hallowee-kend

some lovely shots from being home this weekend! exactly what i needed :)

sky high....and a raid.

i must blog about the excitement of last night while it's still fresh in my mind. last night after dinner, me, hope, victoria, and our new friends erik, tim, morrie, and justin went to Sky High. for those of you who aren't acquainted with the glories of this establishment, it's basically a giant warehouse in bellevue with trampolines EVERYWHERE and a foam pit. trampolines on the floor, on the walls, everywhere. we went on wild wednesdays, which is where you can go 2 hours for $14, as opposed to $11/hr. it was SO fun. i say that now, even though i am so sore and can feel every muscle in my body....not in a good way. you really get a good workout, but you're having so much fun that it doesn't feel like working out.....but i sure do feel the after effects!
we got back in time for our "surprise" at 10:45. "surprise" of course meant a raid.....let me give you an explanation. a raid is where your brother floor (for us it's 6th west) comes through your floor in ridiculous attire, bangs on your doors, and yells "raid" among other words. so the whole first floor (west & east) and 6th west walked down to martin square for an exciting game of capture the flag. please taste my sarcasm.....i am not one to play team sports, and i am especially awful at this one. we were divided into two teams, a white team and a red team. from there, we all had to pair off boy/girl and tie our wrists together with a string. i of course with my luck, got paired with the ring-leader of this game, who happened to be about 6"4. (i am 5"3 and a half). add our heights, running, and leg length difference, and you got one worn out girl. just imagine it...hahahaha. i kind of felt bad for him, because i could tell he was really into it, and i was not. but he was really nice nonetheless :) by the time it was over, (both games) it was 12:15 am. i still had to shower and edit my essay, but such is the life of a college student. luckily i didn't have class until 10:30am this morning!
my best friend sierra is here to preview spu and i couldn't be more excited! i can't wait to show her around and have her live my life for a day or so. i've got to stop and read - i just had to get this out of my system!
i'm coming home tomorrow :) YAAAAAAAY!
loveeeeee

i ♥ weekends

this weekend totally flew by.....in a good way :)

on friday night, a few girls from my floor and i went to queen anne to get a few things (including hair dye) for which we planned to dye hope's hair. she wanted more of a chocolate-y color, and it turned out really well! before that, we all watched 'down with love' which i had never seen....not a huge renee zellweger fan, but the set and 1960s costumes were amazing. it was definitely quirky, and not like anything i'd ever seen before. staying in the 60s mood, after that was over at midnight, we watched hairspray. i had forgotten how much i love this movie, it's SO good. it makes me want to get up and dance.

after crawling into bed @ 3am, the next morning (err...afternoon) 5 of us went shopping at northgate and then u-village. let's take a minute to talk about how much i love u-village. minus the whole outdoor shopping in the rain part of it, it's awesome. we didn't even get through half of it, just enough to satisfy our H&M craving (successful) and my pumpkin spice latte addiction. after a few hours of retail therapy, we went to buca di beppo, which is always a life-changing experience. we met up with 3 other girls from our floor, so there were 8 of us. buca isn't always the cheapest restaurant, but we split a huge bowl of spaghetti, a pizza, and mozzarella garlic bread so it only ended up being $5.48 each.....not bad! there was a homecoming group there that had - not kidding - at least 40 people. it was SO loud in the room that you basically had to yell to be heard. minus that, the food was great and the girls are so fun. after that, we came back and went to the soccer game which was against montana state. it rained literally the entire time, and i clearly was not prepared for it. i was wearing a sweatshirt and my northface fleece over it. i got soaked and kind of looked like a wet dog (see included photograph).....the upside to this whole debacle was that spu won in overtime 2-1! and there was a good turnout, minus the terrible weather. after that, we defrosted and watched benchwarmers.....a piece of advice : make friends with people who have a plasma screen tv on your floor :)

this morning, i went to bethany community church, came back and ate lunch, and have been doing homework basically the whole day. i'm kind of taking it easy because this week is going to be crazy. i have a spanish test tomorrow, midterms in my other two classes, and my best friend is coming to preview spu on thursday night/friday morning. i'm coming home on friday and am SO excited. i'm sure it'll be much needed after my crazy week, and i can actually take a BATH! ps. mom, it would be wonderful if you made spaghetti one of those nights ;) it'll be weird to drive my car too after a month of not driving, but i'm sure it won't be too bad. cross your fingers! and i'm planning on carving a pumpkin or two....

i'm off to study for my spanish test! pray for my midterms this week...that would be so appreciated.

have a great rest of your night :)

LOVEEEEEEEE

definition : epiphany

quick, i still have some intellectual nuggets floating around in my brain and wanted to share them :

some amazing definitions from Frederick Buechner's Wishful Thinking

com-pas-sion n. "compassion is the sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it's like to live inside somebody else's skin. it is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you too."

con-fes-sion n. "To confess your sins to God is not to tell him anything he doesn't already know. until you confess them, however, they are the abyss between you. when you confess them, they become the bridge."

lust n. "lust is the craving of salt of a man who is dying of thirst."

doubt n. "whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don't have any doubts you are either kidding yourself or asleep. doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. they keep it awake and moving."

