sneak a peak

so last week i got the flu, and while it was extremely inconvenient and uncomfortable, i was so lucky to have friends that pamper me, a weekend to recover and do nothing but watch movies and sleep, and a roommate that got sick with me (while i apologized to courtney, i was in much less misery having her home the entire time).
part of the misery was the fact that i had lots of homework last week, which included a painful Accounting test. i was feverish and sweaty almost the entire hour that i had to sit in the room and peck away at my calculator, but i somehow pulled an A on the test! seriously unexpected! i was thrilled when i found out this morning, to say the least.
brief and random update, i know, but the real reason i wanted to blog was to tell all of you Utah friends to check out my friend Trevor's blog. he has some engagement pics of Tom and Shannon up. adorable if you ask me. sneak a little peak if you have a minute... http://treverhoehne.blogspot.com/

Annie Gabriel

im in the AG Library in an uncomfortable, wooden chair at a boxy, wooden desk. and i hate doing research.

photo shoot

on thursday nights i have to leave my apartment becasue FCA meets there, so this week i went to my friend Jeremy's. i had no desire to do homework so i decided to take pictures on his camera. Ryan and Jeremy were trying to assess their options for the photo shoot and i caught the moment.
ironically, i ended up liking this picture alot. i understand that to the naked eye, it looks like they are a couple, but really they are just planning to flip off the camera in the next picture. and that is what they did.

in the last 24 hours

last night i had my three hour class, which i loathe. but it got hour early (cause i booked it through the project), so i caught the end of the Phil Wickam & Shane and Shane concert that was in the gym. AMAZING! i had goosebumps, wide-eyes, and the frequent need to take deep breaths of air.
the concert was all part of Seek Week, which is a week where the school puts on lots of events and gets a special speaker in attempt to make the students active in their faith. i know, i sould like a cynic... eh, i am. however, the events and speaker are pretty outstanding this week, so this time im actually excited.
and today, my friend erica was running at the same time as me, so we got to enjoy the beautiful morning weather while getting a little exercise. I got to wear a tee shirt and capris and was perfect, the chapel speaker was legit. to top things off, work went by really quickly (which is rare) and my roommate Courtney came to my office bearing coffee and candy. what more could you want from a Wednesday?
well, i havent taken many pics lately, but this is one from when Courtney and I went to the Crystal Cathedral a could of weeks ago for church. beautiful church, great choir, and a sermon that is televised (to say the least).

Crossroads Church

Saturday night i volunteered at a Chris Tomlin concert and was not originally thrilled about going. I was a bit tired and didnt really anticipate what would be going on. All i knew was that i would be pushing flyers and sign-up sheets down people's throats.
Once I was there, though, I really loved being surrouned by people and blaring music. Chris Tomlin is pretty great, and Matt Redman played as well. On top of that, Louie Giglio gave a message that was really humbling.
I was in a church in the dark and couldnt even hear myself singing. And i couldnt hear the person next to me, and I didnt know the person next to me. Sometimes I am so easily distracted by my surroundings or judgements. But it was really nice to see people, some older, some younger, that were genuinely excited about praising God. All-in-all, I got to see a fabulous concert at the cost being a pushy flyer girl for an hour or two.

hip hip

HORRAY!
its snowing. im at Got Coffee right now sitting in a little corner with a mug and and my laptop. it will probably stop by the time i post this, but either way, the ground is white and i love it.
and this means that the mountains are getting real snow. more snow. and that means i can go boarding tomorrow!

i hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. im missing lots of you but i am getting back into the "home" routine, and this time the routine does not include work, so i am starting to really enjoy the rest and relaxation.

the grass is always greener

well ive been back in Utah for a full week now. i love being in my house that has been transformed by Christmas decor, sleeping on my fabulous matress, seeing friends and family and eating my mom's wonderful cooking.
but during my time at home, ive had those occasional moments where i forget to focus on the christmas lights and familiar faces, and instead, am taken off guard by mr. irony.
for example, i dont like that it does not snow in Riverside. however, the grass is not greener in Utah, instead it is whitish brown, as we have yet to wake up to blankets of snow covering our world. its too cold for all of the snow to melt completely away, too cold to snow more, and too cold for me to jog outside and not have a cough for the remainder of the day when finished.
also, i hate getting up early and and going to work, especially when its cold and i am in Utah. i would rather put on sweats and drink tea or something. but i currently do not have a steady job, so instead i am doing little more than reading and cooking and eating. what a life huh? but no, i have never wanted to work more than right now.
and i really had to laugh today when my mom threatened to hide my books if i did not get off the couch. most parents would love for their kids to read instead of watch t.v. or sleep the day away. who threatens to make their child stop reading, i asked?

