blue

so I made one of those classic laundry mistakes today
I washed a pair of new blue shorts with some of my whites
normally I was my laundry in cold water and I don't sort it too much
but my blue shorts had never been washed... and they bled
I now have two "new" pairs of baby blue socks, three "blue t's" (which used to be Hanes white t's), and a baby blue cover up that used to be super cute.. when it was white that is
i was very upset with myself
I'm SO dumb

anyway... now I'm watching "Little Manhattan," a very cute movie about love between two nine year old's... adorable

the magazine club meeting went pretty well today
lots of people with lots of questions
pretty cool

but seriously... if you ever get a chance to watch Little Manhattan, do it. I'm not even kidding. Maryn and I are having a blast laughing and squealing and getting excited for the little kids. it is amazingly adorable and I love it.

"Nothing's as big as your first love"




damn blue clothing.

hey, Hollywood never looked this good!

Hey, Hollywood never looked this good
Bright as the big screen burns
Hey, I bet drivin down sunset
They're lookin for a face like hers
Yeah, I've been all around this world
And she'd be California
If California was a girl!
-Rascal Flatts, "She'd Be California"

That's how we felt this weekend when we were in LA for dinner and Mamma Mia. On Saturday, Nikol, Kat, Ashley, Cassie, and I headed down to LA for dinner and a "Broadway" play.

We left San Luis at around 2 in the afternoon. Nikol called shot gun - of course - and we all piled in to Ashley's care and drove down to LA. We made it to Sunset Blvd, where the restaurant was, right when our reservations were. We even found a parking spot literally right across the street from it! Somehow we all managed to change in to our dresses (or skirts, as in Cassie's case) right there in the car... one one of the most popular streets in Hollywood! What an adventure.

We ate at a wonderful restaurant called Ketchup. According to Ashley and her mom, Ketchup is one of the restaurants the gang goes to on "The Hills." Pretty cool huh? We started off our meal with their appetizer called the "Threesome" - three types of french fries, all equally good. We also got an order of truffle fries which were my favorite. If you ever get a chance to try some, do it; They are wonderful. For dinner I had BBQ pork ribs. I almost didn't order that meal because it came with crab and truffle mac and cheese and I'm not a big mac and cheese person. I ordered it anyway, and man am I glad I did. The mac and cheese was wonderful, plus, the ribs weren't bad either ;) We ended the meal with two different desserts, ice cream chocolate chip cookies and banana and ice cream with brownies. I didn't have any banana (not a big fan) but I did eat some of everything else. Let me tell you, the ice cream was FABULOUS.



We made it to the play right in the middle of the opening number which, unfortunately, was Nikol's favorite song from Mamma Mia. However, we had such a blast singing and dancing along with the music. Nikol, Kat, and I agreed that the play was even better than the movie... and we LOVED the movie.

We spent that night at Nikol's house. It was so cute! Her dad had pictures of her entire family all over every single wall of the house. I loved it. She showed Kat and I the carvings that her grandfather made for her family. He was really good with wood working. The raccoon was our favorite.

The next morning we woke up, went to Panera for breakfast/lunch, and headed home. Nikol ran in to one of the moms she knew from high school. I don't remember the mother's name, but it was funny when she reached down and checked Nikol's finger to see if she had an engagement ring on! The entire weekend (driving to LA by ourselves for a night on the town, the story line of Mamma Mia, and the ring check) made me realize that we are totally old enough to be engaged or even married... but I'm definitely glad that none of us are.

The past two days I've been hanging out with Christine and Kathryn a lot. I'm loving it. We went swimming yesterday. Yes, that's right, I went swimming... AGAIN. To tell you the truth, it's not that bad. Especially when it's over 90 degrees outside and the pool is heated perfectly so there's no temperature shock when I hop - or climb - in to the pool.

Also, another one of my accomplishments besides getting in the pool, yesterday I went to target and spent $4. Yup, the Target-aholic spent less than $5.

I meant to write in my blog a few days ago, but it has been way too hot to sit in one place and type away. It just now cooled off enough that I opened my window and was able to sit in one place without getting over heated. Wow, that's sad when "cooling off" means it's 83 degrees outside. Oh well, that's just one of the many reasons I love SLO.

In other news, last night I went over and stole a bunch of Christine's country music. We're all getting so excited for Stagecoach this weekend. We leave late Thursday night, the same night that the group I'm going to Spain with is meeting and having a Wine and Cheese party (which means I miss my regular Thursday night of "The Office" at Kat and Nikols).

My business class was canceled today which meant that I got to go in to CPK for one of their group interviews. I think I did relatively well. We'll see if I get any of the hundreds of jobs I'm applying for.