LOVELOVELOVE

here comes the sun.....

i found my sunglasses.....almost forgot i had them ;)

i've been a little wordy my last few blog posts, my apologies for being boring.

here is a photo montage of the beautiful (SUNNY!) fall day today.

enjoy :)

it's going around...

sickness, that is.

i'm writing this at 9pm on a sunday night, when of course i should be doing my homework. i apologize in advance if i don't make any sense - i'm sick. to properly sum up my ailments, it's a stuffed up nose, sneezing, coughing, kind of a mess. this weekend was a rough one for sure, the feeling of sickness happened to coincide with homesickness. while i'm only an hour away, it still sucks to be sick and not be at home. THANKFULLY my parents rescued me on saturday night and took me out to the 5 spot and gave me a care package, of which i am so grateful for :) thank you mom & dad, i love you! i caught up on all my shows i missed during the week - SNL, glee, jersey shore, etc. so it was time well spent. i'm just glad to get this sickness out of my system so (hopefully) i'll be somewhat immune. luckily, (or unluckily?) my roommate and i are both sick and have enough cough drops, medicine, and tea to last a lifetime.

in other news, i've seen said chocolate-milk-incident-guy twice since, well.....the incident. just my luck!

i should go do my homework so i can actually get some sleep tonight :)

love loveeeeee

story of my life.

the most embarrassing things happen to me in gwinn commons. (see last blog post) and around my friends.

last night, after we were done eating, i was carrying back my dishes (i had a plate, a glass, and a mug) i decided i should put my glass (with a little bit of chocolate milk still in it) on my plate so i could carry my mug in the other hand. BAD idea. i got, not kidding, 3 feet from my seat before my lanyard that was sticking out of my pocket got caught on some guy's chair causing me to get pulled back and for my glass with the chocolate milk to fall and spill all over the back of the guy next to him. naturally my face turned bright red as i proceeded to say "i'm so sorry i'm so sorry!" luckily, he was really nice. i walked away as fast as i could while my friends were behind me laughing. i wanted to crawl into a hole and die! i, once again, got out of there as fast as i could. i hope i never see him again for fear of being known as "the girl who spilled chocolate milk on me". yikes....

lesson learned : DRINK ALL OF YOUR MILK & DON'T LET YOUR LANYARD STICK OUT OF YOUR POCKET.

until my next embarrassing moment,

chandler

you gonna eat your tots??

i had a napoleon dynamite-esque moment last night.

last night at dinner, i wanted a cookie but didn't want to eat it right then. so i thought i'd just take it and save it for later, right? no problem? wrong. gwinn commons has a strict "you-can't-take-food-from-gwinn-or-else-we'll-charge-you" rule. my friend katie told me they can charge you $50 if they see you take anything out. i'm not sure if this means just plates/silverware or food, but i don't want to find out.

anyways, i'm at the dessert counter and i turned around to see if the card-scanner lady was looking in my general direction. the coast seemed clear. i grabbed it as fast as i could and shoved it in my coat pocket. when i turned back around, i could have SWORN she was looking at me. i proceeded to say "i'm caught i'm caught i'm caught!" anxiously anticipating my busting. katie assured me she didn't see and i walked as fast as i could with my head down (not suspicious at all, right?) to get out of there. there i was, walking back to my room with a cookie in my pocket. at least i was some entertainment for my friends, right? haha

(opening pocket full of tater tots)

"hey napoleon, are you gonna eat your tots?"

"no, i'm freakin' starved, i didn't get to eat anything today!!"

(smashing said tots with don's shoe)

i just ate that peanut butter cookie, thank you very much, and it was so worth the sneaking out.

i've got sunshine....

.....on a cloudy day.

ha just kidding, surprisingly, it's sunny in seattle! a beautiful october day. it's hard to believe in some respects that it's already october 13th, and i've been here for 3 weeks! the first weekend seemed to last forever, and i mean for eternity. but once school started, there were so many things to get done and to explore. the last 3 weeks have gone by so fast....halloween is only 2 and a half weeks away. a few things i would like to take note of :

*pandora, please allow me more than 5 skips per day. i don't like led zeppelin, or credence clearwater revival. thanks.