well, other than those momentary lapses, where i forget how lucky i am no matter if i am in Riverside with a job or in Utah with a book, i have really enjoyed the rest and time to enjoy the Christmas spirit.
and at the request of my dear friend, amy, i will leave you with a picture. would you believe our luck that THE Cinderella was in California Adventure Land last thursday evening and there was hardly even a line to take a picture with her?

Wonka's Wonderland

While this semester has not been the worst in regards to finals, ive still spent alot of time with my couch and the books in the past couple of days. Luckily, i have gotten on top of my studying early, so hopefully this week will not be too horrible. Nonetheless, by this evening i was definately getting tired of studying.
So in the spirit of Christmas, and of study breaks, lauren (tot), ryan, tim and i spent some quality time building a gingerbread house. Stater Bros had a kit! It came with the gingerbread, the frosting, the candy and directions. We put our teamwork and tender loving care into the project, and two hours later, we had this...



















horray for team specific :)

Yule

This past weekend was yule, which like a highschool dance, but without the dancing. its a banquet... Every girl plans to get ready in time, but always runs a bit late. everyone takes too many pictures standing right next to their date, and at the end of the night you wonder why it took you so long to get ready and why you were in your dress and heels for such a short time.
Luckily, it was kind of worth it this year because i didnt go all out and i actually had a really good time. I went with a friend named Aaron, and while we have hung out with a group of people many times, we have never hung out one-on-one really. This could have made for an extremely awkward situation or it could have made for a great time for conversation. Fear not, it was the latter of the two.
After dinner at the disneyland hotel, we all went into the park for a ride on space mountain and the buzz lightyear ride.
and christmas time at d-land is like double the magic!
me and aaron enjoying desert












me and my other half

half dome and hockey

As most of you know, i didnt go home for thanksgiving this year.
Instead im in Visalia, CA with some friends from school. Courtney lives here, so four of us came to spend the break with her. Thanksgiving was wonderful since i got to sleep in, go for a run in weather that was not 90 degrees (which is what is has been in Riverside for the last week), eat lots of good food, watch some football, and go see a movie.
But the best part was going to Yosemite on Friday. Barrett, Garrett, Brady, Courtney and I drove up there yesterday morning. None of us had ever been there, so we were all pretty excited. Its only two hours away, and the second hour was spent traveling through the mountains, so i was thrilled with the ride. The weather was chilly, but we got to walk around and see some huge trees, huge waterfalls, and huge rock formations. The scenery was breathtaking! i could go into detail, but ill just show you some of the pics...

me and courtney hugging a giant tree















this is what we saw as soon as we got out of a tunnel... El Capitan is on the left and Half Dome is in the distance...



after our day at Yosemite, we went to see the Fresno Falcons play hockey. It was also my first time going to a hockey game. Someone proposed to his girlfriend, two players got in a fist fight, and most importantly, the chicken was there! If you didnt know, the chicken was the mascott for San Diego, but he was so good that he started traveling. Anyway, we had a great time cheering with our jerseys on and with our obnoxious noise makers. Overall, it has been a very relaxing trip. Tomorrow we will drive back to the side by the river and prepare for our last three weeks...
ps, going to the mountains made me even more excited to come back to utah!

me and court at the game

the illness

the stuffy nose, sore throat, achy body illness is going door to door, and i unfortunately answered. i knew i was going to get sick last week and i knew it was kind of unavoidable. so here i am, breathing out of my mouth and sneezing every half and hour or so.
but, im taking vitamins, sudafed and airborne, so i should be back to normal shortly. and i thankfully only have one more week until the break, so im counting down the days....
but i do want to let you all know, ill be in Central Cali for the holiday instead of home with everyone... im trying to not get bummed out.

