the summer sends its love to you

Grand Canyon

2004-07-16T01:51:00.000-07:00

Last Friday through Wednesday my family and I went to the Grand Canyon for our summer vacation. Here is a short account of what we did and lots of pictures to go along with it. (I apologize if you have a slow computer.)

Friday:
And we're off! In preparation for a long drive today, I took some dramamine so I was able to read some but mostly I slept because that drug puts me right to sleep. We drove about seven hours to Mesquite, Nevada. We stopped in Barstow at Quizno's for lunch -- just in case I hadn't had enough of it. :) Our stop was the Virgin River Casino and Hotel where we stayed for the night. It was super-hot outside but my family tried to give me hypothermia with the air conditioning in our room. Why can't there be a happy medium? We ate at the "Chuckwagon Restaurant" and then went swimming in the pool. By that time it had cooled off and was a bit windy and I got to go in the spa.

Saturday:
This morning we had the breakfast buffet and after breakfast my mom I were waiting for my dad and Steven so we put a dollar in one of the penny machines (yes, I know it's illegal for me to gamble, but it was my mom's dollar, even though I was sitting in the seat.) We didn't really know what we were doing but just kept pushing random buttons and the next thing we know we won twenty bucks! Teach me to gamble. We were pretty excited. Then we drove another few hours through parts of Nevada and Utah (some of the rural parts were very pretty) and into Arizona, finally making it to the Grand Canyon. We camped on the North Rim which is much nicer because it is less crowded. 10% of visitors visit North Rim while the other 90% visit the South Rim. I think the South Rim is just more convenient. Anyways, we set up our tent, which was really easy with four people and then went to the Visitor's center and the Lodge.
Here is a picture of my dad and Steven at the campground:

This is the backside of the Lodge:

And a picture of us at the sign in front of the visitor's center:

We walked around a bit -- there is a nice big space with wooden benches where you can sit and enjoy the view into the canyon and there are also some nice overlook points. Here are a couple pictures:

At 8pm we went to a ranger show which I wasn't paying a whole lot of attention to. I think I had altitude sickness. After that we went on a "night walk" where we walked along a path to a point that overlooks the Grand Canyon in the day, but at night it just looks like a big black spot of nothingness. I was standing near the edge of the cliff, knowing that there was a hole 5,000 feet below me, but even with my flashlight all I saw was blackness. But above me, there were so many stars! More stars than I have ever seen, I think. It was absolutely beautiful. There was also an astronomer there with a telescope who showed us some neat nebulas and such.

Sunday:
I woke up at 7:30 and we went down to the Lodge for breakfast. I had my favorite -- pancakes -- and we had a view of the red canyon walls through the large windows in the restaurant. Then Steven went back to the car to take a nap (7:30 is way too early for him) while we went on the Bright Angel Trail. It was the same trail that we took the night hike on, but much different in the day. My mom was terrified of the steep drop-offs, but somehow made it all the way to the end -- yay, Mom! The views were beautiful. It was wonderfully sunny without being too hot (well, at least I didn't think it was too hot, but I seem to have a different thermostat than the rest of my family.) Oh on the trail I saw a little girl that looked like Ashley when she was little. Not that I was there, but I've seen pictures. Then next thing I know her mom is yelling at her, "Ashley, get off that railing!" It was Ashley the Second! Here are some pictures from Bright Angel Trail:

My mom creeping slowly toward the edge while my dad laughed at her:

And she made it!

My dad taking a picture while my mom enjoys the view:

From there we went to Cape Royal. It had two nice vista points, but Steven and I somehow got separated from our parents and were annoyed that we couldn't get in the car since I didn't feel good and Steven was hot.   We got some good pictures anyways:

Then we had a picnic lunch and a friendly deer tried to share our lunch too! I was excited to be that close to the deer, but I had to scare her off after a while so that she didn't eat my lunch.

