i put some new shoes on....

i'm just going to come out and say it, I LOVE SHOES. love. them. but you know what i love more than shoes? GOOD DEALS. today just happened to include both of those. i bought two pairs of shoes for $14.11. not separately. together. one was $6 and the other was $8. granted, they are sandals and it's almost january, but i don't care. i got them at this adorable place in downtown olympia called Yolli's. in addition to the cutest shoes ever, they have accessories like sunglasses, tights, purses, etc. i deff recommend going there :)
ps - i put on one of each because i couldn't decide what to wear :)

zoolights :)

last night was zoolights at point defiance zoo! me, my brother, sister, parents, and two nieces finally went to see all the beautiful lights. PTL that it didn't rain - even though it rained practically the whole way there. pearson (who's almost 3 1/2) wanted to see every "aminal" there and especially enjoyed the meerkats and aquarium. harper liked seeing all the lights, and danced whenever she heard music....by dance, i mean violently shook her body :)

i am the first one to admit i HATE zoos....the smells, the sights, pretty much all of it. but the lights transformed it and the smells were thankfully minimal :)

also, the view wasn't too bad either!

i guess the change in my pocket wasn't enough....

the only thing constant is change.

kind of ironic, right?

the only thing that is always happening nonstop, is change. when i think about all the changes i've gone through in the last 6 months, the last year, the last five years, it's a lot to process.

i just finished my first quarter of college, i graduated high school, i've met tons of new people, the list goes on.

let me give you a visual :

age 13 : 8th grade. note my braces, lack of makeup, and unfortunate hair color/lack of straightener

(i'm sorry for posting this carly, please forgive me!!)

me now.

age 18 : first year of college.

hopefully an improvement.....

as my mother likes to say, when we moved we were "forced into changing" which is true in a lot of respects. throughout it, i've learned you just have to go with the flow and adjust accordingly.

when i was younger, i used to HATE change. i absolutely detested it. i didn't want what was familiar to me to ever go away. but in the timespan of just one year, i became a teenager, i moved away from the place i had lived since i was born (in middle school nonetheless), my brother went to college, my sister got married, i knew absolutely NOBODY and suddenly i was feeling very alone.

but as i've gotten older, i've realized things change, people change, that's life. c'est la vie. it does no good to hold on to what you can't change, or worse, the past.

i think what got to me most about change was not having any control over my life. i don't think i'm a controlling person (for the most part) but i like having familiarity.

now that i stop to think about it.... i have quite a different outlook. i change my clothes at least three times a day. i change the layout of my blog practically every time i post something. my thoughts waking up are usually completely different by the time i go to bed. i'm seriously considering study abroad, which is something i never would have thought of doing a year or two ago.

my piece of advice : life is short, do what you love, and don't look back.

conflicted.

how is it possible

to feel two completely opposite things

at the same time?

december 11th, 2010

finally....here are pictures from my cousin lauren's wedding....or should i say reception? the food was delicious, the music/dancing was wonderful (ignore my 85 year old grandmother's comment: "what did i do to deserve this??") and the time with family was precious. it was at the air zoo in kalamazoo, which had lots of model airplanes, flight simulators, and lots of other rides! the newlyweds headed off to barcelona on friday - so fun :)

chopped.

for those of you i haven't seen yet.....here is a picture of my haircut. i got my haircut two days ago and i haven't had it this short since....elementary school at least. i haven't even put these on facebook, so consider yourself lucky ;)

baby it's cold outside......really really really cold.

while you are all waiting for the pictures from the wedding, (they're coming i promise) here are a few michigan snow pictures from monday.....23ish degrees, and FREEEEEZING. taken at my aunt & uncle's house -- it snowed all day the day before :)

insert title here.