Until next time... <3

does your mother know

That is what Nikol wrote on my back (in highlighter) last night. The answer was no, my mother did not know that I was out.

Tonight, however, my mother DOES know that I'm going out... to MAMMA MIA!!!

Nikol, Kat, Cassie, Ashley, and I are all driving down to LA in about 45 minutes to go to a nice dinner, spend time with good friends, and watch the Broadway show Mamma Mia.

I'm so excited; except my throat kinda hurts - you know when you're at a Mexican restaurant and you're eating tortilla chips too quickly and the corner of one gets stuck in your throat? Yeah, it feels like that.

But, I don't care because I'm going to be all dressed up and out on the town tonight.

Love it.

Oh yeah, and it was so nice having Kimberly and Michael Clark there last night. Also, I loved that Hannah, Caroline, Maryn, Rene, Bethany, etc. all came last night. It was a lot of fun.

Advertisement Art

In my Contemporary Advertising class today we watched a bunch of commercials from Europe, the United States, Australia, etc. There were some really creative ones. I feel kind of dumb when I say that watching these commercials makes me appreciate the art and creativity put in to developing them. But it's true, so much thought and planning goes in to the advertisements, commercials, and product placement of everything we purchase in our daily lives. I like my advertising class because it makes me think of advertising and commercials in a way that I never have before.

Some of my favorite commercials in class today were for the Toyota Celica. Here are some videos of those commercials.





The one with the old man is my favorite.

Next time you watch TV try to pay attention to the artistic and creative part of each commercial instead of taking them for granted. You're going to see commercials everywhere you go (billboards, magazines, search engines, Facebook, movie theaters, etc.); instead of tuning them out, why not look at them with fascination?

Everybody has their favorite commercials; why do you think so many people watch the Super Bowl every February? I know I couldn't tell you who won each of the past five Super Bowls, but I could probably tell you my favorite commercial from each of those games... sad, I know.

I sound like a loser right now but just admit it, some commercials make you happy too.

via iGoogle

I should be doing all the Spanish homework I have due on Thursday, along with studying for the Spanish test I have (Thursday as well); instead I am playing in iGoogle.

It's so cool. Anybody can get iGoogle if they want it. It's like a personalized home page and stuff. I kinda like it.
As a matter of fact, I'm posting from iGoogle right now (Blogger is one of their gadgets). Really, I just wanted to see how it worked.

I am going to go eat my dinner and study my Spanish stuff now.

TaTa

Not Your Normal Monotonous Monday

So, I don't normally like Mondays. I normally wake up and make my way through my day in a kind of hazy fog. Today was different. I actually enjoyed this Monday! Today was not your normal monotonous Monday... weird...

Of course, because it's me, I didn't sleep well last night. Luke left here at about 1 in the morning and then I was in an out of sleep for the next hour or so. I was woken up at 6 a.m. from my fitful sleep because my room mates, Ashley and Rene, were in the kitchen talking and stuff. Then, I had to get up at 7 a.m. because I have class at 8 on Mondays and Wednesdays. Much to my surprise, it wasn't very hard to get up and get started this morning (even with my lack of sleep).

I got ready quickly because I had to go to the library to print out my slides for my Econ lecture this morning. Of course, though, I can't go to my early class without my usual cup of tea and donut. Yes, I know, very healthy. I went to my usual line with the old man because the guy always has a wonderful smile on his face, and he always brightens my day with his friendliness and smile. Then, I quickly printed off my lecture slides and went off to class.

At 10, I got to spend a lovely time at the library with Luke, just hanging out and talking. I also finished the New York Times crossword puzzle that was in today's Mustang Daily. I always have a sense of accomplishment when I do that. Then, I hung out with Brittany, Kathryn, and Christine in Sandwich Factory.

My group in accounting worked hard on our product and we got a lot of ideas for the development of our made up product. Aaron had a very good idea which I will not say here so it can be a surprise when we unveil the finished product!

After class, I deposited checks, picked up job information from ASI in the UU, and got to relax with Luke in the sun for a while. When he went to class, I got to take a nap. Unfortunately, I didn't sleep very well because my stomach was growling at me because apparently I was neglecting it.

After that, Luke and I went to Longs to get a prescription filled for me (too bad it hadn't been called in by my doctor yet), I turned in my resume at a clothing store called Crazy Jay's downtown, and we went grocery shopping. When we got back Maryn and I went to yoga (I'm so glad she came), I made rice and chicken for dinner (luckily my rice actually turned out well this time, unlike my two attempts last night), and I watched a little TV. I also burned a copy of my "Mamma Mia" soundtrack for Nikol, Kat, Ashley, and Cassie in preparation for our mini road trip this weekend. I meant to drop it off but then I got side tracked.