Near our picnic area was Point Imperial, yet another look-out point.
Me and my mom:

The cause of all my altitude woes:

Then we went on Widforss Trail, named after some guy who painted pictures of the National Parks. The mix of aspen and pine was beautiful. I love the smell of the pine bark that smells like butterscotch.
My brother, mom, and dad on the trail:

View through the trees to the canyon:

Then we came back to camp and took showers -- aren't we spoiled? I'm not used to getting a shower when I camp and it was awfully nice. Then my mom made ham and mashed potatoes on the camp stove and it was soooo good. Food always tastes better when you have been hiking. After dinner we went to the Lodge and watched the sun set over the Grand Canyon, the blue sky turning to hazy red then deep blue while the stars appeared. It was a bit cold and windy and there were some clouds in the sky that prevented good star gazing, so we came back to camp and played pinochle (with lots of moths that were attracted to the fluorescent lantern. I named one of them Albert.)

Monday:
Today was our last full day here. We once again had breakfast at the Lodge. I think half of both the workers and the tourists either were speaking a different language or had accents. It was interesting to listen to sometimes. At 10:00 we went to a ranger's talk about the geology of the Grand Canyon that my mom thought was fascinating but it was too much like school for me and I forgot to pay attention. Afterwards we went for a drive to see all the wildflowers that seem to grow only by the sides of the road.   There were lots of different kinds and lots of butterflies too. Then we went for a short walk past a "lake" to a salt cabin, which I still am not sure what it is for. Holding salt, I guess.
The trail to the salt cabin (with grasses that felt like they had razor blades on them):

The beautifully green lake. There really is water. Just not that much of it.

Me and my mom in front of the salt cabin:

Me by a huge pine:

Then we came back to the campground for lunch and got ready for our hike down North Kaibab Trail. The trail goes from rim to rim, but we only went 3.4 miles total. The trail took us straight down into the canyon.   We had to share the trail with mules, which was kind of stinky. Good thing Steven opted to stay at the campsite and read Harry Potter. :) The trail had some fantastic views. On the way up it started to sprinkle a bit, but not for too long. We finally made it back to the top and I took a shower to wash off the layer of red dirt that was stuck to my legs.
Pictures on Kaibab Trail:

Me on the trail:

This picture shows the white-ish dirt suddenly change into reddish dirt. (If you ask my mom, she can probably tell you why since she was listening to the geology talk.)

Our destination was this tunnel before we got to turn around and head back up the trail.

You can see the rain coming down on the far side of the canyon:

Tuesday:
Today we drove to Las Vegas to stay the night so our trip home wouldn't be all in one day. We stayed at the Stratosphere. Once the sun set, we went to the top of it, and it was so different looking down on the bright lights of Las Vegas than looking down into the Grand Canyon! We had fun watching the rollercoasters on the top of the stratosphere above us. Then my Dad and Steven and I wanted to see the Strip, so we took a trolley to the far end. It took forever, but it was fun seeing all the hotels that we passed. Then we got off at New York New York and walked by all (and into a lot) of all the hotels between the Excalibar and the Venetian. My favorite was Paris. I was hungry at midnight so Steven and I split a sandwich at Bally's, where my dad stays for his work convention every year. Then we took at Taxi back to our hotel and went to bed around 1:30.

2004-07-06T18:19:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July

2004-07-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!!! (A little late.) I didn't do much to celebrate, but I had a good weekend anyways. Cindy, Dad, me, Lori, and Grammy went to Lancaster and spent most of the weekend cleaning and boxing up Grammy's old house. We got a lot done and the kids got to help us. My primary job was cleaning out one of the back rooms and I think I ate a ton of dust in the process. I found some interesting things.... my great aunt and uncle saved everything.

After two and a half weeks of my first summer job working at Quizno's, I am quitting today. (And I finally learned all those sandwiches!) Susie is getting really sick and Peter cannot care for both her and for the kids, so I am going to Lancaster to take care of my cousins. Or as Peter says, to be their "nanny" but when I think of a nanny I think of an old lady.

I went to Ashley's yesterday afternoon to press seaweed and to have dinner at her house. Then she came here and we watched Under the Tuscan Sun and I thought it was quite a good movie. One of my favorite quotes (and you must have an Italian accent when saying this): "Green means go. Yellow is for decoration. And red is a suggestion." Hahaha.... only that is not funny in the slightest if you haven't seen the movie.