[i apologize for the time on this post - i didnt have internet access. but nevertheless....]

hello dear blog readers.....i apologize for the delay in updating you on my life! i know you just can’t live without reading my posts, right?? ;) haha anyways.....currently i am at 10 thousand-something feet in the air on my way to chicago....more specifically, to kalamazoo, michigan for my cousin lauren’s wedding. i’ve got, oh, about 4 hours to kill, and no homework to procrastinate, so this might be long. or not....

speaking of no homework to procrastinate, i am completely finished with my first quarter of college.....and it feels GREAT. the last week and a half or so was crazy hectic, filled with studying, papers, and tons of activities. it’s nice to be home and just relax, not worrying about anything. i’ve never had a winter break where i don’t have homework. it’s a little strange, but i’m not complaining. i’m one of the lucky ones who gets basically a month off of school. i love quarters!

hmmm what else.....let me give you a run-down of my day (thus far)

4:20 am : the un-godly time i woke up >:(

4:45 am : leave for airport

7:25 am : plane departs for chicago

1:30 pm (illinois time, 11:30am washington time) : ETA; drive to kalamazoo (2.5 hours), check into hotel, change

7 pm (michigan time): go to rehearsal dinner @ my aunt & uncle’s house

11 pm (hopefully) : SLEEEP.

& tomorrow is the wedding! i can’t wait :)

i’m staying in a hotel suite with my mother, aunt lindsey, and my 85 year old grandmother. score for being the only one under 50 hahahaha. as much as i love my family, i sometimes (ok, a lot of times) wish i was closer in age to some of my relatives. any of them. i try to not complain, because clearly there is nothing i can do about it, but i still find myself frustrated with being the youngest. to put it bluntly, my family is old. there’s never anyone my age to hang out with, and sometimes i just feel awkward because i’m SO far apart in age from everyone. i keep telling myself this isn’t about me, and i should just get over it. that being said, it’s easier said than done. i will spare you haha.

lauren is the last of my girl cousins to be married.....meaning everyone (including my sister) is married EXCEPT me. i should get on that ‘ring by spring’ at spu, eh?? i’m sure my mother is groaning right now! all in due time. i love love love weddings. but i’m sure you knew that already. i’ll always remember my cousin lindsey at our other cousin’s weddings stuffing a ton of tissues in her purse, saying, “i’m crying because i’m happy, not because i’m sad!” and at the time i didn’t understand her....but now i totally see where she’s coming from. weddings are so beautiful....to see two people so in love and commit their lives to each other is just....it makes me speechless (and maybe a little teary-eyed....)

plus i love dressing up, cake, and dancing. it’s my idea of a perfect day. i have no idea what to expect at the reception --- i don’t think it will be quite like the Birky side with crazy dancing (jerry’s robot, anyone??) but i’m sure it will be fun nonetheless!! and we all know if there’s a michael jackson song, i can’t stay sitting.

hahaha that reminds me of prom.....”thriller” came on and about 90% of the dancefloor exits because they couldn’t get their freak on or whatever. i come running from the punchbowl or wherever i was, yelling “YEAHHHH!!!!” with my poor date and best friend (i’m sure grudgingly) following behind. i start breaking out all the thriller moves (in my 4-inch heels, nonetheless) with the select few still on the floor....while everyone else is looking at me like i have 3 heads. hahaha. all i have to say is WHATEVER, at least i had fun!!! good times.

here is the point of my blog post where i comment on the terrible fashions at the airport....fashion police at your service. unfortunately, i was so tired that i didn’t really have much of a chance to scope the scene except for the awful dad-jeans and that hideous bill cosby-esque sweater....stay tuned for my flight back on tuesday.

wow. that was a lot of writing. and not very organized, i apologize.

have a wonderful day :)

last day. and photobooth....

we decided to take a few pictures via photobooth on our last night together....these are just a sample. we were done studying....i promise ;)

i'm going to miss these girls and everyone else on my floor! a month is just too long....but i know they're all going to have so much fun at home :)

ps - i can't wait to come home tomorrow!

loveLOVElove.

tradition. and ice skating.

last night was Tradition at SPU where the whole campus gets together and celebrates christmas. there's cookie decorating, hot chocolate, music, face painting, pictures with santa, and the like. afterwards, ashton hall had went ice skating in shoreline. if you know me at all, you know i can't skate to SAVE MY LIFE and was literally pulling myself along on the side railing. how pathetic....but i did get a picture or two of me standing on the ice!

here are a few shots of the night :

1st west.....we should have won a prize for being most festive. (i mean, we had a tree and presents....come on!)

hope and i kept getting our antlers stuck together whenever we would talk to each other...note my awkward family photo pose.

here it is....i didn't fall ONCE last night. hallelujah amen. thanks to sefanit getting me off the wall :)

FINALS.

here is a photo montage of what a few hours in the library did to me......

home on tuesday.

can't wait!

WISHMELUCK.

loveLOVElove.