Happy New Year's!

Well technically Happy New Year's Eve... but whatever.
As of this morning I had no plans for tonight and now I have 3 options. Haha, gotta love last minute stuff :)
I hope everyone has/had a good time!
I think I am going to come up with some New Year's resolutions a little later. Not something I normally do, but I have a lot of things I want to accomplish that can be put into resolution form.

No Car

Well I have been driving around with a cracked radiator for about a month and a half now. I know, probably not the safest thing, but it was a very small crack. Anyway I finally took it in to get it fixed yesterday and now I am carless. When I took my car in because it was stalling the Toyota dealer found the problem. They said they could replace it for about $600. The place where it is currently getting fixed is charging me $200. That's a pretty significant difference. So I think the wait was worth it. At least I didn't break down!
Hopefully it will be done soon though because I'm supposed to meet people for lunch in a little over an hour. Oops.

More Catching Up

Well this seems to be turning into the Winter Break of catching up. It's actually really nice. Some people whom I wasn't sure if I was ever going to see again. I already mentioned Dani and Niki. Then Friday I'm going to lunch with an old friend from high school Shelby and maybe another friend Jessie. Possibly hanging out with a friend Matt also from high school. I've Been able to see my friend Dana a couple of times. The other day I ran into a good friend from way back in jr. high. I had planned to get together with Jeannie and Anna and maybe some other old Satellite friends for lunch or dinner or something. Hopefully that will still happen.
On top of that I've seen Emma multiple times already and we're going shopping all day tomorrow. Normally we have a hard time getting together... especially around Christmas time when she has alot of family staying at her house. I'm very much enjoying it. It's funny how you can pretty much write some people off as out of your life forever because you think you'll never see them again. But then you do and it's nice to see them and catch up and reminisce.

Oh yes. And I found a project. Well not really a project... but something to keep me busy when I am bored. Sudoku puzzles. If you have no idea what this is you should look it up and try a few. They're quite fun.

Just Hanging Out

Tonight I had the chance to catch up with a couple of old friends. I went to Starbucks with my friends Niki and Dani. I haven't seen Dani since my graduation party a year and a half ago. I used to play club and highschool soccer with Dani and at one point the same with Niki. It's weird how you lose touch sometimes. Especially since the 3 of us used to hang out all of the time until they graduated high school a year ahead of me, they were 2 of my closest friends.
So it was nice. We just talked for probably over 2 hours catching up and telling stories.

3 Days and Bored Already?

Well that's not totally true. I think I just went from way ridiculously busy to well... not busy at all!
I have been doing things still. Playing lots of games, watching movies. I went to a Christmas Party at my friend Dana's last night. Emma came over to hang out for a bit this morning/afternoon. I did some shopping, some laundry, some dusting.
I think I need a project. Any ideas?? Or a book or 2 to read. I could probably find a few good ones around the house. Ok I'm going to go try to find a project! Maybe I'll redo my room. I've been wanting to do that for awhile. But what's the point? And I'm not sure 2 weeks is quite enough time... hmm.

Badminton is a dangerous sport... apparently!

I woke up this morning to the phone ringing. It was the nurse's office at Emily's school. Apparently while at Badminton practice they were playing doubles on courts that were too small and her partner hit her right above the eye with her racket. It got split open in the perfect spot for a black eye. Poor kid. It's swollen now and will probably be bruised tomorrow!

Giant Snowman!

I just made it home about an hour ago. There is a 6 foot tall blow up light up snowman in our front yard. Oh my goodness. I don't even know what to say. Haha. I'm way sleepy so bedtime soon. Just wanted to do a quick update first :)

Yah for Christmas present shopping and presents!