It's A Beautiful Day

2004-07-01T20:40:00.000-07:00

I woke up to sunshine this morning around eight o'clock and headed to the beautiful Ellwood Mesa for a walk with my Mom. We walked about five miles on the bluffs overlooking the ocean and on the beach. It was absolutely gorgeous and we saw dolphins and lots of birds. Then I took a hurried shower and Mom made me a breakfast burrito and then I scurried off to work to make sandwiches for the hungry working people of Goleta. The four and a half hours went pretty quickly and afterwards I went across the street to the Thursday afternoon farmer's market. I strolled along the stands to look for the best fruit (and getting good samples) and then I bought white nectarines, apricots, strawberries, and an apple pie. There is something about the farmer's market that I love. Then I came home and turned right around and went to the new Vons with Mom. We bought lots of groceries and then came home and I juiced oranges that I had climbed a tree at Dad's work to pick earlier this week and Mom made waffles for dinner. Then I sat outside in the slowly dimming sunlight and read my book in the newly planted front yard with all the wonderful smells of sage and other native plants. Everything about today was beautiful.

Quiz me Quizno's

2004-06-30T15:22:00.000-07:00

Well I have almost learned all those stupid sandwiches. I have had three different people quiz me and I think I am ready for basing tomorrow. Today was a slow day at work. Jenny said it was because Vons just opened. Yesterday Ashley and I saw The Notebook. It was pretty good, but I think it would have been better if I was old. And there were a lot of random things in it. I wish I had something more interesting to write in my blog. I will think of something and come back later.

A Sunny Saturday

2004-06-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

I am sooo happy that it is sunny. Today I dug up the front little area by the maple tree. It was hot and hard work and now I am tired. But I made Pasta Roni for dinner and it was delicious. I'm still hungry though. And I need to learn all those Quizno's sandwiches.

I Now Work at Quizno's (we have a pepper bar)

2004-06-22T23:24:00.000-07:00

My first day of work yesterday went pretty well. I only made about fifty mistakes and tried to overcharge people a couple of times. But it was all right. It was incredibly busy, though. Today it was much more relaxed. But my back hurt after standing for three hours. OK this isn't going to be as funny when I type it... in fact I don't know if it will be funny at all. But this in a conversation I had with a customer today after giving her her change of 40 cents as four dimes.
Lady: "So I guess you don't have an quarters left."
(My thought: what the heck are you talking about?)
Me: "Um, yeah, I have quarters."
Lady (in a voice that made me think she thought I was stupid): "Twenty-five, Thirty-five, Fourty!"
So I guess she wanted me to give her a quarter, a dime, and nickle. Don't you think that is a weird thing to tell a cashier? I do.
So far I know how to use the cash register (although I am not very fast) and refill dressings and restock chips and cookies and take cardboard boxes to the dumpster. Aren't you proud of me?

Disneyland!