I should have done some homework tonight, but instead I decided to write my grandparents a letter that I've been meaning to send them for the past six months. Whenever I write them letters, I include pictures of me and my friends. Each picture has a caption taped to the back of it so that my grandparents know who is in the picture and what we were doing at the time. In this batch of pictures I included pictures from my photo shoot with Nikol, our mock Thanksgiving, Avila beach, future room mates, current room mates, Hungary, WOW group, Valentine's day, etc. I think they will enjoy reading it.

Now, I should be going to sleep or doing homework because those would be the productive things to do. Instead, since I can sleep in until 11 tomorrow, I think I'm going to go read some more of "Angels and Demons" which I have not had enough time to finish yet.

I know this isn't very exciting to hear about what I did throughout my day today; but today was one of those days that I just felt like I achieved so much and wanted to share my accomplishments with somebody.

Also, since Monday is pretty much over, that means that I only have three more days and then the weekend! Michael Clark and Kimberly are coming to visit this weekend which is very exciting, not to mention the prior mentioned "Mamma Mia" trip I will be taking. Yay!

Love

P.S. Nikol, I was driving off campus today and there are the most beautiful horses near the Grand entrance to campus. I am planning on going to take pictures of them within the next few days. Please let me know if you would like to join for a mini photo shoot.

What a Gentleman

So I just finished watching "An Officer and a Gentleman" and I was thoroughly impressed.

I have always wanted to see the movie, but I don't know anybody who owns it and I haven't gotten around to renting it before now. Actually, I didn't rent it. I bought it for the amount of money it would have cost me to rent it. ($5 at Walmart...)

I must say, Richard Gere is one of those men who has been good looking all his life. He's a good looking old man now; but back in 1982 when he filmed this movie, oh my gosh was he handsome. He reminded me of Josh Hartnett in "Pearl Harbor" only way more classically good looking.

If you have not seen this movie, I highly recommend it. I enjoyed it. I own it now so let me know if you want to borrow it.



Speaking of good looking older men, I was just flipping through the TV channels and a movie with George Clooney just came on. He's not bad to look at either.

Wow, I kinda feel like a creeper.

My Interesting Night

Tonight was very good on so many levels.

Rene, Maryn, and I spent the entire night together. It was the first time in a very long time that I spent a whole night with them. I enjoyed it so much. This month is full of friend weekends. This weekend I spent time with my current room mates (minus Ashley, unfortunately), next weekend I get to spend it with my very good friends Kat, Nikol, Cassie, and Ashley, then the weekend after that will be with my future room mates Kathryn, Christine, Stephanie, and Brittany.

The girls and I ate dinner at the apartment (mostly leftovers), rented a movie, made cookies and chocolate covered strawberries, laughed, talked, and just had a genuinely relaxing and good time.

We watched the movie "The Family That Preys." It's one of those Tyler Perry movies. I have never paid much attention to his movies because I always think that they look kind of dumb. But tonight's movie was actually very good. It was heart felt, hard to watch, made me cry a bit, and was definitely thought provoking. I highly recommend it. I know that sounds weird, and maybe nobody else will enjoy that movie as much as I did, but seriously, check it out sometime, it might be worth watching.

In other news, I found out about twenty minutes ago that a kid I went to high school with was killed last night. I am not quite sure what happened because there are no news stories on it yet; at least I can't find any online. All I know is from talking to my friends Sam and Laura. According to Sam, he was shot in Long Beach. I don't know why things like this keep happening to kids. Because really, that's all we are right now; we're still just kids trying to find our way in the world. I can't believe so many people die over things that are so ridiculously stupid. I didn't know him well, but it's still hard to think about the fact that somebody you spent four years of high school with is gone at such a young age. RIP Scott Dowd, I know you will be missed by many. My heart and prayers go out to his family and friends.

RIP Favorite Jeans

Have you ever had a pair of jeans that fit you absolutely perfectly? It doesn't even need to be a pair of jeans, it can be anything; a jacket, a sweatshirt, a backpack, a cell phone, a favorite stuffed animal, anything!

Now, has that favorite something ever been broken?

I literally just ripped my favorite pair of jeans about 5 minutes ago. I am in tears. I LOVED those jeans. They were citizens, perfectly altered, perfectly worn in, I loved the wash, they fit me amazingly. I wore them at least twice a week. Now they are ripped and I'm so sad.

It isn't even a "good" rip either. You know the kind of ripped that used to be in style? Like, on the knees or the thigh or whatever? Like, the "worn" look that everybody was wearing from Abercrombie and Hollister? No, it's not that. It's at the top of my thigh, right underneath my butt, wrapping part way around my leg. It's awful.

