yourself and it becomes a dislike of yourself as a WHOLE, we have a problem. (that last sentence was a mouthful - read it out loud!) See, I don't like my laziness (and resulting lack of a healthy amount of exercise), but I don't let my distaste for that particular personality trait rule my sense of self worth! You don't have to love everything ABOUT yourself, but you should love YOU.

"Why should I love myself - who I am?" you say?

Because you were created by God. Like Psalm 139:13-16 says, God made us "fearfully and wonderfully"; who are we to think that we aren't worth being loved?!

"For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be."

I've talked to a couple people in my high school years who have confessed to me that they dislike themselves. They didn't think they were "good enough" or were worthy of love/friends/life. Their inability to look past the few things they disliked about themselves made their mindset so twisted, they thought God's beloved creation wasn't worth loving. I think self-loathing can start with a simple fixation on one thing: "I'm not as skinny as _____" or "_____ gets better grades than me". Having that thought once or twice is normal, but lemme say this: comparing yourself to others RARELY builds esteem when the thing you're keen on is something you define yourself by.

Instead of always thinking about the things you DISLIKE about yourself, could you just try thinking about your great traits? "I can run really fast!", "I was a good friend this week to _____", or "That was the best tart I have ever baked!" I wish more of the people I know would remember how flipping awesome they are instead of always worrying that they're not good enough for ______ (fill in the blank).

Of course, there's the other end of the spectrum which is the side that usually gets me into trouble: vanity. I know I'm vain, I DO love myself - but perhaps I am too fixated on HOW MUCH I love myself, and should spend more time loving others.

A part of me thinks that you can't truly love someone else if you don't first love God, then love who He made you to be.

There's this song I heard recently that made me think "I can hear God singing this to all of us". It's "Let Me Love You (Until You Learn To Love Yourself)" by Ne-Yo, but I've only heard the Glee version, so that's what you're getting:

http://youtu.be/m0xg8_VvFFI

I kinda rambled on a lot in this post. If you have any comments/questions, please don't hesitate to post them here, on fb, or text me :)

Keep it classy and love yourself for once!!!

Nothing to Say Really

September 2nd:

Today I went on a bike ride with my dad on the Shoreline Bay Trail. That was fun. Then we came home and watched two episodes of Smallville. Then we went to see the movie "Blue Jasmine" with a family friend D and then went to dinner at Vive Sol in Mountain View. I hated the movie. It was boring and depressing and put me in a bad mood. So that's what I did today. I don't really have much else to say. I'm gonna google what I should talk about...

"My Mother is On Facebook" is a topic that I found on a site with ideas of what to blog about. I think I should write about that, so I will.

My mother is indeed on Facebook. I do not have a single problem with that. I am and have always been her "friend". My friends are her "friends". I seriously don't get why some people refuse to "friend" their parents. If they're living a double life, it's not like NOT being their "friend" on Facebook will keep their parents from knowing about their other side. Luckily, I'm the perfect angel child, so I have nothing to hide. Hahaaa. I love myself. Dude, that's something I can write a blog post about! Loving yourself! I will do that tomorrow night.

But back to parents on FB. Yeah, I don't have anything else to say actually. Haha. Ooops. I guess that idea website didn't really help me. Whatever!

Keep it classy until we meet again!!!

September?!

September 1st:

I have 25 more days until welcome week begins at SPU.... I can't believe it's already September. Feels like just yesterday that I was complaining about it being August 1st!!

What does September mean to you? To me it means fall, so: orange, brown, and red, hot chocolate, hats and scarves, fuzzy blankets, books, rain, and cuddles. Fall doesn't start until September 22nd technically, but still. I CANNOT wait for jacket-wearing weather.

On a completely different topic: I just finished season 4 of Glee and I am suddenly really annoyed at all the people who deserted the series after most of the cast graduated at the end of season 3. Sure, the show changed a lot, but that doesn't mean it wasn't great! I think they should all give it a chance. But I'm also extremely sad that Cory died so season 5 will be Finn-less... Le sigh...