*i would like to say thank you again to my lovely sister and nieces who brought me delicious brownies and cobbler this morning. you made my day :)

*gwinn commons, your hours suck. so what if i'm hungry at 7:30pm?!!

*happy 19th birthday to lovely kimberly hiegel! you are a superstar.

*mom & dad - please keep me updated on your scrabble. sometimes i can't sleep at night if i don't know who is in the lead....

that's all for my thoughts and rants....have a fantastic afternoon :)

love!

winner!

today, i won something. i never win drawings, so i was pretty excited. during welcome week at one of the various fairs i signed up for hosting a prospective student and apparently was entered into a drawing simultaneously. all the email said was that it was something from bed bath and beyond. there were various items to pick from, and i picked a picture frame. there were two, and the girl in front of me took the one i wanted. oh well, i still like this one a lot!

here is evidence of my prize :)

love love love

10.10.10

in honor of today being October 10th, 2010 or in other words 10.10.10, i'm gonna make a list of the ten things i love about spu (kind of reminds me of 10 things i hate about you, how fitting with it being set in seattle) and the ten things i miss about home.

10 things about spu i love :

1. my neighbors - shout out to 129! and 1st west ashton. we're small, and yes, guy on elevator, we do exist.

2. having soft serve just because i can.

3. not having a curfew

4. learning learning learning!

5. exploring seattle

6. all the different people you meet

7. movie nights whenever you want

8. singing 'breakeven' by the script in the showers

9. being challenged

10. having an oven that is not from 1965 like all the other floors

10 things i miss about home :

1. my friends still in high school

2. my parents (haha....most of the time)

3. my church

4. having my mom do my laundry :)

5. having my mom cook :)

6. having my own room

7. not being able to drive my car

8. the familiarity

9. my own bathroom

10. forever 21 (i'm not shallow i promise haha)

speaking of #4.....i need to go to my laundry. lets hope it doesn't rip me off this time hahaha

have a wonderful sunday :)

loveeeee

foood

three words : red mill burgers.

life changing.

the wait was long, but it was so worth it. i had a hamburger, fries, and a creamsicle shake. yes, creamsicle. i decided since it was the first time i went there, i might as well go all out and eat about 3 days worth of calories. soooo good. it's such a unique restaurant; they aren't open on mondays, don't take credit cards (found that out the hard way) and they have a no cell phone rule. i love the art work in there...it's so reflective of seattle. i'm kind of in a food coma and lacking energy to keep writing, so i'll wrap it up here. my advice : GO.

loveeeeeeee

domo arigato, mr. roboto

As most of you know, i love 80s music. i always have, and probably always will. in fact right now, i'm listening to "raspberry beret" by prince from my '80s pop' on pandora. (shout out to my sister on this one!) i don't know if it's the fact that i can dance to most of them, or that, at least to me, they all sound different and have their own sound. originality is hard to come across these days.

moving on, the title to my blog post if you haven't figured out is from the iconic song, mr. roboto by styx. i get to do the robot, by myself, in front of basically the whole school. how did i get blessed with such an opportunity? my floormates volunteered me. haha but in all seriousness, i'm pretty excited to do it, since i do it anyway to most music. let me back up a little - tonight is fusion, which is where all the floors on campus have to do a skit or dance or whatever - in front of everyone. my floor chose to do evolution of dance (mom & dad, youtube this and you'll know what i'm talking about). unfortunately, two other floors on campus had the exact same idea.....we'll just have to be better. or go first. since the actual version is 6 minutes, and we can only have it be 3 min max, we're cutting some out. along with the robot, my friend hope and i are doing ice ice baby, and can't touch this. last night during our practice, we videotaped ourselves and not to pat myself on the back or anything, but we looked pretty good. i guess all those years of dance paid off! hopefully my energy and anticipation will overpower my nervousness. even though there is no prize for this showcase of talent, it will be the glory of knowing we did our best and got out there. our performance is at 8 tonight - wish me luck! i'm off to do homework - my sole purpose for existing.

love love love

reading reading reading

I am taking a break from reading about Frederick Buechner (story of my life) to blog. reading in college is a lot different than reading in high school, since you are often quizzed on the information you should have absorbed. luckily, frederick buechner isn't too boring yet; mainly because it's his life story. here is something i read that i just had to write down :