If I had changed in to sweat pants like I had been planning on doing when I got back to my apartment, none of this would have happened.

I don't even know why I am so attached to this pair of pants. Maybe it's because they were my first pair of designer jeans. Or maybe it's because I spent my own money on them before I left for college. Or maybe it's the simple fact that I spent $180 dollars on them and I have had them for almost two years. Jeans should last longer than that!!!

In any case, I'm super upset about that. I'm going to take them to Nordstrom's or some alteration place and see what they can do to help me fix them. If I can't get them patched in a sufficient manner, I might have to go spend $180 on another pair (too bad I don't have the money to do that).

RIP Favorite Jeans (no pun intended)

A Step in the Right Direction

Actually, more like a few leaps in the right direction!

Today was a wonderfully productive day. I've been up since 7 a.m. and normally I'm exhausted by the time I get out of class at 2, but today was different. I crossed so many things off of my theoretical "to do" list; many of those things had to do with my major, minors, and study abroad.

I know you probably don't care what I accomplished, but I do. I even called my mom to tell her everything I did today that made me a more accomplished person. Here's what I did (somewhat in order, but at the same time, not necessarily exact)

• Woke up at the crack of dawn (aka 7 a.m.) and got ready for class
• Went to econ and paid attention for (almost) the entire lecture
• Hung out with Luke for a bit in the library
• Completed my Business Law pre-quiz, wrote down department, name, office building, and office hours for all of my advisers and professors I needed to speak with
• Went to Dr. H's office to sign up for our mandatory advising hours, mine are tomorrow at 11:15 a.m. (I told Luke we basically received death threat e-mails about meeting with our major advisers... okay, so it wasn't that intense, but they did threaten to place a hold on our registration if we didn't meet with our advisors... every Cal Poly student's worst nightmare)
• Talked to Dr. H about my elective units, to my great excitement, almost every single one of the classes I'm taking for my Spanish minor count towards my upper division electives!
• Went to the business building to see if I could get information about my minor (the girl was very helpful... thank you business computer girl!)
• Went to my Contemporary Advertising class where we decided on a product to advertise
• Picked up my pay check from working for the DRC last quarter (only $50, but still something)
• Got lucky that the "Evaluations" office was open (every single time I've ever walked past it, it's been closed...)
• Changed my transcript so that a class I took over the summer last year counts towards my Business minor
• Found out that it was totally fine if I double minored
• I e-mailed Professor Swanson about the next PR class I need to take
• I e-mailed PRspectives about a potential job with them
• I e-mailed a lady about a potential summer job/internship
  
• Searched for job openings on campus and around SLO
• Searched for summer internships
• Told more people about the magazine club (still getting the word out, Nikol!)
• Looked up exchange rates for US dollars to the Euro
• Came up with a name for my Spanish blog (aka, what I will write in when I'm writing about my trip in Spain)
• picked up stuff I needed at Longs (like toothpaste and pictures to sent to the grandparents)
  
• Went to kick boxing
  

I was so excited about everything I accomplished today. It gave me so much energy this afternoon. I wouldn't stop talking about it around Luke; like I said, I even called my mother to inform her about my major accomplishments.

I don't think I've ever had a day when I felt as though I accomplished quite so much. I'm so proud of myself.

Unfortunately, that energy I had from all of my accomplishments basically came crashing down about an hour ago. I got upset with Luke about a bunch of stuff that wasn't really even his fault. I'm sorry about that. I tend to do that and it's a problem

On the plus side, Luke and I ended up talking a lot about what was bothering me and why. A lot of it has to do with me freaking out about leaving for Spain (yes, I know what you're thinking, Luke says the same thing. "Rachel, you're not leaving for another six months. It is a great experience. Lots of people don't even get to study abroad. Stop complaining."). I know all of that, and I am so excited, I'm just scared. (More on this at some other point)

A lot of stuff actually ended up coming out in that conversation with Luke. I think I've realized at least part of the reason I am the way I am with certain relationships, how I act around people, etc. Of course, as with the Spain thing, I will probably end up writing an entire blog about this, but I just want to give an example.