So yeah. Yay for September.

Keep it classy~

Fire and Flood

August 31st:

Today my mom simultaneously caused a fire and a flood in my house. She was burning a paper with a SSN on it when she told me to watch the trash bin to make sure the embers don't catch on fire. A minute later, she called me away from my duty to help with laundry and then I went into the garage to watch some Glee. A couple minutes later, she came in, said something that deserved a snarky comeback, and threw a little pillow at me; it missed and hit the arm chair, then rebounded and knocked over my newly opened water bottle. At that exact moment, my dad yelled from the house, "Why is the trash can on fire?!". I guess we should rename my mom "Natural Disaster Woman" or something.

Today I also went to go see another of my favorite books be butchered by the process of being rewritten for and portrayed on film. "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones" was positively deconstructed. The biggest mistake they made was casting. What the heck. A 16 year old boy is played by a 25 year old man who LOOKS 25. I get casting older actors to play teens, but really? Jace looked old enough to have young children. Valentine looked the same age. Valentine was supposed to be like, 50... And blond. He was described to appear like... Lucius Malfoy with short hair, not a rock band punk... Very upsetting. So were Clary's eyebrows... Bad acting pretty much all around too. Godfrey Gao should stick to modeling and never venture back into acting. Ever. Gah. So much was wrong with that movie. And it wasn't good enough for me to recommend really, even though I love the book... Le sigh. Well, read the book, it was really good :)

So that's that. Oh, I did some crafting kind of today and yesterday, maybe I'll add pictures of that when I think of it.

Keep it classy.

New Guidelines

August 30th:

New guidelines... for myself! So, I haven't been sleeping very well, and I think the primary reason is that I'm on the computer up until the last moment I go to sleep (which is usually VERY late at night).

Some of that is because I like to blog right before I go to sleep, but mostly the reason is I'm watching record amounts of Glee and Smallville and thus am practically tied to the screen at all times. So, to make my screen-time/laziness to a lower level, my mom and I have set up some "guidelines".

1. We won't watch more than two episodes of Smallville a day. Yes, this is a real rule. We could EASILY watch 6+ episodes in one sitting, and I feel like it's taking up all my time and keeping me up late.

2. We won't watch Smallville past 9pm. This way, we're unhooked from the TV (our desktop computer, because we don't have a real TV), a good while before we ACTUALLY want to go to bed.

My own rule is that I won't watch any Glee in bed. Because I do that a lot. Glee. Before I sleep.

SO! I watched The Dark Knight Rises for the first time today. I had kinda been putting it off because I was worried it would be scary (like The Dark Knight, omg), but to my relief it wasn't scary at all. Yay! I wish I had seen it in theatres. Oh well.

What are your personal "guidelines" about TV watching? Any house rules? Habits? :)

Keep it classy!

Library Late Fees

August 29th:

In the past few months I have been a little late on returning my library books a few times. I think at the Mountain View Public Library, each day past its due date, the fee is something like a quarter. So, I think this year I've racked up probably two or three dollars in late fees. The strange thing is: every time I've returned my late books and gone to pay my dues, they told me I owed nothing. The first time, I figured that the librarian was just being nice to me, but since then it's happened two other times. I think that the library is messing up somehow and I actually DO owe those quarters. So, I'm at this fork in the road.

I owe probably $2.50, but they're not asking for it. But I still feel like I owe it. How can I give it to them without being awkward and saying, "No, really, I owe this money even if the computer doesn't say that I do!"? Is leaving it on the counter fine? Throwing it in the return machine thing the next time I return a book? Hiding it in... something? Haha, I'm being ridiculous. But I also don't like that I feel like I'm cheating one of my favorite institutions out of some possibly much-needed change.

So, that's a random little thing that's going on in my life. Haha!

