wonderful wednesday

It has been a while since I've written a "Wonderful Wednesday" post on here, even though I promised myself that I would do one every single week... let's be real, I've only done it twice. So, in honor of summer and the theory that I'm not actually supposed to have anything to do during summer, I figured I'd write one today. (Even though I do actually have things to do and this summer isn't going to be just hanging out and fun like last summer was.)

Things that make this Wednesday wonderful...

1. Shopping for work clothes (and regular clothes) with my step mom. We spent yesterday getting lunch and shopping for nice tops for my internship this summer. Too bad NONE of the pants I tried on yesterday fit me (don't worry, it just means that I got to go shopping again today). Oh and um, how on earth am I a size 10 at H&M but a size 4-6 at every other store I go to? Does that make any sense to you?!

2. Cooking dinner with my family and getting new and easy recipes that I can use next year when I cook for myself more often (one of my goals for my senior year in college). We spent the first day of summer and the longest day of the year sitting outside eating this wonderful meal and having great conversation.

Part of our meal the other night. The salad servers are from Rwanda (I'm pretty sure) a few summers ago when my older sister went to work with gorillas.

The whole meal that I helped cook. Corn on the cob, orange balsamic marinated chicken, the afore mentioned salad, and fresh green beans from my dad and step mom's very own garden (delicious).

Cindy's new lemon and raspberry dessert. It is SO EASY to make and tastes delicious. There are raspberries in the dessert, and normally there are some on top, but somebody in our house ate so many of the fresh organic raspberries that we didn't have enough to put on top...

3. Okay, that person was me... I mean I ate all the raspberries. So number 3 is all the fresh fruit we have in the house. Cindy only buys fruit from the farmer's market which means that they are all locally grown and none of the fruits are imported. I would have taken pictures of all the fruit, but we all tend to eat it too fast to get a good picture. So these are stock pictures...

I never knew that blue berry pictures could be as good as the ones we have in our fridge right now. It's like I'm in heaven every single time I eat them.

Normally strawberries are my older sister's thing, but the ones in our fridge are super good. Like, you wouldn't want to put sugar on them because they are already so sweet.

Unfortunately we just finished our last batch of cherries. Don't worry, I ate almost all of them.

4. Pretty Little Liars - it's a new show on ABC Family. It is on TV on Tuesday nights, but I will be watching it today. Normally Christine and I will watch it together, but she's in Ohio this week so I'm going to watch it with my little sister.

5. The black and grey v-neck t-shirts I got at Target today for $6 each. I'm obsessed. They are the most comfortable things ever, fit amazingly, and as I keep telling Liana, they are some of the best things to ever happen to me.

6. Boy Meets World (speaks for itself)

7. Dawson's Creek - I know I've talked about this before, but I love this show. I'm almost at the end and I just want to know what happens... do Joey and Dawson end up together? What happens with Jen and Jack? Will Pacey and Audrey make up? (shhh don't tell me...) But now I need a new show to watch once I'm done watching the remaining 13 episodes. Any ideas?

8. Reading - I borrowed a bunch of books from Christine for my vacation next week. More on that later.

9. Elephants - I'm reading "Water for Elephants" right now and I'm obsessed. It's so well written!! I've always loved elephants, I'm even staring at one right now that my dad has on the mantel in our play room, one he got from Kenya or somewhere he's been in Africa. 

10. Sunshine!!! Finally there is sun in my life. School was all dark, rainy, and gloomy (until finals week, but I was inside studying and packing the entire week and I couldn't enjoy the sun when it finally came out), and when I got home there was nothing but gloom and cold. Now, there is finally SUNSHINE!!! So happy. Welcome summer!

Daddy

This post is dedicated to the most amazing father in the world: mine!!

I know, I know, everybody says that their dad is the most amazing dad in the world, and maybe they are right, but mine is perfect for me. I couldn't ask for a better fit of a father. I couldn't ask for someone to be more supportive, loving, and amazing than my dad.

No matter what I do, how thoroughly I screw up (which doesn't happen so much now, but believe me, it happened A LOT in high school), or how frustrating I can be, my dad never ceases to amaze me with his love and support.

Yeah, my dad is kind of a nerd, but I love him for all those nerdy things he does. I love that he tells corny jokes. I love that he cries during sappy movies (including Toy Story and The Lion King). I love that every single time there is an earthquake, he e-mails me a link to a website that will tell me the magnitude, depth, and exact location of said earthquake (he's a civil engineer, cut him some slack). I love that I can call him if I'm having a bad day and he will tell me how beautiful and wonderful I am (even if it may not always be true). I love that he treats my step sisters like his own kids, even though they have their own dad. I love curling up on the couch next to him to watch whatever is on TV in that moment in time (last night it was ESPN Sports Center). I could go on and on and on, but I think you get the picture.