My Example: I absolutely positively HATE inviting myself places.
No matter who it is with, what they are doing.. it doesn't matter. I always feel as though I am not wanted or not invited or not welcome. At first I thought it just stemmed from me being conscious of other people's plans; like, "maybe they just want it to be that group of people and if I come, I'll be throwing off their entire plan," or something along those lines.
Maybe it is partially that, but there is definitely more to it. Like, I don't even think my best friends want me around, I don't think my boyfriend wants to spend time with me, etc. I realized that part of that fear of being unwelcome or not wanted comes from my high school experience.
I've mentioned before that I hate high school (once again, more on that in a different blog), but the repercussions of my awful experience have followed me in to college and will most likely follow me even further than this.
In high school, specifically junior and senior years, I didn't feel as though people wanted to be around me. Actually, it wasn't just a feeling, it was the truth. I lost a lot of friends and basically ended up a lone for over a year of my high school life. If I get in to the explanation of all this right now, this blog will be WAY longer than it already is at this point. Anyway, nobody wanted me around during that time period. I've never gotten over that. I used to have a group of friends I loved and who loved me and who wanted me to make plans and be around me and stuff. Everybody ALWAYS called me to figure out what was going on, what the plans were, and I always knew.
When all of that went away, so did my confidence with assuming I was welcome somewhere. When I lost the friends I thought I'd have my entire life, I lost my confidence, and my common sense about whether somebody genuinely likes to be around me or was just pretending. I even miss(ed) the signals that people give/gave that said "honestly, I don't really like you or want you to be around."
When I told Luke all of this, he started to understand where I was coming from. It helped him to see why I'm so reserved about calling people about weekend plans, or even texting people to see if they want to watch a TV show with me on a random night of the week.

Obviously, that's just an example. I'll go in to my high school years in another blog... maybe.
In any case, a cautionary piece of advice to all my friends: I don't like calling you to see what is going on. It makes me very uncomfortable. If I call you, I will constantly make sure that it is okay for me to join you in whatever is happening. If I ask if you want somebody else to come along, it's not because I don't want to spend time with just you; it's because I am worried that you would rather spend time with that other person. I'm worried that you don't want me around, and I need to have affirmation that you do. I know it is absolutely ridiculous and I don't mean to be a pain in the ass about all this stuff, but it does come from past experiences and it scares me to let my guard down around somebody enough to trust that they truly and honestly want me there and want to spend time with me.
I'm sorry for being like that. I really am working on it, I know it's annoying, but it's just how I am right now. Thanks for helping me work through it.

Okay, now that I've written this blog I feel as though I can add one more thing to my accomplishments list. I really needed to get this stuff off my chest. I needed to brag about my accomplishments, and explain a little bit about myself because it was a sort of revelation I came to about myself while I was having my long conversation with Luke.

I'm done now. Why is it that my blogs are always so much longer than I intend for them to be? Everybody else's are always so much shorter than mine. I feel bad that people actually spend the time reading these blogs that are so ridiculously long.

Give me your feedback, though. If you think I should cut them down a bit, please let me know. I have no problem cutting down some of them to make them shorter if you think that would be better. If you like them long, let me know that too. That way, I will know that you don't mind reading this much most of the time.

Also, do I write too often? I've written almost every single day this past week. Is that too much to read? Sorry about that...

I really do appreciate those of you who read my blog. I was worried that nobody would read it, and even if nobody does, I still like writing in it. So even if you all stop reading, I'll still be writing.

This blog is the closure to a very exciting, accomplished, long day. Goodnight. Sweet dreams.

Love.

Television Consumption

So, I'm addicted to TV shows.

I don't watch most of them when they air on TV though... most of my TV intake is online.

As much as I appreciate that networks such as ABC, The CW, NBC, and ABC Family have video players on their websites so that I can watch whatever show I want whenever I want, it definitely leads to addiction.

I would post a list about all the shows I watch online... but that would just be embarrassing... seriously.

Plus, when I get bored, I tend to just look for new shows to watch and I end up adding to my collection of TV shows I'm addicted to. Tonight's new show: 90210. It's the new version on The CW. Add that to my weekly Grey's, Private, Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, Greek, etc.... and you've got yourself a full blown TV addict.

Maybe I should try going to the gym or something instead... who am I kidding. That will never happen. I'll just continue to complain about how out of shape I am while I sit in front of my computer/TV watching whatever pops up on the screen.

I just bought a bunch of new books though (remember the ones from Borders?) so I'm thinking that maybe instead of watching television shows like I did tonight, I will read a few more books during the early hours of the night so that I don't stay up late reading like I normally do.

Or I could focus on my homework much more than I normally do... hmm, now there's a concept!

So things Rachel could be doing instead of watching trashy online teenage soap operas...
1. going to the gym
2. reading books like Angels and Demons as well as The Starter Wife or Picking Cotton
3. doing homework

But, now lets be honest, do any of those sound as interesting as the lives of rich kids in Beverly Hills or the love lives of successful neuro surgeons? Yeah, didn't think so.

What TV shows do you watch?


P.S. Props to Nikol for her extremely successful magazine club meeting tonight. If you want more information about the magazine, let me know (or you can message Nikol directly). It's gonna be cool!