I managed to get almost all of my Christmas shopping done in about 3 hours. I would call that success.
And now I've been wrapping like crazy!
Cerise and Jenn and I just opened our presents from each other :). They are so good! I got a very cute bag from Jenn that is brown with some cute design and big. If you know me at all right now you'd know that's perfect! And then Cerise got me a cute shirt and earrings and a scarf/belt/hair thing from Charlotte Russe. The best part about that one? I got her the exact same one! HAHA. That's great. I also got her cute heels that I'm pretty sure she really likes and Cerise and I both got Jenn a fondue fountain and she is obsessed. Woohoo!
I still have to bake some cookies tonight and wrap more presents and make my Christmas cards! I better get started!
Especially since I woke up this morning to Cerise's alarm at 10:15. Why is that bad? I was supposed to be at work at 7:30. Man, seems like this story comes up alot. I felt sooo bad though. Especially since I was supposed to be supervising and my manager had to be outside until I got there. Also the one night I forgot to have my phone in my room because I totally would have woken up when they called at 8:40. At least they actually weren't mad though. My manager is such a mom. She was like "I was so worried that something had happened to you!" And said she was about to cry because she was so worried. Such a mom. She even said "It's just so not like you!" Hahaha. This semester I never worked mornings because I had class, otherwise she wouldn't be saying that one.
Ok time to get crackin on that wrappin! I really like just being able to hang out and relax and watch random movies and go on random pizza hunts like Cerise and I did last night. Without having to stress about school. It's nice to just hang out in San Diego a few days after finals finish :)

Yah!

I officially finished my finals this morning! Yah!!
It feels so good to be done.
Except now I really want to know my grades.
I am exhausted.
I got 2 hours of sleep last night.
And today I am working a 10 hour shift.
I think Cerise and I are going to try and go Christmas shopping when I get off! If we don't get to it today then definitely tomorrow.
Aww... just 2 more days of work and then I'm heading home on Wednesday :)

Oh Man... We Better Get Renters Insurance!

2 days in a row we almost set fire to our apartment.
Yesterday when I was baking cookies somehow the dishtowel fell in the oven. Yes, don't worry I already feel dumb. After smelling smoke I opened the oven to find it all black with little flames. Nice.
Today Cerise put the lamp that we have on top of her turtles tank on the counter. Without turning it off. This time she smelled smoke. There is a good baseball size burn on our counter right now. Haha.
So it was probably a semi serious situation but we just couldn't stop laughing.
And the best part? None of us have renters insurance. We better be more careful! No more trying to light the apartment on fire!

Almost Have That Weight off my Shoulders Feeling...

Just 1 more final! Of course it doesn't help that it's my hardest one. But still, just 1 more. I need a little break though. I'm going to relax tonight. Cerise and I are going to go see a movie to take a break. Tomorrow will be an all day study marathon. Woohoo! I'm so excited!

Who Would Have Thought

As I walked by the dorms tonight on my way back to my car from work I had this slight longing feeling. Did I actually miss the dorms? I think that I do. The part of campus that is never quiet no matter what time or what day. Where there are always a community of college students strolling around. People playing guitars outside. Friends just hanging out because that is what the dorm life is all about.
I think I miss that you are never ever alone. Is that strange? The open door policy. Always someone to talk to, to watch a favorite show with, to hang out with. Ok, so I still basically do most of that now with Cerise and Jenn. It just seems my world has slightly shrunk.
Oh well still living up the college years and will continue to do so!
Seriously who would have ever thought that I would miss the dorms?? Especially the ones that I lived in rumored to be an old insane asylum!

One of my favorite memories. A picnic on the roof filled with taking way too many random shadow pictures!

Ok So

3 more finals to go! Ok that really wasn't that enthusiastic. My final tomorrow is in psychology. Should be semi difficult. I have the possibility to get an A in the class. But I have to get an A on the final. Actually I think I have the possibility to get an A in almost all of my classes... but we'll see. I haven't even started studying for my math final on Saturday. So that will be what I do Friday night! And then Monday is my hardest final. A cummulative Biology final with at least 100 multiple choice questions. My brain might shut down after like 50 questions, so that stinks. On top of the fact that Bio is probably my least favorite subject, oh and not one of the ones I have a possibility to get an A in :).

On a random other note. Buyback is going good. Did I mention that I'm supervising buyback again? My manager basically gave me and the other supervisor most of the control. It's fun actually. I like being constantly on my toes and having to solve little problems here and there. As well as being in charge of all the buyback crew (not in a powertrip kind of way, just it is fun). Oh yes and best part that I found out yesterday. Our pay was bumped to $9.25 for these two weeks. That makes a pretty significant difference when you work for about 60 hours in a week and a half. Christmas money! It's cool because it shows that our manager thinks we did the job last time well and trusts we can have everything under control. Cool beans!

No more unhappy posts!