2004-06-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

On Sunday I went with the Hammorks and the Huberts to Disneyland!!! I woke up to the smell of bacon, so I decided to get up and take a shower. Then I went downstairs to a feast that Cynthy had prepared. There was bacon, scrambled eggs, potato pancakes, sausage, sweet rolls, and orange juice. Mmmmmmmmmmmm. After breakfast we all got ready to go to Disneyland... it was difficult to choose what to wear since it was foggy outside, so I think we all ended up wearing shorts with pants on top. It turned out to be pretty warm despite the fog. After parking and riding the little tram thing, we went to California Adventures because we were all excited about the Tower of Terror that opened recently. First we went to the Who Wants to be a Millionare show that they have and guess who got in the hot seat? Stevie! How crazy is that? She got hard questions, though, like "who is Isadora Duncan" or something like that and "who is the kitten that bothers Garfield?" But it was crazy that she got to go up there. So then we went to Tower of Terror and the line wasn't that bad -- only 40 minutes long, which isn't bad for a new ride. And it was a lot of fun. You should go on it if you have the chance. Then we ventured over to Disneyland and went on Thunder Mountain and waited in line for Indiana Jones but it broke down just as we got near the front. But I didn't care too much. Lindsay was the only one who was angered by it. I probably don't have all these things in order, but oh well. Then we had Toni's birthday party at this special place for birthday parties inside disneyland. This strange fellow in a cake hat came out and sang a song and then Mickey and Pluto came out and then we each got an individual mickey mouse plate. The face was a cake and in one of the ears was blue, yellow, and red frosting, and in the other ear were three different kinds of sprinkles. And we all got to decorate our own cakes! (I was quite excited about this and I want to do it for my birthday but Ashley says I should wait until I have kids and do it for their birthdays.) The man in the funny cake hat said it was a contest, so Ashley, being the competitive person that we all love, thought long and hard about what her cake should be... she wanted something original so that she would win the contest. Finally she decided on a volcano and made quite a nice one. Then people came around to "judge" the cakes and Ashley shouted out, in a way that made her sound just like a little kid, "Mine's a volcano!" and we all cracked up and haven't stopped teasing her about it yet. As it turned out, everyone won, so basically there wasn't a contest. I think Ashley was slightly disappointed about that. Oh before her birthday party we went to lunch at the hotel next to CA Adventures and I had chicken fingers and fries. It is cheaper than eating in disneyland. So then we went back to CA Adventures and went on Tower of Terror again (ooh so much fun) and were going to go on Grizzly Bear Rapids, but it was closed, which was very sad, but probably a good thing since I would have gotten soaking wet. So then we left Disneyland and ate dinner at Boston Market (and it was sooo good... i'm mad that they took out the one in Goleta.) Oh and then there was a fiasco because Ashley and I wanted to sit in the back but Lindsay was being a lame-o and wouldn't sit in the middle row. Anyways, it was a big ordeal but then I sat in the middle seat of the back row and it all worked out. And that was the conclusion of my fun weekend.

Pictures from Disneyland:

Group picture by the entrance of Disneyland. Note Teddy's lovely smile.

Stevie, Ashley, and me

Group photo in front of the entrance to the birthday party. Don't you love our hats? Again, note Teddy's lovely smile.

Ashley, Lindsay, Sammy, and I wearing our party hats

Pluto and Mickey entertain us. Toni is the cute short girl standing in the front.

No party is complete without streamers.

Me, Sammy, and Ashley at the "Kodak photo moment" stop.

Ashley, Gregg, Lindsay, and Teddy on Thunder Mountain. Again, Teddy has a nice smile. However, I don't know what happened to Ashley's head. It seems a bit warped to me.

The best thing to do in the Disnleyland stores is to try all the hats on and then take a picture of yourselves.

Everyone who went on Tower of Terror by the sign. Hey wait. Toni didn't go on it.

Sammy with her giant cup... no, I can't even call it a cup. More like a bucket of lemonade at Boston Market.

Mission Viejo

2004-06-22T21:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday I went with the Huberts to the Hammorks' in Mission Viejo. We listened to "Adventures in Odessey" and some music on the way there and stopped at Costco for lunch. I had a suprisingly good chicken caesar salad. It took us a long time to get there because of traffic. We celebrated Toni's birthday (two days early) and father's day (a day early, and my dad wasn't there) and it was fun but I was kind of out of it because I had taken dramamine so I didn't get carsick but it made me so tired. We had hamburgers and hotdogs and other good food and then we started to watch Zoolander but I fell asleep. When I woke up Toni had already opened her presents, but I got to eat cake and watch the dads open their presents (Mr. Mark, Gregg, and Ashley's Papa were the fathers we were celebrating, just in case you were wondering.) Then we went to Target and Kohl's and I bought sunglasses and khaki pants for my job and a skirt. After dinner we watched TV and then went to bed.