"If you ever took truly to heart the ultimate goodness and joy of things, even at their bleakest, the need to praise someone or something for it would be so great that you might even have to go out and speak of it to the birds of the air."

in a sense, that's the sum of christianity, of having faith, of having hope, in trusting God. when we fall down, he picks us up. when we are in the darkest and most awful of places, he is the light at the end of the tunnel. i love it.

today, i had one class, literature and faith. i liked it pretty well up until today when she told us we have to read 70 pages by thursday. it is a literature class, i suppose! good thing it's about saint augustine. we had to write a response on something he said, and afterwards when we were discussing it, my teacher said something along the lines of, "to call out to God in any way is faith." which is so true. most of the time that is when we get pulled over and are praying to not get a ticket, when we have so much homework that it couldn't be done by even the most brilliant, or when something really awful happens. i am completely in that category, at times i only talk to God when i want something, or if i don't. even if the most atheistic person calls out to some higher deity, he has faith. whether he knows it or not. or whether or not he would ever admit it. i had never thought about it that way.

i could go on and on, but if i want to accomplish anything today, i have to stop.

have a most wonderful afternoon.

love love love

dark elevators and broken dryers.

the title pretty much says it all....in ashton hall, the laundry rooms are located on the 4th floor. 4th west is the boys' side, and 4th east is the girls' side. there are laundry rooms on both sides, so i went to the girls side. i washed my clothes.....and then when it was time to dry them, i put them into the dryer. there were only 2 out of 8 that were free and i happened to pick the broken one. after putting my clothes in, i put in my 75 cents and pushed "colors". it preceded to say "86 minutes" and would not start. when i tried to get my quarters back out, they wouldn't come out. luckily, the other dryer ended up working, and did not rip me off. do not use dryer #8! when i came back up exactly 36 minutes later (thank you timer!) i used the elevator. as the doors were closing, it began to get dimmer and dimmer until it was pitch black. i'm not especially fond of elevators, and i am especially not fond of PITCH BLACK elevators. especially when i was by myself. it also smelled like sweat. gross. sorry if this sounds pessimistic - i just had to get my frustrations out!

have a lovely night :)

"i'll see you on facebook!"

if one had heard the sounds of my ferocious typing, they might think i'm a few pages into a paper or doing something else productive, but alas, i am blogging. it's quickly becoming one of my procrastination techniques, along with hanging out in other people's rooms and facebook. and it is saturday night, i refuse to let Frederick Buechner ruin my night. guess he'll have to wait until sunday night :)

today about half of the girls from my floor went on an adventure to downtown seattle. sooo fun! we started out at pike's place market and walked through it, including all of the various little knick-naks and beautiful flowers and food. we, of course, being girls, just had to take a group picture in front of pike's place and some random guy yelled out as he walked by, "i'll see you on facebook!" clearly knowing it was going to be posted sooner rather than later....too funny. we then ate at DeLaurenti's (i think that's spelled right) for lunch. the pizza there is SO good. they cut it into really big squares, probably bigger than the size of my face. more grease than a leaky car, but sooo worth it. there was a little place to eat, and a little grocery store attached to it. it was an italian's paradise, and a chocolate lover's paradise....they had chocolates from all over the world. after that, we went to nordstrom rack. bad idea for this girl. amazingly, i made it out without buying ONE THING. i'm working on windowshopping....so far, so good. we walked around some more before catching the bus back to campus. we were all so tired that we just layed around for awhile. (my roommate was up until 5am, you can imagine her fatigue). not a very exciting saturday night, as is clearly evident by me blogging, but after the first week of college and its craziness, it's just fine with me. what else....i have discovered the joys of skype. i'm still getting used to it, but i love it! it's definitely different - seeing someone and talking to them - without really seeing them in person. but it's one step better than talking to them on the phone :) when my sister visited me on thursday, i think she felt a little dated that she had to bring a giant desktop computer to college 9 years ago.....how technology has changed! OH! there is supposedly a frozen yogurt place coming to queen anne....my california friends are delighted. as am i! for now we'll just have to stick to starbucks - not too difficult in seattle. signing off - have a good night! (or day) :)

LOVE.

it's tshirt tiiiiiime

<---- photographic evidence of our jersey shore ensembles from last night....fun times were had by all. and sweaty....ps 5th hall boys, please remember deodorant next time.

best quote of the night : "standing in one corner, 4 foot 9, 2 inches w/the poof, 'snooki'....."

ps - so glad to introduce my roomie (2nd from the right) to the wonderful world of juiceheads, grenades, and GTL. love it!