On another note: For the past two weeks or so, I feel like I have done nothing but sit around and watch TV shows (which is pretty much what I HAVE been doing, so yeah). I think all the laziness and lack-of-seeing-other-humans is putting me in a bad mood. So, I'm gonna schedule my next week so much that I have to FIND the time to sit down and take a break. If you have an idea of something fun/interesting/new for me to do, hit me up (or invite me to something!). ;)

Keep it classy, people-who-probably-aren't-couch-potatoes!

Performing on Stage

August 28th:

Anybody who knows me also knows that I HATE performing on stage or in front of large audiences and thus would never ever ever audition for anything because even the audition is terrifying for me. Stage fright much? Yeah.

Despite my fear of performing, there are many things that I would love to do that are, well, performances. I would love to join a band and sing lead vocals. I would love to have an awesome singing (but no dancing, ugh!) role in a musical - like, say, Les Miserables, or Wicked. Those things sound SO awesome and fun, but even just thinking about them tenses me up. Even leading worship at my high school youth group was way too stressful for me.

I'd say 60% of my good friends are (or were in high school) performers. Musical Theatre. Normal(?) Theatre. Show Choir. Vocal Lessons (and the mini concerts/competitions they come with). The other 40% either did tech or had some other way of supporting the arts. I only wish I had been into that whole thing when I was in junior high. When I was in elementary school I was involved in church plays and I did CMT (Christian Music Theatre), but for some reason, that on-stage confidence fled me as soon as I entered middle school and has hidden since. I wonder if there is some UN-TORTUROUS way to conquer that fear.

A friend of mine is auditioning for her college's production of Les Miserables tomorrow and I'm cheering her on from back at home, but I'd be lying if I didn't say that I was a tad bit jealous of her opportunity to shine ;)

Any advice (other than, "just face your fear!")? Do you have stage fright? Do you perchance perform?

:) Buh bye!

Keep it classy~

Superhero Movies

August 27th:

Some people just can't get enough of chick flicks or comedies. My achilles heel is superhero movies. Even the "bad" ones like the Tobey Maguire Spiderman trilogy and the recent "Man of Steel" I completely adored. Sure, all movies are "unoriginal" or have a degree of bad acting, but who cares as long as the movie does what it was meant to: amuse the watcher? And I'm amused.

My recent obsession has been "Smallville" and I CANNOT get enough of it. My mom and I watch Smallville together and usually we fit one or two episodes in a day. We just watched the first episode of the 8th season. Oh my gosh. I was practically dying the entire thing. So amazing. I don't get why more people aren't into this show...

Well, I'm happy to be able to include all 10 seasons of Smallville in my superhero movie/show collection. We also have both Iron Mans, Thor, Captain America, Avengers, all three Spidermans (although not yet The Amazing Spider Man, much to my sadness), all three X-Men, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, the first two Batman movies... I can't think of any more off the top of my head, but those are most of my superhero movies. Okay, the Batmans are my brothers and I'm not even sure if they're in the house, but I'm almost 100% sure that the other movies are actually mine (given as gifts). See, I love rewatching movies (and rereading books, but that's another topic), so I like owning them :)

Well, that's all I have to say for tonight. Other than my family had dinner at the new Mountain View "The Counter" and had a horrible experience. What the heck. Service, ambiance, and food was just subpar!! Le sigh. I never liked The Counter, but this just confirmed my dislike.. I will not be eating there again.

The Breakfast Club

August 26th:

Today began with me getting my eyes checked out at my family's optometrist's office. I have NEVER had an eye exam, so this was an unexciting first that my mother insisted on before I went off to college. She wanted a "base line" so that if I ever SUDDENLY went blind, they might have a clue as to what happened. Well, all is well that ends well: I got my eyes dilated after being deemed to have 20-20 vision and had some lovely pictures taken of the inside of my eye. So, because my pupils were vampiresque after leaving the doctor, I looked like this:

Those are the funky little wrap-arounds that the optometrist gave me OVER my normal sunglasses. Don't I just look fabulous? I know right.