Chuck-E-Cheese

2004-06-21T23:01:00.000-07:00

On Friday, Ashley, me, Chip, Summer, and her friend Ryan went to Chuck-E-Cheese. After getting my hand stamped at the door, I walked into a frenzy of happy (and some not-so-happy) children all shoving tokens into machines in the hopes of gaining a few paper tickets. It was, however, a lot of fun. We sat next to a giant robot mouse that did a show every five-or-so minutes, which I thought would be highly annoying, but actually was enjoyable. One of the songs was particularly likeable. And I got pizza and tokens for free since Summer and Ryan's parents gave us money. So I played lots of silly games and one really fun one where you are kind of on a hand-cart. It was a work-out.
Here is a picture of me, Chip, and Ashley at Chuck-E-Cheese. You just put a token in the machine and it takes a picture. It would be cooler if digital cameras weren't invented, but it still was pretty fun. We took five, I think.

For dinner I went to Bellyboards with Ashley, Lindsay, Chip, and Mr. Mark. I had a cheeseburger and lots of peanuts cuz they are free. After dinner we watched the saddest movie ever -- House of Sand and Fog. I wanted to cry. It was a good movie, but too sad to watch.

It's Foggy Today

2004-06-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

Steven likes this weather, and I guess it is better if I want to ride my bike, but I would prefer a bit of sun. Yesterday I went on a four-mile bike ride and I am completely out of shape. Last night I went to Cindy's for dinner and we picked out a new hotel since the one we picked out before was full, and then we sat in her spa and it was delightful. This morning I babysat Kayode and sort of Tzevon, but mostly Kayode -- he is a lot more fun now that he can say a few words.

Pictures from the end of school

2004-06-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Ashley's camera from the last few days in the dorm.

Me and Erin studying for finals

Ashley, Helena, and me

Our last bible study event for the year; dessert at Mission Grill

Erin, Ashley, and me in our dorm

Erin, Kathleen, me, and Ashley

Stacey, Erin, and me packing Erin's car.

Ta-da! Stacey and me in front of Sierra Madre dorms

Ashley taking down the picture ribbon that we made last summer specially for the long wall of the dorm

Ashley in our empty dorm room. :(

Summer Job

2004-06-15T22:33:00.000-07:00

Hooray! I got a summer job. Today I got hired at Quizno's. So if you are ever hungry, come see me and you can buy a sandwich from me, starting next Monday. Out of all the applications I filled out, it was the easiest one, and they called me the very next day, and the interview was hardly an interview at all, but we basically talked about how we both knew Kelley (who was my first reference) and found out we both go to Community Covenant Church and then she asked me a few questions like did I know how to use a cash register (no) and had I ever worked in food services before (no) and then she told me to come next Monday! I was so excited because I really didn't think they would hire me since I will be gone two weeks in the summer.
My room is finally fairly organized. It took forever to find a place for everything from my dorm.
This afternoon after my interview I went to Trader Joe's to buy some vegetables, then I went to Kelley's house and chatted with Kelley for a couple hours and got to hold her new baby, Tzevon, for a long time and got to see Kayode, who can sort of talk now. It was fun. Then I came home and ate yummy hamburgers and went on a walk. I am trying to decide if I want to do a Breast Cancer Walk where you have to walk 20 miles each day for three days. Then I watched Summerland. And now I am going to read or something. Bye!

Über

2004-06-15T12:31:00.000-07:00

Family Picnic

2004-06-13T23:25:00.000-07:00

I just came back from Bakersfield -- it took SIX HOURS to get home. We weren't driving the whole time, though. I shall explain later. This weekend was my first weekend of summer vacation. Saturday morning we drove to Bakersfield to Lori and Grammy's new house to celebrate all the June birhtdays with the Barnetts and the Hoppers. We had a BBQ with yummy food and it was a lot of fun.

The best part was seeing my cousins who I didn't even realize how much I miss, and now I miss them all the more. We ate lunch outside in the shade in the lovely warm weather and I did a puzzle with Brady and played soccer with Allie and blew bubbles and stuff. I got to see all the family except Peter and Susie since Susie is in the hospital. :( Even Grandpa and Florence came. So it was a fun family picnic.