Except it is finals and I really can't think of anything else to write about...
Umm lets see. Jenn told me if I finish one of my papers and have the other one started by the time she gets back from Christmas shopping (around 5 or 6ish), then I can have a Starbucks! Hehe.
Maybe I should get past sentence one on the first essay then...
Ok, so this update was still about not fun stuff, but I have nothing else exciting to say, it's finals week! But I put a happy twist on it right? ;)

Such a Joke

I was supposed to have my philosophy final today. But my professor didn't show up until 30 minutes into class.
Now if this had been the first time she was late then maybe I wouldn't have been so frustrated. But it wasn't. She has missed multiple classes from just not showing up. Shows up late almost every day to class. And for our midterm she didn't show up until 20 minutes before the class was over. At least that time she had someone from the department come in to tell us what to do for the midterm.
Ok, so today she should have tried a little harder though! It was the final day! For the final we were supposed to write an essay. Well there wasn't enough time to write this essay that was going to be pretty long by the time she finally showed up. The professor said we could stay after class, or come back later if we needed the time. Well that would be nice if I didn't have another class and then work right after that.
Ugh! By this point I, along with I'm sure many of my classmates, was extremely frustrated. I had studied and was ready for this test. But basically didn't have enough time to write it. So she told us that if we didn't have enough time then we could do the essay as a take home test. Except we would be graded harder, it has to be 2-3 pages typed, and we had to use citations.
Well I guess I had no choice! So between tonight and tomorrow I have 2 essays to write.
It just makes me mad because I would have rather just written the essay in class. I was ready to do it. We are basically getting punished for her flakiness. I wouldn't be so upset if this was a one time thing... but the entire class has just been a joke because of her.
Tenure sucks.
So frustrated!

Wish me Luck!

In just a little over an hour my finals begin! They'll end at about 10:00am Monday. Breathe...

I'm having a really hard time

Not procrastinating! Ugh! I know it's just because I don't want to study any of this stuff. But it's not really a question of whether I want to or not. I have to anyway. Grr...

Dependent Rational Animals

First of all it seems like the happening place to be on a Sunday night before finals week is at the library! I just got back from studying for my philosophy final which is on Tuesday with a guy who is a philosophy minor like myself. For our in class part of the final we get to choose 1 out of 4 essays to write on. All of the essays are from a book called "Dependent Rational Animals" by Alasdair Macintyre. Which is actually an interesting book. If I had the time I would have liked to read deeper into it. The main idea can be summed up in a quote from the book:
"So philosophical theories about what it is that distinguishers members of our own species from other animal species - it has been alleged by some theorists, as we shall see, that nonhuman animals cannot have thoughts, beliefs or reasons for action - may seem to provide grounds for the belief that our rationality as thinking beings is somehow independent of our animality." This is an idea that Macintyre refutes throughout his book.
If you're at all interested click on the link above :)
We were told a once over reading of the book would be sufficient to answer the essay questions.
Yeah right! After 3 hours of studying and struggling through the concepts for 1 essay question we finally finished studying for the night. That was only for 1 essay! And believe me we had to read through parts again and again to finally understand what the heck was being asked of us!
At least that part of it is done though. I still have to write a paper for it as well, but I'll focus on that later.
Once I've actually figured out the concepts though I always feel a sense of accomplishment. I get this false sense of intellectuality (is that actually a word??)

Absolutely no more Procrastinating!

Well it's definitely time for me to start hardcore studying. Over the next week, Monday to Monday, I have 5 finals, a test, a paper, and am working 44 hours.
Hmm.... I think this is where I insert a "yikes!"

Poor Roomies!

Cerise has the flu... and has basically just slept the last 2 days.
And Jenn has a bad cold and has been feeling out of it as well :(
Pray that they get better soon! Finals do start next week after all. Oh yes, and that I don't catch anything!

I really don't want to

I'm trying to write a biology lab report that's due tomorrow. But I really am having a hard time focusing. I have a little over 3 pages written and it needs to be 4-5 pages. So that's not that bad. But I still have a lot of editing to do and charts to make. Ok, sorry to bore you. I'm attempting to get over writer's block.

