i live in southern california.
i like to chill;
laughter, sushi, surfing, sign language, family, friends, hiking, running, off-roading, froyo, my dog, listening to music and playing music, going to the beach and relaxing, laying in the sun and napping.
as of last night, my little brother, Stefan, is a Graduate of 2010! he graduated with a few of his friends, and even though the ceremony dragged on, it was great. my mom had an amazing, fun speech and after giving out diplomas, they played a video of all the graduates answering random questions!
it was cute and my brother was incredibly handsome and amazing! i'm so proud of him!
he wants to be an EMT/Fireman, and he'll be perfect at it, and last night i decided why... one of the random questions asked was, "what is your favorite Bible character?" and Stefan's answer was the most original and meaningful to him: Noah. why? because he was used by God to save people and animals, and that is what Stefan wants to do!
i LOVE him!
on a side note, i'm finally finished with spring semester! my grades are slowly being posted, but so far i'm getting in A in everything, so i'm happy :) now starting this summer semester, i'll be taking classes that aren't going towards my GE or transfer, but towards my actual DEGREE! so when i finally transfer to UCR (or wherever) in Fall of 2011, i'll have all of the hard, boring stuff out of the way :)
it feels so weird, like i have gained a new level of independence, but otherwise i feel the same. the whole day was just spent relaxing. my mom was in the hospital all day for her surgery, and my dad was with her, so it was a bummer not spending time with them at all on my birthday, but we're going to celebrate later once my mom feels up to it :)
i was bad and ditched my morning classes, and for lunch i went with my brother to Chipotle and met Bri and Ashley. i bought a margarita, but the tequila was pretty strong, so not as refreshing as i hoped for. but still cool because of the fact that i was legally able to order it!
i went out to Cabin Sushi for dinner! all-you-can-eat sushi, and the chefs there think i'm amazing. they even made me a special sushi-rice cake with a candle and everything! i also had a beer, some sake, quail egg shots (they didn't have alcohol, but still gross!) and of course, tons of sushi!
i had my first official beer at midnight from Killarney's, a Newcastle!
margariiiiiita!
sushi cake!
Christin, aka Bo Bo!
Sarah, Bri, me and Ashley!
Kamron!
my brother, Stefan, and neighbor, Daniel!
this guy is pretty cool, even though everyone jokes that he is secretly in love with me because he remembers my face from my debit card. and of course, they got me to take a picture with him.
Lauren!
the owner of Cabin Sushi! he is so sweet!
our table with the chefs :)
the night ended at The Getaway, where i had a couple more drinks and played some pool. i actually sucked, but i made an impossible shot possible! it was awesome. then i guess my night really ended when we were dropping Bri off, and Michael came out with some vodka and shot glasses. i only had one shot, but i guess that was my tipping point because apparently, i would not shut up the rest of the ride home.
fortunately, i did not wake up with a hangover (i actually did not drink as much as it sounds, and alcohol is overrated anyways) but woke up groggy. it's fun having a few drinks here and there, but i'm not planning on getting wasted every weekend like most people my age do.
cheers to good, clean fun with family and friends!
wow, this past weekend has been a blessing in so many ways. for every negative thing that happened or that i felt, there was something greater that pulled me out of it. i can definitely say that during my weakest moments, my prayers were answered and God gave me a nudge to keep my head up.
excuse the long post that i feel may be coming up, but i have a feeling that this post has a lot of personal potential :)
Saturday started well because i was able to sleep in until 9am (trust me, this is big news) and relax until i left for the afternoon. my mom wanted to take me shopping for my birthday and buy me a few outfits for the summer. Kohls was having a sale, and even though i never shop there, i found a lot of great stuff that fits my style exactly! (thanks, mom!)
the rest of the day i did homework, then later that evening watched (500) Days of Summer. it was a lot different than what i expected, but reminded me of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (one of my favorite movies). either way, i still loved it, and it made me cry...of course...but it also made me smile, which is worth it.
Sunday began by myself with the early 9:30am service at my church...inspiring message, and i noticed i didn't say anything all morning until we had our congregational reading from the book of Psalms. it was weird, but when i was reading aloud, it hit me that my first words spoken that morning were from the Bible. it was motivating to know that i absolutely started my day the right way.
afterward, i decided to wander around the mall and found this beauty: i love it! can't wait to carve some hills. (i was also able to cross it off as #56 on my list of 101 things to do!)
that night i met my friends Christin and Lauren to hang out with them at the Point, a college-age study group at the Grove. afterward, i went with them to a going-away party for one of the people from that group, and it was cool. met some nice people and had a good time! i'm trying to make a solid effort to find some Christian friends, and i'm glad that God is providing that for me.
like i said at the beginning of this post, i had some weak and emotionally tiring moments. but, thanks to prayer and friends and family, i was able to keep my head up. if i learned anything this weekend, it is that God really does give me strength and blessed opportunities to grow :)
i haven't been blogging for a while for several reasons, but i've got the time for it now, so hopefully there will be more posts in the future. maybe i'll explain later, but for now i'll just say that i am waking up every day praying that God will reveal Himself to me and help me grow. it's scary being alone, not because i have been so used to being with someone, but because it is the hardest thing i've had to do for myself. days are still hard, but like i said, i'm praying.
anyways! this past weekend wasn't too bad, i was very artistic and sophisticated! and i got a head start on my homework so i was able to sit around and be lazy, too.
saturday: went to the Riverside Art Museum to check out the UCR Master's of Fine Art's Exhibit, Strange Brew. it was for my Humanities class, in which i'm supposed to write a critique paper on the exhibit itself. it was an...interesting!
sunday: an inspiring message at church, then that evening i went with Ashley, Bri, Sarah, and Sarah's mom to the Redlands Rose Bowl to watch Romeo and Juliet. it was fun! we packed a picnic and had front-row seats on the grass.
(photos courtesy of Ashley)
our picnic was inspired by Romeo and Juliet...well, except for the Costco sushi and KFC, but we also had a meat tray, veggie tray, blackberries, shrimp, lemonade, raspberry ale, and a raspberry/lime champagne mix! we had a ton of food leftover, but it was a ton of fun being able to pick at everything and stuff ourselves :) this was the best lemonade ever! courtesy of Ashley from World Market
i'm notorious for adding my finger in some of Ashley's photographs! no, i'm not 21 yet so i wasn't able to drink this legally, but it was yummy!
Sarah was very upset with the young girls that were playing around us, and was very close to chucking our bottle-opener at them!
also, if you're thinking, "wow that is a really weird and disturbing subject line for this post!" then you should watch this, because it provides an explanation. but will probably leave you more feeling more weird and disturbed...
as of last night, my little brother, Stefan, is a Graduate of 2010! he graduated with a few of his friends, and even though the ceremony dragged on, it was great. my mom had an amazing, fun speech and after giving out diplomas, they played a video of all the graduates answering random questions!