Afterwards we went to Lori's church to practice bells for the next morning. We chose Eagle's Wings because it was pretty easy and we were basically sight-reading it. Twas fun to ring with all my family. And it came together pretty well, if I do say so myself. When we got back Glenn had a really bad headache and it was kind of scary. He almost went to the ER. But in the morning he was fine. He had some kind of allergic reaction to one of the foods. I woke up at 5:30am and got up at 6:00. It was a little on the early side, but I wasn't tired until later in the afternoon. The best part of playing bells at church was how happy it made Grammy. :) After church I ate a really yummy bagel, went for a walk with Cindy and Grammy, went to Costco to get a new tire for Lori's car, went to Kohls and got new clothes, and visited Verne and Hugh at their new SNF. Then around five o'clock we left for home (Glenn and Steven had left earlier, so it was just me, Cindy, my mom, and my dad). I took an hour-and-a-half long nap in the car and then we stopped in Fillmore for dinner at Margaret's Cocina. After I ate my tostada, we went back the the car, but it wouldn't start, so we called Cheryl and AAA to come help us. Yay for cell phones. Not that we were exactly stranded in the middle of nowhere. So a huge truck came and towed our car back to Goleta while Cindy, mom, and I waited in the restaurant watching the Laker's game. But at 9 the restaurant closed, so we walked down to McDonald's and I got an ice cream and we played cards. Then Cheryl came, but right as we got outside of Fillmore the freeway was stopped because a helicopter had to land on the freeway -- we think to pick up a critically injured patient. So after waiting for that we finally got to go home. It was kind of an exciting adventure, though.

Pismo Beach on a Wednesday Afternoon

2004-06-10T22:57:00.000-07:00

Oy I am so tired right now. I have two finals tomorrow (bio and theatre) and then I'm going home!

Yesterday I had a fun afternoon. Me, Ashley, and Thomas went to Pismo and don't laugh, but it was my first time there. We walked all around and went out on the pier. It was super-windy. I felt like I was in a tornado. But was really pretty and felt good to be out in the salty wind. And I saw something that I really want to do. There were people out in the ocean with wakeboard type boards being pulled by giant parachute things. It looked fun. But you probably have to be really strong. Then we walked around a bit more and went to the taffy-making place, but they weren't making taffy and to the pet store and they had the cutest puppies ever. There was a mini dachshund that was black and sooooooo precious. It was probably a good thing that she was six-hundred dollars, or I think Ashley and I would have bought her. After that we convinced Ashley that she should get her ears pierced (she didn't really need that much convincing) and so we went to Claire's and she finally got them pierced! So now you can buy her pretty earrings if you want. Or you could buy her ugly ones, but I don't think she would wear them. Then Thomas and I were starving and so we went to the famous Splash Cafe and had the famous clam chowder in a bread bowl. Yum. I think Moby Dick's is better, but it is hard to tell since I did not taste them side-by-side. We sat in the front window seat and watched all the tourists pass by. After dinner we went in the surf shop and the candy store, but I didn't buy anything. Then we were in the mood for shopping but wanted lower prices so we went to Wal-Mart. I got two pairs of sandals! They were only four dollars each. Then we walked to the movie theatre that was right near Wal-Mart and saw Shrek 2. I liked that cat in the movie. He was adorable when he made his cute face. Then we came back and were both suprisingly tired and so went to bed around midnight.

3 More Days -- A Poem

2004-06-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

I just had my physics final and it was twenty times easier than I expected it to be. Yippee! So I am pretty sure that I am going to pass that class now. And I don't feel bad about not studying yesterday either. Playing Mexican train and watching Troop Beverly Hills was way more fun.