My Little Sister

My little sister, Liana, is here. She drove herself down here, the longest drive she's ever done by herself. I am so proud of her for making the drive by herself. I am so glad that she decided to come down and visit me even though it is just for one night. She needed to get away from home.

My sister and I are similar in many ways, but different in many more ways. We both hate/hated high school, but for very different reasons. We both have struggled with issues with ourselves, but for different reasons (emotional, physical, etc.) Sometimes it's hard for me to talk to her about what's going on in her life. I desperately wanted her high school experience to be different than mine. I wanted her to enjoy her four years there and to have a great group of friends whom she can stay in touch with for the rest of her life.

I generally force her to do things in her high school years that I missed out on or did not enjoy during my years. Sometimes she hates me for it, but I hope that she understands that I am her big sister and even though we fight a lot, I want to take care of her and make sure she has a good time in high school, sports, and whatever else she does.

I get really upset when something happens to any of my sisters, and even though it might not seem like it, i try to protect them as best I can. It doesn't seem that way, though, because I try to separate myself from their situations because otherwise I get too emotionally involved. It hurts me to see them in pain, it hurts me when they are dealing with friend problems, it makes me sad when I see them cry.

I cried when I saw my little sister, Liana, all dressed up and looking beautiful for prom. She looked absolutely stunning. My step sisters, Caitlin and Kelley, do other things in their lives that I am so proud of them for. I love all my sisters, and I am so lucky to have them in my life.

Liana and I have an interesting relationship. Maybe it's the same as other sister relationships, I don't know. but I do know that we fight and scream at each other like no other, but I love her beyond anything else, ever. We have two extremes: love and hate. Anything we do together, it's either a great experience or it is an awful experience.

Tonight was one of those great experiences. We've had good conversations, enjoyed spending time together, and now we're sitting on my bed watching "Rachel Getting Married" with Anne Hathaway. I love having these nights with my sister.

We went to Borders where I got a bunch of books and she looked at me like I was crazy (and maybe I am crazy) and even though she complains about how long it takes me to go through the racks and racks of books, and then through the basket of 50 books that I pick out initially, she loves doing it with me. It's those kind of things, spending an hour and a half in Borders or Target or Longs, that we love to do together.

I love that my little sister gets along with my friends too. Today she told me that she and the rest of my family really like Luke. That meant so much to me. My family's opinions and impressions of my friends are so important to me. They have such a good read on the people around me. By telling me that she likes Luke, Liana was giving me a confidence boost that I was making the correct decision in dating a guy that I care about a lot. Sometimes it's hard to know what the right decision is, or it's hard to know if somebody is good for you or not. That is something that Liana is struggling with. I hope that some day she'll learn, as I did, that her family actually does know best when it comes to our choices in friends, guys, or whoever we choose to include in our lives.

Liana and Maryn have a very good relationship. Liana looks forward to visiting me partially because it means she gets to talk to Mare. I don't blame her. Maryn gives wonderful advice on all aspects of life. What is even better is that Maryn cares about Liana and is willing to give her honest opinion and advice on whatever is going on in her life. Tonight was one of those conversation times. I thank Maryn for her support of my little sister. Mare has dealt with my problems for the past seven or eight years, and now she is supportive of my little sister. That is the defintion of a true friend.

Sometimes Liana is hard to get along with; at least for me. When Luke, and Anthony before him, were trying to get to know my family they weren't sure whether Liana liked them or not because she would make fun of them. I told them, "If Liana wasn't making fun of you I'd be worried." She just turned to me, without knowing I was writing this blog, and said "You know I really do like Luke, right? I just make fun of him because he likes 'Enders Game' and laffy taffy." Case in point.

She is so fun loving most of the time, it makes me sad when she is unhappy. I know she struggles a lot but I want her to know that I'm always there for her. I love her unconditionally; I always have and I always will.

I had so much fun with her tonight at Borders, Pita Pit, watching Dancing With The Stars, getting Yogurt Creations with Luke, talking to my room mates, and now watching Rachel Getting Married. We are sitting next to each other on my bed, I'm cuddled up in the blanket she made me for Christmas writing this blog, and Liana is wearing my dad's old practice football jersey, wrapped in a Disney Princess blanket (so characteristic of Liana), doing the People magazine crowssword puzzle book with a green Sharpie. Tonight was wonderful. I'm so glad she came.

I would write more about my sister, but I don't know how much she actually wants me to share with random people online. I will say, again, that I love her.

I'm going to end this blog with a list of the books I bought at Borders just because I'm so proud of my purchases. I got a bunch of books for a grand total of $58. I had a gift card for $50, though, so it wasn't even that much of my own money! Also, most of them were on sale and if you buy two books on sale, you get a third one for free! That's a great deal.