Beaumont Weekend 2006

This weekend was the first time in weeks that hours passed, and i never felt the urge to look at a clock. I did not have anywhere to be, and i did not have tons of homework that had to be finished by monday morning. A bunch of friends and i went to Oak Glen in the mountains, played a little flag football, frisbee, and volleyball. We tasted apple cider and bought carameled apples, and pretty much just relaxed for two days straight.
And now im back at school, doing accouting homework every time im not practicing football. I do have apple butter in the refrigerator though, so a snack break might be in order later this evening...

here's to you

i was catching up on the blogs today, and i read one of Claire's. she requested that people update, and she stressed that the blog did not have to be fancy but that people should at least post something informative. afterall, many of the people who read this do not live in the same state, so any information is good information.
i think i tend to read other people's blogs instead of blogging myself because i feel like i
a) need to be chronological, and catch people up before i fill them in on the present (but that takes effort, and there is the risk of boring my audience)
b) need pictures, because i just love blogs with pictures
or
c) do not have anything that exciting to blog about.

but here is what is new with me. i took a macroeconomics test about an hour ago, and an accounting test on wednesday. im not sure i did great on either one, since they both had lots of formulas, tables and word problems. however, im doing pretty well thus far in both classes, so i am over being stressed.
last weekend my mom came to visit, which was amazing. she watched the Fortuna Bowl (flag football) on Friday. my team lost, which was a bummer, but my roomates were on the team that beat us, so i had to move on pretty quickly. since my mom was here she slept in my bed and i actually shared a bed with hillary, the quarterback for the Fortuna Champions. My mom and i did alot of shopping, eating and talking. lovely to say the least.
im going to arizona next friday to play in a flag football tournament at ASU, so i have practice all the time, and im really really tired.
and this evening, im going to Beaumont with a ton of friends from school. a couple of friends are from Beaumont, so we are going to stay at all of their houses and go to Oak Glen tomorrow to pick apples and play some ultimate frisbee. hopefully the leaves will still be on all the trees there, as that is the closest thing i will get to fall weather.
and lastly, i completely agree with Claire, i dont like all of the reprocussions of day light savings!

bella

bella is my beautiful, baby-blue beach cruiser. normally, my pets or cars have masculine names, but my friend Drew said there is nothing "boy" about my bike. i never blogged about her cause i wanted to do her justice and post a picture the first time i introduced her. i would say she has been a friend now for nearly four weeks, since we go everywhere together and i tend to talk to her sometimes when we ride. since i have given up on my computer situation this will be a pictureless post...

she has a white basket on the front, and if i keep stuff in the basket, and petal very carefully, i can even wear a skirt when i ride. now, you would think that having a bike would be super exciting for the first few days, and then it would lose its flare. however, that has not been the case... i still get excited in the morning when i turn the numbers to get her unlocked. my roomate hillary has a blue bike too (she was part of the inspiration to finally go through with the purchase) and we have a secret club. its secret because no one knows the name or the secret move. my favorite, though, is when i wear my hair down cause the wind blows through it. and more practically, she gets me places much more quickly than before, and i have even mastered riding in heels!

last night she and i raced my friend ethan to the gym. he was on foot and i was riding. if you dont know about beach-cruisers, they do not have gears and your upper body is in a very upright, stable postition. also they dont squeeze through parked cars as well as people. therefore, racing is still a challenge for you if youre on the bike. yes, those were disclaimers, because i technically lost by three seconds. but i didnt really care because i felt so much like a little kid, speeding across the parking lots, past the palm trees and over the grass. those surreal moments where you forget that you have homework and a job and dishes are fantastic and necessary. if you havent had one of those moments for a while, i highly recommend making friends with a beach-cruiser...

cold showers

this morning i came back to my apt after my running/ jogging class. normally i have an 8 oclock methods of teaching sports class, but it was cancelled today! i got to come back, eat breakfast on the back portch and shower before my 9:30 class (if you are doing the math, yes, i run, go to a class where i play sports, and then i go to another class before i have showered or even stopped sweating, gross!)So I was doing the dishes after i ate and i kept waiting for the water to get hot, but cold water kept pouring out of the faucet. I stopped doing the dishes and walked into the bathroom to see if i would encounter the same problem there. of course, i did.
now, i played football yesterday afternoon and i ran this morning, so skipping a shower would have been a poor choice.
therefore, i started the shower again and got under the freezing cold water. now, i showered in cold water for three weeks in Africa, what was one more day, right? well my cold shower was a good reminder that my perspective has a great affect on my attitude and that i can take really fast showers if i need too!

