Homesick

I'm feeling really homesick right now. I don't know if it's been quite this bad before. What makes it worse is I have a 3 day weekend, but can't go home because I have 3 big midterms next week. Which means I'm stuck studying all weekend.
Talking on the phone is never quite enough, and that seems to be only once a week.
Well, at least Easter is in only a couple of weeks. That will be the earliest I can visit home next. :(

Yogurt Express

Jenn found a really good shortcut to Yogurt Express. Since then her and I have gone twice in one week.
Shortcut = maybe not such a good thing.

Graffiti in the Philosophy Building Bathroom Stall

1st person's statement:
"Philosophy gives us a way to justify what we believe."
2nd person:
"It helps us with what we want to achieve."
3rd person:
"It gives us something to read while we sit here and relieve."

News

Cerise got in a pretty bad car accident. Possibly totaling her car. Luckily she is ok and so is the other person, her car is just not so ok.
My friend Chantal at PLNU cracked her elbow from a skateboarding accident. Ouch! She's at the hospital right now getting things fixed hopefully.
Not the best start to the week.

I'm Thinkin...

I really want to learn to play the guitar. I think I'm just at this point in my life where I want to experience everything and learn everything else.
Anyway so I think starting this summer I am going to take lessons. Why not right? I just have to buy a guitar... and get one of my many musically talented friends to come help me pick one out since I'll have no idea what I'm doing!

Rut

I can't seem to get out of this rut of not wanting to do homework! It's been half of a week since I've been back from spring break, and I still can't manage to get myself to focus and study! I honestly don't know why I'm having such a hard time... it's kind of frustrating. :(

We Were Bored

We used "Ebony" foundation on Cerise's face. The picture really doesn't do it justice.
I guess you could say we're good at keeping ourselves entertained!

Small Update

I wrote about a week and a half ago about some of the things that are "up in the air" in my life. Since then a few things have been figured out.
- No studying abroad in London first semester. It basically comes down to money, it's just too expensive. So second semester to Nottingham here I come!
- No more road trip. At least it's very unlikely. Timing is just off.
- A praise: I think I've found a church home. Mission Valley Church of the Nazarene . Yes, I have now been living in San Diego for about a year and a half and am just now finding a church to attend regularly. But we're not worrying about that anymore. I went to the College/Early Career Sunday School class last Sunday and things just seemed like they were meant to be. Timing couldn't have been more perfect, which makes me feel God definitely had a hand in orchestrating things. A new leader of the group just started on Sunday, also starting a new series. So I'm not so out of the loop. Plus the feeling of community seems very genuine. The church is pretty small. The pastor introduced himself to me and invited me to go to lunch with himself and a few people after the service (unfortunately I couldn't because Cerise and I had to go shopping for Jenn's birthday present, but just the fact of the matter was pretty neat to me). Also after the first time I went someone from the church called to welcome me and invite me back and to answer any questions. Anyway it just feels like somewhere I could easily call my church home. It's still awkward going by myself, but I'll get over that and I'm already meeting a few people.
- Still don't know about summer living situation. I do know that I will be the one paying for it (no parental help).
- I'll most likely take a summer class.

I think that's about all of it!

Visiting for a Day

On Friday there weren't any NCAA games, so I decided to drive home to visit Corrie late Thursday night through early Saturday morning. It was fun just hanging out with her. I used to do stuff like that all of the time last year. But I think as far as driving just to visit my friend this was probably the first time this year.
Anyway it was fun. During the day I mainly just helped her in the office. Then at night we brought the Norwalk teens to a game night at Cerritos church. It was fun, hanging out was good.

Busy Week

So much for resting on Spring Break! Oh well.
Working at the NCAA was an absolute blast! The energy from the fans just seemed to exude onto everyone else. Added to the fast pace of selling a huge bulk of stuff with a huge crowd. During our breaks we had the chance to go inside and watch some of the games as well. Anyway, it was fun!

