good things.

1. talking to matthew on the phone and having open up to me about things.

2. chilling with amy and steph in our apartment, being dorks, laughing to loud, and watching a "say yes to the dress" marathon on tlc.

3. seeing God work in amazing ways through megan and i despite our shortcomings.

4. meeting new people at the crusade bbq.

5. running (aka almost dying) with steph and afterward buying jamba.

6. finding out that the party crazy babysitting lady (long story, ask if you want more info) is planning is actually her wedding.

7. being back in slo and realizing how freakin blessed i am.

things.

yes, yes, it's been a while. i know. i just never really had anything to say.

but now i do.

today was a horrible and a great day at the same time, i'm not really sure how. first, i set my alarm for 7 so i could get to my 8 am class on time. while i was getting ready, i checked my email and discovered this class was not 8am -10am, but from 8PM-10PM!!! that is when crusade is, and altogether just a horrible time for a class. needless to say, i was very distraught. this kind of tainted my whole day, my classes from 12-4 and then my work from 4-6. but while i was in the uu waiting for work (i got out of my other class early) and trying not to cry at my great misfortune in public (i'm tired and a cryer by nature, cut me some slack), i was listening to my ipod and a great song came on. "mighty to save" is an amazing song, and this is what it says: "Savior, He can move the mountains, my God is mighty to save". well then i thought, if God can move the mountains, i'm pretty sure he is able to deal with my silly problems and move my class, or maybe he has a greater purpose and i should just stay in this class. i felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders, and i felt soo much better after that. i am going to try to crash a few classes, but if that doesn't work out, i'm not going to worry about it. i have been lately learning that God cannot and will not be put in a box, and that crusade is not the only way to worship Him.

this quarter is going to be really busy for me, but i know that my God will get me through this. so i am feeling a lot better about everything now, and am ready to get in my pj's, watch an episode of how i met your mother (which is my new favorite show), and then go to bed.

ps. today is my half birthday! i just felt like it was worth mentioning.

a few adventures.

i feel like this summer i've almost always been doing things and going places! i like that. here are a few things i have done:

1. the ventura county fair with my dad. he dared me to go on that high thing you jump out of and are only attached to a rope by your feet, but i just didn't feel like it.

2. magic mountain with my cousins. sean was freaking out about going on goliath, but in the end he said it was "the funnest thing i have ever done in my whole entire life ever!". so i counted it as successful.

3. the spanish festival in santa barbara with my dad and neille at 9:30 on friday night on a whim. there were tons of people, music, food, and those fun confetti eggs you throw on people. also i ordered these delicious taquitos from a cute guy at the booth and he didn't make me pay for them :)

4. skateboarding at 10 pm in the streets. no one is out past then, so i can be horrible and i know people aren't watching and judging me, and no cars will come run me over as i am lying in the street after eating it.

5. the x games with my dad, brothers, and paul's friend eric. this is where we got the skateboards used in point number four, and other free things. i got to watch guys doing cool tricks on their bikes and stuff, so it was fun, even if my attempts to woo shaun white were foiled because i didn't see him. i know he missed me.

6. my grandma's house. i go every week with my brothers to do some work around their house for them and it usually involves a little bit of work and a lot of food. it's been fun to get to hang out with my grandparents, and i know my grandma likes having us around.

i just love summer because random adventures are so easy to have since everyone is free! i'm sure there are others, but these are the ones i can think of for now. this may be my last summer at home, so i am having fun and soaking it all in.

looking ahead

i am repainting my room! when i find my camera among all my crap, i will take pictures and put them up. but basically it is cream on top, teal on the bottom, and has a purple stripe in the middle. pretty cute, if i do say so myself. i just have to do one more coat of teal and then it will be ready to move back in! it was weird, though, i felt strangely sad covering up my light purple walls. that purple has seen me through a lot since eighth grade, and i was sad to see it go. it saw me through my first boyfriend, staying up late to do homework, sleepovers with my girlfriends, graduation, and everything in between. so while i was getting all nostalgic, my mom came in and said, "you're finally going to have a grown up room!". and that's when i realized that God has so much in store for me and my future, but if i am still looking back and trying to hold on to what i know, i will never be able to have new fun adventures he has planned for me. i don't know how i got all that from just painting my room, but i did. i know that with God, i can be excited about growing up and becoming more independent rather than being scared.

in other news, i saw harry potter 6 and i thought it was the best harry movie yet. if you enjoy it for what it is, and don't expect it to be exctly like the book, it is funny, entertaining, and not exactly like the book, but it stuck to the main ideas. however, i think it could be kind of confusing for people who have not read the books before because it goes kind of fast.

that's all for now, i'm working today at my friend's parents' office, so i am glad to be making a little money, and i am excited for neille to come back from australia on tuesday!!

goals.

i always make goals for the summer and never do them. well, this year will be different, i am determined, and have already gotten off to a pretty good start. my goals for the summer are, in no particular order, as follows:

1. learn to sew.
2. go on bike rides [i have already been on two, both to golden spoon, both eventful. on the first one, ellen almost fainted, and i felt bad, but also good not stop laughing because i always laugh at inappropriate times. on the second one, i fell into a bush, resulting in me feeling both like a loser and a whimp, both of which i most likely am].
3. learn stick shift [my dad has already taken me out once, and by the end of the summer, i want to be able to go somewhere outside the high school parking lot. bonus if i don't stall].
4. spend time with my brothers and amber [amber is my brother's new girlfriend for those who don't know. i have already done a good amount of this, and it's been good].
5. get back on a regular schedule for spending time with God.
6. get a job.
7. go on a boy fast [this involves no flirting, except when unavoidable, which i believe can be the case sometimes, without being rude, or i just don't know how to politely not flirt with a guy when he is flirting with you. anway, it also involves not going out of my way to talk to a guy, which i know should be the case all the time, but who are we kidding? i know no girls who ever succeeded at this all the time, least of all me. i think the girls will all agree this fast is much-needed].
8. get a tan [in progress].
9. make new friends.
10. go to cornerstone.
11. be more outgoing and less self conscious about it.
12. always be reading a book, at least a little bit a day [i have already read two].
13. read the newspaper [i just made this up, but i should really know more about what is going on in the world/ our country. which shouldn't be hard, because at the moment, i know very little about any of this].
14. love everyone [so, so hard].

i'm sure there are many more, but this is all i can think of for the moment, and so far i've gotten a pretty good start to it.

the first days.

so far this summer, i have:

1. gone to a college bible study with people from church. i'm excited to bond with them.

2. cleaned my grandma's house and discovered a picture from when she was young. let me say, my grandma was a fox.

3. jumped off a thirty foot cliff into water (and it only took paul half an hour to coax me off the edge).

4. shown my brothers the beauty that is 10 things i hate about you.

5. applied for like 7 zillion jobs. hopefully one works out.

6. gone to taco bell 3 times.

i'd consider this fairly successful for the first five days. and tonight my brothers and i are going to sleep on the trampoline.

ode to my girls

laughing until we can't breathe
late night snacks
crying
chick flicks
screaming
singing in the car
comforting
watching friends
annoying each other
joking
talking about boys
encouraging
eating
baking
hugging
shopping
loving.