Like I said, Liana rolled her eyes at me when I was making my book decisions. Then, when I showed Maryn, Rene, Ashley, and Luke my books, they all did the same. Oh well, I love books. I love book stores. And I think that out of anything I could spend money on, books are a great choice.

Books I bought:

• You Can't Get There From Here by Gayle Forman (Written by a journalst about different effects of globalization... the description sounded entertaining)
• The Land of Mango Sunsets by Dorthea Benton Frank (about a woman getting her life together after her husband left her... I just really liked the title... I know, I know, never judge a book by its cover)
• The Starter Wife by Gigi Levangie Grazer (made into a TV series with Deborah Messing, yet again about a woman living her life after her husband left her)
• Howards End by E.M. Forster (an English novel about families whose lives are intertwined at a country house in England)
• Ten Eternal Questions by Zoe Sallis (ten thought provoking questions asked to famous people like Bono, Nelson mandela, Jack Nicholson, etc. meant to make you reflect upon your own life)
• Delicious Cupcakes (box with recipes, cups, and frosting decorating tools)
• The New Stir Fry Cookbook
• Fantastic Cocktails and Mixed Drinks
• Chicken Recipes
• The Essential Fingerfood Cookbook
• 500 Twenty-Minute Recipes
• The Food of Spain

My goal with the Spain cook books I have is to make at least one Spanish meal per week so that I can prepare myself for my trip.

There were some books that I saw on the shelves that I didn't buy because I didn't have enough money. I read the backs of a lot of the books as I was going through the shelves and they looked good. I'm the kind of person who reads the title of a book and then I decide if I will like the book based on how much I like the title. Also, there are books that I want to read that my sister has read or that have been recommended to me. Here is a list of them:

• A Lesson Before Dying (I might have already read this book, but I don't quite remember)
  
• Kindred
• Picking Cotton (I have this one because Liana read it and is lending it to me, it is one of the next books on my list)
• Cocktails For Three by Madeleine Wickham
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
• 1984
• Ninteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (and other Jodi Picoult books)
• The Sunday List of Dreams by Kris Radish
• The Great Gatsby
• Angels and Demons (I've just started it. I want to read it before the movie comes out)

Love.

Picture Practice

This past week has been a wonderful depiction of how great life is right now. I've had so much fun with my friends and boyfriend. I'm lucky to go to school where I do and to live so close to beautiful places like Montana de Oro and Avila beach.

I've already written about my Monday and Tuesday earlier this week. Those two days were great. I got to spend time with my good friends at the beach.. This is a picture that Nikol took while we were at the beach. I'm giving her all the credit, but I love it so much and it is such a great Kodak moment (well, actually, a Nikon moment because that's the kind of camera Nikol has) which describes my friends and their playful attitudes perfectly.

Thanks for this great picture Nikol!

My sister saw this picture on Facebook and commented that I am so lucky that I get to go to the beach every weekend. I was like... "Yeah, Kell, I am super lucky! I am so close and the weather is always great! But, I went to the beach on Tuesday.. it wasn't even a weekend!!" I totally rubbed it in her face. It was great! (Sorry Kelley, Love you!)

I did, however, go to the beach this weekend. Yesterday, Kat, Nikol, and I spent a wonderful two hours taking pictures at Montana de Oro. We got some really nice pictures of our beautiful model, Kat. Also, we all took turns posing in pictures together. The rocks hurt our feet, the tide started rising, it was exhausting, but it was so much fun. I wish that my photo skills were up to par, though. Hopefully, as Nikol and I continue to find people to photograph in cool locations and wearing cool outfits, I will get better and better at training my artistic eye. (Hence the title of this blog, "Picture Practice," instead of "Picture Perfect." I still believe I have so far to come as a photographer, but by praciticing, I'll get closer to that time when I can say "Picture Perfect" .. or at least "Picture nearly-Perfect")

Our whole day was an adventure. We got to conduct a photo shoot at a beautiful beach that is only 15 miles away from campus. After that, though, we continued our adventures. We hung out with Mark and went to three different locations to find milkshakes. Unfortunately, the Madonna Inn as well as Margie's Diner (not Morgie's, Kat, sorry!) close at 9! Sucks for us, we ended up at Denny's. The drinks we got were so good though; plus, we saw some very interesting characters showing up there. They seemed to be coming from a wedding reception... we all agreed that if ANYBODY decided to go to Denny's after our wedding reception... we'd be very angry (and I think I would not invite them to my second wedding... okay, bad joke).