I'm definitely Daddy's little girl.

Daddy teaching me how to use his manual 35 mm SLR when I was younger. Daddy and I now have matching cameras. Thanks for introducing me to photography.

Daddy and I in Switzerland this past fall.

A not so great picture of me, but this is me and Daddy at the fútbol game he brought me and my sisters to (Madrid vs Zurich). I can't find a picture of my dad and all of us girls. We will have to take one the next time we are all home.

Yes, I still call my dad "Daddy." I probably always will. My mom still calls her dad "Daddy" even though he passed away when I was two.

And speaking of grandparents, thank you to Grandpa (dad's father) and Grandee (mom's father) for supporting me as much as you possibly can.

Me and Grandee who died when I was 2. I bet, if he was still around, I'd get along with him great. He is the man who gave me my first piece of chocolate when I  was  a month or so old. Grandee was thrilled with himself. I wish I'd gotten to know him better as I got older. (Excuse the picture in the upper left corner, I couldn't find the original so this one is scanned from a scrap book I made in high school.)

One of my favorite pictures ever of me and Grandpa. This is in his backyard in Pennsylvania. Grandpa is so cool, he is quiet but whenever he does speak, it is worth listening to. He still wears those old trucker hats. Grandpa, Daddy and I all have the same smile.

summer?

I finished my finals a week ago yesterday, but it STILL doesn't feel like it's summer. Last week was so stressful what with finals, moving out of the house and into the storage unit, and moving other stuff home. Now I am in the throws of purging all the crap that has accumulated in my closet, unpacking clothes, unpacking boxes, organizing, etc. It's exhausting.

This past weekend, however, was pretty good. I got to see a lot of members of my family. It was really nice!

Friday night was Liana's high school graduation. It was a really nice ceremony, not too hot, and I was able to relax for a little tiny bit. I ran into a few people from high school whose siblings were also graduating. Kinda weird. Unfortunately I didn't get very many good pictures, but here are a few that I did get:

She had this HUGE smile on her face the ENTIRE night.

Sisters

Probably the first "family" picture we've taken since my parents got divorced when I was 7 or 8. Kinda weird to see them in the same picture haha

There's that smile again. I know it looks cheesy, but she was seriously THAT happy!!

Now she is on a Disney cruise in the Bahamas with one of her best friends. I'm sure she's having a blast.

Sunday we went to my cousin's college graduation. She majored in psychology at Stanford. Count on Stanford to do something ridiculous during graduation. They had this thing called the "wacky walk" when they entered the football stadium and everybody was dressed up in crazy outfits. The speaker at the large graduation was Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the EU. She was a wonderful speaker. I was amazed. Later there was a little lunch and watched the psychology graduation where they announced each student. It was kind of emotional because that part of my family has been through a lot within the past few months. We are all so proud of my cousin, Allison.

Wacky Walk

Allison, the first cousin to graduate college!!

My mom, Aunt Lilly, Allison, Aunt Toni

Savannah and Allison, they are sisters and they both graduated this year. Savannah from high school (she is going to Stanford next year) and Allison from college. Unfortunately I couldn't go to Savannah's grad because Liana graduated the same night.

Me, my oldest cousin and my youngest cousin. (Allison and Cassie) Not a great picture, but I still love it.

Okay, back to getting organized. Don't you hate how, in order to get REALLY organized, you have to get super unorganized first? I have stuff all over my room! It's crazy.

Have a wonderful day.

delirious

This week is crazy. I have finals, have to move out of my house and into the storage unit, plus drive home all in time to watch my little sister graduate from high school (yes, my life is a constant flow of graduation ceremonies).

My theatre final was this morning and all I have to say is that I am so glad I am done with that class... and hopefully I passed it. I have two more presentations today as well as another final from 7-10 tonight. Then another one tomorrow morning from 10-1, plus work, packing, and moving after that.

Anyway, I have a short break between finals right now and my brain can't handle any more studying for the time being (although I will probably revise the paper from hell that I had to write for my global journalism class in a few minutes), so I am checking e-mail, running errands (aka picking up my pay check), and drinking a much deserved/necessary grande soy latte.

In the midst of all this, I checked my e-mail and had a message from the one and only wonderful Dr. S with a link to a hilarious Craigslist ad. Maybe I think it is so funny because I am dilerious and my brain is basically educational mush right now, but in any case, I laughed. Outloud. In the middle of the student union. Amongst all other students who are pretending to study when we really know they can't bear to look at their notebooks anymore. Anyway here is what the text of the ad said. Happy reading! (And here's hoping your week is semi less stressful than mine!)

