glorious

well, i can hear the laughter of little children who tricker treating at random spots on campus. we hold a carnival of sorts on campus so there are people of young and old running around all dressed up.
luckily, i had to do neither of those things to get wonderful treats on this holiday (which is normally one that snow or rain threaten in Utah, but it was a lovely 80 degrees here today). all i had to do was stop by the post. and ill have you know, i am one of those obnoxious people that does not discreetly carry my box back to my dorm as soon as i recieve it. i definately took it to class with me... so what, everyone happens to see it and became jealous of the fact that someone in the world loves me o so much as to send me a large parcel.

look at that sticker!!!


ooo look whats inside...



what wonderful goodies!

thats right

let me give you a little background information. flag football is a pretty big deal, and the teams get extremely competative.
so the two major girls teams are the Bus Drivers (colors being black and yellow) and the Canadian Bowlers (colors being red and white). Bus Drivers are known to take Fortuna Bowl, and last year they had an undefeated season. well, this year, Drivers lost to Bowlers twice, which made the Bowlers very confident about a supposed impending win that would be in their future.
We usually just play out on the front lawn in the afternoon, with some guys who really like football being the referees and a few fans. But today was the day of Fortuna Bowl; both teams got together pretty much all day for a multitude of activities such as practice, team dinner, and a viewing of Remember the Titans (an extremely inspiring movie with many good looking men, a few nice monologues, and one tear jerking scene). o and let me clarify, we did not gather together, we met seperately.

My team decided we wanted to win but we really wanted to just enjoy the game. so we entered the field with "eye of the tiger" playing on our boom box" and our coaches actually made us to up-downs to a whistle. it was hilarious because we were aweful. Then the big lights that they brought in were turned on, the bleechers quickly filled, leaving many on blankets on the ground, and the actual black and white stripes blew their whistles.

It was such a rough game, but guess who won? The Bus Drivers baby.

Get on the bus and close the border are all i have to say.

haaaayyy, its friday!

well i got most of my tests over with this week and there are just a few more papers due next week. but those are not on my mind right now. sleep is mostly consuming the thoughts, but im also excited about the fun weekend.

tonight started it out nicely because there was a costume, dance party tonight at a girl's house in chino, and we had so much fun. a little rap, a few people dressed up and a strobe light, and you got yourself a good, knee-slapping time. dont worry though, my best dance partners tonight were definately girls, as we baptists down here dont mess with that dirty dancing that involves touching the opposite sex.
tomorrow is full of terrific plans as well, seeing as it is the Fortuna Bowl. its a big deal. Bus Drivers vs. Canadian Bowlers. if youre a fan, wear black. but whatever, you do, dont wear red. the game should be intense, so i think i am going to run over the plays before i go to sleep. i need a good nights rest for tomorrow, though, so im off.

they can just shove it...

its official, my homework sucks.

i saw it!

did you know that it is possible to google "earth" and use a satellite to find your house! i could see the "W" on the bleachers at Weber State's Football field.
its amazing the things that can keep you from doing your homework in the wee hours of the morn.

you'd never guess

was in one of those moods-- not really homesick, not really depressed, not really annoyed-- or it could just be a combination of all of the above. i believe "bleh" is the correct term.
and then i saw her. nope, you would never guess who i saw a picture of!!! the one and only: JANETTICA. did you know that i met her this summer?
that Janettica... just seeing a picture of her makes me smile.

go drivers!

bad grades are bad. i just needed to establish that because i got a bad grade on something.
but my day has nonetheless been good i think. i got up today, did homework and got to class early, and while i have lots of tests and stuff due in the near future, they werent due today.
lunch was really good and full of good laughs, and we didnt really have to do anything in classes today. i dont have to work and we have a football game. that might be a huge source of the endorphines-- everyone wore black, cause that is the team color, and im just excited to play for some reason. did you know that Utah is one of our offensive plays?!?!
Wranglers, youre doomed.

Oak Glen

Oak Glen is now one of my most favoritest places here in so-cal.
It is this little community up in the mountains maybe an hour from the school. their fame is mostly for apples because there are apple groves, from which they get apples to sell, carmel, candie, pie... basically whatever you can do to an apple. they sell honey and other sorts of fun foods and other little artsy trinkets. it smells almost as beautiful as it looks with the mountains and the colorful leaves. i mean, its no utah, but there was definately more color than you see on the palm trees on campus.