rest

this week was crazy busy and i didnt get much sleep. two out of five nights were actually spent on the couch because i fell asleep studying. that means that two of those nights, i didnt brush my teeth or wear my retainer.
but last night, i opted to not go to Disneyland or the beach, and instead, i went out for thai food with a friend and was in bed, retainer in place, by 11:45. it was beautiful.
i woke up this morning, well rested, and i went for a run before it got hot. then a friend and i drove to the beach, where we napped on the sand, and then we came home. and that is all i have done with my weekend. no laundry, no homework, just rest. its been lovely.

you should know...

you should know that i tried to blog last sunday, and i was so proud of it... but then the internet failed so i lost it all.
the internet has been quite disappointing as of late. everytime i want to do anything on the internet, something happens. supposedly it will get "worked out" but i dont see anyone working. weve written our names on lists and talked to people about working on our apt, and still, nothing! so im sneeking blog time in at work.

but today is similar to sunday in that it is quite cool outside. to a utahn, its perfect, and to a southern californian, its a bit chilly. but i love it. and i love that i heard the bagpipe boy playing today while i ate lunch. i heard him on sunday too, and he was out on the front lawn (which is my backyard) with his red hair and kilt. today he didnt sport the kilt, but he was just walking around playing. our lunch table got in a long conversation about how it is such an interesting instrument, how none of us are educated enough about the bagpipe and its sound to ever know if the kid is really all that good, and how he sometimes plays late at night with his trench coat on, making the mood really eerie. all in all, though, i like bagepipe boy and his bagpipe.

well i am off work, but i have taken a couple of pictures of the apt so i can give you all a tour when my normal internet works... claire always sparks those good blog topics/ ideas, so i always copy :)

spring fever in september

many of the people im close to have it...

target

i like target, and i love supertarget. such stores are designed for a college student. they have a variety of cute yet practical items, and their prices are extremely affordable. i think i enjoy a purchase from target almost daily.

this morning i enjoyed the pillows that i got on sale for $7 a piece! i woke up to my cell phone buzzing under my pillow and my roommate looking out our window so that she could decide what to wear today. i snuggled under the warmth of my covers and rolled over onto the pillows that line the right side of my bed. i thought about how i should not have stayed up until 2:30 watching greys anatomy with my roomies, but i almost simultaneously thought about how i had probably never been more comfortable in my life. granted, i think that thought a couple of times a week, but the pillows and our central air conditioning never fail to be some of the most fabulous aspects of my days. and there is my proof that target is a source of bliss.

well, brittany picked out a very classy pair of jeans, black heals and a long sleeve red shirt because its a bit overcast today. we both know it is too early to rain in riverside (hence the heals), but we were excited that the weather would be bearable and, dare i say, pleasant. i, on the other hand, chose a gray pullover sweater, capris and a pair of flip-slops. not quite as put-together as britt (which is never a shocker) but much more comfortable than the outfits that i have to wear for my tuesday/thursday job. hopefully i will get off work early today and will either visit the beach or Dland this weekend... ill probably go to target as well :)

FOCUS

if you didnt know, i am a FOCUS Leader. technically, it is a job, as i do get paid, but i am pretty sure i only get about ten cents an hour if you even everything out. In general, the Focus Leaders help run the student orientation for freshman and transfers (which happens a week before school starts) and we teach an orientation class once a week. Every leader has a partner, and the partners are in charge of a group of freshman. I am focus group V and my partner is Daniel.
Being a good focus leader has more stipulations that one might assume...
1. Be cheerful, especially when you are moving people into the 3rd floor of the dorms in 107 degree weather, when you are with them all day long for a week straight, or any other time you see them on campus.
2. Be willing to start or invade conversations.
3. Bake or buy treats so that your class will pay attention to you.
4. Remember the names of all your focus students, their friends, roommates, crushes, boyfriends/ girlfriends, and ex-boyfriends/ girlfriends.
5. Visit your students in their rooms, eat lunch with them or invite them to your apt. so that you can get to know them better and hear all of the stories about their friends, roommates, crushes, boyfriends/ girlfriends, and ex-boyfriends/ girlfriends.
6. Plan fun events that will entice every person in your group (note: events that are expensive or slightly dangerous seem to be most commonly suggested by the average student).

Being sarcastic does not always make you the best focus leader, but it is definately necessary sometimes during this process. Focus really has been such a great experience, though. I have been able to meet tons of new people and the position is a great ministry opportunity. However, the position is extremely time consuming, so please make me keep in touch with at least the blogging world during this semester. accountability is key.