I have a great opportunity arising for the adventurous soul. I have developed a nuclear powered-170 foot submarine with the ability to stay submerged for one year at a time. The purpose of this amazing engineering marvel is to explore deep-sea trenches in search for Mer-people. The crew will consist of 50 deck hands, 3 cooks, 4 doctors, 5 engineers, and 3 teachers.
The applicant must be able to stand high pressures as I've failed to develop a proper pressure regulator. The applicant must be sufficient in History as this will be the only subject taught. Don't ask me why, I'm not in charge of education.
So more about where you will be living and working; the craft as I stated is nuclear powered. The plutonium waste was donated to my cause from the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. Radiation will be fairly low for most the sub, except the kitchen which will experience about 20 rads/sec for unexplained reasons. But hey, you're not the cook so no worries!
You will have your own 10x6 room. The 10 is in inches. You have TV and a on-suite toilet. The toilet has been provided by Gatorade (ie bottles). Don't worry, you'll soon love this lifestyle!
The classroom has seating for 30 and is positioned right above the kitchen. Now that I think about it, that puts you at risk of 20 rad/sec radiation too. But not to worry, you'll only work 8 hours a day there.
If you're curious about seeing the submarine before applying; it's currently on a boat trailer out on my street connected to my Ford Ranger. I have converted my Ranger to run off nuclear energy too, giving it sufficient pulling power to get this 170 foot beast to the docks.

Email me for inquiries.
Thank you have a wonderful day!

-Jimmy (Captain, lead engineer, doctor) 

Och Tamale Gazolly Gazump

I am so glad that this past weekend was a three day weekend! It meant that I got to have the best parts of my world. I got to see my entire step mom's side of the family, watch my big sister graduate college, and have a relaxing (and productive time) packing boxes to move out of our house with Christine.

Friday I spent all day in the car just so I could get to my big sister's baccalaureate ceremony at the University of Redlands. When we got to the chapel, the entire family was there! It was great. Caitlin sang two songs during the ceremony. One of them was the Redlands Och Tamale (if you don't know what it is, look it up, it's funny).

Unfortunately I didn't get to take very good pictures during the baccalaureate, but I got some good ones at the actual graduation ceremony.

Caitlin's friend Ayesha

My big sister!!!

Caitlin and Devery

The four sisters :) 

Uncle Roy, Caitlin's step mom Laura, her dad Dave, Auntie Sharon, Caitlin, my dad, Cindy, Kelley, me, Liana!!! (the family - minus the grandparents, Julie, Aunt Kathe, Carol, and Uncle Bobby)

Me and my big sister (not a great picture, whatever)

After graduation we headed over to Devery's house and we had some FANTASTIC food that Ayesha's mom and extended family made for us. The egg rolls were fantastic, the chicken curry to die for, even the rice was better than I could have even dreamt to make it. I wish I had thought to steal all of it in big tupperware containers so I could still be eating it this week. 

There were four girls and their families at the house. Everybody talked, drank (water... there was alcohol but everybody was way too hot to even consider it), and had a good time.

The food... my mouth is watering!

The four graduates: Ayesha, Caitlin, Kate, and Devery

Sisters again!

Me, Daddy, and Doogie (Howser)!! (wow, I wish I photographed better)

The entire weekend was full of wonderful friends and family. I love spending time with them and I'm looking forward to this summer when I get to see them more often.

I came home on Sunday and got to hang out with Christine. We packed boxes, got ready to go out, went out for ten min, came home, and somehow still managed to stay up until 2 a.m. doing who knows what. We are starting to move into the storage unit TOMORROW!! I'm so excited. On Monday we packed some more, and even managed to make ribs, corn, and cheesy potatoes for dinner!! Happy Memorial Day :)

Okay, bed time now. I'm exhausted and I have a headache. Plus, I should be reading 200 more pages of  White Noise for my humanities final instead of sitting here writing this blog and watching Gilmore Girls.

I can't wait for finals to be over so I can go home and "relax." 

Get ready for another graduation blog in a couple weeks... that's when Liana graduates from high school!!!

I'm so proud of my big sister... CONGRATULATIONS CAITLIN!!! I love you.

 

P.S. My dress was from Anthropologie and sooooooo not me, but I loved it! Even though Anthropologie is kinda out of my price range, I might have to start shopping there more often. They have cute clothing and they also have super cute house decorating stuff and gorgeous vintage books. I must go there more often... maybe Christine and I can spend some time there this summer while we are hanging out at home.