tomorrow:

.....i finally move in to my dorm! sophomore year, here i come. it's so crazy to think that i only have three more years of school left, ever. looking back on the last year, i've met so many people, learned so much, tested myself, and as cliche as this sounds; found out what i was made of. last year, i was equally scared/nervous and excited, jumping into a new place with new people. this year, i don't have to go through a whole week of awkwardly meeting new people, or be completely overwhelmed with new information. i have friends at school; great friends, i know where i'm going (for the most part) and am confident. i am SO excited this year to be in a new dorm, meeting even more new people, and having new adventures. i seriously am blessed to be where i am.

ok ok, enough with that.....onto what i've been up to that last few weeks. two weeks ago on friday, my sister and i woke up at zero-dark-thirty to catch our flight to michigan. after a few hours, we landed and were greeted by our two aunts and mother. that night, all of my aunts and all of my uncles (except one), parents and my sister went out to eat for my dad's birthday which is, unfortunately on 9/11. everyone was in town for my grandma's memorial, for which you can read about HERE. i'm not going to take up more space or more of your time than necessary, plus i think my sister did a great job describing it. and the woman herself.
after the memorial, my mom, my aunt alison and my aunt lindsey, and my cousin lauren and i all went up to my aunt & uncle's vacation house in charlevoix, mi, which is on lake michigan. it was such a wonderful time to be with my family that i rarely see for a few days. a few things included in this trip: tom jones, beautiful weather and scenery, strong women, WAY tmi, lots of laughs, card games, and wonderful food. i got home last wednesday night, then the next morning i was off again.
i babysat henry, who is my sister's good friend's little boy. he just turned one and is THE cutest thing ever. and that red hair - i can't get over it. after that, i saw my dear friend katie at the house she was housesitting in edmonds (which overlooked the sound -- SO beautiful) i swear, katie is like a professional housesitter. she housesits so much, even in the year i've known her, i've been with her twice to different houses. i wonder if you could make a living off of that....i should look into that hahaha.

i came back the next day, picked up my roomie taylor (from high school) and we went to go see our dear old math teacher, who unfortunately was in a meeting. we left her a note from her favorite students (seriously, that's how we signed it) and then ran home, showered, and packed before i caught my flight to california.
i flew down to burbank on friday night, hung out for the weekend, and then early monday morning (another zero-dark-thirty wakeup call) hope & i set out for our roadtrip. i loved my visit to california. i could write a blog on that itself; but i'll limit myself. on sat night, hope & her whole family and i went to her little brother's football game in glendale. this is where my nerdiness comes out.

someone said something about bruce jenner being there, and i borrowed someone's binoculars to look across the field into the opposing team's stands, and sure enough, it was him. he was there watching the two youngest jenners, kendall and kylie cheer for their team. i saw them two. in case you are super confused, they are the kardashians sisters. and you all know i watch "keeping up with the kardashians" on a regular basis. how random!

we also went to millions of milkshakes, which is this place in west hollywood where tons of celebrities go to make their own versions of milkshakes which go on the menu. i ordered the "miley cyrus shake" even though i literally would push her off a cliff if i could. okay, maybe that's a little drastic, but nonetheless, i felt so stupid as soon as that order left my lips. it was a combination of cookie dough and reeses - gotta give her props for that. i also went to the coffee bean for the first time- it's kind of the california version of starbucks - or at least their retaliation to it. i liked what i got, but i wasn't overly impressed. so don't worry starbucks - my loyalty remains yours.
on sunday night, hope, her two brothers, her sister, her sister's friend, and her brother's friend, her parents, and i went out to this italian restaurant at the americana in glendale, which is where i ate this delicious margherita pizza (it's becoming my favorite)....the only problem was the size! it was enough to feed like three people, maybe even more.....we took some pictures later on, of which you'll be seeing.

sammi is jacqueline's (hope's sister) friend that goes to spu with us. they are both so funny....i feel like part of their family when i hang out with them. they are such kind and wonderful people. i'm lucky to know them :)
we left on monday morning, and made it to Talent, OR (which is about 10 mi north of ashland) by monday night. it literally took all day just to get through california.
the first day included southern california, hot-as-hell (pun intended) central california....aka land of desolate space, northern california, including lake shasta, and the last in-n-out in redding, ca.

                                                                                 we also went to an adorable coffee shop named yaks, which was where hope went when she worked on the houseboats this summer on lake shasta. very cute. we stayed with one of hope's family friends' in Talent. it was so nice to not have to find a sketchy hotel in the middle of nowhere and to eat wonderful food with even more wonderful people. the second day of our journey was much shorter compared to the first day. we stopped in clackamas, OR for some last minute tax-free shopping.

so many music videos, gas re-fills, and laughs later, we arrived at my house around 5:30 on tuesday night. we had to watch the premiere of glee! i hadn't been home for almost two weeks so these last couple of days have been super relaxing. as in doing nothing, finally getting sleep, etc.....although i've been packing the last few days and getting all my last minute things (ie: printing pictures, updating my ipod, writing thank-you notes, blah blah blah) i feel like i have waited for this moment for 3 months. and i have.

                                                                                         i remember driving home for the summer with tears coming down not wanting to leave my friends and all the memories i made in the city i love. but no more tears! for now....i am excited and ready to start the next chapter of my life.
well, i better wrap this sucker up...i need to get some sleep because tomorrow is going to be chaotic.
here are some more random pictures.....if you stuck with me through this whole post, you deserve a little somethin' somethin'........ go eat something with lots of calories.

............until i'm at spu - LOVE.