Here is a poem a wrote:

Three more days of living here;
I think about this freshman year.
Nine feet wide and nineteen long,
I've lived in this room the whole year long
Though it began with barren walls,
Similar to the foreboding halls,
Throughout the year it has become
A place that's mine, and we had fun:
Late-night talks, Mexican train,
Bible studies, watching the rain,
Hanging out, watching "The Apprentice,"
"The Bachelor" and "Pride and Prejudice,"
Jumping on beds, watching movies,
Many more things I could add to these.
Forty-eight units have I taken this year
Physics and math sometimes hard to endure
Now nine months is over, I'm glad to go home
I shall miss all these people, and living with them
Kathleen and Erin, Kelley and Anna
Stacey, Amanda, and of course Helena
Lucky for me Ashley lives not very far
And so I can call her and drive in a car
To her house, or the beach, or the zoo
Because I know those are her favorite things to do. :)

Well, that poem started out a lot better and got worse progressively, I fear. It all started to fall apart after I wrote "watching the rain" because I couldn't think of anything else to rhyme with "train." Oh well. I hope I didn't leave anyone out of that list. Perhaps I shouldn't have put it just in case.

I talked to Dawn and Amy last night -- I hadn't really talked to either of them for a long time and now I am even more excited to go home! Well, I should go study now. Adios.

sunday

2004-06-07T00:14:00.000-07:00

Although this says it was posted on Monday, I still consider this Sunday since I haven't gone to bed yet. Monday doesn't start until I wake up.

I was in a good mood all day today, which is surprising since I actually studied. Community Covenant Church was really good this morning. Christian Shalasky (spelling) talked about "the stewarship of the mind" and it was really interesting -- his sermons usually are. And it was just really good to see everyone. I don't know how to describe it. It's just good.

Last night was the DP Jazz Choir's concert (with Vocal Point and Ike Jenkin's All Star Band) and I finally got to hear Steven's solo. It was a good concert but the best part of it was seeing my mom and dad and brother so happy.

Well, finals start tomorrow and I hope I am ready. I studied all today, but I must have taken a lot of breaks because it really did not feel like I studied that much.

There is a big fire in Gaviota and the freeway back to SLO was closed yesterday and part of today, but one lane is open now so I don't have to take the 154 back which is good because I heard it was a huge traffic jam today.

a funny for you

2004-06-06T23:39:00.000-07:00

Ping-pong, Mexican train, and a Bonfire

2004-06-05T00:21:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Ashley was taking a nap, so I went down to the main lounge to study, but Rob asked me if I wanted to play ping-pong with him and these other two guys so I did that instead and it was much more fun. I won 2/6 games. Around dinnertime I played Mexican train (a domino game) with Stacey, Ashley and Helena. I lost. I like that game, though. Then we went to Amanda's recital... I was glad to finally hear Amanda sing besides at Crusade. Then we went to Avila Beach for a bonfire with the tower 1 and tower 0 girls and boys bible studies. It was fun talking with everyone. I am going to miss all of the girls here this summer. And the moon was huge! A big orange moon rising over the ocean. Right now I am eating instant mashed potatoes and it is 1:00 in the morning. College does weird things to you. :)

Here are some pictures of Mexican Train:

Me, Helena, and Erin

Me & Stacey

Ashley & Erin

Stacey, Helena, & Ashley

Helena, me, & Stacey

Here is a picture from the bonfire:

My last day of lectures

2004-06-04T17:48:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo! Last day of lectures until summer! And I skipped one of them. But I didn't try to. Ashley and I were talking about Harry Potter and reading Harry Potter message boards and I lost track of time. The movie was good, but there were a lot of disappointing things about it. Read Ashley's livejournal for June 4th to see all the problems with the movie, but you might not want to unless you have seen the movie.

I have my car stuffed full with all of Ashley's and my stuff so I am set to go home for the weekend tomorrow. I am excited about Steven's concert, but I am NOT looking forward to studying for finals. :(

My first entry for summer

2004-06-03T12:02:00.000-07:00

Well it's not quite summer yet, but my last final is only a week away! I still need to make this blog look spiffy so just wait and it will (maybe after finals when I have the time.)

Just in case you care, the title of this blog is from the first line of a great song by Sherwood, a local band.

The most exciting part of today is.... HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF ASKABAN comes out today!!!!!! It is exactly 11 hours, 54 minutes, and 22 seconds until we see it! (Yes, I have a countdown on my desktop.)