photo montage.

Here's to you, brother. can't wait to see you in a few weeks! 

love, your only younger sister.

my heart.

it's been awhile, huh??
through the craziness of finals, packing, and hanging out.....i didn't fit blogging in anywhere. then, i went to IL for the start of my spring break......and still didn't fit blogging in anywhere. before i do anything of accomplishment today, i decided i should just blog and get it over with. that sounds weird. obviously, if posting blog entries (with the exception of my macroeconomics blog....barf.) ever warranted the phrase "get it over with" i would stop immediately. i like writing. no, really. it's never wrong or right. it's putting words to the swirling thoughts in my brain daily. it's a craft, really. i can be as creative or as dull as i want.
anyhow......what exactly is "it" that i want to get over? 
during my trip to the midwest, among the 80+ degree weather i enjoyed (jealous?), i got to spend some QT with my relatives....including my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandma. i got to live their lives for a few days -- which i quickly realized was completely different from mine. not in a bad way, just different. i won't bore you with the little details -- i'll cut to the chase.


i'm not going to lie to you, nursing homes freak me out. maybe it's because i'm not used to them...i don't know. my grandma recently moved from a more retirement home-apartment-style area to a nursing-home-beginnings of dimentia-single room area. i guess i hadn't realized she had moved, so when we first drove up, i was a little confused as to where we were going. we walked in, (fast enough as to not set off the alarm.....which we were not so successful at later on) and suddenly i was transported out of the normal world i had been living in. we entered the lobby, and there were several elderly people sitting down. some in chairs, some in wheelchairs. some were completely slumped over. some were talking to themselves. they all just kinda stared as my aunt and i walked in, past them, towards my grandma's room. i put on a smile, however forced it may have been, to mask my uncomfortableness and fear. we eventually found my grandma doing some rehabilitation physical-therapy type exercises to stay mobile. i was struck by how thin my grandma was. she was so much more frail than the last time i'd seen her. the more time i spent in the nursing home, the more real everything felt. these elderly people are closer to the end of life than i'd seen previously. i went there three days in a row, and it didn't get easier. i wanted to cry more than once. being in the nursing home was definitely a reality check....it made me so thankful for my health and my friends/families health.
i guess the silver lining is my grandma's spirit - even though she might not know where she was or who i was, she has this incredible optimism. if i inherit even half of that, i will be happy. always a smile on her face. i love my grandma - and i hope i can embody some of her optimism and joy when i'm almost 93, lord willing :)

study break.

received this gem from my dear friend bekah and have already watched it 3 times.....just try not to laugh.
hahahahaha


the days before eharmony......

flashback.

ENJOY:



as of late, i have been obsessed with hall & oates. i've always loved their music - but after listening to their "very best of..." cd, i'm sucked in. (i may or may not have ordered it off of amazon.....) 
i love this song/video for many reasons:

• the stellar "sun"/bright light/smoke effects
• the beginning piano intro
• the SAXOPHONE solo -- complete with shades -- does it get any better than that?? (answer: no.)
• john oates' moustache - as if it needed any mention.
• the angelic voices of daryl hall and john oates. i mean really.

this is definitely my study music going into finals....next up on my playlist is phil collins......potentially my next blog post as well. i wish i was alive when this music is popular. oh well, i'll have to be content with being a '90s child.

what have you been listening to lately?

we are young.

Tonight
We are young
So let's set the world on fire
We can burn brighter than the sun

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv6dMFF_yts&ob=av2e]

my weekend [in pictures] -

this weekend was busy, and at times a little crazy, but i enjoyed 100% of it. it seems the last few weekends before break are always filled with activities. 

on friday afternoon, i went to the police station with hope to get her fingerprints for the camp she is working at this summer. that was quite an experience....fingerprinting is grouped with offender registration and weapon registration, so you can imagine the cast of characters that we saw in there. you had to go through a metal detector when you came in....safety first!

on friday night, a group of us from 1W last year got together for our dear friend abby (third from left) whose birthday was on monday. we went to costas opa, a greek restaurant in fremont, and then to molly moon's ice cream in queen anne. i had never been to costas opa, or even really eaten greek food, but it was wonderful. i had something that i can't pronounce, much less spell, that consisted of pita bread, and garlic (VERY garlic) whipped potatoes. there had to have been at least 5 cloves of garlic in my small serving. our original plan was to go down the street to bluebird ice cream, but it was closed. then we tried to go to our favorite gelato shop, royal grinders, but they were closed. plan C was molly moon's, and it was SO good. (i had, as usual, salted caramel). it was so good to be reunited with these girls and to celebrate a good friend's entrance into her twenties! how weird does that sound? after that, half of us spent the night at beth's house.

on saturday afternoon, it was beautiful and SUNNY in seattle, so naturally we felt obligated to take advantage of it. we went to golden gardens in ballard (pictured below), where it was extremely windy. despite that, we had a great time basking in the 55 degree warmth. we then went shopping in some adorable boutiques in fremont, and later on ate at red robin on the waterfront downtown. 

today is my lovely friend meranda's 19th birthday! i have the pleasure of being her next door neighbor :) she is such a funny, thoughtful, and beautiful person! 

i clearly have not had any time for homework this weekend, so i better get started on that....it's so wild to think that i'll be done in a mere 11 days. this quarter has FLOWN by. only one more weekend until spring break!!! i can't wait to be done with this quarter. 

you might be wondering how last week turned out.....even if you're not, i'm going to tell you anyway. i wrote a 4-page paper, a 6-page paper, had two quizzes, and read multiple pages. add catching a cold in the process and little sleep, i am pretty exhausted. 

i will try to post more than i have been in the last few weeks.....but i can't promise anything ;)

love always, C