After the lovely experience of getting my eyes examined, my mom and I made the trip down to Gilroy to return a pair of jeans I bought a month ago and to get different ones. I am happy with my exchange. We also had dinner at Famous Dave's - my baby back ribs were fantastic.

I got to end the day with some of my friends eating breakfast for dinner and watching The Breakfast Club afterwards. I'm not sure if any of us had seen it before, I know I hadn't, but that was a very fun movie to watch! I do, however, have two big issues with it:

1. Swearing, drug use, and crudity. I wouldn't say those things RUINED the movie per se, but it did cause discomfort for those of us watching AND most of the good points could have been made without the use of such vulgarity. See, the reason those things bothered me so much (other than their obvious unwholesomeness), was the fact that I cannot recommend the movie to anyone under 17 despite its AMAZING message of friendship beyond clique lines. Murr.

2. There is one scene where a female character gets a sort of make over and when she comes back into the room with the others, one of the boys suddenly is all gaga over her. At first I was all like, "Oh yay!" but as I thought about it more and more I became aware of and annoyed by the fact that it was her physical appearance that made him like her. He may have been interested in being her friend pre-make-over, but it was only after he deemed her "pretty" enough that he was romantically interested. What the heck is up with that?!

Other than those two points, it was a great movie with many redeeming qualities, but I don't recommend for anyone younger than 17 to see it because of content. Overall, it wasn't what I expected, but it wasn't a let down and I'm glad I got to see it with my friends! :)

Separate Worlds

August 25th:

So at this point in time, I have SLIGHTLY adjusted to life at home without a good portion of my friends, just as they are beginning to settle into their respective colleges. I keep thinking, "Oh, I'm close to ______'s house, I should drop by and say hi!" and then I remember that they're gone... :(

But luckily I've been keeping relatively busy with some of my friends who are still here so I'm not TOO constantly depressed that so many of my friends have abandoned me for life *rolls eyes* ;) I've had the chance to fb chat or text a few of them and I'm happy to report that all have been blessed with agreeable roommates and are slowly making friends and getting used to their surroundings.

I will admit I do feel a little left behind as I watch and read about them all moving forward. I can't help but wish that I was already at SPU, making new friends and getting nervous for classes. Whatever. My time will come~

On another note: I was invited to a small birthday celebration today and was delighted to be included by this new friend <3 I hope her 18th year of life is just as awesome as she is!!

Well, I'm kinda pooped and my bed is lookin' REAL comfy right now, so I think I will give in to its temptations... Keep it classy!

Photo Shoot

August 24th:

Today I had the pleasure of accompanying two of my friends, P and M, on a couple photo shoot as a photographer along with another camera-friendly buddy H. I was unsure of how my work would turn out, as I have never actually taken portraits as part of a semi-legit gig, but I can say that overall I am very happy with my photos! I took exactly 800 pictures on the 3 hour trip up to Mount Hermon. Three outfit changes and a whole bunch of posing later, I'm danged tired. I narrowed down the number of photos to 101 and edited those to my heart's content when I got home :) I have to get the O.K. from the subjects before I can post any of the pictures, but I hope to get that soon so that I can show all y'all at least a couple of my favorites. They are SUCH a cute couple!

Today got me thinking - I could TOTALLY earn a bit of pocket money (and experience) if I offered up my photographer services to my friends and acquaintances for a low price. I don't think I'd want to make a business out of it or anything, or be super official, but I think it'd be a fun way to fill up some of my spare time until I go to college late September. :)

Have you ever been the subject of a photo shoot? Or maybe you were behind the camera? Is photography something you enjoy? If you have no experience - I recommend trying it out!!

Keep it classy~

The O.K. has been given! Here are three of my favorites from the shoot!