From the right, sarah, brittany, kim, melissa, carly, and meagan eating our sandwhiches

we had a picnic and a picture fest basically. there was a group of folks playing the banjo and bass and stuff outside, and after our picnic, and cider sampling, we went outside to dance a bit and ended up joining in on the music making. spoons and washboards luckily take no talent what-so-ever; all you need is a bit of rhythm.


me, melissa, sarah, ashley, and kim showing off our "skills"

after our musical release, we went on a "nature walk." sarah and carrie assumed the roles of lewis and clark, while i was sacajawea and andy was my papuche (chill out, that means kid) and the rest of the people were our mule herders. yes, i was with all seniors and we role-played explorers on an already carved out trail. what?

we ended the afternoon with an assortment of carmeled apples... my personal preference: carmeled apple dipped in milk chocolate.

how?

how does this happen i ask you?
well i worked out today, but that is about all i got done on the list of things that are really important in my day.
it is 11:15 and there have been no devos and no homework done! you have got to be kidding me.

just chill

quite often, we sit in the dorms on friday nights wondering what we are going to do. we end up wondering and rarely doing.
last night a good friend, Melody, and i decided we were just going to leave, so we went to this little coffee shop downtown by the Mission Inn (which is this really neat, old hotel). it was one of those places that you cant recreate because nothing matches, the artwork is from random local artists. the couches look like they were stolen from my grandparents and a few thrift stores. the downstairs is completely cement with lots of art on the walls.
it was a good time... ill admit it.

my stomach was full of Knott's

During almost the entire year, Knott's Berry Farm is a fun-filled amusement park that has lots of rides and over-priced food
(8$ for a hot-dog!). Not anywhere close to Disneyland, but still a few steps up from good old Lagoon. In October though, the place turns into Knotts Scary Farm. There are themed mazes that have people all dressed up scary. they come and freak you out by jumping out of corners, breathing uncomfortably close to your face, and clicking these little things they put on their fingers. Its all dark and there is lots of fog as well.


A bunch of us went on thrusday, and it was one of those nights you wish you had a boyfriend. luckliy no one in the group really had one, so we all had tons of fun, and luckily there were many adorable boys. Granted, we didnt go to bed till like 3 am, but my first class was canceled!!! how much better can it get?

freckles or not

today was lovely lovely weather once again. though it was not completely cloudy, it was still nippy out.
my philosophy class did not take forever and a day, which it usually feels like it does, and after lunch, i layed out on the cement circle surrounding these plants or trees or something that i cant really detail for sure right now but that is completely beside the point because i was a perfect temperature in my cute black track jacket, pants and flip-flops. i closed my eyes and talked on the phone to a friend, while the sun beamed down and warmed my face. usually such direct contact with UV Rays is a field day for those bright-light-type freckles that congregate around my nose and cheeks, but even so, i was in utter utopia i am pretty sure.

the rest of the day was not quite as relaxed. i did get to lay down a bit later because i gave blood. then i went to a business ettiquette dinner at which i learned how to "gingerly" hold my glass and the different directions to point my fork as i bring it towards my face, depending on what part of the meal i am eating. the whole time i thought, i am never going to remember all of this, but what do you know? they provided us all with dinner ettiquette books as we walked out the door, lest we ever forget such valuable information.

talked to the sister, the madre and went to a Bible study as well.

now i am just procrastinating homework that i must get done because tomorrow night i am going to Knott's Scary Farm!!! yipeeeeeee!

snuggle

i love to snuggle.

today it was overcast all day long. i loved it, though i wished i had some tall dark and handsome person to snuggle with, but we cant have it all. i dont think it rained at all today! so i didnt risk slipping on the cement as i scurried to work and my feet never once got wet. but it was chilly outside. people wore scarves, sweaters, hats and ugs (you know, those boots that go to about mid-calf with the intent of blocking out snow, which im not sure they are even good for that because in order to look sylish they have to have the suede and fur, but the point is girls in california wear them alot for some reason). and i got out of my last class early and didnt have to work so i went back to my room, opened the blinds, turned on my lamp and classical music and curled under a blanket on my bed while doing homework. i love that cozy feeling. and i am glad i can still have it even though i dont have my Utah couch and window.

a good friend, who unfortunately did not have as good of a day, came to visit me and we both just layed on my bed and laughed and the quite unfortunate series of events she endured today. and for your information, if you want to buy a poster, do not park by Macey's, and when you get home, sit in your car to make sure you will not encounter any certain someone's when you get out.

who knows, tomorrow i might break out a sweater myself!

who are they?

the girls in the picture from saturday are girls from my hall.
their names are as follows (clockwise from the one with sun glasses): lauren, lauren ("tot"), ann, lindsay, aimee, and erika.