Bomb Threat

There was a bomb threat at Cox Arena today, which is the SDSU arena for games and concerts and stuff on campus. The NCAA games were supposed to start at 11:40 today. But so far no one has been let in to the arena and there is a bomb squad that just finished searching and apparently didn't find anything. So I'm guessing they are going to let people back in shortly.
Kind of scary. I'll be there today starting at 2:30 for work.

1st Half of Spring Break

I've been busy at home the last few days for my Spring Break. It has been fun. I was kind of bitter this morning when I had to drive back to San Diego for work the rest of my break. I just didn't have enough time to see people and hang out with both friends and family.
Sunday after going to church and visiting with alot of the Norwalk teens Corrie and I went to Disneyland. Thanks so much to Mike and Jill for signing us in! I had alot of fun just hanging out with Corrie and wandering around the parks. At one point we decided to start taking a bunch of random pictures...

Imitating statues





Watch out for those scary teacups!


I wanted Churros and Corrie wouldn't let me have one. And then at the end of the night when she finally let me they were all closed already! :(


Be the Shell...


You Are the Shell


Watch out for those holes!




Remain seated please. Keeping your hands, arms, legs, and feet inside the vehicle at all times. (This looks just like the picture they have crossed out on all of the rides now.)


I also went shopping with my mom at the Ontario Mills outlets on Monday. And had the chance to hang out with Dana for a little bit that night.
Last night Cerise and I went to this comedy show at a place called the Improv in the Irvine Spectrum. That was fun and something different to do. We sat right next to the stage, which was really cool.
And now I'm back in San Diego and still on Spring Break until Monday! Of course most of the rest of the time will be working March Madness!

Hail

I came home this morning for Spring Break. As I was loading up my car I could hear this really loud noise that sounded like intense rain rolling in. So I ran back to my apartment and when I looked behind me I could see it hailing. It got really hard and lasted for awhile so I decided to wait it out before driving.
It rained off and on throughout most of my drive. But then right about when I was in Encinitas it started to hail, HARD. People basically stopped in the middle of the 5. Most pulled all the way over to both sides and just stopped. That was kind of strange. I couldn't even see more than maybe 10 yards in front of my car. And it was LOUD.
After about 10 minutes it let up a little bit and people started driving again. The ground looked like it had snow on it. Crazy.

Zeake

I had alot of fun "hanging out" last night with this guy Rob that I work with. We went to Dave and Busters and had fun playing random games while waiting for a table to eat. There was this really cool game that is just like those claw games that you see at alot of places. You know the one where you try to move the claw to get a stuffed animal? Except this one was monster size! It was fun. Rob managed to get a red shark which he named Zeake for me. :)

Zeake

So Much Is Up In The Air!

I can't say that I have any idea what I am going to be doing in the next year. Where I will be living... What I'll be studying.
I already know that as of July 1, I will be living with different room mates. Mainly because of study abroad, although there is a whole story to that one that we won't get into. I know that I won't be going home, I'll still be in San Diego. The question is living with who? There are a couple of possibilities. Some I really wish will happen more than others. But I just won't know for awhile it seems. And is that only going to be for the summer? Or continuing on into next year?
Which brings me to the other thing. When, where, and how am I studying abroad? I was pretty set to go to Nottingham, England because there is a big push there for business and it would fit classes I had to take perfectly. That would be in the Spring Semester next year. But now I just came across an independent program that would allow me to go to London! Which is where I really wanted to go to begin with. It would just be a little pricier (sp?). However I would be able to go Fall semester next year and the applications aren't due until late June or early July. It would be easier to transfer classes that match as well because I would still be taking lower division classes. Aaaand Emma and I could go to the same school and live in the same place. A huge plus.
Then what am I going to declare once I finish my lower division pre-business classes? I'm pretty sure I want to go with Management, but still kind of up in the air.
Oh yes, and I might take a summer class. I probably SHOULD take a summer class, but don't know how it is going to work yet.
Emma and I want to plan a summer road trip across country, visit tons of places and a few friends. But our school schedules are so different and random it makes planning difficult.
Who is going to pay for all of this? Do I need a second job? At least maybe over the summer?
I'm also trying to find a local church to call my church home. Right now I'm looking at Mission Valley Church of the Nazarene . I went there last Sunday and really enjoyed the speaker and music and smaller size and friendliness of the church. I want to check out their College/Early Career group next Sunday (home this Sunday for Spring Break) to see what that is like and if it is a "fit" for me.
Phew. Just thinking aloud.
I can't really think too far ahead about everything that is up in the air or I might have an anxiety attack.
Oh yes, and I have a "date" tomorrow night with a guy that I work with. The first one since coming to college. How weird is that?
Anyway... I could really use some prayer. Just that God would help me to see which of these paths he wants me to take. What direction my life should be going in. I know that most of these things are kind of small and trivial, but it just seems to weigh me down a little when it is all added up.