Later that night, even though we were all exhausted, we decided to watch the Nicholas Cage movie, Next. It has Jessica Biel in it. I definitely recommend it. It was a very good movie.

Not only did I get to hang out with Kat, Nikol, and Mark, though, but I also got to spend Friday with my future room mates, as well as Saturday. Friday night, we went out with Stephanie's parents to CPK for dinner. It was very good and her parents were very nice. Then, Saturday, we went to the house and I did measurements of my room. It's HUGE!! (16ft by 16ft!!!) Later on Saturday, after my beach photo shoot but before my milkshake adventures, I got to go out to dinner with Christine's mom. She is so nice and so fun to talk to.

I also hung out with Kathryn and Christine at the pool today. Luke and some of Christine and Kat's guy friends were also there. I even got in the pool... something I NEVER do. It felt so nice.

The entire weekend was absolutely beautiful and I am so glad I have the friends I do.

Here are some pictures from our photo shoot:

P.S. My little sister, Liana, is coming to visit tomorrow. I'm so excited to see her. She's been having a tough week, and I'm looking forward to spending some quality sister time with her... even if it is just for one night. I love you Liana!

My Daily Dose(s) of Nerd

Today, I was a nerd. But I had fun doing it! Here is why:

Nerd Moment #1: Twilight Influenza
Location: 250 person lecture hall during my Business Law class
Situation: My business professor talking about random, crazy laws that only really make sense in the time period that they were enacted
Professor's Question: It is illegal to spit on a public sidewalk or street. This law was enacted in 1919. What was happening in that time period to make a law like that necessary?
My Answer: The spread of Influenza (spitting is unsanitary and would make the spread of influenza even worse)
The Way I Knew: In 1918, Edward Cullen was dying from influenza when Carlisle bit him and transformed him into a vampire...in Twilight

Nerd Moment #2: Plantar Fasciitis
Location: Walking through the parking lot to my apartment
Situation: I was wearing my very cute Steve Madden knock off flip flops from Target and the bottom of my foot hurt really bad.
What Was Wrong With My Foot: Plantar Fasciitis
How I Know: I took Anatomy & Physiology my senior year of high school, as well as Sports Medicine during my junior and senior years. I know the muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, and injuries associated with many different parts of the body used in basic daily use as well as sports injuries. Generally, if I'm injured, I can diagnose myself it it has to do with tendons or ligaments.
Why It Was A Nerd Moment: because I'm a journalism major and have absolutely no use for this sort of medical information

Exciting Moment #1: Bi-Lingual
Location: Spanish class
Situation: My Spanish professor walked in to my classroom and spoke Spanish for the majority of the time we were in class.
My Excitement: I completely understood every single thing that he said in class. It was so cool to think that I could potentially become bi-lingual if I'm dedicated enough.

Amazing Moment #1: Wonderful Boyfriend
Location: The Ave eating food with Joe, Kathryn, and Luke.
Situation: Luke had told me that he had a surprise for me. I was expecting it to be the fact that he shaved his face (which he did!). But then he told me to hold out my hands so that he could hand me something.
What he handed me: A manila envelope with a sweet note written on it.
What was inside the envelope: tickets to Stage Coach so I can go with all my future room mates: Brittany, Kathryn, Stephanie, and Christine! :)

Today was a wonderfully nerdy and amazing day <3

Twitter and April Fools

So I just joined Twitter. What a great tool!

I always feel bad because I constantly update my status on Facebook... but then I feel like people get sick of that and I feel so lame because really, the number of people on Facebook who care what I'm doing at any given moment in time is very small...

Twitter allows me to do the Facebook update type things, without being annoying. If somebody is looking at my updated status it's because they want to, not because it shows up, unavoidably, on their news feed.

I feel like a true Journalism student now. A blog, twitter, Mustang Daily meetings... wow!

Check out my Twitter page!

On another note, I hate April Fools Day. It is one of my least favorite holidays! I always fall for the dumb jokes that people play on me. Like my jerk face of a little sister. My mom is on some tropical vacation with my step dad. They are scuba diving and all that good stuff. My sister texted me this morning telling me that my mom was in the hospital being treated for a really bad jellyfish sting on her leg. I believed her because I could envision my mom freaking out and yelling at people and being in a very bad mood and very scary to be around because of that sting. I believed her because I actually got that image in my mind. Then came the "April Fools" text. Thanks Liana. You got me again. Just like every other April Fools day since you could talk. Wonderful.

On the plus side, I made very good tariyaki chicken for dinner tonight. And Luke helped me move around the furniture in my room so that I could accommodate the TV that I brought from home. Plus, I bought an over the door sweatshirt hanger at BBandB today.. my wardrobe was getting pretty cramped.

That is all.