the spot

melody, brittany and i decided our school is the spot.
we have developed a habit of taking walks around the school in the evenings to get out, talk and avoid homework. there are a few certain spots around campus that are particuarly appealing, and as we layed on the concrete looking at the sky we discussed how much we enjoy our campus. its the spot, if you will. granted, not a star in the world was visible due to the clouds and orangish colored smog, but those small drops of bliss decided to take their spot on the concrete as well. ill admit, it was quite pleasant.

now where did i put that umbrella?

yes... it came.
little droplets of coolness are vacationing in our air here this morning. im sure they wont stay for long, but i walked outside for a run and took a full, fresh breath of change.
if only i had my couch and window in O-town.

only the most exciting saturday ever

football practice, very productive and fun
grocery shop, too darn expensive
lay outside with the girls, warm
dinner, yumm
vaccuum and clean, makes me feel warm inside
balance checkbook, long overdue
download music, took an ungodly amount of time

overall not a very exciting day but definately not bad. the one little twist would be that harsh pinch of realization that the people i hang out with are also the people i share showers, bathrooms, living space and class time with. the little things can start to irk you, and for no apparent reason at all. still not sure what to do with that awkward tension that happens when girls are just being... well you know what i mean. for now ill just try to not annoy and keep my mouth shut.

there is a following

who knew? i ask you, who knew there were so many devoted Alias fans on the beautiful campus at CBU.
im not really sure how it was brought up at lunch on thursday, but i found another girl who loves Alias, and when i say loves i mean she has seen every episode and is emotionally affected by the television show. Well we had a very indepth conversation about the episodes through the years, and the intensity of the season premere. Come to find out, she knows of other fanatics on campus, and they are girls who happen to be on my football team. So now i know of a clan of girls who love Alias, who are extremely distraught by the fact that Vaughn died on last weeks episode (and when i say fanatics distraught, i mean we openly admitted the sheding of tears at the end of the show). Well to make matters worse, none of us saw or taped last nights show, so i have no idea what happened; no idea if they gave clues to Vaughn not really being dead; now i am still trapped in a state of sadness for Sydney who lost the father to her baby.
what is this world coming to?

Slooting

this is aimee, erika and me at clash-n-bowl

well my saturday was pretty uneventful. Started it off with football practice, which was quite productive, which is probably the only part of my day that can be described as such. Took a lovely trip to wal-mart with my friend aimee, who is a cute little blonde. But i have never been talked at or stared at so many times as we did today on our trip( which took an unbelieveable amount of time seeing as wal-mart is crowded, cramped, and ultimately just ghetto). I live in Riverside... enough said.
after that i ate a little food, did a little homework.
in the mean time aimee and erika went to a water polo game. the verdict is: water polo is amazing.

for the rest of the evening we talked to each other on the internet, even though we live close enough together that i could hear erika laugh whenever i would type something lame. she did a little slooting as well.
but let the record show, i do not participate in slooting.

the pilgrimage

well, the twins drove out here today, and while they did not have to use a horse and buggy, since we do actually have cars in utah and all, one did arrive sporting an over-priced head piece. i guess it was worth the numerous laughs though.
it was nice to see people from home and take them on the intricate and detailed tour of my new home, which took all of about ten minutes.
tonight we had a riviting game of flag football and interestingly enough, two tablespoons of nasty grape syrup, fresh air, and some nice physical contact cleared me right up for a while. but once again, i am back to breathing from the mouth and my throat hurts.
i think i am going to go to sleep... earliest i have yet since being here.
night world

squishy squishy

some things are just not good table talk.

pow-wows

so the pow-wows in the hallway have begun.
for the first few weeks here, the girls on my hall rarely talked to one another. we were cordial of course, and a few of us paired off in friendships, but for the most part, well all just shared a bathroom and that was it. the last few nights though, alot of us have ended up on the floor in the hall chatting and laughing. just another thing to make it feel more comfortable and fun here.

if you havent talked to me in the last few days you wouldnt know that i now sound like a middle-aged man who has smoked since teenage years. the sickness has begun in full force as well. i am currently only able to breath from the mouth.

nonetheless (love that that is all one word) i am happy to give some thanks to a person who is ridiculously on top of things, completely loving and a sender of care packages. i love you!!!

the one month mark...

well around the end of the first month, most people either have a big fight with their roommate, get sick, or just super homesick. I am sick, which i think is probably the best of the three, and its nothing a little vitamin C and rest cant fix. Unfortuately, the rest probably wont happen because classes are really getting serious a month into things.

I went to Malibu friday night and ill just tell you that pepperdine is a beautiful school filled with beautiful people. thanks to my little roadtrip though, i did not get much homework done and will therefore be up late late again this evening. bummer.