OUCH

I think my ear drum is broken.

Defensive Driving

Today I had to take a defensive driving class for work. I think I would have absolutely died of boredom if Cerise and my co-worker Dan weren't there as well. We pretty much traded off cracking jokes the entire time.
I think I learned 2 things that I didn't know before:
1) If you see a deer in your path and you can't brake in time, accelerate. Yes, accelerate (insert my vegetarian room mate having a heart attack here). Why? Cause then the animal won't fly through the windshield because your car is pointing down as you brake, which has a greater chance of killing you. Or you won't swerve too fast and end up flying off the road and hitting a tree. Interesting. I'm sure that will come in handy as I drive down the 101. :/
2) You're not actually supposed to have your hands at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel. As I'm pretty sure most of us (including myself) were taught. Why? Because if the airbag deploys then your arms will break. I thought this was actually pretty useful. Until I remembered, I don't have airbags.
At the end we had to take a test that gave us points to assess how safe of drivers we are. Cerise got the highest score, 445. The problem? You wanted a low score, anything above 191 was considered at high risk. (I got 225 :/ ) The instructor said he was surprised she wasn't dead already! This was of course accompanied by either looks of shock or disapproval, even disgust, by some of the older people (actually more so women) among our crowd. Yikes!
So why I'll actually need this class? It's in case we ever operate a motor vehicle on campus. Which I can't see that happening, except maybe next week during the NCAA. I guess it's for any "just in case" time.
Basically Cerise and I are going to die in a car accident. Dan scored 190, so he's close enough behind. I'm not sure they're actually going to want us to drive for work?

Aarg. Me and my Sister at the Pike

Another Random Ruby's Pictures of Me and Jenn

Moving Forward

I am moving forward with my study abroad plans. The application for the specific program I want to go to isn't actually due until October 1st, but it's good to figure things out early.
So I am reading some of the requirements and all that fun stuff and I ran across this:

"Obtain health insurance that will cover the expenses of serious illness or accident, accidental death and dismemberment coverage, emergency evacuation, and repatriation of remains."
Umm... Yikes! I really hope that I don't need that insurance for "repatriation of remains" or "accidental death and dismemberment"!

Wipeout!

I definitely wiped out at least 5 times today surfing. And nose dived once. But it was only because it was awesome out there! the waves were seriously crazy, awesome sets one right after the other. I managed to stand, wobble, and fall a few times. Oh yes, and smacked myself in the face only once. ;)

So anyway, not too much going on with me right now. Liberal studies basically screwed me over as far as learning how to study. I am getting better, but I now know that studying the night before, even if it is the whole night, definitely won't work. Homework and assignments take much much longer than they did before. Harder tests, more stress, all that fun stuff. That's alright, I'm learning. And in a different way it's nice to actually be learning :)

Oh yes, and Spring Break is in a week and a half! Except I still have to be in San Diego half of the time to work. The NCAA first rounds of games are at SDSU, so basically everyone at the bookstore has to stay and work :/ Cerise and I are trying to plan a mini vacation for the 1st half of the break, but we'll see since we haven't actually followed through with anything yet!