Memories

August 23rd:

How do you best like to remember important moments and events of your life? Photographs? Cards from people? Journaling? Memorabilia? My favorite way to remember my favorite moments is by scrapbooking, which takes pretty much all of those things and more and squashes them together to create the ultimate memory display. You probably already know that I scrapbook (I think I mentioned it in a blog a while back), but perhaps you didn't know that I have scrapbooked every major event of my life since the summer before 9th grade? Or that I do everything in perfect chronology? Or, hey, that I only have JSB (prom) and Graduation to scrapbook before I am finished with my endeavor to scrapbook my entire high school life?! I'll decide after I'm done with those two whether or not I want to scrapbook this summer, but I'm leaning towards not because I don't really have to time/desire to. I've filled... seven(?) scrapbooks and have one more to purchase before my collection is complete. :3

But here's the thing with my scrapbooks - some pages/spreads/journal-y bits are pretty personal, so they're not the sort of things I'd like to show just anybody. My mom mentioned some neighbors maybe wanting to see them and immediately I was like, "ummm, eehhhhh...." I sorta treat them as really big, pretty journals, but with mostly pictures instead of words.

Do your parents have scrapbooks of you when you were little? Are they mostly generic photo albums with minimal words, or are they really personalized? Have you ever scrapbooked? I find it to be stress-relieving, which I've really needed the past few days!

Maybe someday (if I know and love you enough) I'll show you my scrapbooks~

Keep it classy!

Traffic and Musings

August 22nd:

Today I hit some of the craziest traffic I think I've ever driven in. Or at least the most ANNOYING. The first was on Grant road heading towards El Camino around lunch time. Each light that turned green only managed to get, like, three cars across the intersection before traffic on the other side stopped us. And I had to go about a mile in that traffic. GAH! At least now I know to avoid the lunch rush on Grant... The second traffic time was this evening on my way to San Jose. I got on the road at ~5:40 and didn't arrive at my destination until 6:35 or so. It SHOULD have taken only twenty minutes. GAH 101!!! So, moral of the story: don't drive during rush hour. Pretty much 101 north in the morning and south in the evening. Avoid 4-7 every day on any major road. Yep.

So, I've been musing about something: should I continue blogging once I start school? I still have a little more than a month, but I'm thinking ahead because a few of my friends went to college this week and started blogs and I'm wondering if I should follow suit. It would obviously have to be new/separate from this one (as this IS called 118 Days of SUMMER), and I'd have to come up with an interesting name AND commit to posting AT LEAST once a week, if not twice. I'm worried that I might not have enough time to keep up with the blog... Hmmm. Thoughts?

Also, something I have learned this week: There are many times a week where thinking before speaking would seriously help me avoid stupid/bad situations. Even word choice can alter so much in a person's mind. I've confused and upset someone and also said something I shouldn't have to someone else, and all of that could have been avoided if I had just thought about what I was going to say before I said it. Le sigh. So, I gotta work on that. Controlling emotions would really help too. Texting someone you're annoyed with or upset at can lead to pretty crappy arguments/situations...

So yay. Traffic and musings ftw.

Keep it classy, more thoughtful folks.

Thirteen Hours

August 21st:

Last night I slept for 13 hours. I think it was just what I needed to get out of my little funk. Thanks to all of you who prayed for me yesterday - I'm feeling a lot better!

On a separate note: I LOVE The Container Store. I'm a super neat freak and I love organizing, so The Container Store is really awesome to me! I got some college dorm stuff there, primarily a laundry bin and a little trashcan. Yay for being able to check things off my shopping list!

Another prayer request: I know someone who has a urinary tract infection, and from what I know those are SUPER PAINFUL. If you could pray for them, I (and they) would really really appreciate it! Thanks a bundle!

Well, that's all I have for today. Hopefully I'll have something more interesting to say soon.. Haha...

Keep it classy!