Vicious Cycle

I definitely don't ever get enough sleep anymore. But it's really ok because my body has become accustomed to 5-6 hours of sleep every night. The only problem is every once in awhile I reach a point of exhaustion. Like today. So I take a very necessary nap. This begins the vicious cycle. Since I took a 2 hour nap today from about 4:00-6:00 I am not tired right now. And even if I was it wouldn't matter because I have so much reading to do that I won't be going to bed anytime soon. Meaning tonight I won't get enough sleep. And then tomorrow I will want to take a nap again!
I think I would do very well in a country like France where they have 3-4 hour lunches where everything shuts down and people take naps!
Although technically the best sleep is when you sleep all at once for at least 8 hours. Oh well, such is life!

Ok, Cerise is threatening to take my computer away because I'm not reading. We're pretty good at "helping" each other out that way. Time to go!

Some Retreat Pictures

Drinking hot chocolate!


Way too much silly string.


Teaching the girls how to play spoons.


Twistin it.


Sleepy Sleepy!

Girls Retreat!

I had an awesome time this weekend at the jr. high and highschool Norwalk girls retreat up in Lake Gregory! I loved just hanging out with the girls and having fun and getting to know them a little better. It took us a little while to actually get up the mountain (mountain or hill?) due to traffic and some beautifally thick fog. I followed Corrie, who was having way too much fun making u-turns. That's ok, it only caused the people in my car to almost die once ;).
The first night the girls had tons of energy (understandable) so after setting up a bit we played Sardines... in the dark. Then about the second or third round a few of the girls and Corrie and I snuck out of the cabin and scared the other girls by pounding on the walls and scratching on the screens. Haha, good times. Then had a silly string fight (man, not such a good idea when you have to clean up afterwards!) We had some good times hanging out and talking. I was having problems staying awake, which meant I had cheez-its, pillows, and stinky socks thrown at my face. I guess I can't complain, I did the same thing when I was in jr high! Corrie and I could definitely hear them planning things they were going to try to do to us at night. So after we were asleep one of the girls tried to write something in lipstick on Corrie's face. But since she's a light sleeper we were all good :)
Saturday we went out and had lunch, then found a little place to do some hiking. Man, those girls were cracking me up! All they did was complain about how cold, and windy it was and how they were tired. Needless to say being outside didn't last too long! So back at the cabin we played multiple games. Spoons, twister, charades. Made smores, ate pizza.
We had some good devotional time based on the them of what it means to be a Christian girl. It was a little crazy to me what some of the teens didn't know. But I felt like there was a lot of good sharing, a lot of things explained for some of them, some progress made.
That night we played hide and go seek in the dark. Corrie and I decided to scare a few of the girls. So after being found downstairs we stood a few steps up on the stairway in complete silence. Remember it was completely dark, so the 3 girls looking for people couldn't see us at all. Right as they were coming up the stairs and standing about 2 inches in front of us they turned on the lights. The look on their faces and how far they jumped in the air was absolutely classic. We didn't even have to do anything but stand there :)
Our ride down today was relatively uneventful. We made it back safe and sound.
I really had a great time. I'm a little sad that now that I got to know the girls a little better and met some other girls I'm now back in San Diego and won't see them for awhile. But I will continue to pray for them, and am thankful that I had the opportunity to just hang out this weekend. I know from my own experiences in youth group that those times are important and really do make a difference.

More pictures to come later... but for now here's the gang :)

Gettin Ready

To go to Big Bear for a girls youth retreat! Looking forward to it. I'm trying to finish getting packed before I leave for my 8:00 class because I'm leaving straight from school. Man coffee sounds good right about now!

You're not supposed to leave your car lights on?

Oops. Apparently I accidentally left my lights on today and killed my car battery. The weird thing is I came home at about 2:30ish. So why had I turned my lights on to begin with? I honestly don't know! Cerise and I attempted to jump start it. We hooked everything up properly and when I tried to start it it kind of almost did, but then died again. Then every time after that that I attempted it it didn't do anything at all. :(
Well that's what AAA is good for! I was bummed we failed though. But that's ok, the AAA dude managed to get it started, but it even took him a few times, I think it might be time to get a new battery! Sadly I was on my way to pick up my friend Chantal from PLNU and we were going to hang out for a bit and make tacos. That definitely fell through.
Good thing I'm not like driving up to Big Bear tomorrow or anything!